I have a 2011 Superb 1.8TSI DSG with Rough road package. Over time I swapped my factory suspension with aftermarket ones. The swaps as it happened,

Struts:    Bilstein B6 at both FR/RR was the first one 
Sway Bars: H&R FR 28mm and RR 24mm
Alloys:    Replaced OEM with Aftermarket alloys, from 205/55/R16 to 225/45/R17 with PS4
Bushes:    Front Control Arm Front - Powerflex with Camber adjust, 
           Front Control Arm Rear - SuperPro
           Rear All - Whiteline Black series
           Rear Subframe - Febi OEM replacement
Springs:   Euro spec OEM spring, 15mm shorter than the Rough road package Spring
Tyres:     The last change was move to 225/50/R17 from 225/45/R17. This brings the sidewall height to OEM spec

The suspension has become quite stiff with all the above mods especially after swapping the springs. But car handles quite well and can take corners flat like a hatchback. I can live with the stiffness. But the alloys are unable to cope with this
suspension setup. Brand new wheels get twisted and get out of shape after just about a 20 mile run, especially the front ones. I have 5 sets(20 in total) of alloys(1 OEM, 2 Momos and 2 Advanti Racing) all bent and out of shape. I have to soften 
up my suspension before I get next set of wheels. I like the way car handles and want to retain as many components as possible but don't know which ones to lose. I want to lose only just enough to keep alloys from getting twisted but don't want 
to experiment and risk losing the new set too.

The questions I have,
1) Is Tire upgrade from 225/45/R17 to 225/50/R17 enough to prevent alloy damage if other bits kept unchanged.
2) Do I need to replace Bilstein B6 or H&R Sways or both?

I would appreciate any suggestions/inputs from forum members.  Thanks.

Edited 24 July, 20187 yr by jarneevans

Welcome. 

I hope that was 4 wheels and not 20 that were damaged.

 

Maybe you should get 16" steel wheels and tyres that are XL marked.  (reinforced side walls)

Then avoid holes in the road as much as possible with the suspension mods you have carried out.

If you have several sets of damaged wheels, playing with small increments doesn't help. Different wheel alloys and designs cope with abuse differently. If they all brake, the fix isn't that simple. Unless you drive like a maniac, the current suspension isn't working right on your roads. If the suspension doesn't dampen the bumps, the tires and wheels do and their capacity is being greatly exceeded.

 

If you managed to find wheels that would take such abuse, the next softest thing would brake.

 

Proper OEM wheels are usually very tough. If they break under normal driving, something is very wrong.

Bent alloy wheels after 20 miles!?

 

Is this your drive to work?

 

 

Seriously though, this must mean that your current set-up has zero suspension travel?

 

Time to sacrifice cornering speed for a little more suspension travel.

 

Hi i tend to spend q fair bit of time in India and to be honest with your roads the last thing i would do would be lower the suspension the speed bumps are brutal and the road edges are shall we say rough, Indian market cars have smaller wheels and higher suspension than the EU cars for a reason , I would also look at the quality of the alloys your buying, dont take this wrong but i have many indian friends who wont buy a product that is made in or has come from India or for that matter China, i know the image of big wheels low cars is cool however having gone through the same thing in my own younger days i can promise you it will just cost you time money and effort (bet you take no notice:)) Skoda spent millions testing the car why undo all that with some mods that just look cool but contribute nothing to your car, you want a sports car buy one.

Thanks for suggestions/comments.

 

Skoda sold Mk2 Superb VR6 with 225/45/R17 OEM wheels and Euro spec suspension. Even the new Octi VRS is being sold with the same spec. The roads I drive are decent and but they do have some nasty rough edges. Also the expansion joints of the over-bridges/flyovers are bad. I don't abuse the car. 

 

Only two bits that are different from the stock Superb VR6 sold here are Bilstein B6 struts and H&R Sway bars. I am discounting the poly bushes since I believe they make the ride harsh but not hard. I can understand wheels getting bent upon hard impact. But what I am facing is twisted wheels from a gentle 20mile run with some occasional thuds over rough patches. The wheels are sourced directly from MOMO's primary distributor in India.

 

I understand that the Bilstein B6 is one of the common mods done elsewhere. I am not sure why it makes my ride so hard. I am willing to lose Bilstein B6 if it helps. But do I need to lose H&R sways too? Do they play a role in making the setup hard on normal driving. I know they can play a role when hitting something hard as they may limit the suspension travel.

 

Also would a stiff poly bush in Front lower arm rear slot make the ride hard? The OEM one has lot if rubber.

 

Thanks once again.

Edited 26 July, 20187 yr by jarneevans

1 hour ago, jarneevans said:

Thanks for suggestions/comments.

 

Skoda sold Mk2 Superb VR6 with 225/45/R17 OEM wheels and Euro spec suspension. Even the new Octi VRS is being sold with the same spec. The roads I drive are decent and but they do have some nasty rough edges. Also the expansion joints of the over-bridges/flyovers are bad. I don't abuse the car.

If you're breaking OE or quality aftermarket wheels over such a short distance, you have a problem, no matter what you might like to think.

 

Most countries where people perform these mods have good road infrastructure, something I'm not sure that India has. Some photos or video of your route would be useful here.

 

1 hour ago, jarneevans said:

Only two bits that are different from the stock Superb VR6 sold here are Bilstein B6 struts and H&R Sway bars. I am discounting the poly bushes since I believe they make the ride harsh but not hard. I can understand wheels getting bent upon hard impact. But what I am facing is twisted wheels from a gentle 20mile run with some occasional thuds over rough patches. The wheels are sourced directly from MOMO's primary distributor in India.

 

I understand that the Bilstein B6 is one of the common mods done elsewhere. I am not sure why it makes my ride so hard. I am willing to lose Bilstein B6 if it helps. But do I need to lose H&R sways too? Do they play a role in making the setup hard on normal driving. I know they can play a role when hitting something hard as they may limit the suspension travel.

 

Also would a stiff poly bush in Front lower arm rear slot make the ride hard? The OEM one has lot if rubber.

 

Anti-roll bars work by limiting the degree to which wheels on opposite sides of the car can move away from each other vertically: in cornering, the inside wheel will be lower than normal relative to the car while the outside one will be higher. The anti-roll bar will limit this differential. A stiff anti-roll bar can limit the travel of an individual wheel over a bump, particularly if the bump is big. So yes, if the roads you drive on are very rough stiff anti-roll bars will play their part.

 

Poly bushes will play some part too. The rubber in the OE setup allows the bush to absorb impacts better, giving a better ride but also giving a little more protection against bumps. Poly bushes will absorb less energy over a given bump, meaning the rest of the suspension components have to absorb more energy, wheels included.

 

If you want to improve matters, I'd suggest starting with the standard suspension package for the Superb as a replacement for the rough-road package your car came with. It's lower and firmer without being overly harsh and will be kinder to your wheels.

 

At this point, you're down a lot of money on wheels and components and you still have a setup that's not working on the roads you drive on regularly. It's time to stop and be sensible about this and accept that maybe what you want just won't work.

Message received loud and clear. Before I get new set of wheels, I intend to swap some bits iteratively(H&R Sways/Bilstein B6) until the suspension feels compliant.

 

But before I start with it, I have two queries.

 

Would too much toe-in/out alter suspension geometry and prevent it from working optimally. The reason I am asking is that I always got the 4-wheel tracking done at a reputed Michelin dealer with best equipment from Hunter Engg. But I always found the suspension to be quite hard after alignment and it would literally crash into every small undulation on the road. This rigidness would slowly reduce overtime and suspension would begin to feel firm but not hard after around  500 miles of running. I believe alloy damage always happened in the first 500 mile window. The last time I changed my tire to 50 profile from 45, tracking was done at a different branch of the same dealer. This time I didn't feel the rigidness and the suspension felt firm but not hard. Is more rubber from 50 profile tire responsible for this positive change ? or did the previous alignment shop done a bad job. 

 

My next query, are Bilstein OEM replacement springs significantly stiffer than OEM/Eibachs. I had Eibach Pro kit springs with 30mm drop for sometime and the suspension felt lot more compliant with Eibach's than with Bilsten's. In fact, Eibachs felt as soft as OEM springs but without the sickening nose drive.

 

I am sorry for asking for too many questions. I just want to understand what went wrong before I begin to undo everything I have done so far.

 

Thanks.

simply put your suspension is so low and stiff its got no compliance left, yes the lower the profile the harsher the ride and yes the lower the profile the more likely is wheel damage, even in the UK where roads are way better than in India we have potholes and bumps that damage wheels on standard Superbs with the 18" wheels.

 

return the suspension to standard but fit dual rate springs these will have a slightly lower stance but still be compliant 30mm drop is extreme for rough roads 

Changing geometry settings during alignment won't change the compliance of the suspension and it won't prevent you from breaking wheels.

 

Put it back to one of the factory settings and get on with your life.

Don't want to be rude - but if you have money to do all the mods - wouldn't be better / cheaper to buy different - more suitable to the condition of your local roads - car in the first place?? Proper 4x4 ? 

Proper 4x4 as this