UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi. I have dilemma which I need to get too grips with? concerning my polo gti which is on a 65 plate. it does not have the sport button for the suspension! the problem is the ride is very harsh especially on the rear suspension is this due too the rear being torsion beam! my mate has a mk7 golf gti and the ride is so much more comfortable! rear suspension on the golf is independent. is there any way of making the polo a better ride? as love the car! but not the ride.thanks

It's not just the torsion beam rear axle that makes it a sturdy ride. With the right shocks and springs, you can make it a buttersweet ride.
On the GTI, I can imagine VW has decided to give it relatively stiff springs and uncompliant dampers. You can have a look if you can find some softer suspension parts.
The ride on my 1.2 TDI bluemotion is very nice, I'm running OEM springs with Koni FSD dampers. It's not cheap but it rides like a charm.

Thanks it’s just where I live there are lots of speed humps and pot-holes in the road! would love too get a sweet ride? thanks.

I also live in Norfolk - not that far from Norwich, so I’m aware of the condition of the roads.

I’ve also got a 6c Polo GTI. I have to say that I find the suspension on my car to be perfectly acceptable and pretty good for a small hot hatch. I do have the Sports Performance Pack on my car, and I can remember reading somewhere that the standard suspension on cars without the Sports Performance Pack was slightly firmer than the ‘Normal’ (default) setting on cars that had this option. In the ‘Sport’ setting though, it’s too firm for me for every day use and I pretty much never drive in ‘Sport’ mode.

You could try adjusting your tyre pressures and reduce them a couple of psi as that’s easy to do and doesn’t cost anything. VW’s recommended tyre pressure settings are quite high, to reduce rolling resistance and emissions, and maximise mpg.

Thanks will give-it a go!

Hi .just an update have fitted koni active rear shocks and wow what a difference too my ride around speed humps and bad roads around Norfolk. this has put a smile on my face! now saving to buy front shocks! thanks for the tip iichel

I'm not surprised, really. Before I acquired my Polo 1.2 Match I drove a Mk3 Golf GL to which I fitted Koni sports adjustables all round, very early on. They were reasonably priced and of the type where you use an adjuster knob (a key, in effect) in the top of the spindle, with the damper fully in situ. They worked brilliantly for years and years, giving an extremely good balance between comfort and roadholding.

As with my old Golf when I first got it, I find the suspension on my Match a bit too wobbly, and from time to time I wonder whether I should undertake the same sort of suspension correction/upgrade. However, I'm not as fit as I once was and so can no longer undertake labour-intensive jobs of that kind. I shall nonetheless be very interested in hearing about your results with your GTI, if and when you get the front Koni dampers and fit them. That, on the Polo, will be a bigger job than I had years ago with my Golf Mk3, I'm inclined to think.

BTW, precisely which type have you fitted at the rear? Super-active, or Sports? I've looked at Koni's UK website but can't figure out which ones you've used.

Hi I have used koni special active rear dampers. bought from DC performance.co.uk at £170.00 for both and delivered. they have transformed the ride and you use your original springs too.the fronts are £260.00.

So they must be the red ones, then.

The annoying thing about the Koni website is that the catalogue, with presumably all the possible vehicle applications and technical details in it, has to be ordered and you get it by postal mail; there isn't an online catalogue. Grrh!

It's always seemed to me that Koni dampeners have been good value for money. However, the cost of labour in fitting them in place of the OEM versions bumps up the overall cost - unless of course you do the work yourself. The rear ones on the Polo are clearly straightforward to replace, but the McPherson fronts will be a different kettle of fish, since I imagine it'll involve, in the case of the Polo, some fairly brutal work in separating the existing dampener from the hub. There may be adaptors and different rubbers to fit, too. Then there's an alignment check to get done, once they're all in place.

It will be worthwhile to have it done! just for the ride? and they are the red ones! can’t want for the front shocks. next months pay cheque?

I presume you'll be fitting the fronts yourself? Have you got a set of coilspring compressors?

I suspect there'll be some videos on YouTube as to how to do the fronts on a Polo.

Have you an outfit in mind who'll have the requisite expertise and kit to check and if necessary adjust the front alignment, once the new front dampeners are in place?


Edit: Have you seen this?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVDoLsvBoxc

Even with it being a TDI Bluemotion the mechanic's working on, and even if you're not going to do the job yourself, this video is still very useful.

Have now fitted front shocks to the little polo! and this has made a massive difference to the ride quality of the car! has transformed the ride it’s now a pleasure to drive over bumpy roads and speed humps. I can’t thank d.c.performance enough great service and good price? try these shocks koni sport active.
,

Pauly boy,

Very pleased that it's worked out successfully for you. I'm still a bit confused as to precisely which Koni dampers have been fitted, though. As far as I recall from when I last visited the Koni site, there's a 'Sport' range and there's also a 'Special Active' range, plus others. You reported to us the fitting of what appeared to be the Special Actives at the rear but you now say that at the front you've had Active Sports fitted. Which is it?

Who actually did the fitting? You, or DC?

The Special Actives are said to be user-adjustable, right? Or am I actually wrong about that? Koni's Special Actives are described as being automatically adjustable to a wide range of road surfaces. That's open to different interpretation, though. I myself presumed that you still have to turn the pistons to a preferred median setting initially. Then my presumption has been that it's beyond that that the damper automatically adjusts to different conditions, within that particular dampening setting. But maybe I've got that wrong and instead there's no manual adjustment required on them at all? Which is it? I was, for instance, going to ask you how you subsequently change the dampening on them - once fitted, the piston tops wouldn't, on the Polo, be at all easy to get to. But maybe that situation never arises?

How would you now describe the ride quality? In town driving (lots of speed bumps), is the ride now significantly harder than with the OEM dampers? Does more road noise reach you in the cabin? Theory would suggest that the answer to that is yes. And what about driveability - has it sharpened up cornering and steering?

In all of this, I presume you've kept to the OEM springs, ie. you've not done any lowering, or changed the springs to a different brand, or to anything with different characteristics?

All told, how much has this change cost you?

[You do realise that you're going to have to declare the modification to your insurer, don't you?].

BTW, you never responded to my private message. Your forum update, just given, now obviously supersedes that.