I have a Mk1 Octavia which I would like to improve the handling/road holding. The ride at the moment is very soft with lots of body roll (As they all were!) and would like to lower & stiffen the suspension whilst retaining reasonable comfort, the ropads here in Wales are pretty bad. I have considered Koni springs & shocks or VRS suspension and maybe a front strut brace. Any suggestions would be appreciated plus any comments on what NOT to do. Thanks in anticipation.

rear ARB should be the first thing on the list and it is one of the cheapest things as well. HTH what aversion of the Octavia do you have?

ive got weitec hicon gt's on my vrs and there a lot of others on here with them to, they are firmer than standard but not to harsh and tbh have transformed my car from its once barge like handling

From my experience of trying to get replacement standard suspension without going to a main dealer, upgrading gives you a huge choice.

I'm fairly new too but from what I've read you have choice of coilovers, Koni FSD with H&R springs, whiteline rear ARB's with R32 front ARB....

I would say the best way to find a set up would be to get to a meet and see if you can blag a ride out in a car with your preferred set up.

welcome btw

ps - can anyone confirm if the Octy mk1 vRS front shockers are inserts or the whole strut? Euro car parts presented me with some Seat Leon Cupra R fronts and they were inserts made by Sachs.

ps - can anyone confirm if the Octy mk1 vRS front shockers are inserts or the whole strut? Euro car parts presented me with some Seat Leon Cupra R fronts and they were inserts made by Sachs.

Should be the whole strut. Never heard of replacing the internals separately before.

To stiffen things up and to improve handling all round then as mentioned the Weitec coilovers are a good choice but depending on budget there's plenty of kits to pick from.

To over come the understeer that the Octavia suffers from and to give a sharper turn in, then a rear ARB would be a great addition.

Damian @ DPM Performance

rear ARB should be the first thing on the list and it is one of the cheapest things as well. HTH what aversion of the Octavia do you have?

Model is 2 litre petrol (GLXi).

Any suggestions for supppliers of antiroll bar kits?

here you go mate check this out http://www.dpmperformance.co.uk/octavia-1u-96-06-anti-roll-bars-c-1929_1939_1940.html