Worst suspension in car ownership

[Macsamillion]

Honestly the worst setup of any car I have owned in 23 years. I have a superb estate 4x4 280 without adaptive suspension. The car bottoms out and throws you all over the place as soon as you ask it to react to more than one upset. I have had two services done and keep asking them to check they haven't left bump stops in or the dampers are broke. How could they get it so wrong.  It's going to be the reason it goes. Or I go the replacement route. 

[UndertheRadar]

Mine has DCC and is exactly the same. It’s an absolutely “shocking” setup. 
In saying that, the rest of the car is great and otherwise goes and drives fine, so I’m looking into replacing the struts but retaining the original springs to see how that goes. Might replace the rear anti roll bar at the same time. Don’t really want to start into front mounts incase it adds to much vibration. 

[Macsamillion]

1 hour ago, UndertheRadar said:

Mine has DCC and is exactly the same. It’s an absolutely “shocking” setup. 

Glad to hear I'm not missing out on anything. Lol. I might see what options are, I would like a remap but would 100% not be doing this until I had a vast improvement in the suspension. 

[Hozz]

1 hour ago, Macsamillion said:

Honestly the worst setup of any car I have owned in 23 years. I have a superb estate 4x4 280 without adaptive suspension. The car bottoms out and throws you all over the place as soon as you ask it to react to more than one upset. I have had two services done and keep asking them to check they haven't left bump stops in or the dampers are broke. How could they get it so wrong.  It's going to be the reason it goes. Or I go the replacement route. 

Are you sure they haven't left the bump stops in. My garage assured me they weren't there until I insisted they checked again and then found them.

They are only in the front suspension and you can't see them until you jack up the front wheels completely.

[Ootohere]

They are not 'bump stops'  they are 'Transit Blocks'  to stop the car bouncing about on transporters. 

[skomaz]

Presumably you had a test drive before purchase?  Was the test car different?

[Bigeater]

This kit should sort your suspension out https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/332880386514  

 

[UndertheRadar]

I’ve a friend who’s an agent for both Bilstein and H&R. I keep meaning to get him to price me up the bits I need, but keep forgetting given other priorities that keep taking over at the minute. 

[Nick_H]

5 hours ago, Macsamillion said:

Honestly the worst setup of any car I have owned in 23 years. I have a superb estate 4x4 280 without adaptive suspension. The car bottoms out and throws you all over the place as soon as you ask it to react to more than one upset. I have had two services done and keep asking them to check they haven't left bump stops in or the dampers are broke. How could they get it so wrong.  It's going to be the reason it goes. Or I go the replacement route. 

 

I've had my 280 without adaptive suspension from new for 5 years now. Must be something wrong with your car because mines not like that.

[ChrisCh]

I think your car is broken, mine is fine. I suggest you take it somewhere else to get inspected

 

Vastly more comfortable than my other car. My car does have DCC though.

Edited 18 October, 2020 by ChrisCh

[Macsamillion]

5 hours ago, skomaz said:

Presumably you had a test drive before purchase?  Was the test car different?

Drove this car on test drive but did not have the chance to push it on challenging roads

[UndertheRadar]

Do any of those that find their suspension acceptable have 19” factory fitted wheels, or are the folks that don’t find it harsh and slow to respond to dips and bumps running factory fitted 18’s or even 17’s by any chance. 
My suspension is in perfect working order as specified by Skoda on leaving the factory. I’ve stripped it and tested it, both on bench and on plates while fitted. It’s just too slow to respond and too soft. 
we would have taxi drivers requesting their shocks changed quite regularly on low mileage cars for this very reason on non DCC vehicles as the bang has scared passengers when the fronts run out of travel on minor surface undulations (road repair not 100% level etc)

Just wondering as 90% of the time, the question is raised on cars sporting larger wheels. 

[Macsamillion]

7 hours ago, Hozz said:

Are you sure they haven't left the bump stops in. My garage assured me they weren't there until I insisted they checked again and then found them.

They are only in the front suspension and you can't see them until you jack up the front wheels completely.

It's going back gain on Wednesday I will ask the question. I asked. Last year At a Different Dealer. I was told last week it's not a sports car and I'm expecting too much. Might be true. 

[Macsamillion]

2 hours ago, ChrisCh said:

I think your car is broken, mine is fine. I suggest you take it somewhere else to get inspected

 

Vastly more comfortable than my other car. My car does have DCC though.

My car is super comfortable and grips the road brilliantly. My point is regarding change of direction and uneven, undulating roads which bottom the car out and turn it into a pogo stick

[Nick_H]

42 minutes ago, UndertheRadar said:

Do any of those that find their suspension acceptable have 19” factory fitted wheels, or are the folks that don’t find it harsh and slow to respond to dips and bumps running factory fitted 18’s or even 17’s by any chance. 
My suspension is in perfect working order as specified by Skoda on leaving the factory. I’ve stripped it and tested it, both on bench and on plates while fitted. It’s just too slow to respond and too soft. 
we would have taxi drivers requesting their shocks changed quite regularly on low mileage cars for this very reason on non DCC vehicles as the bang has scared passengers when the fronts run out of travel on minor surface undulations (road repair not 100% level etc)

Just wondering as 90% of the time, the question is raised on cars sporting larger wheels. 

 

Yeah 18's for me.

[shyVRS245]

1 minute ago, Nick_H said:

 

Yeah 18's for me.

After just 2 days and just over 100 miles driven already prefer the standard ride height with 18" alloys and in my case Continental 235/45R18 tyres. Much more comfortable and less thumping than the 235/40R19 Bridgestone tyres on 19" Vega alloys with the non DCC Sportline 15mm lower and stiffer dampers/spring set up. This on a 2.0 TDi 150PS DSG SEL hatch for comparison.

[Nick_H]

7 minutes ago, shyVRS245 said:

After just 2 days and just over 100 miles driven already prefer the standard ride height with 18" alloys and in my case Continental 235/45R18 tyres. Much more comfortable and less thumping than the 235/40R19 Bridgestone tyres on 19" Vega alloys with the non DCC Sportline 15mm lower and stiffer dampers/spring set up. This on a 2.0 TDi 150PS DSG SEL hatch for comparison.

 

What you reckon to the Conti's ? I'm down to 3mm front and 4mm back on the PS4's. Love them but they will probably have lasted close to half the distance of the factory fit Dunlop's. Cant decided if I just want to bite the bullet and go for PS4 again or look for something that might last a bit longer .... To be honest i'm sick of watching tyre vids ...

Edited 18 October, 2020 by Nick_H

[shyVRS245]

Yeah early days so far first time I've had them on any car but certainly grippy enough pushing round corners and roundabouts but roads have been dry so far and no full on standing start efforts so but quieter than the Bridgestones and Michelins I had on the Sportline.

[UndertheRadar]

34 minutes ago, Nick_H said:

 

Yeah 18's for me.

I’ve a set of 18” winters in the garage to fit to mine soon, so I’ll see how much of a difference that makes with more give in the side wall to aid the shocks. 
just trying to reason why some are so bad over certain surfaces and yet working correctly and without fault as the OP asks. 
An example of this would be, I drove over a repair the other day in traffic. Doing about 55mph (NSL zone). It’s a repair I’ve driven over without even noticing it was there several times in my wife’s ST estate (not the most forgiving suspension). My Superb reacted like I’d just hit a brick. I thought for sure the wheel was destroyed. The bang was that bad the glovebox thumped open. I went back to look as I thought the repair had opened up again without me noticing. It hadn’t. 
I can see another type of DCC shock in my near future as these ones just ruin the entire drive some days. 

[Macsamillion]

Yes, mine are 19". Undertheradar- exactly my issue. I drive my wife's mini Cooper and you would think it's a different road. Number of times I have pulled over to check the front splitter or my alloys as I thought something had been thumped. I will search forum for aftermarket options. 

[Redboy]

2 hours ago, Macsamillion said:

It's going back gain on Wednesday I will ask the question. I asked. Last year At a Different Dealer. I was told last week it's not a sports car and I'm expecting too much. Might be true. 

It is true. Buy a Golf GTI if you want point to point on challenging roads... the roads around here are challenging enough with mud, potholes and tractors. DCC tightens it up a fair bit around bends. It's a big floaty car, despite 19's and slightly lowered suspension, you've got your work cut out without DCC. Having owned all 3 types I reckon my 272 in sport mode with DCC and DSG would struggle to stick with my old Golf or mapped Octavia point to point. Of all 3 the manual Octavia was the most fun. 

[TheBinarySheep]

12 hours ago, Macsamillion said:

Honestly the worst setup of any car I have owned in 23 years. I have a superb estate 4x4 280 without adaptive suspension. The car bottoms out and throws you all over the place as soon as you ask it to react to more than one upset. I have had two services done and keep asking them to check they haven't left bump stops in or the dampers are broke. How could they get it so wrong.  It's going to be the reason it goes. Or I go the replacement route. 

I had exactly the same issue. In the end I fitted some Koni  FSD shocks and now it ride brilliantly.

Edited 18 October, 2020 by TheBinarySheep

[TheBinarySheep]

9 hours ago, Bigeater said:

This kit should sort your suspension out https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/332880386514  

 

they will transform the car.

[SkudMissile21]

I’m on factory fit 19’s and apart from the odd bang when hitting a bad bump (as I’d expect) mine seems fine to me.

even though mine is a sportline it still is a barge but coming from a superb 2 se I can’t say I’ve noticed any worse suspension and the ride is great for me.

I do throw it about sometimes too but haven’t felt it was near the limits ever

[newbie69]

11 hours ago, Macsamillion said:

Glad to hear I'm not missing out on anything. Lol. I might see what options are, I would like a remap but would 100% not be doing this until I had a vast improvement in the suspension. 

Not true. There's clear difference between the non-DCC and DCC cars, especially in Sport mode and on the Sportline variants it is even more pronounced to the point most people would find Sportline DCC in Sport a fine setup (some even find it firm, not me but I could still live with it).

Since you don't have DCC though, if you're happy with the car otherwise, broken suspension or not, it is something easily treatable with aftermarket shocks that cost around 600-700EUR max, rather little money to fix an issue with an overall great car I'd imagine.

Edited 18 October, 2020 by newbie69