Octavia VRS Suspension

[Antoni]

Hi,

I am after some advice regarding softening the suspension on our petrol VRS.

My wife has late 57 plate vrs hatchback, which we think is a great car, but due to various circumstances, it needs to be used more as our main family car than just being my wifes car.

Due to spinal surgery in my neck, I find the VRS suspension too hard, particularly on our local roads and wonder if anyone has ever softened up a Vrs? - There is a lot of info on upgrading the suspension, but I cant find any info on softening it ?

The rear suspension seems to be the main cause of the poor ride - I was thinking of fitting dampers from an ordinary hatch and seeing what this did, ideally the spring rate would be good to copy, however just using the normal springs would lead to a odd stance front to rear.

Do any springs exist that are softer than the std Vrs ones, but maintain the ride height? - Not too worried about load capacity or ultimate handling - we dont carry much in the car and my wife is more botherd about the looks / straight line performance and noise than blasting it around b roads.

I could fit standard springs all round, but I think it would look a bit odd with the ride height.

I guess in summary - does anyone have any experience of just fitting the standard shocks from another octy II ?

Does anyone know of softer springs retaining the vrs ride height (maybe with a more progressive rate ?)

Has anyone fitted std springs and dampers all round ??

Any and all advice most welcome - really dont want to sell the car !!!

Cheers

Antoni

[TsvRS]

I am running 16" wheels on my vRS for my winter tyres right now and that softens the suspension enormously. The higher profile tyres help a lot to smooth out the bumps and the much lighter wheels adapt to the road surface far better. They look awful of course but maintain the ride height.

[rob_e]

Trade the car for an elegance or L&K? Probably cash coming back your way i would have thought..?

Or, as has been said, try smaller wheels, or swap your springs and dampers for something coming of a comfort-spec car. Don't just do dampers or springs, you'll need both otherwise you'll have something horrible. You'd need to also factor in the cost of swapping back to OE vRS items before you sell the car otherwise it may be hard to move shift.

HTH.

[El Dingo]

To be honest, the only thing to do is change the car. :(

There are many reasons for saying this - not least of which is that making the car non-standard will cost money in the initial outlay and then again when you try to sell the car (unless you intend keeping it until you scrap it). You have to inform your insurer as well and might suffer a hike in the premium as well as an administration fee.

Really sorry to hear about your neck problems - you have my sympathies.

[PowerMalc]

My wife has found our VRS quite hard riding.

So I've taken the plunge and am in the process of changing it for a Skoda Superb 1.8TSi Elegance with DSG

IMO quite a lot more comfortable on the test drive

[Nick P]

I actually found the ride on my Elegance worse than my VRS on stock suspension.

For the purposes of getting my vRS on a dyno on Friday (and to clean the threads), I wound the AP coil-overs right up and have been driving around with it jacked up like that for the last couple of days. It's really comfy.

So there's an option to consider - decent coilovers at stock height, or slightly lower, rather than significantly lowered. Another great option, albeit a significant investment would be air ride.

[matt_theforce]

If your wanting to keep it looking OEM (not changing the wheels), could the Koni FSD's be a possibility? They should improve the comfort levels under normal driving conditions yet still provide a firm/sporty ride when required?

(I haven't tried them but I've heard good reports on them and am considering them for my Elegance in 2012 to improve the quality of the ride)

Matthew

[Nick P]

But you're stuck at one height and they're more expensive (for the shocks+springs) than decent coilovers.

[oldbeaver]

Well, the Octavia VRS and the Octavia TDI may surely have the same suspension. I have the TDI. I back this topic because I suffer a little from my low back, and find my Octavia a little hard. I wish I can soften the suspension, both, front and rear. I don´t want to change this car, it is really good. I am getting more than 50 mpg (imperial) and the car is very reliable. I think I am going to improve fuel yield an additional 17% with a recent tune of cam distribution I made this week.

This is a magnificent car, good to keep it for long. Difficult to change for a different car.

I am sure there are several experienced people on the suspension topic in the Forum. But, almost all of them are looking after sport cars, and devote their knowledge to make suspension more stiff, the opposite we want. Hey experts, youngsters, give us a hand !

From the very little I learned on the net about the subjet, longer stability bars should soften suspension. This will keep all the rest equal, same height, same coils, same shock absorbers, softer suspension (I think). Making the bar longer is not so difficult, the point is to learn how much. I listen for experts opinions.

Oldbeaver

[prolfe]

What size wheels do you have OP?

Changing from 18's to 17's would make a big difference.

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[Guest]

I would suggest getting a ride in one with koni fsds and eibach pro springs. The ride on standard suspension isn't great as it jitters about. Typical vag, over sprung and under damped.

[marcevo1]

I'd try to loan a set of 17's off someone first?

As Jonno says over sprung under damped - Alfas are exactly the same. Lots of people swear by fsds - personally prefer eibach pro springs and dampers (matched) but will be too hard I imagine but would feel nicer.

How much are you looking at spending? Talk to someone who revalves standard konis etc? I've got a set of avos on the alfa 75 track day car and softest setting is way softer than stock. Gaz were the same.