(G) 100HP Rear anti roll bar

Claude, the weird thing about the 100hp is that it tends to lift an inside front wheel on cornering, which obviously have some fairly serious drawbacks.

This seems to come about by the rear not being stiff enough, or put another way roll control not being enough at the rear. Or it could be due to a lack of travel at the front (but that is unlikely).

I think if it's a bolt on option and the cost is reasonable, it would be worth a try but the rear suspender settings would need some revision.

To add to the story.. One of my earlier cars (and have had many) was a 1955 Volkswgan beetle, that had a very wayward front end being tail heavy. It was common to add sand to the front boot space. Being a bit
light with the cash in those days managed to acquire 100lb bag of cement,it might have even been 2 bags, which were placed in the spare wheel space. But due to water ingress the cement went a bit hard . But the handling improved no end. When sold on even managed to get a good part exchange, the garage didnt check the boot before the exchange, but they were very impressed with the handling.

Wonder if a couple of bags of dry cement in the boot of the 100hp
would help.

Its only a suggestion, am really trying to be helpful..
Jake.

It is a question of increasing the loading on the outside rear wheel in cornering - ARB will do it, weight in boot will do it (and reduce bounce), but adding weight is sacrilege.

Just out of interest, has anyone seen just how little movement there is on the rear of the 100hp before it hits the bump stop?

Just read in autocar that the 500C has gained a rear anti-roll bar and all 500's moving forward will get one. Supposed to improve the ride so I wonder if this actually is something the 100HP would benefit from?

Ah Ha. Just as I thought.. Someone must give this a go. From the Fords parts bit might be a start might be/almost certain to be cheaper than Fiats parts bin, would be a quicker option anyway.

Whos going to give it a go ?..

I would love to, but just dont have a garage to
fit it.. Probably just a bolt on, same as the Skoda Fabia item..

Jake.

You have to love the 100HP. I was moving along on the A303 yesterday and I'll swear at least 2 or more wheels left the ground. I could see a sort of double undulation coming up so I just gripped the wheel and waited to see what would happen. Must have looked hilarious from behind.

Claude,
I,m in suffolk (just) if you haven't yet managed a test in a 100hp, welcome to have a go if you wish. John B

It's a pity Ford don't do a 100hp equivalent because you could just fit a kit meant for a 1.4 Ka. I'm thinking that when the dampers go on the 500 (which will be surprising soon going on what some Panda owners have seen) I should be getting next week I might see about getting the ARB fitted if people have done it successfully and if there's a decent kit out there for the Ka 1.2 as I think by the sounds of it it would be a decent upgrade.

OK.
Can anyone come up with the following part numbers, please?

500 1.4 rear spring
500 1.4 rear shock absorber
100HP rear spring
100HP rear shock absorber
500 1.4 torsion beam (also if different fro other 500s)
100HP torsion beam (also useful to know if different from other Pandas)

These to establish commonality.

Then

500C torsion beam
500C anti-roll bar - if separate from torsion beam
500 Abarth torsion beam
500 Abarth arb
500 Abarth rear springs
500 Abarth rear shockers

With that info it should be possible to work out what could be slotted in to 100HP with minimum hassle to give softer rear with arb and with sensible ride height.

Stuck my head under a Ka yesterday and saw the ARB as described, the only thing that would concern me is how you'd get the ARB inside the beam. To my mind it looked like the torsion beam was assembled around the ARB but you can only tell so much from looking under the back of a car of course.

Interesting - that's why the part numbers would tell the story - if the arb's a separate part it could be added to an existing rear suspension; then, if the torsion beam is common to, say, any 500/Panda with rear discs - then adding the arb to a 100HP along with, say, 500 Abarth rear springs and dampers, would be feasible and relatively simple to do.

Read somewhere that the Ka is set up 30% softer at the back than the panda as a result of the ARB

Of course Until anyone finds out for sure we're merely just speculating.

Yes and no. The ARB has the effect of a spring as well so while the springs on each wheel may be 30% softer the ARB will cancel some of that out.