Handling mods

[LR231998]

Hi guys,

After having my intake all done and a few other bits I’m now looking at handling mods before eventually going stage 1. All I really know is I’m going to upgrade the discs/ pads when they need changing, and Michelin’s PS4S tyres when they need replacing.

What would all of you suggest for handling upgrades, and which brand please would be a great help!

For my MK3 Leon Cupra

 

[Legojon]

@theoldboy help me out, I can't find your guide for the MK3s to link.

 

[Deleted member 103408]

That's odd i did not get notified of this, Deleted the original thread as it was not being used and i ended up answering questions again.

@LR231998 What are you trying to achieve with your handling mods.

Check out my build thread and you will see the following that I have done to my car.

Top Strut brace will certainly give you a much tighter feel.

Personally I have been advised to not change the front or rear ARBS but others I am sure will disagree.

You can replace the lower control arms and top mounts to upgraded (Super Pro for me) ones and this will give you a bit of camber / caster plus reduce flex and in my case some poly bushing as well.

You can fit coilovers and have upgraded dampers to either carry on using the DCC or having full remote control settings for the front and rear setup.

You can just fit lowering springs (and i guess upgraded dampers) but others can advise on handling benefit of these upgrades..

Spacers (I dont like just a personal thing) or new wheels with a better offset will move the wheels out further

Chassis Brace will again tighten up the car

Audi front subframe can help although to be fair I did not test this in isolation but for me it lowered weight and added rigidity.

SuperPro or Whiteline Bushing will tighten things up just don't go to far or you will loose your comfort.

Check out forum sponsors https://forums.seatcupra.net/index.php?forums/dpm-performance.248/ and https://forums.seatcupra.net/index.php?forums/progressive-parts.358/ they will have many things to suit your budget.

 

[LR231998]

Fir

That's odd i did not get notified of this, Deleted the original thread as it was not being used and i ended up answering questions again.

@LR231998 What are you trying to achieve with your handling mods.

Check out my build thread and you will see the following that I have done to my car.

Top Strut brace will certainly give you a much tighter feel.

Personally I have been advised to not change the front or rear ARBS but others I am sure will disagree.

You can replace the lower control arms and top mounts to upgraded (Super Pro for me) ones and this will give you a bit of camber / caster plus reduce flex and in my case some poly bushing as well.

You can fit coilovers and have upgraded dampers to either carry on using the DCC or having full remote control settings for the front and rear setup.

You can just fit lowering springs (and i guess upgraded dampers) but others can advise on handling benefit of these upgrades..

Spacers (I dont like just a personal thing) or new wheels with a better offset will move the wheels out further

Chassis Brace will again tighten up the car

Audi front subframe can help although to be fair I did not test this in isolation but for me it lowered weight and added rigidity.

SuperPro or Whiteline Bushing will tighten things up just don't go to far or you will loose your comfort.

Check out forum sponsors https://forums.seatcupra.net/index.php?forums/dpm-performance.248/ and https://forums.seatcupra.net/index.php?forums/progressive-parts.358/ they will have many things to suit your budget.

First of all your build is amazing.... massive well done on that. You’ve really gone for it! I will not be going stage 3+ (ever)... I most I will be going is stage 1 and that’s not definite yet. So in regards to the power and torque stage 1 will be putting down (probably max of what, 380bhp?) What would you say are the 2 or 3 most important or beneficial handling upgrades? I am all for springs/ coils however as you mention I do want to keep the DCC settings and I also want it to be comfy still as I do daily drive it (wish I didn’t have to but not in a position to have two cars and defo not getting rid of the Cupra ).

I don’t want to go “big brakes” as they’re waaay over my budget, so mostly looking at suspension/ mount mods.

 

[Damo H]

I would always look at tyres first. No point spending £££ on handling mods if you’re running Nexen DitchFinder 3000’s.

Best bang for buck has to be the front strut brace. I honestly was quite sceptical of this mod on the brace I saw. It was only a little tubing, where as the strut braces I’ve used in the past have been made from solid billet. But it’s well worth it. It’s barely visible in the engine bay though if your after bling.

Next I’d say lowering the car. Cheapest option is going to be lowering springs but at least you keep your DCC suspension. But it’s a compromise

You could get coilovers, but unless you're willing to spend £2k+ you’ll lose the DCC.

Another worthy mod is the front camber plates. To increase the front camber. Thankfully you don’t have to get adjustable ones. You have the Superpro and 034 Motorsport ones that take it to -2.5 degrees, or if you can get the part number the Cupra R ones that take it to -2.0 degrees.

As for anti roll bars. Generally rear only will increase turn in, but potentially give you to much oversteer. Front will keep the front end level and improve grip out of corners but may give you more understeer. If your doing them always best to do both to get balance. Although the rears are usually adjustable.

Persoanly I’ve got PS4S tyres, the strut brace, Eibach Sportline lowering springs and the 034 motorsport top mounts. Handling is surprising
for a big heavy 4WD estate.

However I’ll be charging to the KW Coilovers that work with DCC once I’ve done a couple of other things first.

 

[Deleted member 103408]

Thank you.

When I was stage 1 i had not extra mods apart from OBD11 Modes like adjusting the front diff / XDS settings and some small brake setup changes

Strut brace is good value for money (I think about 90-00) and there is a how to thread on how to fit.

I liked the Chassis braces, made a difference on the track for me.

Dog Bone mount if you don't have an upgraded one already will be a must for stage 1 (and stock in my opinion)

PS4S Tyres again a must although @paddy6789 is currently trying out the Goodyear SuperSports to see if they are as good/better

DCC Coilover systems are great but not cheap, a few people have fitted better springs @Damo H could you give some help in this area, pretty sure they keep comfort and i am sure add to handling but I have not done it so cant confirm.

That should be more than enough

 

[Damo H]

Thank you.

When I was stage 1 Ihad not extra mods apart from OBD11 Modes like adjusting the front diff / XDS settings and some small brake setup changes

Strut brace is good value for money (I think about 90-00) and there is a how to thread on how to fit.

I liked the Chassis braces, made a difference on the track for me.

Dog Bone mount if you don't have an upgraded one already will be a must for stage 1 (and stock in my opinion)

PS4S Tyres again a must although @paddy6789 is currently trying out the Goodyear SuperSports to see if they are as good/better

DCC Coilover systems are great but not cheap, a few people have fitted better springs @Damo H could you give some help in this area, pretty sure they keep comfort and i am sure add to handling but I have not done it so cant confirm.

That should be more than enough

I’d recommend Eibach, but go for the Pro kit. Sadly not available on my car (not sure why though, thought the answer I got was BS). Doesn’t lower as much but you’ll not need new filings if you can’t avoid a pothole.

Normal driving (minus pot holes) you wouldn’t know it was lowered. In fact Cupra mode is comfier with them.

Still I need to get in @kiddo ’s car to see how his KW DCC’s are on his ST

 

[LR231998]

I would always look at tyres first. No point spending £££ on handling mods if you’re running Nexen DitchFinder 3000’s.

Best bang for buck has to be the front strut brace. I honestly was quite sceptical of this mod on the brace I saw. It was only a little tubing, where as the strut braces I’ve used in the past have been made from solid billet. But it’s well worth it. It’s barely visible in the engine bay though if your after bling.

Next I’d say lowering the car. Cheapest option is going to be lowering springs but at least you keep your DCC suspension. But it’s a compromise

You could get coilovers, but unless you're willing to spend £2k+ you’ll lose the DCC.

Another worthy mod is the front camber plates. To increase the front camber. Thankfully you don’t have to get adjustable ones. You have the Superpro and 034 Motorsport ones that take it to -2.5 degrees, or if you can get the part number the Cupra R ones that take it to -2.0 degrees.

As for anti roll bars. Generally rear only will increase turn in, but potentially give you to much oversteer. Front will keep the front end level and improve grip out of corners but may give you more understeer. If your doing them always best to do both to get balance. Although the rears are usually adjustable.

Persoanly I’ve got PS4S tyres, the strut brace, Eibach Sportline lowering springs and the 034 motorsport top mounts. Handling is surprising
for a big heavy 4WD estate.

However I’ll be charging to the KW Coilovers that work with DCC once I’ve done a couple of other things first.

I’ll definitely be getting PS4S’s but obviously josh waiting for my tyres to need changing as I can’t afford to splash out on tyres that don’t need doing. So normal springs keep DCC and only the (2k ish) compatible coils keep DCC? So I’ll be going for springs then. So how does springs, dog bone mounts, maybe strut brace (and obviously tyres) sound? Thanks for the input all of you. @theoldboy in regard to XDS changes on OBD11, I’m guessing you mean the strength? How noticeable is it? I have mine on normal; didn’t get round to changing it yet. Is it worth it?

 

[Deleted member 103408]

Sounds good to me and thanks to @Damo H for your input.

Both @Damo H and @paddy6789 fitted the strut brace (along with myself and @Deano j1971 ) to name a few and we all like the difference it made and its not an expensive or difficult thing for you to fit yourself.

My view on both the Front Diff and XDS Settings is the difference depends on how you drive your car and where you live.
My location is very flat but lots and lots of twisty narrow lanes and this is where I found the Cupra with settings on High came into its own.

Others say they dont notice the difference but the who point of OBD11 (Currently) is you can make these changes and test them out and if it dont make a difference then you know. I am currently testing out these chnages to see if they are for the track or road use as well.

Finally I would also add some of these changes you will make when you are going out for some fun but when you come home reset to stock for the daily drive.

 

[LR231998]

Sounds good to me and thanks to @Damo H for your input.

Both @Damo H and @paddy6789 fitted the strut brace (along with myself and @Deano j1971 ) to name a few and we all like the difference it made and its not an expensive or difficult thing for you to fit yourself.

My view on both the Front Diff and XDS Settings is the difference depends on how you drive your car and where you live.
My location is very flat but lots and lots of twisty narrow lanes and this is where I found the Cupra with settings on High came into its own.

Others say they dont notice the difference but the who point of OBD11 (Currently) is you can make these changes and test them out and if it dont make a difference then you know. I am currently testing out these chnages to see if they are for the track or road use as well.

Thanks for that. I live in a town surrounded by your usual windy country roads covered in potholes and bumps to get to work; but I predominantly drive main roads/ dual carriageway. No way to know than to just try it myself I guess! Again thanks for your advice, and thanks to you too @Damo H @Legojon for your help.

Have a great evening all of you.

 

[LR231998]

Ah and that remind me @theoldboy ,slightly off topic question to end the thread, does my 2016 (66) Cupra 290 have exhaust valves? Just since my res delete I can’t get my head around how in comfort mode it doesn’t crackle/ pop but in sport/ Cupra it does?

 

[Deleted member 103408]

No the Cupra does not have valves only the Golf and Audi (I think)

No idea why but thats a good thing you can be nice and quiet till you put the power on and then you get the feedback.

 

[LR231998]

No the Cupra does not have valves only the Golf and Audi (I think)

No idea why but thats a good thing you can be nice and quiet till you put the power on and then you get the feedback.

Does sound spot on with the res delete in my opinion. Full asbo when flooring it but subdued around town.

 

[LouG]

I would upgrade the braking and tyres, then see where there are handling/grip problems and deal with them.
One thing I learned setting up bikes, is that if you're not methodical about it you can end up worse than when you started.
Dave Moss is a genius bike tuner and his advice alway is to ride until you get faster than the bike, then make the bike faster to suit your new abilities. Same with cars.
Also that one mans ideal set up, may not be so great for another. We all drive differently, and cars respond differently to their inputs.

 

[LR231998]

I would upgrade the braking and tyres, then see where there are handling/grip problems and deal with them.
One thing I learned setting up bikes, is that if you're not methodical about it you can end up worse than when you started.
Dave Moss is a genius bike tuner and his advice alway is to ride until you get faster than the bike, then make the bike faster to suit your new abilities. Same with cars.
Also that one mans ideal set up, may not be so great for another. We all drive differently, and cars respond differently to their inputs.

Very good point. I will probably start with springs and tyres anyway and that might be enough for how i use my car. Thanks for the advice mate!

 

[Deleted member 103408]

If you are considering going stage 1 or if you suffer (as many many people do) wheel hop under power then dog bone mount would be my first mod as this makes a huge difference in keeping all that power on the road.

 

[LR231998]

If you are considering going stage 1 or if you suffer (as many many people do) wheel hop under power then dog bone mount would be my first mod as this makes a huge difference in keeping all that power on the road.

I just looked at this on 034 motor post website. They state you should also get the upper insert as the wheel hop with just the lower one can bend something which causes massive damage? Can you enlighten me?

EDIT

Wheel hop is un-bearable lol, do these inserts cause bad vibrations? My res delete vibrates the sh*t out my middle console at a certain rev range I think from 2-4K so I can’t be doing with more vibrations lol. (Is this normal from res delete?)

 

[Deleted member 103408]

Personally I did the Full Revo nount kit but it was the recommended upgarde by my tuning company.

If they are recommending it I would go with both, but if you are not suffering at the moment with wheel hop then it can wait till Stage 1.

There was a YOUTUBER called AELLIS (and he did make a Vid about it) who managed to mangle his front sub frame but to be fair he was launching all over the place and he is now selling his Cupra. Have a chat with the forum sponsors (Progressive Parts) they should be able to advise you.

 

[LR231998]

Personally I did the Full Revo nount kit but it was the recommended upgarde by my tuning company.

If they are recommending it I would go with both, but if you are not suffering at the moment with wheel hop then it can wait till Stage 1.

There was a YOUTUBER called AELLIS (and he did make a Vid about it) who managed to mangle his front sub frame but to be fair he was launching all over the place and he is now selling his Cupra. Have a chat with the forum sponsors (Progressive Parts) they should be able to advise you.

Cheers mate you are a Cupra encyclopaedia

 

[Deleted member 103408]

No, but I do read a lot on here.

I also found this article very good and it fully supports @LouG comments earlier.