Tyres, handling and curing understeer?

[landwomble]

All,

I'm currently running some awful ditchfinders on the front wheels. This, combined with the Superb's natural tendency to fairly strong understeer, isn't great.

First priority is new tyres. Anyone got any recommendations? Toyo T1R? Rainsport 2's? Grip slightly more important than longetivity.

Next, any tweaks that are good for curing understeer - ARBs? Anything else?

would appreciate advice from anyone who's had success - I'd rather not change all 4 dampers but if that's what it takes...

Cheers

[VRSid]

All,

I'm currently running some awful ditchfinders on the front wheels. This, combined with the Superb's natural tendency to fairly strong understeer, isn't great.

First priority is new tyres. Anyone got any recommendations? Toyo T1R? Rainsport 2's? Grip slightly more important than longetivity.

Next, any tweaks that are good for curing understeer - ARBs? Anything else?

would appreciate advice from anyone who's had success - I'd rather not change all 4 dampers but if that's what it takes...

Cheers

i tried hankook and they are spot on! been so good for me that iv ordered my second pair, just waiting for them. they are going to replace the ditchfinders i got on the back, which cause me to oversteer unpredictably whenever the road is slightly damp

recommend the hankook though, and they are relatively cheap

[landwomble]

i tried hankook and they are spot on! been so good for me that iv ordered my second pair, just waiting for them. they are going to replace the ditchfinders i got on the back, which cause me to oversteer unpredictably whenever the road is slightly damp

recommend the hankook though, and they are relatively cheap

Excellent, cheers. I'm not expecting miracles (I've had the car for 4 years now) but solid recommendations like this much appreciated.

Has anyone ever fitted Passat B5.5 anti roll bars?

Edited 22 February, 2011 by landwomble

[mp7125]

I've noticed how well my new Uniroyal Rainsport 2's grip the road especially in the wet - but I guess that's what they designed for. I had all four fitted 2 weeks ago at a local independent for £370.

[AnotherGareth]

It's quite difficult to properly understand how a car behaves unless you have the same tyres all round.

[Gizmo]

Make sure whatever you fit that the load index is correct for the Superb (which is 91 IIRC), the car is heavy - especially at the front and the wrong index tyres will cause the tyres to roll around on the rims which in turn will induce understeer.

I only ever ran (205/55/16) Dunlop Sport01's on my MKI and I can honestly say I had never had anything but very mild understeer (and even that was very rare - maybe once or twice in 3 1/2 years and caused by entering a corner far too quickly).

However I never drove the car like I had just stolen it, but it was not uncommon for me to 'press on a bit' through the twisty stuff, personally I would be checking a few things before you think about changing anti-rollbars etc:

Decent tyres

Correct 91 (or higher) load index tyres

Tyre pressures correct

Tracking is spot on

Driving style - the Superb is a comfortable tourer rather than a sporty car, is it really suited to the way you drive?

[rotodiesel]

Fair comments above, but you really can't defend the handling of the Superb - it's like a boat.

It stems from an ancient Audi design with the engine and gearbox mounted N-S with the engine ahead of the front axle line. The "bow fronted" styling of these cars was designed to hide the real extent of the overhang. The problem with all of this weight out at the front is a high polar moment of inertia which makes the car inclined to continue on a curve once it is initiated. It's not quite the same thing as understeer but has most of the same characteristics as far as the driver is concerned. In the limit, it can give rise to a very dangerous front end slide.

So, before anyone buys a Superb, take it for a run and see if you can live with it. I did - and have no regrets as in my case the nose-heavy design also gives it excellent traction for towing. As this is a large part of its job - and motorway running is another large part, I'm happy with it. I'm glad the Superb is not my only car though as the handling makes the car very unrewarding to drive. As a work-horse, it's absolutely fine.

Rainworth motors gave me every opportunity to test it on a long solo test drive - so no complaints to them either.

As far as tyres go, my car came on Dunlops which are unimpressive and I have replaced them with Continentals which are better. This is not a car to push around though. I would never ever recommend anyone to buy cheap tyres for this or any other car. At a time when you really need good tyres, you're not going to worry about their cost.

The Superb is quite capable of giving you some nasty moments in the handling department - so don't provoke it and don't take any chances.

rotodiesel.

[landwomble]

Fair comments above, but you really can't defend the handling of the Superb - it's like a boat.

It stems from an ancient Audi design with the engine and gearbox mounted N-S with the engine ahead of the front axle line. The "bow fronted" styling of these cars was designed to hide the real extent of the overhang. The problem with all of this weight out at the front is a high polar moment of inertia which makes the car inclined to continue on a curve once it is initiated. It's not quite the same thing as understeer but has most of the same characteristics as far as the driver is concerned. In the limit, it can give rise to a very dangerous front end slide.

So, before anyone buys a Superb, take it for a run and see if you can live with it. I did - and have no regrets as in my case the nose-heavy design also gives it excellent traction for towing. As this is a large part of its job - and motorway running is another large part, I'm happy with it. I'm glad the Superb is not my only car though as the handling makes the car very unrewarding to drive. As a work-horse, it's absolutely fine.

Rainworth motors gave me every opportunity to test it on a long solo test drive - so no complaints to them either.

As far as tyres go, my car came on Dunlops which are unimpressive and I have replaced them with Continentals which are better. This is not a car to push around though. I would never ever recommend anyone to buy cheap tyres for this or any other car. At a time when you really need good tyres, you're not going to worry about their cost.

The Superb is quite capable of giving you some nasty moments in the handling department - so don't provoke it and don't take any chances.

rotodiesel.

good points all, I know *why* it handles like it does, and I love the car despite it. I've a Eunos Roadster for the twisties, and the Superb for everything else! I have never heard of a load index on a tyre before though, so that's a good point.

I might save up for some uprated ARBs from Awesome GTI though. Believe Passat B5.5 ones fit, at least on the front...

[dieselV6]

Handling wise, you CAN make the Superb a far better boat :yes:

Tyres do not change that much, mostly noise and high speed stability / stability under braking.

I had good run on stock Pirellis (P6000 I think, good handling, very durable but sooooo noisy), Michelins HX MXM (same as Pirellis), but for many years now I use Nokians (H, V and Z G2 which is V+) on both cars - best price/performance, work very well in the wet and (important for me) are reasonably quiet at high speeds.

But to really improve the handling, you need to replace shock absorbers. For the last 4 years, I use Bilstein Sport B6 gas monotubes on front and rear for the last 80k miles, and they work like a dream without upsetting the ride. Handling wise, I tested on a twisty country road (A507) just after the upgrade, and in 4 consecutive corners I could go 10mph+ faster into turns. High speed stability also increased.

By the way, I do not know if it was the roads I drive on, but on both Skodas I bought from new the front shocks were poor after around 15k miles, and the rears went after another 10k. At the time, I checked the oem shocks with the "push in turn each corner of the car" test and they did not pass... . The 80k and counting that I got from Bilsteins so far makes them not only a handling upgrade, but a bargain as well. Bottom line, if the car has stock shocks, chances are they're worn out and need replacement anyway.

Edited 24 February, 2011 by dieselV6