Right chaps, after your valuable knowledge again.

I spend a lot of time up and down to the Isle of Skye, and whilst my vRS is largely a great weapon of choice for the A roads and getting past slow moving traffic, it's the up and down thats the problem.

My car has 72K on the clock and runs standard suspension all round and I think it's tired. The roads in Scotland especially between Loch Lomond and Fort William are fast but as they're built on moors, they undulate a lot. The suspension is simply not controlling the vertical movement and consequently the car is 'nodding' as if the springs are doing the work but at different rates front and rear. It dives under braking etc...

Now, as my house on Skye is up a road that my old Range Rover loved (imagine driving accross a ploughed field accross the ruts), the car needs to retain the standard ride height and budget is v tight so I think replacement shock absorbers are the only way to go.

So, suggestion time - OEM from dealer (unsure of the make) or Bilstein from Eurocarparts or your recomendations??

Over to you.

Edited 26 April, 201016 yr by BigJC

Right chaps, after your valuable knowledge again.

I spend a lot of time up and down to the Isle of Skye, and whilst my vRS is largely a great weapon of choice for the A roads and getting past slow moving traffic, it's the up and down thats the problem.

My car has 72K on the clock and runs standard suspension all round and I think it's tired. The roads in Scotland especially between Loch Lomond and Fort William are fast but as they're built on moors, they undulate a lot. The suspension is simply not controlling the vertical movement and consequently the car is 'nodding' as if the springs are doing the work but at different rates front and rear. It dives under braking etc...

Now, as my house on Skye is up a road that my old Range Rover loved (imagine driving accross a ploughed field accross the ruts), the car needs to retain the standard ride height and budget is v tight so I think replacement shock absorbers are the only way to go.

So, suggestion time - OEM from dealer (unsure of the make) or Bilstein from Eurocarparts or your recomendations??

Over to you.

Budget will be your main issue. OE shocks are hideous money. You can FSDs for probably around the same or cheaper, but then you'd want to replace the springs as well, so up the money even further.

Coilys are cheaper overall (Weitec Hicon GTs seem to be the thing around here for cheapish but very good), but you'll lose some comfort. As for pattern shocks, I don't know. I'd be wary myself, but I've no personal experience of them.

Right chaps, after your valuable knowledge again.

I spend a lot of time up and down to the Isle of Skye, and whilst my vRS is largely a great weapon of choice for the A roads and getting past slow moving traffic, it's the up and down thats the problem.

My car has 72K on the clock and runs standard suspension all round and I think it's tired. The roads in Scotland especially between Loch Lomond and Fort William are fast but as they're built on moors, they undulate a lot. The suspension is simply not controlling the vertical movement and consequently the car is 'nodding' as if the springs are doing the work but at different rates front and rear. It dives under braking etc...

Now, as my house on Skye is up a road that my old Range Rover loved (imagine driving accross a ploughed field accross the ruts), the car needs to retain the standard ride height and budget is v tight so I think replacement shock absorbers are the only way to go.

So, suggestion time - OEM from dealer (unsure of the make) or Bilstein from Eurocarparts or your recomendations??

Over to you.

Both the Shock and spring combination on the VRS as standard is not up to much even on low milage cars. The VRS is fussy about it's suspension set up unlike the none VRS octy which can handle much of the Golf type supension set up.(All to do with the weight differences)

I think you will find that either Standard OEM or Europarts will be cheaper options, but be sure you are ordering for the VRS.

By far the best spring shock option on the VRS is the Koni FSD shock (around £480) and H&R Springs(around £170) so not cheap. Most folks who want near standard ride height and don't fancy the coilover option (harder ride) go for FSD's with H&R springs. If your bugdet is tight and you have only done 72k miles your standard springs could be used in the Koni FSD's as Koni FSD are designed to be used with standard springs and standard ride height and will give you a much better feel. than you have right now.

There are more budget options but I would not go there with the VRS. I have had 6 different set ups on my VRS and the FSD's are only come second to the Wetec coilovers because the Weitec offer adjustable height control which is what I was after.

Budget will be your main issue. OE shocks are hideous money. You can FSDs for probably around the same or cheaper, but then you'd want to replace the springs as well, so up the money even further.

Coilys are cheaper overall (Weitec Hicon GTs seem to be the thing around here for cheapish but very good), but you'll lose some comfort. As for pattern shocks, I don't know. I'd be wary myself, but I've no personal experience of them.

Ta for the reply.

I'm thinking Bilstein from ECP at around £40 a corner (ish)...nowt like B6's, just plain old billy's.

Ta for the reply.

I'm thinking Bilstein from ECP at around £40 a corner (ish)...nowt like B6's, just plain old billy's.

hi there, be very carefull if your thinking of buying from euro car parts as i purchased new shocks all round for my octavia vrs and they were not the right ones.

I returned them and asked them to check the part numbers and they told me they had supplied the correct ones according to their catalogue, they also physically checked the ones listed for the leon cupra and the r32 shocks (as they are supposed to be the same) and they were all coming up the same part number? the problem is the front shocks, they have a fixing eye missing which connects the little tie bar between the shock absorber and the wishbone ( i think thats correct) however none of the shocks they checked had this fixing eye pressent.

in the end i ended up ordering some fk shocks from venom motorsports which were very resonably priced and although they state that they are 20-25% firmer, by retaining the standard springs ive not noticed any real difference to the ride comfort.

i hope thats of some help to you, and good luck.

whatever you do dont make the mistake i made though, i had the car up in the air in a garage removed all the shocks and then found out that id been supplied the wrong parts and had to re-fit the old ones .

here you go matey http://www.venommotorsport.com/manufacturer_product.php?manufacturer=FK&category=suspension&product=HighTechFrontDampers&make=Skoda&model=Octavia

best just to call them, i found them really helpfull and seem to know what their talking about.

Edited 26 April, 201016 yr by nick_vrs

hi there, be very carefull if your thinking of buying from euro car parts as i purchased new shocks all round for my octavia vrs and they were not the right ones.

I returned them and asked them to check the part numbers and they told me they had supplied the correct ones according to their catalogue, they also physically checked the ones listed for the leon cupra and the r32 shocks (as they are supposed to be the same) and they were all coming up the same part number? the problem is the front shocks, they have a fixing eye missing which connects the little tie bar between the shock absorber and the wishbone ( i think thats correct) however none of the shocks they checked had this fixing eye pressent.

I have also heard of this and also from GSF as well. As you pointed out the eye (ARB drop liink support bracket) is needed on the Octy VRS, Golf R32 and Leon Cupra R to link the suspension to the Front ARB (not wishbone) which is different to the other Skoda and VW variants that do link ARB to wishbone so don't need that bracket on the shock.

It turned out GSF and Euro parts don't stock for the VRS unless they have recently changed.

So agree be careful

Edited 27 April, 201016 yr by Bowders1

I have also heard of this and also from GSF as well. As you pointed out the eye (ARB drop liink support bracket) is needed on the Octy VRS, Golf R32 and Leon Cupra R to link the suspension to the Front ARB (not wishbone) which is different to the other Skoda and VW variants that do link ARB to wishbone so don't need that bracket on the shock.

It turned out GSF and Euor parts don't stock for the VRS unless they have recently changed.

So agree be careful

Thanks again for the replies chaps.

Looking at that pictures in the Venom Linky, I take it that doesn't have the required ARB support bracket? **Edit - just been out to look at it, can see the ARB link bar connecting Strut to ARB so know what to look for!**

The Venom stuff does look around the right budget, I'll give them a bell this morning.

Edited 27 April, 201016 yr by BigJC

According to Bilstein's website - the VRS shares the same part number as the Audi TT Quattro - which my wife has.... hmmm, will check this out when she gets home!

Fronts are part number VE3-4637 for front B6 Sport & BE3-2543 for rear B6 Sport. ASP-B575 is the service kit with some dodgy looking bump stops....

Not cheap though!

According to Bilstein's website - the VRS shares the same part number as the Audi TT Quattro - which my wife has.... hmmm, will check this out when she gets home!

Fronts are part number VE3-4637 for front B6 Sport & BE3-2543 for rear B6 Sport. ASP-B575 is the service kit with some dodgy looking bump stops....

Not cheap though!

That is more than likely true as the TT set up is the same a the S3 and Golf R32 as well

Phoned euro car parts this morning, they confirmed that the part number they have for the front is actually the same as the Seat Leon Cupra R, they are made by Bilstein and are in stock. Great, drove to Manchester, waited 20 mins for someone to serve me and a further 15 mins for the parts to come out....Looked like inserts by the shape of the SACHS box so asked them to double check they are correct....don't think they are....

Are the front shock absorbers inserts or are the whole items as per venom pic earlier in this thread including the spring seat etc?

Quite annoyed. I swung by Awesome on the way home to pick up a Forge DV and some vac hose and the Audi TT forum north west rep (Les) was there and he kindly read my codes:

16486 - MAF or wiring

17963 - could be boost leak

01314 - no communication in abs unit.

Still driving fine but I have noticed that it's holding back a little when giving it the berries.