Hi,

 

I've had my 2017 L&K for about 6 months now, and I love it, but probably similar to others, I find the suspension a bit wallowy in Normal, and a bit jittery in Sport. There are some speed bumps on my route to work where if I have it in normal, it feels like I'm driving a 50s Cadillac, it pitches that much. So, what do people recommend? New shocks? New springs? Are these things you can ask your garage to get in and fit? I'm not at all mechanical so wouldn't want to endanger myself and other road users by fitting myself...

 

The other thing is, it's currently got Hankooks on, are these any good? They seem a bit wooden to me, but they're all quite new so wondering if I should just wait it out until they need a refresh, or get new ones on all 4 wheels right away...

And another thing... I find it strange that the interior courtesy lights don't come on when you switch the ignition off, only coming on when you open the door. Previous to this car, we had various Mazdas, where the lights definitely came on when you pressed the button to switch off the engine. It's mildly annoying rather than a show stopper, but is there any fix?

The tyres won’t feel great in this cold weather and 2 wheel drive will only exacerbate & exaggerate the lack of grip from the lights and on corners.  Not sure what you are really comparing it to (other than a 50’s Cadillac) It’s a big car so it does feel like a boat in comparison to other smaller hatches. Comfort mode is wallowy but for a large car, I think that Sport mode feels surprisingly firm and reassuring on the same rural A roads where I’ve driven my last 3 cars. Might be worth having your car put on a ramp and inspected to check that your absorbers aren’t leaking. 

@Smudger2

Have you tried different tyres pressures to see if any difference?

 

 How many miles has the car done?

Has it been a Hire car / Taxi or had a towbar so maybe towed a caravan. 

I can thoroughly recommend a thicker rear anti-roll bar.  It really sorts out the Roly polyness! It's a lot more responsive to steering inputs too. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't turn it into a BMW M5 but for all it cost I think a bargain.

FYI: all 2wd MK7 Golf upgrade ARBs should fit the MK3. Easier to find than Superb specific

 

I have an MY17 220 as well, with DCC suspension.

 

Factory setup was wallowy n bouncing too much for my liking.

 

I've since put Eibach lowering (20mm) springs, thicker rear swaybar and did the DCC recalibration.

The car rides much much better.  It's the perfect combo.....for me.

 

No longer wallowy.

Doesn't bounce over speed humps or rough roads.

Cornering is flat.

 

Comfort hasn't been compromised 

On 21/12/2021 at 18:17, roottoot said:

@Smudger2

Have you tried different tyres pressures to see if any difference?

 

 How many miles has the car done?

Has it been a Hire car / Taxi or had a towbar so maybe towed a caravan. 

Haven't tried different tyre pressures tbh, they were set at the "fully loaded" pressure when I got it, so I reduced that as it's mainly just me in there. It's done 45000 miles, and appears to have been a company lease before I got it. I had to get a towbar fitted to take my bike rack, so no towing...

On 21/12/2021 at 18:06, Redboy said:

The tyres won’t feel great in this cold weather and 2 wheel drive will only exacerbate & exaggerate the lack of grip from the lights and on corners.  Not sure what you are really comparing it to (other than a 50’s Cadillac) It’s a big car so it does feel like a boat in comparison to other smaller hatches. Comfort mode is wallowy but for a large car, I think that Sport mode feels surprisingly firm and reassuring on the same rural A roads where I’ve driven my last 3 cars. Might be worth having your car put on a ramp and inspected to check that your absorbers aren’t leaking. 

Thanks, might get it inspected. My comparison is to a '19 Mazda 6 and a '17 Jag XF. I get round it by setting everything but gearbox to sport, it's fine in most situations, but you feel it on the motorway...

On 22/12/2021 at 02:24, JR RS said:

I have an MY17 220 as well, with DCC suspension.

 

Factory setup was wallowy n bouncing too much for my liking.

 

I've since put Eibach lowering (20mm) springs, thicker rear swaybar and did the DCC recalibration.

The car rides much much better.  It's the perfect combo.....for me.

 

No longer wallowy.

Doesn't bounce over speed humps or rough roads.

Cornering is flat.

 

Comfort hasn't been compromised 

That sounds expensive... 

14 hours ago, Smudger2 said:

That sounds expensive... 

Eibach springs and a rear swaybar r far from expensive!!!!

 

U want to spend 10-20 times the amount, u can go the full hog n buy all new aftermarket shocks + springs.

Edited 24 December, 20214 yr by JR RS

I think my next upgrade will be Koni shocks.  I can't be bothered messing about with suspension geometry or ride height. 

I found my swaybar for £160 2nd hand but unused condition on eBay

Having fitted koni special actives to my Passat I wish I had gone with bilstein b6. They are good but not a massive change from the stock shocks. As I understand it, the superb IV shocks are softer than the Passat GTE so it may be a more dramatic upgrade. 

I still have the stock shocks so may be willing to sell the konis for the right price although I'd need to cover the labour cost and some of the purchase costs of the shocks.

 

Edit: if the parts are right of course 👍

Edited 24 December, 20214 yr by MarkyG82

How many miles on them? The koni's

Probably 2k ish. I can look at my fuel logs and the dates I had the work done. I'll update.

 

Worst case based on my mileage is 3k. Very likely to be closer to 2k. I've somehow deleted the calendar appointment so not sure the exact date so going on my fuelio data and the date I ordered the shocks.

Edited 28 December, 20214 yr by MarkyG82

The lack of interior lights is infuriating. I don't think anything can be done about it. I think it's a poor integration of keyless start. 

 

My previous Audi would turn off the engine with the first press and then turn everything off and put the interior lights on with a second press. Much better design. 

4 hours ago, Gez280 said:

The lack of interior lights is infuriating. I don't think anything can be done about it. I think it's a poor integration of keyless start. 

 

My previous Audi would turn off the engine with the first press and then turn everything off and put the interior lights on with a second press. Much better design. 

Mine work OK, as in come on when I open the door, and when I switch the engine off.

On 24/12/2021 at 10:52, MarkyG82 said:

Having fitted koni special actives to my Passat I wish I had gone with bilstein b6. They are good but not a massive change from the stock shocks. As I understand it, the superb IV shocks are softer than the Passat GTE so it may be a more dramatic upgrade. 

I still have the stock shocks so may be willing to sell the konis for the right price although I'd need to cover the labour cost and some of the purchase costs of the shocks.

 

Edit: if the parts are right of course 👍

Everything I have read about the superb and the konis would suggest this is the case - you simply can't get a poorer performance than the standard set up. A tractor is faster over some of the gnarly back roads around here!