Better Tyres and Suspenion for MkV R32

[thezoneR32]

I also thought about the Haldex but as far as I can see it is only of benefit if you are under power out of a corner??

Is there any other way to come out of a corner?

[brad]

to the OP:
I haven't time to read the whole thread so maybe someones mentioned some of this......

1) You'd be the only Suburu --> VW convert that hasn't been happy (and i know heaps that have made the move)

Your Lib wasn't perfect out of the box - take off the WL bars & the STi springs and you'll probably understeer it into a ditch.

2) Issue 1 is the tyre mis-match. You've got a budget tyre (Hankook) & a premium (Conti) & they aren't working together. If nothing else, throw the Hankooks on the rear until they are trashed. Careful though as you might get a bit of snap oversteer.

3) Talk to Rennenhaus or have a gander at carandimage.com & talk to bert or WMD - they both have R32s (one modded to buggery, one stock) and they both peddle them very fast. bert came from a Lib wagon (aRBy IIRC) WMD from a dc2R & Lib B4

[thezoneR32]

to the OP:
I haven't time to read the whole thread so maybe someones mentioned some of this......

1) You'd be the only Suburu --> VW convert that hasn't been happy (and i know heaps that have made the move)

Your Lib wasn't perfect out of the box - take off the WL bars & the STi springs and you'll probably understeer it into a ditch.

2) Issue 1 is the tyre mis-match. You've got a budget tyre (Hankook) & a premium (Conti) & they aren't working together. If nothing else, throw the Hankooks on the rear until they are trashed. Careful though as you might get a bit of snap oversteer.

3) Talk to Rennenhaus or have a gander at carandimage.com & talk to bert or WMD - they both have R32s (one modded to buggery, one stock) and they both peddle them very fast. bert came from a Lib wagon (aRBy IIRC) WMD from a dc2R & Lib B4

Thanks mate planning to swap tyres end for end asap. Will check out the other suggestions when i get some time.

cheers!

[thezoneR32]

Well I've been getting heat from some senior members here about asking dumb questions about mods for my new R32 before giving it a chance and driving it properly. So I swapped my tyres end to end (conti s2’s on the front and crappy hankooks on the back) and took the car on a work country trip today and did about 450km. I live in SA and there are some nice desolate patches of road with relatively smooth bitumen and not much fuzz!

The car has some fantastic qualities. It just soaks up the road. After 450k's I did not feel fatigued. Overtaking on the highways is a dream, are you sure this things not a V8? Even in 'D' push the pedal down at 100 and 150+ comes up real fast in smooth linear fashion. I love it! The only issue I have is the suspension set up. Now I think that car is extremely well engineered, great power, nice low down torque, awesome brakes but the suspension hmmmmm….. If your gonna potter around town stock is fine very palatable. But if you actually want to use the power and long legs that the vw engineers bestowed upon the car then hang on to your hats! The car lurches from 100 with such force that a simple lane change had my heart racing. It just seems a little unsettled at high speed when you change direction. (Fine in a straight line). If you hit a long hard sweeping corner at 120km/h I find it a bit bouncy and it takes a little too long to compose itself and get back on track.

Anyway to sum up: I love the car it’s really growing on me. But the suspension has to go!

[G-rig]

Sounds like you know what has to be done:

Coilovers & Sways! completes the package as far as handling and looks.

[thezoneR32]

I picked up a hldex gen2 controller yetsreday second hand. It wasn't gonna be the first mod but it ws half price and I couldn't resist.

Now comes the wait to get it fitted. Should be intersting to compare.

Cheers

[G-rig]

That's a pretty good move, it helps even with the stock suspension. Let us know what you think!

[Blue.:R32]

I had the same feeling about the car. In standard trim, it's floaty and under damped. Do what G-rig say, coilovers are the go. Before you start another thread about which coilovers, white james' thread on the MkV forum (link above) has some really good suggestions and reviews. Personally I went with a set of PSS10 and also a 22mm rear sway bar (RSB). It transformed the car completely. If you are going rsb only, don't go too big, 22mm solid is enough imo. Some people have gone 24mm on the rear only and found the car a bit of a handful when it does let go.

[thezoneR32]

Thanks for the advice. Without a solid front sway does the front of the car feel too flexy? This happened when I did a rear only sway in my lib 3rb but once the front one went on it turned into a go-kart. Just had to be more careful about understeer but it handled much better once you drove it properly.

Yeah that link to mkv.com is awesome. I have always been a huge fan of bilstein. I wonder how the pss10 or 9 would compare to the tein euros? What sort of price are they?

[Blue.:R32]

You can probably do without the rsb and go for a good set of coilovers first. With the adjustments of the Pss10 I have a feeling I didn't REALLY need the rsb. (but it was on sale! *sucker*)

The PSS10 are quite performance orientated. No more of that floaty bouncy feeling. (Read my review near the end on that mega thread). From what I read, the tein euros are really designed for euro roads (not euro cars) and even then, it's geared towards comfort. So not something that is suitable for our roads here.

[G-rig]

I agree Blue.:R32, you don't really even need sways unless you're pushing it quite hard (in which case should be on a track).

I don't think I'd recommend doing rear bar only. Not the best idea but people usually just do it as it's the cheapest option. Don't like the idea of sways with stock suspension either as it pushes more forces on other areas I assume.

Coilovers would keep most people happy but i got the H&R coilovers and sways at roughly the same time as a complete setup.

[thezoneR32]

You can probably do without the rsb and go for a good set of coilovers first. With the adjustments of the Pss10 I have a feeling I didn't REALLY need the rsb. (but it was on sale! *sucker*)

The PSS10 are quite performance orientated. No more of that floaty bouncy feeling. (Read my review near the end on that mega thread). From what I read, the tein euros are really designed for euro roads (not euro cars) and even then, it's geared towards comfort. So not something that is suitable for our roads here.

Thanks for that advice. Any reason for pss10 over pss9? Also I can't seem to find your review?

[Big Yellow]

Thanks for that advice. Any reason for pss10 over pss9? Also I can't seem to find your review?

the pss10 has improvements in it which fixed the problems with the pss9.

cant remember the details, but the 10s are better than the 9s.

[Blue.:R32]

the pss10 has improvements in it which fixed the problems with the pss9.

cant remember the details, but the 10s are better than the 9s.

PSS10 is the newer version. It has easier adjustments, both front and rear can be adjusted by reaching under the car. The PSS9 rear has to be taken out like the konis I think.. Also 10 clicks vs 9 clicks

I have the 22mm rsb set to soft and coupled with the pss10, it's as hard as I'd want to go I think. It stays pretty flat around corners now even when the PSS10's are set to a relatively soft setting for the street.

[thezoneR32]

Holy sh*&t!

I just got off the phone to Manta Racing who quoted me the following prices:

H&r springs + bilstein strut 25mm $2400 + fitting $400-$500


H&R coilover kit 50mm $4300 + fitting $400-$500


Bilstein pss9 $5300 + fitting $400-$500

They told me they can't even get the pss10. Surely these prices are ridiculous!