I've been looking into ways to sweeten up the handling of the MKV for a little while now and wanted something that was still suitable for every day commuting and came into its own when on the track.

I'd read a lot about sticking some camber on the front wheels, GTI Engineering offer a conversion for £500 that gives -1.5degrees of negative camber and many a magazine such as Evo raved about it's ability to put power down out of corners.. However i had some concerns about the tyre wear implications, I had to drive down to their workshop and wait 4hrs for it to be done and they modify the wishbones (via exchange),... so it was a bit of a faff.

I then spoke to Julian at Balance Motorsport about the Whiteline Caster/Anti Lift Kit. Having done a bit of research, they seem very highly regarded by the Subaru lot so when I called Julian i was armed with a load of questions which he answered both honestly and displaying knowledge in the product and its application. We talked through what I wanted from the car and decided that the Whiteline kit was the way forward.. it has a slightly different approach of adding +0.5 degrees of caster and at only £150-ish delivered, an hour's DIY fitting (plus the re-alignment of the front wheels) it was worth a punt. Read here for technical info.

The parts arrived the next day, they're suberbly machined and very light, so starting well there. I had them fitted by my preferred specialist, Votex in Congleton last Friday and they had their first outing at the ClubGTI Curborough Sprint Day on Saturday.

So, initial thoughts after some varied driving - they're really, really good!! I can't say they noticably alter the turn in of the car unless you're really on the limit, then it's suddenly just 'there' pointing at where you need to go... what is more noticable is the reduction of inside wheel spin on corner exits.. it just lays the power down and launches you down the track/road.

I held off having my Autotech ARBs fitted so I could give them a decent run and opinion, but will update this thread when I've had it a week or so after them being added on Friday.

So far though - possibly the best small outlay mod you can spend on your car's handling for big gains??? Yes. Go get some!!

Excellent review. Very interesting product.

It will be interesting to see what sort of differential tyre wear you get, if any, with 0.5 camber.

I suppose that remains to be seen? but I have the old parts if they shred this set of boots faster than I can wear them out normally with a heavy right foot!

Mike...

It's -0.5 degrees not +0.5....as you're getting extra negative camber as opposed to positive camber!!  (hopefully)

But yeah scooby doo lot LOVE the whiteline stuff...quality kit from down under!

On the Morego / GTI Engineering option, they fit pre modified/welded up wishbones to your car and use urs for the next set! -1.5 degrees is bit much for 95% road driving really.

+/- = D'oh!

Amended

G'day everyone,

Forgive the intrusion but I just thought I'd jump in and make a small technical correction on one of the posts.

tony_danza, thanks so much for writing up this review and your experiences, great to see that you have felt a positive outcome. Just needed to correct that the KCA316 WALK actually increases +0.5 static caster not camber. Whiteline don't believe in increasing static camber unless absolutely necassary where as extra positive caster delivers a lot of real world performance benefits, not least of which is better turn in response and more dymanic negative camber on turns. We would estimate that actual improvements in dynamic caster would be in excess of +1.0 degree.

The main aspect of the geometry change is actually the Anti-lift component and the related outcomes. Our experience has shown that we can significanlty reduce understeer and corner exit speed by reducing the stock amount of front anti-lift and this is responsible for most of the other positives felt in the driving.

Anyway, hope that's helped and we're happy to answer any further technical questions if asked. In the meantime, you can see and read a little more about the kit here  http://www.whiteline.com.au/docs/bulletins/163-%20mk5%20anti%20lift.pdf

Cheers

Whiteline Jim

Whiteline Flatout   

Sorry, I've made a right **** of this write up!! - but hopefully it has been edited now for the last time to at least be accurate. That's what you get from trying to do things from memory...

The main thing is the car handles better 

 Hi Tony,

I thought I was the only one that really liked this modification. I think it works a treat, the best modification after the Whiteline anti roll bars that I have also fitted..........

Yes, I did used to have an Impreza with all the Whiteline gear :-)

Cheers

thanks for the review Tony. I did spend ages discussing the effects of the lift/dive and caster geometry. if anyone would like to know a bit more about how caster works before ordering let me know ! 01903 879111

wow, never knew about castor angles, just mainly camber and toe angles u hear about.

interesting stuff. just read an article on castor angles but still can't quite see how pitching the strut axis towards the rear of the car would give extra negative camber? but i'm no suspension expert!

Extra caster has 2 main advantages. It increases negative camber in turns on the outside front wheel. That means that you will have negative camber when you need it and not during driving straight or braking in a straight line.

The other main advantage of extra caster is that while cornering, the inside front wheel is pushed down further. If you have ever driven a go-kart, you will know what I mean. Karts run a high caster angle. When you turn the steering wheel in a kart while stationairy, it will go on 3 wheels because it pushes the inside wheel down.

In a Golf this will increase front end grip and increase traction during cornering. Hence less understeer and less wheel spin.

cheers for explanation mate, got me interested in this kit now!  

 Just do it! You'll be amazed and wonder why VW didn't do this themselves. Remember to get the alignment re-set after fitting.

it also changes the foot print of the tyre aiding traction. next time you go shopping try turning a trolley wheel when the trolley is stationary by hand - you'll see it has more resistance in one plane than the other. i can see it now

"excuse me sir is there a problem with your trolley"

"yes it's not got enough caster and i just lost the front end coming round the left right flick between fruit and veg"

LINK TO PRODUCT

http://www.balancemotorsport.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=107418

currently all whiteline products are free shipping and another 5% off - this represents 10% off list and free shipping

thanks

Julian

 You got pics of the bit it replaced? - just to see the difference, I think I can see what your talking about, maybe I will read again in the morning!

Yeah, but not on the car or side by side I'm afraid. Will post it up tonight.

nice guide :)

Is there anything out there for front camber adjustment yet?

Yeah, GTI Engineering do an exchange for modded wishbones - effective, but shreds tyres on a daily driver.

pants, I'm running coilies at the mk5 and the inner of the tyres aint lasting much at all

Altern8:

pants, I'm running coilies at the mk5 and the inner of the tyres aint lasting much at all

 

Eh? so am I, and I get no uneven tyre wear... you did have the alignment done after they were fitted, didn't you? If not, get it done now - you'll be surprised how much you can spaz everything out by swapping the suspension.

Can this be fitted to the MK4 as well?

Yes but it's not the exact same kit. I've just done it to mine with good results! See here http://uk-mkivs.net/forums/t/226208.aspx

Phil

Cheers Phil.

It looks like there is no camber ajustment on the front of a mk5

for those who haven't tried this mod we thoroughly recommend it on it's own.

matched with a set of antiroll bar's and it pretty much transforms the mk5 from very good to simply amazing.

You might be interested in this limited offer

GOLF 5 ARB SPECIAL

 Hi Tony, How are you doing with your WALK? I just drove a standard Golf 5Gti after driving mine with Whiteline WALK and anti roll bars. I was like stepping back in from a Mk5 into a Mk4. After quite a few thousand miles, I can really recommend the Whiteline WALK and Whiteline adjustable anti roll bars. It really makes the car a lot better.

I'm loving it, the car is just fantastic - it really makes all the difference, and was even better once I put my ARBs on.

It's done the 'ring since which was fantastic, the drive I was getting out of corners surprised my mate following in his stripped 4-mo with a sports hadlex.

I'm doing a track day at Donnington in a few weeks too, so the set up is certainly getting used in the way it was intended.

I still maintain it is the best thing you can do to a MKV in terms of what you get for your money handling wise. A MKV will obviously never be nimble like a MKI/II due to it's mass, but I reckon I've got it as close as I can to perfect whilst still maintaining a daily driver comfort.

Just another update and to bring it into the light for those new MK5 owners that don't know about it yet...

Nearly 12 months on the kit is still absolutely fantastic. Coupled with the ARBs and a VF Engineering lower engine mount it is THE best way of improving traction, turn in and grip. No issues with tyre wear, no issues with the bushes and that's 15,000 miles, 2 'Ring trips and 4 track days.

I did a track day at Oulton Park recently and stage 1 ED30's with 300BHP couldn't get near me. I was getting full power down on corner exit without inside spin, whilst they were floundering all over the track. Closest thing you can get to an LSD without the cost or work.

They fit on any MK5 platform car and if you're on a budget, these, a thicker rear ARB and a set of dropped springs will completely transform your car.

I'd recommend it to anybody, just speak to Julian at balancemotorsport

Balance Motorsport are now doing another deal for the Anti-lift kit.

Click me for details