Hi all,

New to the forum, owner of an 2019 superb - 2.0TDI

I’ve recently hit a pothole at around 15-20 km/h, however, due to the shock compresing at the wrong moment, and low ground clearance (16”inch winters”), I’ve had a quite lound impact, at fist i tought i hit the right underside of the vehicle.

Upon inspection i’ve seen that the right underside of the bumber took the impact - impact energy traveled up to the grill, headlights and hood. On the spot the headlights became foggy (this never happened before) and from this i understood that the front of the car compressed and the headlights air recirculating valve’s had opened too much. Headlights are ok now with no foggines, howener I can see a change in the front of the car geometry, the hood has a different sound when unlatching and it sits a bit taller on the right side (where the impact hit) compared to the left side.

Has anyone dealt with anything similar?

Could it be the bumper brackets slightly twisting during the impact, damaging the hood latch and alligned due to the energy of the impact?

Sidenote: 16” are comfortable overall, but the suspension is way to soft and the front ground clerance is small. Would not advise

A few photos; the bolt and its designed place seem to have took a hit

im seeing the gap but thats also my brain into extreme checking mode

You shouldn't have any reduction in ground clearance with different wheels - all that happens is that as you reduce the wheel diameter, the right tyre for the car has a higher side wall. The overall diameter of the wheel & tyre should remain the same. If not, the circumference changes and the speedometer is rendered less accurate.

On the flip side, this does mean tyre pressure affects the ride more as a lower pressure will result in the tyre compressing more to absorb more bumps. Depending on whether the tyre pressures are low (or on the lower side of correct) could mean there's been a little more overall travel (tyre and suspension) than if the tyre was set for a fully loaded vehicle. Its not going to be much but it could have made the difference.

I'm not spotting anything showing the panel gaps are woefully different but it does sound like something happened if you're getting a different sound. I think there are mounting points for the bonnet which may need adjusting. If nothing else, get yourself to a good independent and see if they can look it over with a little more of an experienced eye. A 4-wheel alignment may also be worth it in case any suspension components have taken a little more energy than imagined.

Can you make a claim against the council or whoever is responsible for maintaining the road where it happened if you submit a photo of the pot hole and evidence of the damage caused? This is a possible recourse in the UK, but I guess you're not UK based as you mention your speed in kph rather than mph.