Some strange things are occuring, that I can't quite put my finger on. I'm getting a fair bit of side-to-side movement, seems to be at the rear, on some surfaces and roads. It's not a damping/shock issue but the back feels very light in some circumstances. And no, it's not occuring while I'm 'making progress' but in normal driving as well

A section of the M6, concreted, this weekend for example - definite movement side to side. Most puzzling. Any ideas? I know it's not much of a description but it's quite hard to explain

Actual cornering is fine, very good in fact.

Steve

Tyre pressures?

Rear beam bushes?

Overly sensitive ar5e?

Ream beam bushes i'd say.

Overly sensitive ar5e?

must have a hard time in the sack then...upon completion he could literally say " okay let's bounce"

Ream beam bushes i'd say.

Cheers guys (apart from Mil ) - expensive to sort?

Tyres have been checked and are fine....

Steve

Some strange things are occuring' date=' that I can't quite put my finger on. I'm getting a fair bit of side-to-side movement, seems to be at the rear, on some surfaces and roads. It's not a damping/shock issue but the back feels very light in some circumstances. And no, it's not occuring while I'm 'making progress' but in normal driving as well

A section of the M6, concreted, this weekend for example - definite movement side to side. Most puzzling. Any ideas? I know it's not much of a description but it's quite hard to explain

Actual cornering is fine, very good in fact.

Steve[/quote']

my C2 GT was like that, massive grip, and great handling, but the back would skip around all the time, from new till the 40k when I got rid, never became a problem, was just a bit disconcerting though! felt worrying, but I got used to it, and it never let go...... the garage checked it and said all was fine....

however, isn't the polo the same (generaly of course) chassis as the fabia? (edit: and so shouldn't do this) or is the GTI the earlier model?

GTi is an earlier model to the Fabia.

my C2 GT was like that' date=' massive grip, and great handling, but the back would skip around all the time, from new till the 40k when I got rid, never became a problem, was just a bit disconcerting though! felt worrying, but I got used to it, and it never let go...... the garage checked it and said all was fine....

however, isn't the polo the same (generaly of course) chassis as the fabia? (edit: and so shouldn't do this) or is the GTI the earlier model?[/quote']

Is a little bit like what you describe, as when you hook it up round a corner it's cracking - stable and reasonably neutral; quite hard to force it into understeer. Certainly overall it handles better than a (standard) Fabia vRS. But at other times it's like the road surface or camber catches it out and you can feel it 'skip'.

As Ross says, it's an earlier revision. The Fabia shares the same setup as the 9N Polo. This is the one after mine, which is a 6N2.

Steve

it sounds to me like the front suspension geometry has been set wrong. if the camber angle has been set wrong it will tend to follow ruts in the road and skip around abit

Doesn't feel like it's at the front though. It's the back that's moving around.

Steve

Doesn't feel like it's at the front though. It's the back that's moving around.

Steve

yes, they do this!!

my tdi polo(6n2) would sway about dafty when the front suspension angles were set wrong,

also it's very unlikely to be the rear beam bushes, if they were gone then it would probably knock every time you went over a 10p in the road

yes' date=' they do this!!

my tdi polo(6n2) would sway about dafty when the front suspension angles were set wrong[/quote']

Front suspension angles? Are we talking about a tracking misalignment here?

Steve

Front suspension angles? Are we talking about a tracking misalignment here?

Steve

no.

the camber angle can be adjusted on the polo (unlike the fabia which isn't adjustable), the base of the suspension strut is clamped to the swivel hub by two large bolts. because the holes in the strut are slightly larger than the bolts, the vertical alignment between the strut and swivel hub can be adjusted, therefore affecting how upright the wheels are. - i'm having difficulty wording this right!!

for the car to handle well this has to be accurately set, if the wheels are dead vertical then the car will have lots of grip in a staright line, But if the wheels lean in at the top the car will handle better on cornering, so a comprosmise has to be made between grip and cornering

the setting should be 1 degree negative (leaning in at top)

this can only be done accurately with a camber gauge resting on the rim of the wheel with the car on the floor (not supported by stands) and also after setting this up your're tracking will need adjusting again.

the most likely cause of the suspension geometry being wrong is either you've had new suspension fitted incorrectly or you've clipped a pavement or somthing.

- maybe sombody else can eplain all this better than me. -

Thanks for that - seems to make sense to me, i.e. I can see where you're coming from

Will get it investigated further.

Steve

Hmm, Wife has 2001 Polo TDi SE (I think that is Polo generation you mean?) and it's the worst handling, worst riding and most uncomfortable car I've ever driven. I can't understand how VW made it both wallowy yet completely non absorbent of bumps - worst of all worlds :confused: I reckon you're doing well if it outhandles standard Fabia Vrs, after spending a week in vRS I took out the Polo and ended up a different lane on a motorway bend whilst cornering despite going 15 MPH slower than in Fabia. Also has very unnerving side to side lurching motion on all imperfectly cambered motorways. :(

Oooh no, you want to try the GTi version of your wife's car then:)

If you're local, you're welcome to a trial. VW must have completely changed the setup if you say your wife's one is that bad. Much more fun than a standard vRS and more compliant too. It's just camber changes that are catching it out at the moment. It just unsettles the car a bit, and you have to be pressing on for it to become evident.

Steve

It's baffleingly (is that a real word?) bad. The sections of the M60 and M56 around Stockport are hilarious, like driving a car that is 10 feet tall and 1 foot wide and only weighs the same as a newspaper. When I get to work at the airport I get out, look at it and can't work out how it defies the laws of physics. Then again, when it had the original Micheilin Energy's, it didn't lean at all, just slid across the road instead

- oh dear!

I'm only 10mins from the airport. I should take you out in mine....

Steve

. VW must have completely changed the setup

Steve

the gti model has far superior handling over the base models. i've driven loads of polo's (1.0, 1.4, tdi, gti, 16v,etc) but i would say that the fabia probably handles better.

these are the differences that the gti model has over other models

1. 22mm from anti roll bar

2. 18mm rear sway bar welded to rear axle beam

3. dampers are 15mm shorter with higher damping rate

4. it's got stiffer front suspension springs

5. wider wheels and tyres

these items would vastly improve the handling especially the front anti roll bar.

I put the better driving experience over for the Fabia down to the Polo not having a pig iron diesel engine over the front axle

Steve

the gti model has far superior handling over the base models. i've driven loads of polo's (1.0' date=' 1.4, tdi, gti, 16v,etc) but i would say that the fabia probably handles better.

these are the differences that the gti model has over other models

1. 22mm from anti roll bar

2. 18mm rear sway bar welded to rear axle beam

3. dampers are 15mm shorter with higher damping rate

4. it's got stiffer front suspension springs

5. wider wheels and tyres

these items would vastly improve the handling especially the front anti roll bar.[/quote']

Is it just the gti that has a 18mm rear sway bar or do all the models have it?

Is it just the gti that has a 18mm rear sway bar or do all the models have it?

to my knowledge it was the gti model that had it but somtimes a few 'slip through the net' towards the end of production when they are trying to shift as many surplus parts as possible.

the way to tell if you have one or not is to look at the sticker under the carpet in the boot. beieve it or not those little codes actually mean somthing!!!!

if you have the code 0BB that means you have the rear axle beam with the sway bar, but unfortunately i can't remember the code for the other one off the top of my head

the codes for the front anti roll bar are

0AB = 18mm

0AD = 20mm

0AH = 22mm

i hope this helps! it pays to know these codes if you spend a lot of time scouring scrappies for parts like i do.

Good info there Tom! Will check mine....

Thanks

Steve

indeed good info.

So who going to fit a 22mm ARB then. I'm sure it'll be cheaper than the eibach one.

indeed good info.

So who going to fit a 22mm ARB then. I'm sure it'll be cheaper than the eibach one.

yeah, they are about