[gaurav_chopra04]

Originally Posted by Reesnat

My goal was to make this fast, family sedan a lot more fun to drive and a lot more controllable. I am sharing my experiences and documenting it here, to encourage others to look beyond straight-line speed (which this car can easily do). Power is certainly an important component and needed, but a car that handles beautifully can be enjoyed at slower speeds in the city too, you don’t need to only drive a fun car really fast to enjoy it.
[*]A lot more body roll than I would like [*]Stock suspension was unstable on less than ideal roads at mid-high speeds and generally felt like the car could do with a more stable platform on which we could build and manage more power

Many Congrats on the car.

I cant agree more that "a car that handles beautifully can be enjoyed at slower speeds in the city too, you don’t need to only drive a fun car really fast to enjoy it."

I drove my cousin's RS (230bhp) this Friday and was simply shocked by the overall driving dynamics of stock car. The steering was too light for my liking, the body roll was significant for an RS and the back used to stick around on bends at mid-high speeds. I used to carry much more speed around the same bends on my stock Cedia. Of Course, 0 to 100 is great and the engine loves to be revved and that you can have all the fun on straights and the exhaust note is to die for. BUT, it does not inspire confidence.
So, the suspension IMHO is a must change on this car if you want to have a Fun to Drive car.

In fact, the very next day, I drove another cousin's Pre-owned 2018 C220. Despite being relatively slower at 0 to 100 and not pushing you back into your seat, the car was much more hoot to drive and confidence inspiring than the VRS, with both cars being in their stock forms. Of course, its not an apple to apple comparison, with C's chassis capable of handing much more power and C being a rear wheel drive, the thing is both costed relatively same, with new VRS in 2018 costing over 31 lacs and the pre-owned 2018 C220 in 2021 costing about the same. And yes, with me driving both on consecutive days

Now that I've lived with the suspension for a few thousand KMs, I can safely say the KW SC has delivered on all fronts that I had hoped for so far!

Cant do better for the money spent on the suspension. Happy Motoring.

[Reesnat]

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

Many Congrats on the car.

I cant agree more that "a car that handles beautifully can be enjoyed at slower speeds in the city too, you don’t need to only drive a fun car really fast to enjoy it."

I drove my cousin's RS (230bhp) this Friday and was simply shocked by the overall driving dynamics of stock car. The steering was too light for my liking, the body roll was significant for an RS and the back used to stick around on bends at mid-high speeds. I used to carry much more speed around the same bends on my stock Cedia. Of Course, 0 to 100 is great and the engine loves to be revved and that you can have all the fun on straights and the exhaust note is to die for. BUT, it does not inspire confidence.
So, the suspension IMHO is a must change on this car if you want to have a Fun to Drive car.

In fact, the very next day, I drove another cousin's Pre-owned 2018 C220. Despite being relatively slower at 0 to 100 and not pushing you back into your seat, the car was much more hoot to drive and confidence inspiring than the VRS, with both cars being in their stock forms. Of course, its not an apple to apple comparison, with C's chassis capable of handing much more power and C being a rear wheel drive, the thing is both costed relatively same, with new VRS in 2018 costing over 31 lacs and the pre-owned 2018 C220 in 2021 costing about the same. And yes, with me driving both on consecutive days



Cant do better for the money spent on the suspension. Happy Motoring.

Your observations are spot on! The 245 is an improvement on the steering and especially that VAQ front diff, that makes a big difference. But some work on the handling/suspension side improves the car tremendously.

The KW SC has improved all aspects of the car but my next target is to tighten the rear with the sway bar. For those on stock suspension, if there was one mod I would suggest ASAP it's the rear sway bar, this really helps tie the rear end and improve stability around fast corners.

Post the rear sway bar, got plans for the front strut brace...

[Rohanf12]

We have very very similar looking vrs 😂 . Congratulations on your build .
Kw does make the car feel couple of segment above .

[Reesnat]

Originally Posted by Rohanf12

We have very very similar looking vrs 😂 . Congratulations on your build .
Kw does make the car feel couple of segment above .

Haha, I believe Anant had shared pics of your car that helped me decide on the wheels, so thank you!

[NKB]

Originally Posted by Reesnat

Wheels:

In terms of how it looks, here are a couple more pics, you can make up your own mind:

Attachment 2139955

Attachment 2139956

Very detailed post. The car looks so hot and premium. Congratulations for the amazing work.

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by Reesnat

Thanks! From my experience, I would say if you have dropped more than 15mm, you should see a benefit with the shorter frond end link.

Thanks! Where did you source the ECS adjustable links from and how much do they cost?

Drive on,
Shibu

[Kontoo]

The car looks sick after the mods.
I have the very same car in the very same colour.
Would love to upgrade the rims to the ones you have. Mind sharing details of the price and the source? Can also do with the details of the rear sway bar.
Thanks much in advance.

[Reesnat]

Originally Posted by NKB

Very detailed post. The car looks so hot and premium. Congratulations for the amazing work.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by shibujp

Thanks! Where did you source the ECS adjustable links from and how much do they cost?

Drive on,
Shibu

The front and read together should be around 35k, I got mine through N1 Racing, Mumbai.

Originally Posted by Kontoo

The car looks sick after the mods.
I have the very same car in the very same colour.
Would love to upgrade the rims to the ones you have. Mind sharing details of the price and the source? Can also do with the details of the rear sway bar.
Thanks much in advance.

Thanks! Wheels were sourced by N1 Racing, Mumbai and are about 1.6L for a set of 4. I ordered an extra wheel to keep as spare in case of need. Rear Sway Bar I am planning to go with the APR one, it's a hollow 26mm design. https://www.goapr.com/products/suspe...parts/SUS00005

[Reesnat]

An upgraded rear sway bar is one of the most popular handling mods on this platform and something I had planned to do from the start. I put off this until I got the suspension part of it properly dialed in.

Why a rear sway bar on this car?:

With most FWD cars, understeer is the biggest worry when it comes to handling. With the 245 and the LSD in the front, understeer is much better controlled than the 230, still, tightening the rear really helps.

When you push the car through long roundabouts or take a turn on a highway at good speed you’ll notice the rear a bit heavy and drag the car over. This is understandable as this is a big car and big boot overhang, so it promotes body roll. From the factory it comes tuned for comfort so any spirited driving will show this aspect up. Tightening the rear end can be by way of a stiffer sway bar or adding bracing to the rear chassis. The sway bar is the most bang-for-buck approach to this, so it’s a good way to start.

Selecting a sway bar:

There are hollow and solid aftermarket sway bars that you can choose from depending on how much stiffness you want to add. Considering this a family car for me, didn’t want to go too stiff, also compounded with the coilovers a very stiff rear sway bar may be too much.

Settled on the APR rear sway bar which is a hollow 1-inch bar that’s a fair bit bigger than stock in size. But because it’s hollow (vs solid stock) it’s not as heavy as a solid sway bar. When you carry the stock one and this you can easily feel how much heavier the APR one is.

Upgraded rear sway bar driving impressions:

Immediately noticed the stiffer rear end, I was concerned it will become too stiff for rear passengers, but that hasn’t been the case yet. Even within the city, you notice the car rotate so much better and the front end feels so much sharper. This is exactly what I expected would happen, as once the rear becomes stiffer and rotates quickly, the front end needs to do less work to make the car turn in. Doing high-speed maneuvers, the car is much quicker to change lanes and direction now.

Body roll is so much better in the rear, to the point where I feel I may need to do something in the front as well to balance it out. Going for a matching front sway bar is an option but I’m concerned if it will bring back some understeer. As of now, the front strut brace is one that I’m planning to do, let’s see how the car handles after.

Endlinks:



I had bought the rear ECS endlinks along with the front ones. Like the front, these are length adjustable end links, which was something I wanted as I was lowered from stock height. It’s a more solid construction vs the plastic stock one. This makes it stronger and should improve the efficiency of the sway bar.

Installation notes:

This seemed like a simple install initially, but turned out to be a real nuisance!

First install was done on a lift and within 15 mins of driving, I noticed an annoying clunking sound coming from the rear on undulations and bumps. Went back to the workshop and noticed the clamp holding the sway bar to the chassis had not been torqued right and had come slightly loose. Upon tightening that again, the noise had gone and I was on my way. After a couple of days, the noise resurfaced, again I thought the clamp bolt had come loose. Went back to the workshop and changed the clamp bolts with aftermarket TVS bolts and tightened them as much as possible. We also tightened the bolts that were connecting the sway bar to the rear end links as much as possible. Again, was ok for a couple of days and then the noise resurfaced, leaving me frustrated and I was almost ready to throw in the towel and give up on the sway bar for now. So the noise that kept coming back wasn't from the sway bar mounting on the chassis but the bolt that connects the Sway Bar to the Endlink.

Then as a final attempt - I decided to try and do the install in a pit, so we can install and tighten the sway bar when the suspension is in full load.



So for this install, since we had access to a pit we could actually set the sway bar preload correctly. On the first attempt the end links length was set about 1.5mm lower than needed, but now with the pit and suspension loaded we could set it right for my ride height. Simply put, getting the length of the end links perfectly aligned such that the end link bolt goes into the sway bar perfectly flat without any tension at all is the goal. This is where adjustable end links come into play to allow us to achieve this with lowered setups. The sway bar should ideally have 0 tension on it when going straight.




With the sway bar pre-load set correctly we tightened everything down as much as possible while applying some thread locker wherever we could for added strength. Heck, we even put a second bolt on the endlink connecting the sway bar so it doesn't move even an mm. It's now been two weeks since the install and no noise! Fingers crossed it stays that way!

The trick seems to be to do it with the suspension fully loaded so you can get the bolt to go through to the end without any tension and then torque it down right at the last thread that it will go. The 1-2mm gap that was showing up when torquing down with the suspension in full droop/tension seemed to be the culprit here.

All in, I think the rear sway bar is a great handling upgrade for any Octavia/vRS/MQB platform car!

[Maedhros]

Originally Posted by Reesnat

a car that handles beautifully can be enjoyed at slower speeds in the city too, you don’t need to only drive a fun car really fast to enjoy it.

Gospel truth.
And may I add that your car looks so, dare I say it, S-E-X-Y. I'm imagining it in the rain. Big, Blue and Wet.

[evil_grin]

Originally Posted by Reesnat

The suspension makes the car feel so much more enjoyable to drive and makes you feel like you are driving a car from a couple of segments above. Better handling and looks with even better comfort and handling?

That's a cool car and come great mods. I have a 2019 Octavia 1.8 and the biggest complaint I have about it are

1. The suspension is great at high speeds when loaded. But when unloaded and at city speeds it neither gobbles up bad roads, not does it stay put. It keeps bouncing around. Some of the bouncing was reduced by upgrading the stock Goodyear NCT 205/55 R16 to Michelin Primacy P4 ST 205/60 R16 but I need it to be comfortable as well as stable like the Laura with 15 inch wheels. I don't want to reduce the height. Would you recommend Bilstein B6s? Or something else?

2. Not much feeling from the steering or suspension. Feels like I'm too insulated from the road. That's probably intentional by Skoda. Will wider tyres help? Or something else?

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by evil_grin

That's a cool car and come great mods. I have a 2019 Octavia 1.8 and the biggest complaint I have about it are

1. The suspension is great at high speeds when loaded. But when unloaded and at city speeds it neither gobbles up bad roads, not does it stay put. It keeps bouncing around. Some of the bouncing was reduced by upgrading the stock Goodyear NCT 205/55 R16 to Michelin Primacy P4 ST 205/60 R16 but I need it to be comfortable as well as stable like the Laura with 15 inch wheels. I don't want to reduce the height. Would you recommend Bilstein B6s? Or something else?

I'll let Reesnat respond in detail but interesting to note that you upsized to 60 profile from the stock 55. Was it for GC issues? Again, why not to PS4 which has a sportier focus, instead of P4ST which is tuned for comfort and long life? Ideally, the best upsize is to 225/50/16 but this is an orphan size in India.

From my experience with my MY16 Octavia TSI, the suspension is wallowy and comfort oriented. I have stock 205/55/16 P3ST and I now detest the ride after experiencing my 330i.

I feel B6 would be ideal for you depending on your usage pattern. Family may not be amused though. Try and drive/ride a similarly modded car before deciding.

[evil_grin]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

I'll let Reesnat respond in detail but interesting to note that you upsized to 60 profile from the stock 55. Was it for GC issues? Again, why not to PS4 which has a sportier focus, instead of P4ST which is tuned for comfort and long life? Ideally, the best upsize is to 225/50/16 but this is an orphan size in India.

Try and drive/ride a similarly modded car before deciding.

Thank you. The stock Goodyear were too hard and the profile was somewhat low. So the shocks were transmitted to the suspension - which is soft so it wallowed. So I got softer rubber and higher profile tyres so that the tyres could absorb more of the shock and the suspension would wallow less as well as crash less. Plus the wheel wells were filled in better. I never faced any GC issues with the Octavia unlike my City.
PS4 are too sporty oriented. Call me demanding but I'd like both comfort as well as performance.

Now where will I get to drive an Octavia with Bilstein B6's? Even if I don't get to try it out, I plan on getting them installed once my stock suspensions wear out.

[megazoid]

Clearly elucidated and informative. The adjustable end links and the stress on the sway bar is a great point. Car looks great and your mods show there is a lot of thinking happening behind the scenes too. What is the rear spacer thickness you opted for (10mm?)

[Reesnat]

Originally Posted by evil_grin

That's a cool car and come great mods. I have a 2019 Octavia 1.8 and the biggest complaint I have about it are

1. The suspension is great at high speeds when loaded. But when unloaded and at city speeds it neither gobbles up bad roads, not does it stay put. It keeps bouncing around. Some of the bouncing was reduced by upgrading the stock Goodyear NCT 205/55 R16 to Michelin Primacy P4 ST 205/60 R16 but I need it to be comfortable as well as stable like the Laura with 15 inch wheels. I don't want to reduce the height. Would you recommend Bilstein B6s? Or something else?

2. Not much feeling from the steering or suspension. Feels like I'm too insulated from the road. That's probably intentional by Skoda. Will wider tyres help? Or something else?

1. Not experienced the B6’s so can’t comment. But most aftermarket coilovers or springs would drop height a bit I think, so be careful of this if you want to change.

2. More rubber = less road feel and will make the steering even more numb. VAG cars are historically not the best with steering feel and are very understeery. But have come a long with the more recent versions (the 245 is so much better than the 230 in this regard). A rear sway bar and coilovers that allow you to balance the rake balance will help significantly with the steering response and sharpness.