Best way to improve ride comfort on VRS

[Lewisb1989]

As the title suggests I'm wondering what ways are there to improve the ride of the VRS. Roads are pretty poor in my area so wouldn't mind making it a bit less "crashy" on pot holes. I know the tyres don't help the situation being low profile but is there anything that can be done with the suspension set up to improve on the standard car?

[pumpsmynads]

I just bought smaller wheels for mine with larger profile tyres. I'll keep the alloys for when I come to sell the car.

Went to 195/55R15s and there's just over an extra inch of sidewall to absorb potholes etc..)

Edited 29 January, 2013 by pumpsmynads

[terakris]

Assuming the wheels are the right size, i guess you could drop to 16"s or even 15"s but thats prob gonna make the handling and bit bouncy round corners. 195/55/15 would prob be an exact swop.

Edit: pumpsmynads beat me to it.

Edited 29 January, 2013 by terakris

[pumpsmynads]

Circumference difference is only 1.016mm between to two wheel/tyre sizes so speedo fine etc..

[Ootohere]

Go to the 16" wheels or even the 15", but if these are tyres for all year and not your Winter Fitment,

then be sure they are Speed/Load rated to suit the vRS.

(it does not matter if you never exceed 70mph, your insurance requires it)

http://www.kouki.co....size-calculator

http://www.tesco-tyr...lp/speed-rating

http://www.alloywheels.com

george

[Lewisb1989]

The problem is I like the look atm so don't really want to change the wheels especially to smaller ones. If that's the only option I'll have to just deal with it.

[XK140]

Have you never had a sporty car before? IMO the ride is quite soft,which is why I've gone for the uprated springs.

Sometimes softer equals more bouncy equals more uncomfortable.

It would be an interesting experiment to leave the springs standard but fit uprated shock absorbers to have tighter control over the suspension movements and so possibly more comfort.

Also I believe Koni fsd shocks are supposed to give the best of both worlds.

[Ootohere]

Do you have uprated springs or the lowering springs fitted by the dealer?

george

[vRSy]

Have you never had a sporty car before? IMO the ride is quite soft,which is why I've gone for the uprated springs.

Sometimes softer equals more bouncy equals more uncomfortable.

It would be an interesting experiment to leave the springs standard but fit uprated shock absorbers to have tighter control over the suspension movements and so possibly more comfort.

Also I believe Koni fsd shocks are supposed to give the best of both worlds.

I found the stock suspension to be quite crashy over rough surfaces despite being relatively softa and suffering muchos body roll, which was unexpected.

Ive driven a few cars (not Fabias though) with the Bilstein B8 dampers (as part of the B12 kit) as well as Koni FSDs. Both have had better ride quality than stock IMO.

[Confide]

I found the stock suspension to be quite crashy over rough surfaces despite being relatively softa and suffering muchos body roll, which was unexpected.

Ive driven a few cars (not Fabias though) with the Bilstein B8 dampers (as part of the B12 kit) as well as Koni FSDs. Both have had better ride quality than stock IMO.

Totally agree with vRSy on this one : the stock suspension manage to be both soft and hard at the same time, at the wrong times I'm afraid!

I'm using Weitec GT-kit (damper + springs) and the suspension is better on all levels!

Both smoother on the gravelroads and stiffer on the tarmac when it gets TWISTEEEEH !

Edited 29 January, 2013 by Confide

[Lewisb1989]

I bought it second hand but I think it is running stock. I understand it comes with the territory of having a car of this type but just wondering if there is any thing that can be done. Don't really want to go down the full coil overs route. Still don't know whether to keep the car or change. Warranty runs out in August

[OzFabia]

What sort of pressure are you running in the tyres? It should be 36psi front, 35 psi rear. I wouldn't suggest going below those numbers, but maybe you've been running higher?

Edited 29 January, 2013 by OzFabia

[Lewisb1989]

What sort of pressure are you running in the tyres? It should be 36psi front, 35 psi rear. I wouldn't suggest going below those numbers, but maybe you've been running higher?

The pressures are bang on. Check them monthly.

[PDIBK]

I get this in the Monte - which is on the same wheels (pretty much) and "sports suspension" which is 10mm lower than standard (is this the VRS set up?).

The roads I have to travel on are littered with potholes (more like open cast mines). You can avoid most, most of the time, but there will always be one...

Te resulting crash feels like the car hits the bump stops - surely not right. I'm no suspension expert, but it's as if they've tightened/stiffened the ride to be sporty, as the expense of travel/rebound/absorbtion. Maybe that's the cheap and easy way to do it, but there must be a way to fix it.

I was considering swapping the car for this reason alone - I feared for its longevity taking that punishment every day. Now my hand has been forced, as the potential loss of the "big car" in the family means the Fabia is too small for family duties. I don't think a bigger car experiences the same problems if given a similar treatment - my wife's Golf (not sporty) goes over the same things and you don't know. My friend's BMW 535D M-sport thingy - same - I put it down to small car, hard ride, not enough chassis and tyre to absorb the punishment.

Yes - I could have expected it, but I wouldn't expect a "sporty" car to behave like that, rather retain the good ride of the standard car, but be firmer in the bends etc.

[CMcK]

For info lads I tried to buy FSDs for my 2011 vRS but Koni don't do a part to suit yet. There is one listed on their catalogue but it is the same part number as the mk 1 Fabia vRS and likely not suitable.

[vRSy]

Try the Bilstein B8 damper as well. Samilar ride quality to the FSD but superior damping.

[apmaman]

Higher side profile tyres will help, but that means smaller wheels which you dont really want to do.

You could probably squeeze in some 50 profile tyres on the 17's without too much hassle regarding rubbing but I've no evidence to prove this.

The ride quality is amazing on 65 profile tyres with 15 wheels.

[sean_92]

The B8 dampers are very good! I have them on my vrs with the H&R 40mm springs and the ride is much better, it's firm but not uncomfortable, the handling is improved a great deal as well

[CMcK]

The ride quality is amazing on 65 profile tyres with 15 wheels.

My winter types are on 15" steel wheels but the car feels too bouncy especially at the back.

I need to look into the Bilstein B8s. Thanks for the tip.

Edited 17 April, 2013 by CMcK

[CMcK]

I think I'm ready to go for the B12 kit now. Normally I would not lower a car for fear of compromising the ride quality. Any ideas if the stock springs plus B8 dampers would be an improvement over factory setup?

[Jabozuma]

Changing to any kind of suitable gas shocks only would improve the ride.

[CMcK]

Thanks. I think I'm going to get the B8 dampers on their own and try that first.

[sean_92]

If you get the B8 dampers you would more than likely need a lowered set of springs and are the shortened dampers for cars which are to be lowered up to 40mm. Not 100% sure if they'd Still work with stock springs thio

[sean_92]

If you get the B8 dampers you would more than likely need a lowered set of springs and are the shortened dampers for cars which are to be lowered up to 40mm. Not 100% sure if they'd Still work with stock springs though

[CMcK]

Ok. I have asked for a price for the B12 kit as well.