What is the standard non-lowered ride height and where should it be measured?

 

I'd refer to the Haynes manual but

• it doesn't seem to have this information, and
• even if it did I wouldn't be able to trust, being as it mostly seems to be a rather poor cut & paste of the Octavia manual

 

 

 

 

If I wanted a second bloody Octavia manual I'd have bought one!

Post a pic of your car

We should be able to tell from that for you!

If its about this high...

...then its standard height

Why did they make it so high? It's one of my only gripes with the car.

Post a pic

Only have pictures from garage advert, so can't post those. The reason for asking is I'm looking for potential causes of a wildly low castor angle, as calculated by a laser alignment machine, so precise numbers would be most helpful ;-)

 

 

In case it's not widely known, castor angle isn't measured by these machines - they do a calculation based on how the camber changes with steering deflection, (as explained by a suspension designer friend).

Why did they make it so high? It's one of my only gripes with the car.

Probably to save money? The vRS was only something like £13k new.

The ride height is the only thing that I hated about the car. Coilies have sorted it though

I will get round to lowering it eventually but it really does look like it's on stilts. 

Picture as promised ...

Picture as promised ...

P1050343.JPG

looks standard height

If you can fit your shoe between the tyre and and the arch, it's too high! Standard setup does make it look like it should be a rally car though

Standard v lowered.

Standard v lowered.

How much lower than standard is that?

AnotherGarath,  that picture is what it is,

the suspension might be fine,    the problem is maybe,  there is no engine in the car.

How much lower than standard is that?

I'm on AP coilovers, no adjuster rings in the back. No idea how much lower than the vrs on the left though.

Going from the pic,

First those wheels don't suit it, makes it look like a vRS replica,

second are the tyres the right profile, they look too fat to me.  

Going from the pic,

First those wheels don't suit it, makes it look like a vRS replica,

second are the tyres the right profile, they look too fat to me.  

 

they look like 15" rims to me, std 288mm brakes and they are almost touching the rims.

Probably why the geo is up the spout then. They are probably narrower

tyres as well. Someones been tinkering to the detriment of the OE setup.

It probably wobbles like a jelly on a rollerskate, well when it actually has any traction

anyway.... My advice get some standard wheels, good tyres and a decent geo setup

from somewhere reputable like wheels in motion and get everything set up properly again.

I bet its fun in the wet as it is at the moment...   

Smaller wheels fitted yesterday, for the winter, using all-season tyres in the correct size to allow the use of snow chains, (as per Skoda recommendation). It was difficult to find weights of Skoda oem alloys but these were lightest I could find.

 

Standard wheels have horrible and mismatched tyres so are off for at least the winter, but tbh having lighter wheels & tyres is a complete revelation and amazingly better, and I'm left wondering if there are any good reasons for using the standard size.

 

An additional benefit is that we now have a proper full size spare that can be pressed into use if necessary and used up to full speed for the sake of 15 minutes interruption.

 

Absolutely cracking in the wet, btw ;-)

 

What I expect is that there should be less cornering grip, (versus more accelerating and braking grip), meaning it will be necessary to set the car up for each bend, but I think relying on mechanical grip for cornering doesn't have a great deal to do with fun driving.

 

Still need to sort out the front suspension - suspecting worn top mounts - but should get more clarity in a couple of weeks time.

Im confused.. so you have taken the wheels off in the picture + replaced them with.....?

So what experience do you have with standard VRS 16s with standard VRS tyres?

So did it come with the wheels + tyres in the pic instead of standard VRS 16s? Are they 15s with massive tyres or 16s with massive tyres?

Also do you live in the scottish highlands? If not then where else in the UK do u think snow chains are needed ??

Came with standard 6.5Jx16" wheels, 205/45. As of yesterday morning replaced with the ones in the photo, 6Jx15" 185/55.

 

The need for being able to fit snow-chains may be a red-herring, unless we go driving where there is deep snow, but it is the (only) alternative size that Skoda specify for the vRS, and which coincidentally allows the use of snow-chains.

 

The most worrying aspect was whether the wheels would clear the calipers and leave enough room for sticky weights, which they do, just. However these are Skoda wheels, albeit for the Mk2, so I shouldn't need to have been concerned. The parts chap at Bickerton said the hubs, etc. are the same on the Mk1 and Mk2, so he was certain it wouldn't be a problem

 

FWIW good quality all-season tyres aren't available in 205/45R16 - Camskill show none, and mytyres don't have anything decent. The choice for good quality winters is limited. The smaller size allows a greater choice, potentially cheaper, although the load index restriction narrows things a bit.

 

It seemed like a good opportunity to follow a less well trod path with the hope of getting something a bit lighter and less stodgy on the road. A mad experiment, if you like, but with standard size wheels & tyres as a fallback.

 

In case anyone is interested:

• Hankook Optimo 4S 185/55R15 XL 86H weighs 16.2 lbs / 7.4 kg
• CCH 700 004 6Jx15 5x100PCD ET43 weighs 17.8 lbs / 8.0 kg

Would probably need to add a couple of tenths of a pound to include pressurised air when a tyre is mounted on a wheel.

 

I think the standard wheel weighs 9 kg and approximately the same for the tyre.

Loving the bigotry and blinkers in this thread

 

It is a VRs, and quite a good one, if I'm any judge. I enjoyed my drive in it.

 

Gareth, the arch gap looks pretty standard (about 45mm I think. Sure I've read this somewhere in the past).

... and they are almost touching the rims.

For completeness ...

A wash wouldn't go amiss ...