S8 Roll Bar Mod, Part 2--front: This one is easy!

[MP4.2+6.0]

I completed the install of the S8 front roll bar this evening Very simple relative to the rear bar. As a result I won't do a detailed how to but just some cursory notes on the install.

The S8 front roll bar part number: 4E0-411-305-AC. List when I bought it in late January 2008 was $267 before discount. May have gone up since. As with the rear, the bar includes the bushings premounted, as well as the bushing clamps. Only the various mounting bolts are reused. The bar is of tubular construction and only very slightly thicker diameter than the sport bar. For reference, the sport bar was part number 4E0 411 305P. However, I recall the wall thickness being a fair amount greater than the non-S8 bars (sport bar is 30.8mm by 3.5 mm wall thickness; I don't have S8 spec handy); a more pronounced spec difference for S8 relative to sport version than in the rear is what I remember.

See my prior rear bar post for lots of backgrounder on car weights, sport vs. non sport suspension, how the build sticker tells you which one you have if you don't already know, and various other info.

The new and old bars, with the new bar label; part numbers and manufacture date are clearly visible on both bars:


Picture 1


Picture 2


Tools: Very simple. The large blade stubby and normal screwdrivers to take off the belly pan, a 16 mm socket for the bolts on the bar end, and a star type 12 point allen type tool to remove the bolts that secure the bar clamps to the subframe. Torque wrench to tighten things correctly. That's about it. I used ramps to elevate the car but still keep the suspension loaded.

Manpower: Even more obviously a one person job than the rear.

Total time: Putting aside snapping a few shots, it was about a half hour job at a steady but leisurely pace. Materially easier than changing brake pads as another metric. Call it maybe a 3 on a 10 point scale, with the rear being more like a 5 or low 6.

Bar in place for general reference, in this case the old one--the shiniest black element running left right mid picture, behind the engine sump pan and part of the subframe (both light aluminum color):


Picture 3

Note in the pic the bar is right there in plain view and all the bolt up points are easily accessed.

Again, road test will follow in due course, now with both front and rear in place.

• Link to my prior rear bar install and how-to post