Hi guys,

I have noticed when pressing on with my TDI that the front end of the car doesnt seem to be very precise with the steering (feels a bit floaty if that makes sense) is there anything I can do to correct this? I can feel the rear end of the car is pretty tight due to the RARB, could this feeling be done to just tyres? Would moving on to 18's help?

BTW - tyre pressure is about 32/34 psi - 225/45/17's.

Thanks.

Is it the lightness of the steering partially to blame? That can be tightened up a bit with vagcom to give more steering wheel feel.

I dont think it is that Jason.....hard to explain but the front feels slightly wallowy compared to the rear with the RARB. With 16's I used to turn it and i knew exactly where it is, 17's seem a bit more of a guess.

Funny you talk about Vagcom, I dont think my car's ECU has the option to tighten up via Vagcom as I bought one of the leads in the GB

Edited 5 July, 201015 yr by cawmere

How many miles has you car done? With some miles and maybe being a few years old your bushes/ball joints and bearings will all be past their best.

I'd give serious thoughts to replacing the dampers, and going back to the lighter 16s. In fact, if you still have them, try the 16s, and see how they compare. It's just possible that the problem is excess unsprung weight.

Thanks Ken, So you think it may be rectified with going for lighter alloys?

Is it the lightness of the steering partially to blame? That can be tightened up a bit with vagcom to give more steering wheel feel.

Fabia - yes; Octavia I - no.

I have fitted vRS springs and a set of Bilstein dampers for a TDI with sports suspension from ECP to my Elegance and that has tightened the handling up a lot. It's not crashy, but there is definitely no more float in the suspension.

So posisbly lower my coilovers more or lighter alloys?? :wonder:

How many miles has you car done? With some miles and maybe being a few years old your bushes/ball joints and bearings will all be past their best.

I think 118000 by now, had bushes changed about 1 year about.

Hi Matt, hope you're well

My VRS has started clonking combined with the steering feeling a bit vague and has been diagnosed as needing new top mounts. Probably got knackered coz of the amount of potholes and speed bumps I hit over the winter Did you get new top mounts fitted to yours when you got coilovers? Something to look at anyway.

Checked your steering rack bush isn't falling out?

Hi Matt, hope you're well

My VRS has started clonking combined with the steering feeling a bit vague and has been diagnosed as needing new top mounts. Probably got knackered coz of the amount of potholes and speed bumps I hit over the winter Did you get new top mounts fitted to yours when you got coilovers? Something to look at anyway.

Checked your steering rack bush isn't falling out?

Hey how are ya?

Top mounts got changed with the coilovers mate

Is it the lightness of the steering partially to blame? That can be tightened up a bit with vagcom to give more steering wheel feel.

Please can you expand on how to do this with vag-com ?

With reference to the original question, is this "new" floatiness/vagueness of front end, or do you mean its always been there ?

Edited 7 July, 201015 yr by snow_muncher

Please can you expand on how to do this with vag-com ?

Only works on electro steering which you don't have.

Jasons getting his furbies and octavias mixed up lol

The point about lighter wheels was serious; what a lot of people seem to fail to realise is that the effective weight of a wheel rises as the square of your road speed.

I wasn't saying that lighter wheels would cure a vague issue like "my steering feels vague now I've changed the wheels and altered the rear roll stiffness" though; I was suggesting that if you have or can borrow some OEM 16s it was worth a try. I've a nasty feeling that you could have exposed a softness in the wishbone bushes and/or dampers because you're entering corners faster.

So the issue becomes "how to investigate what the falut actually is most cheaply?"

The point about lighter wheels was serious; what a lot of people seem to fail to realise is that the effective weight of a wheel rises as the square of your road speed.

I wasn't saying that lighter wheels would cure a vague issue like "my steering feels vague now I've changed the wheels and altered the rear roll stiffness" though; I was suggesting that if you have or can borrow some OEM 16s it was worth a try. I've a nasty feeling that you could have exposed a softness in the wishbone bushes and/or dampers because you're entering corners faster.

So the issue becomes "how to investigate what the falut actually is most cheaply?"

Oh dear...I sold my 16's ages ago :(