Morning all.. I have always felt this problem for the day I got the fabia vrs .. great car but never felt stable at speed ... steering feels ever so light .. I've changed pretty much everything under the car it drives straight as an arrow ...as I've never driven another one I have nothing to compare against .. I can't believe they all feel this way , as plenty of people do track days on here 

What size/make of tyres are you running/pressures.

 

I've had 2 Fabia MK I Vrs's and han no problem at speed

Maybe the weight of the steering has been adjusted in VCDS.
IIRC there's five settings.

 

Never had an issue with either my 1.2 or my vrs. both feel glued to the road and because of the weight they don't seem affected by winds very much. Depends what speed you are doing but certainly at legal speed you shouldn't have any issues.

On a private road . Between 80 and 90 on dash.  It kinda feels like it's floating . I put an ap suspension kit on it . Every bush has been changed .. Rarb , new steering rack . 4x Barum tyres .. (not the xl version ) wonder if this is the issues .. I've owned the car since 2015 . And love the engine and mpg but the handling has always felt odd .. 

tyre pressures are 33f 34r ... however I've tried lots of diff combinations.. 

6 hours ago, clarendon462 said:

Never had an issue with either my 1.2 or my vrs. both feel glued to the road and because of the weight they don't seem affected by winds very much. Depends what speed you are doing but certainly at legal speed you shouldn't have any issues.

 

Mine's the worst car I've ever had for being blown around by crosswinds. It's great in calm conditions, no problem at all. but even the mildest crosswinds shove it about all over the place. It's one thing I hate about it.

Edited 26 November, 20178 yr by TMB

Just now, TMB said:

 

Mine's the worst car I've ever had for being blown around by crosswinds. It's great in calm conditions, no problem at all. but even the mildest crosswinds shove it about all over the place. It's one thing I hate aboout it.

Really? I would completely disagree with that but maybe its because mine has wider and possibly stickier tyres. Guessing you run 185/60?

 

4 minutes ago, clarendon462 said:

Really? I would completely disagree with that but maybe its because mine has wider and possibly stickier tyres. Guessing you run 185/60?

 

 

Yes that's my tyre size. The engine is also a very light aluminium unit.

Edited 26 November, 20178 yr by TMB

No sorry, my tyres are 165/70 R14

6 hours ago, serafumi said:

On a private road . Between 80 and 90 on dash.  It kinda feels like it's floating . I put an ap suspension kit on it . Every bush has been changed .. Rarb , new steering rack . 4x Barum tyres .. (not the xl version ) wonder if this is the issues .. I've owned the car since 2015 . And love the engine and mpg but the handling has always felt odd .. 

tyre pressures are 33f 34r ... however I've tried lots of diff combinations.. 

Barum Bravuris? What size and pressure?
I had an AP kit on my MkI 1.9TDi witha Jabbasport RARB running 205/45/16 Uniroyal Rainsport 3's and honestly can't say I noticed your problem.
Even tracked it without issue (save heatsoak in the silly SMIC lol)

43 minutes ago, TMB said:

No sorry, my tyres are 165/70 R14

Oh that might be why then. My 1.2 had 195/50 15 and my vrs has 205 wide so quite a bit wider than 165 . Guessing those narrower tyres combined with a bigger profile makes it feel more unstable.

165/70 R17 just great on a rain covered or flooding road and even if not winter tyres maybe quite good in snow if a decent tread.

 

Does not answer the OP's issue just feeling 'not stable at speed'  no mention of cross winds.

 

Tyres first thing possible, pressure, compound, age of them, or just crap tyres, then alignment.

Then is the Alignment issue to do with suspension.

If not alignment or suspension back to crap tyres.

Some tyres which corner well are inherently unstable in a straight line because their design facilitates rapid direction changes.

Sh!te tyres then really to use on a road car even in the UK where high speed straight line is likely to be up to 100 mph max even on UK motorways.

Or a 1/4 mile track with no bends.

11 minutes ago, AwaoffSki said:

165/70 R17 just great on a rain covered or flooding road and even if not winter tyres maybe quite good in snow if a decent tread.

 

Does not answer the OP's issue just feeling 'not stable at speed'  no mention of cross winds.

 

Tyres first thing possible, pressure, compound, age of them, or just crap tyres, then alignment.

Then is the Alignment issue to do with suspension.

If not alignment or suspension back to crap tyres.

I think Awaoffski is on the right track, the OP has had a shed load of suspension work done so the first thing i would is a 4 wheel alignment check done prefably on what we in the trade call a "Hunter" machine, the checks camber, castor and tracking at all 4 corners; after driving a car with this done, it's well worth the money; they drive and handle so much better.

 

Then it's down to tyre's, I always go for mid range (price wise) tyre's as i think think cheap tyre's and your plying with death and the grim reaper.

 

I currently have a set of continentals fitted on my octy (standard fitment i believe) and hate then, the compound is too hard so in the wet the aren't good, in the dry their fine but noisey, had Avons on my old Octy and they were brilliant.

7 hours ago, serafumi said:

On a private road . Between 80 and 90 on dash.  It kinda feels like it's floating . I put an ap suspension kit on it . Every bush has been changed .. Rarb , new steering rack . 4x Barum tyres .. (not the xl version ) wonder if this is the issues .. I've owned the car since 2015 . And love the engine and mpg but the handling has always felt odd .. 

tyre pressures are 33f 34r ... however I've tried lots of diff combinations.. 

 

Probably best to get a four wheel allignment done to see if anything is out of line. I had a similar problem with a Polo a few years ago after I'd replaced a lot of suspension parts - turned out to be a suspension bottom arm (not OEM) that was not quite the correct size (wasn't out by much) but when I replaced them for original equipment arms (much more expensive) it felt perfect!

You can get 4 wheel alignment but there is no adjustment on the rear

But yes a good wheel alignment makes a big difference.

No adjustment just the need to correct / repair / replace parts if shown to be all wrong, like the cause of 'nervous or unstable at speed',

the only component on the rear which would cause alignment issues would be the solid bushes for the rear axle, and i doubt they are worn out as they tend to last a long time.

I think it would more be to show any accident damage or kerb damage which may have bent the beam.

 

Exactly, maybe to find that bent axle that some find they have.

Indeed,  it should help identify what is wrong (if anything) inc previous damage. I've followed many a car that from the rear looks wrong almost as though it's crabbing - probably from a repaired accident etc thinking that the car must be dreadful to drive. 

 

Any tyre wear isues?

 

It's always worth getting a 4 wheel allignement

 

 

 

Saying that our little Panda (only 35k miles now) has never felt great on the motorway and we know it's history (was my father in laws'). Gets blown around especially when passing lorries and you concentrate like crazy when your at motorway speed. our MKI Octavia is good on the motorway but the Superb  is amazing (rock solid, smooth and quiet). Is it a weight or wheelbase thing?

 

@serafumi Do you know someone else with a similar Fabia to compare against yours?

 

 

Edited 26 November, 20178 yr by bigjohn

Morning all sorry for delay . I've had the alignment done 4 times .. last time it was done . The guy seemed to measure more .. both chambers were out of spec . -1.25 and -1.32 I think . The guy who did it said no problems with that . And castor on drivers side was slightly out .. also he said it's not an issue .. it has 4 new Barum 3s in correct 205 45 16 size .. however they always look flat . I'm wondering if it's the issue ... alwAys keep on top of pressures .. I've just never thought it felt planted on the road . Could outer cv joint play make it feel that way ? 

Just curious, does your Golf have PAS, or not?

8 minutes ago, Wino said:

Just curious, does your Golf have PAS, or not?

Golf ??? 

 

Your profile says you also have a mk2 Golf.

Having owned one with and one without PAS, if yours is/was a non-PAS, the contrast with a Fabia is very marked.

Edited 27 November, 20178 yr by Wino