156 Sway Bar Design

[Alfa156Melb 9]

Smaky,

 

Was there any specific reason why the ARB was positioned above the subframe as opposed to below?

[Smaky 73]

So the overall C of G could be lower

[Alfa156Melb 9]

Ok, as a pilot i totally appreciate that, but would the difference be that great to warrant such a pig of a job removing the bar?

 

 

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[Smaky 73]

In essence, yes, as the driving force in design was cost after the takeover by FIAT, we were pushed towards using readily available parts from the FIAT range fr the design of the 155, 145/146 etc, as the 145/146 these were based on the MAREA platform which had the standard FIAT ARB over subframe design, so that the engines could sit lower in the front for the Ulysses 4WD system (also used on the 155 Q4), so when the 156 was designed we decided to keep that layout as the subframe design only requied minor modification for the new car which meant the budget for body design could be hugely increased (but not enough for the originally cast alloy rear door handles we wanted), but for a difference in performance you need to drive a standard Lusso model and then a Turismo, the height difference alone between those 2 variants of the 156 show what a difference the CofG makes.

 

As for a pig of a job, I've done 156 ARBs in under 2 hours on a regular basis, and today I've just done a GT 1.9 flywheel,clutch and 2 driveshaft spiders in 5 hours, I think I may need to doa guide for the ARB soon.

[Alfa156Melb 9]

Thats fascinating, i wish i was local, id take u out for a beer so i can hear more of that sort of stuff.

 

U have a point actually, my car runs on pro kits, and i had the opportunity to drive a standard 2.0ts a while ago, the difference was chalk and cheese.

 

It would be great if u did a guide, i paid to have mine done. In the end i didn't want to bother with it.. Next time though, ill do it myself.

 

 

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Edited December 21, 2012 by Alfa156Melb