The brief
The Golf had picked up a knock from the front over rough patches, the body was rolling further than usual through faster corners, and the steering had gone a little loose around centre. Three signs that the front anti-roll system had stopped working as one piece.
The anti-roll bar ties the two front wheels together so that when one side hits a bump or the car leans in a corner, the bar twists and shares the load across to the other side, which keeps the body flatter. It mounts to the body through rubber bushes and connects to the suspension through small drop links. When those bushes collapse and a drop link's ball ends go loose, the bar can't do its job properly, and you get the knock as it clatters in worn mounts, the extra roll, and the vague steering.
The diagnosis
On the lift the workshop went over the anti-roll bar end to end. The rubber bushes around the bar were collapsed past their service limit, and one of the drop links had loose ball ends. The bar and its mounts were tired together.
Given the state of the bar and its bushes, the fix was a fresh anti-roll bar, which comes with new bushes, plus new drop links on both sides so the front works symmetrically.
The work
The anti-roll bar was released and the old one taken out. A new VAG-spec anti-roll bar went in with its new bushes, a new drop link on each side, and every fastener torqued to the manual figures. Then the car was rolled to settle the suspension.
A road test confirmed the knock was gone, the roll was back to normal, and the steering had firmed up around centre.
The outcome
Knock gone, body roll cut back to where it should be, and the steering tight again around centre.
The Golf went home with the front end behaving like a hot hatch should. The anti-roll bar and its mounts wear together, so a fresh bar with new bushes and fresh links on both sides put the whole system back to working as one piece.