Good morning folks.

My 2007 Octavia was recently diagnosed with needing new front suspension bushes because the originals are worn. Since I am having them replaced I was wondering if there were any upgrades you can do? I recall reading about S3 console bushes (http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/202783-s3-front-console-bushes-fitted/page__hl__s3%20consoles) but I don't know if they are the same thing?

Can anyone advise?

http://www.superpro.eu.com/content/documents/spbulletinspf3271k.pdf

is what I have. I liked the idea of a bit more caster to weight the over light steering.

Wardy is/was thinking of the same, possibly.

More or less equivalent to the Whiteline WALK bushes which were all the rage a couple of years ago.

If anyone is thinking of organising a group buy let me know, need to replace all my front bushes, so a full set is on the cards for me in the next month or two.

You will need to buy the bush in the mount and have them pressed out before getting the S3 bush pressed into your existing mount, I had this done to my Octavia. If I had my time again I would replace with the OEM bush.

What I wrote about them here

Matthew

So you wouldn't bother with the extra cost of changing them?

From memory I paid about £30 for the bushes (from a guy on the mk5 golf forum) then paid Shark to fit them, the difference between the OEM and the S3 was very noticable but having not replaced the worn OEM with new OEM its difficult to know just how much difference the S3 bushes made.

Personally, unless your running alot of power or doing alot of track days I can't see the benefit of the S3 bushes, they were also noted on my insurance as a suspension modifycation and may affect your insurance premium

Thanks. I'll replace with OEM then. I've never really noticed a fault with the way the car drives or handles to be honest.

I used the excuse of it will improve the stability of the front of the car when towing, didn't notice any difference though!

I seem to be the only one on here so far to have fitted the aftermarket bushes. So far, about two years on, I have had no problems, no squeaking or banging. No additional harshness or transmitted road noise.

As I said in an earlier post, the main reason I considered them in the first place was to load up the steering (I hate over light steering) by increasing the caster. The other claimed benefits were not so important to me, although the claim of camber gain would be useful if true.

When I first got my current car, my first impression was what a mistake! Compared to my 1U, it was a roly poly oiled pig, requiring far too much concentration to keep in a straight line at speed and wallowing like a two masted ketch in a force nine gale round corners.

I had a Whiteline adjustable rear anti roll bar fitted and a 4 wheel alignment done all about the same time so it is difficult to separate the effects of the individual changes. Roadholding, handling, ride and fuel consumption all improved. Some noticeablely, others dramatically

The combined effect of all three changes transformed the car. It can drone up Autobahn at 80-90, allowing me to concentrate on being overtaken by cars going twice as fast or snoozing Lithuanian lorry drivers. It allows me to "make progress" along nice twisty French D roads/alpine passes with confidence enough to hang half a tread of the inside tyre over the edge. Nice and pointy!

In short the improved grip and control allows me to do drive how I like. Being able to maintain corner speed means I don't need to accelerate so hard after a bend, which is one possible contributing reason for reduced fuel consumption. It also means I no longer feel the need for any performance enhancement, even on my measely 105bhp.

The bushes were quite expensive at the £80 I paid, so if the improvements I noticed are not on your radar, then its a complete waste. It depends on what you do with your car, as some said, they wouldn't bother with the S3 ones, perhaps there is insufficient difference, I don't know.

YMMV.

http://www.superpro....tinspf3271k.pdf

is what I have. I liked the idea of a bit more caster to weight the over light steering.

Wardy is/was thinking of the same, possibly.

More or less equivalent to the Whiteline WALK bushes which were all the rage a couple of years ago.

Just been looking at these and they are about the same cost as OEM. Where did you get your's from?

YMMV.

What does this mean?

Your Mileage May Vary.

Can't remember. I searched on the interweb 'til I found the cheapest

Edited 6 January, 201313 yr by nickguzzi

I have the superpro ones fitted when I first had my car (over 2 years ago I think). The reason i replaced mine was for the squeaking front bushes when going over speed bumps etc.

They cured this, but tbh for a road car and how I drive if I did it again i'd just replace with standard ones. The superpro ones do give more feedback but also a little more harshness (not lots - but say 5% more)

I found a squirt of WD40 on the console bushes and the front wishbone bushes every 2 months cured the squeaking though aswell.

I fitted the dogbone bush too and that's another thing that didn't make a huge difference, just a little bit more feel again but the gearchange on an Octavia is pretty rubbish anyhow as it's cables so the feel isn't brilliant.

Edited 6 January, 201313 yr by vrs777