VRS handles like a wet lettuce

[desmondo]

Hi all,

over the last 2 months my car has been suffering from terrible handling. I've recently had a new set of tyres on the rear due to them wearing pretty bad on the inside. I thought this would cure the problem, but it hasn't gone away.

The car wanders about on uneven surfaces. On the M-way I'm constantly having to correct the steering as it wanders about. It feels a bit strange at the rear in corners as if there is some mild rear steer going on. It's been to the dealers and a technician road tested for 6 miles and told me that all VRS's behave in this way - "it's the wide tyres" I was told. Now this is complete pants cos the car never used to do this and I've driven loads of cars with similar width tyres that never behave in this way.

Now I've done a few searches on the forum and have found some info on camber being incorrectly set from the factory. Could this be the cause I wonder????

If so who can do a full geometry check? Can the dealer do this?

The car has been to a local reputable tyre fitter and had a laser alignment done but this only adjusts the tracking I believe. The rear was about 3mm out on one side, but still the car behaves in this way.

I need to get this sorted as it's spoiling every drive with complete loss of confidence when driving over anything above 7/10ths as the car just doesn’t feel planted like it used to - even more so in the wet.

When I had the front tyres replaced at 15K - they were down to the carcass on the inside even though the track was only slightly out :-o

Cheers

Richard

[VRStu]

You should have the 4 wheel aligment carried out and have the rear adjusted to the new specifications (can be found on my Octavia site in the common problems section)

You should also ask them to make sure that they set the values all round to as near to the desired value as possilbe and not to just within tolerance.

What I mean is there may be a tolerance of say +/- 1.5 over a value of 0, if they then leave your car on -1.4, it is within tolerance but actually only just and so 1.4 out.

Did you have Dunlop tyres on the car from new?

[desmondo]

yup - SP Sport 01A.

So the dealer can make these adjustments?

[VRStu]

I had Dunlops and several other have experienced issues with them. I hope you did didn't replace them with Dunlops.

Yes a dealer could arrange to have this done but they'll have little or no interest or passion in getting it done right. If it bothers you, which it clearly does, just bite the bullet and pay the £40 for the adjustment.

[desmondo]

I had Dunlops and several other have experienced issues with them. I hope you did didn't replace them with Dunlops.

Yes a dealer could arrange to have this done but they'll have little or no interest or passion in getting it done right. If it bothers you, which it clearly does, just bite the bullet and pay the £40 for the adjustment.

I replaced with Dunlops to keep the same tyres through out. I've never mixed different tyres with the intension of keeping the same grip levels all round. Clearly the wrong decision to stick with OE then! :(

I've always thought they were noisey, but not had any other issues with grip etc...

Cheers for the info stu. I'll check your website and get myself off to the dealers again on Monday.

[VRStu]

Mine went through to the inner core almost overnight!! They had done about 14k and starting making lots of noise, everyone thought it was the wheel bearings so both fronts were changed under warranty. They had tread left on them at 18k and were above the legal minimum however in a very short space of time wore through to the core on the inner edge.

A good replacment option is the Khumo tyre at around £80 per corner.

[VRStu]

get myself off to the dealers again on Monday.

Don't take this the wrong way but in my opinion you're wasting your time. As I said they won't be interested, will probably deny any knowledge of the revised settings and just generally fob you off.

For your own satisfaction and piece of mind go to a decent tyre place with the correct laser equipment and have it setup properly.

[desmondo]

Mine went through to the inner core almost overnight!! They had done about 14k and starting making lots of noise, everyone thought it was the wheel bearings so both fronts were changed under warranty. They had tread left on them at 18k and were above the legal minimum however in a very short space of time wore through to the core on the inner edge.

A good replacment option is the Khumo tyre at around £80 per corner.

Never tried Khumo - I've always thought they were the cheap rubbish option! But maybe worth a shot then when these wear out!? I'll have to stick my boot in to get through them quicker!!!

[VRStu]

Never tried Khumo - I've always thought they were the cheap rubbish option!

Expensive isn't always best - As you have found with the Dunlops.

[Makefish]

I agree with the advice you have been given so far, get this checked out by a decent tyre outlet rather than your dealer and steer well clear of those Dunlops (take 'em off and sell them on ebay!) along with the other OEM fitment of Continentals which are also pretty awful!.

Tyres are an emotive subject on here but there are other alternatives to the Khumo's that Stu suggested. Also consider Falken 452's, Toyo TR1's and Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta all good tyres in their own right and won't break the bank. If budget is not a concern then you cannot beat Michelin PS2's.

Finally, I would also recomend changing your the OEM suspension when funds allow to the Koni FSD and Eibach combination (a search on here will give more info), I cannot stress how good this set up is and transforms the handling of the car

HTH

[GAFF]

Is there something about doing the Camber etc with a full tank of fuel ?...thought I heard it mentioned before.

[desmondo]

Thanks for the comments chaps.

I called my local friendly tyre place who I've used for the last 8 years. These did a full wheel alignment when I had the rears fitted. They said they adjusted the whole lot to match the book settings, but would be happy to re-adjust the rear to match the new settings foc.

I really can't afford a new set of tyres at present only after fitting the rears just 1.5K ago.....so I may have to live with this issue for a while if it is the rubber.

However, the car never felt like this until about 2 months ago and it's had the Dunlops from new...!!

[VRStu]

I'll wager the book settings are wrong - Go down there with the revised settings and take them up on their FOC offer.

[InSaNeCaT]

Ok, think I had the same problem when I got my used 06 vRS. For the 8 months prior I had a 2.0FSI Sport (so same suspension but no turbo ) and it handled brilliantly I thought. The vRS felt twitchy to say the least and I couldn't believe it didn't feel as planted as the "Sport".

I had read about the camber/alignment on the known issues page so I asked the stealers to check this for me before I picked it up and they said they had and it was fine.

After a couple weeks of not being totally happy with the handling I hunkered down behind the car and looked closely at my rear tyres... the inner edges were *very* worn while the middle to outside edges were like brand new. Also have to say that even to my eye the rears looked overly negative camber. So I phoned the dealership again and they said they *defo* checked it and it was *fine*.

Not happy with this I booked it in to Star Performance in Fife for a 4 wheel laser alignment and sure enough the rears were on insanely negative camber so they fixed my alignment to the revised settings and it transformed the car. Best hunner quid (not including the fuel to get there lol) I ever spent

Also a reminder not to trust a word the dealerships say lol.

[vRSLen]

Is this issue the same with the combi?

[VRStu]

Yes

[vRSLen]

Thanks Stu but have not noticed any tyre wear problems

in nearly 20K. Have the odd problems with manhole covers though

[Scottiepaul]

Interesting thread. Mine vRS TDI runs on O/E Bridgestones and at 15k has now developed similar "wheel bearing noise" that I feel is tyre problem. Handling falling away also. Tyre pressures all checked out ok but fronts wearing on cetre of tread, while rears on the inside. Anyone any experience on these tyres?

[SeanP]

Wife's TDi (not vRS) has bridgestones; Whilst replacing the evenly worn fronts (for Bridgestone Turanza ER300), we noticed the rears were terribly worn on the insides, and needed replacing too... We had a 4-wheel computer/laser alignment check done, and the toe-adjustments were all out-of-spec... Everything was adjusted to within spec, and I can't beleive the difference it has made to the handling; no longer feels like it's gonna lose the backend all the time, and hopefully we'll see better tyre wear.

I can definitely see a pattern emerging here with badly adjusted goemetry from the factory across the product range -- has anybody here obtained compensation under warranty for the extra, premature outlay requied on new tyres & alignment etc.???

[timjfw]

I had a similar problem and had the tracking checked on my Octy 2.0 TDI. Still felt a bit funny but was better. Then I checked the tyre pressure and it was 31 psi. When this was increased to 34 psi the car seem to stick to the road a lot better, like it used to feel when I first got it. I don't know if this is too high above the recommended pressure but I don't feel like my steering wheel is made by Fischer Price and my back end no longer has a mind of its own.

[grobster]

Interesting thread! Got to admit I am a bit suspect about the handling on my VRs, and for that reason I'm a bit concerned about how the handling will be during Winter and wet Spring months. I've had an Octy 2, with sport pack on before the VRs, and the handling on that seemed better.

Taking the VRs in 4 a geometry check up seems to be the next move! It might be a cheaper option than ditching the Michelin Primacy XSE's.

[s3akr]

Finally, I would also recomend changing your the OEM suspension when funds allow to the Koni FSD and Eibach combination (a search on here will give more info), I cannot stress how good this set up is and transforms the handling of the car

HTH

I've driven it and it truely is as good as Makefish is saying. As soon as funds allow.......