Improving Ride Comfort

Altech · Apr 26, 2009

As a few of you will know I've fitted a set of FK Konigsport coilovers to my PD130. They are dampening adjustable as well as height adjustable.

The dampening has 4 settings. When I first fitted the kit I set the dampening to 2 at the front and 3 at the rear. This left the car slightly bouncy at the front and really bouncy at the rear. I've since adjusted the dampening to level 1 front and rear. This has left the car very firm and not comfortable to drive. The front is easy to adjust, but the rear is a pita as the rear shocks have to be removed from the car to adjust them!

This is how it sits atm (The rear is lowered as far as it will go with the adjuster in...The front has been lowered to match)

I don't think it’s silly low and I can manoeuvre over all speed bumps etc that I’ve come across.

My question is, if I raise the suspension by 10-20mm would this improve the ride comfort? Or would I be better off setting the dampening to level 2 front and rear?

Any help would be appreciated

NickyJam · Apr 26, 2009

hey altech

have you tried moving up to 215/45 tyres? a few people have recommended this mod and i shall be doing so once my p-zero's are mullered...like that you could have the ride height possibly a tad higher to match the tyres. you should get slight better comfort from this

george130 · Apr 26, 2009

Maybe cut down the bumpstops? Have a quick read of this:

http://briskoda.net/technical-guides/eibach-springs-how-improve-ride/32720/

Altech · Apr 27, 2009

NickyJam said:
hey altech

have you tried moving up to 215/45 tyres? a few people have recommended this mod and i shall be doing so once my p-zero's are mullered...like that you could have the ride height possibly a tad higher to match the tyres. you should get slight better comfort from this

Hi mate,

I had thought about it, but the Toyos that I've got on it atm still have loads of life left. Also the 45 profile may cause issues with rubbing etc...

george130 said:
Maybe cut down the bumpstops? Have a quick read of this:

http://briskoda.net/technical-guides/eibach-springs-how-improve-ride/32720/

Thanks very much for the link it's been a great help.

When I first fitted my coilovers I made a thread on here about something that I wasn't sure about.... In this pic you can see two black rubber washers that I have arrowed either side of the bump stop... I didn't know if they had to stay on the strut or be removed.

Anyway I fitted the coilovers and left these washers in. I read the thread on Briskoda and realised that they were causing the problem at the front. Basically when I drove over any small bump etc the spring would take the hit slightly, but the top of the strut body would hit the bumpstop and transfer the shock through to the chassis causing the jarring. This should only happen if you hit a major bump at speed.

I removed these two black washers today and it's made a big difference. Now the shock doesn't bottom out all the time as it has room to do its job, and let the spring do its job! The two plastic washers are 10mm each in thickness, so the extra 20mm space either side has made the difference.

I still need to cut down the bumpstops on the rear though. As it is the bumpstop is sitting on top of the shock strut not allowing any movement at all.

Has anyone had to cut down their rear bumpstops?

Ibiza 130 tdi · Apr 27, 2009

I THINK with coilovers, the lower you go - the better the ride should be! As you look at the coilover, the lower you wind the adjuster, the more stretched out the spring is - therefore the more travel - therefore the more it should absorb and move. The higher you have it, the more compressed the spring will be and the harder ride you would have.

I don't get it, my FK's are lovely ride! They absorb bumps nicely and sticks to the road like poo to a blanket!

Mine has 6 adjusters though. I know R1ch85 on here has FK's on his Cupra, he went in my car and was amazed at the ride quality as he said his are rock solid!

Altech · Apr 27, 2009

Ibiza 130 tdi said:
I THINK with coilovers, the lower you go - the better the ride should be! As you look at the coilover, the lower you wind the adjuster, the more stretched out the spring is - therefore the more travel - therefore the more it should absorb and move. The higher you have it, the more compressed the spring will be and the harder ride you would have.

I don't get it, my FK's are lovely ride! They absorb bumps nicely and sticks to the road like poo to a blanket!

Mine has 6 adjusters though. I know R1ch85 on here has FK's on his Cupra, he went in my car and was amazed at the ride quality as he said his are rock solid!

Yeah I get what you mean about the spring being less compressed the lower down the adjuster is. But by doing so it leaves the shock very compressed and not able to travel very far. In my case, with the rubber washers in place my shock had hardly any travel. It was basically like driving round with scaffolding poles for suspension!

I believe our suspension is based on the same components. My front shocks are FK Koni G75 and my rear shocks are FK Koni G23....are yours the same? From the pics that I've seen of your unfitted suspension, your kit looks identical to mine just without the black rubber washers. Did you get aftermarket rear top mounts with your kit or are they origional Seat parts? Perhaps R1ch85 has the same problem as me?

The front end feels pretty good atm, but the rear defo needs sorting and I believe the only way that I can sort it is to cut down the rear bumpstops

Ibiza 130 tdi · Apr 27, 2009

Altech said:
Yeah I get what you mean about the spring being less compressed the lower down the adjuster is. But by doing so it leaves the shock very compressed and not able to travel very far. In my case, with the rubber washers in place my shock had hardly any travel. It was basically like driving round with scaffolding poles for suspension!

I believe our suspension is based on the same components. My front shocks are FK Koni G75 and my rear shocks are FK Koni G23....are yours the same? From the pics that I've seen of your unfitted suspension, your kit looks identical to mine just without the black rubber washers. Did you get aftermarket rear top mounts with your kit or are they origional Seat parts? Perhaps R1ch85 has the same problem as me?

The front end feels pretty good atm, but the rear defo needs sorting and I believe the only way that I can sort it is to cut down the rear bumpstops

Pass - I'm not sure what setup I have. I'll try to find some pics in a min....

The back end is always hard, but I only notice how hard it is when going over decent speed humps. Apart from that I love it

Altech · Apr 28, 2009

Well I've taken apart my rear suspension again! I compared my bumpstops to the measurements in the Briskoda link and have concluded that Ibizas do have shorter bumpstops (50mm) than Fabias (110mm) So I decided not to cut down my rear bumpstops.

Instead I took apart the rear top mount and removed a plastic washer that sits between the topmount and the bumpstop. I also removed the thick plastic collar which prevents the dust cover rubbing against the shock...I replaced it with a thinner collar (One of the original collars had been smashed to pieces and the other had been flattened!) By removing these two parts I've gained an extra 15mm travel in the rear shocks. I've also set the rear shocks to dampening level 2.

Altering the front and rear to allow the shocks more travel has completely changed the ride. Yes it's still firm but it's so much more comfortable and the jarring has disappeared :funk:

I’m so glad that I’ve finally sorted this out as I was considering putting the standard suspension back in :ban:

…or getting rid of the car altogether :lol:

Ibiza 130 tdi · Apr 28, 2009

Altech said:
I’m so glad that I’ve finally sorted this out as I was considering putting the standard suspension back in …or getting rid of the car altogether

I was like that when I fitted my coilovers and they were uber bouncy! Glad it's all sorted fella! Just need a remap now, then hybrid.

george130 · Apr 28, 2009

Altech said:
Thanks very much for the link it's been a great help.

Glad I could help Altech

Interesting stuff as well, glad its all worked out! I'm still umming and ahhing about coilovers, so any proven tips and tricks to soften up the ride are good in my book!

andycupra · Apr 28, 2009

are those alloys the same size as standard or are they larger with a lower profiel tyre? - this certaily wouldnt help things.
IMO the car is a bit too low..

Regarding the lower setting having less bounce at the spring is compressed less, i dont agree, the spring is compressed by the weight applied on it by the car, this is the same no matter what height the colovers are set at.

Altech · Apr 29, 2009

andycupra said:
are those alloys the same size as standard or are they larger with a lower profiel tyre? - this certaily wouldnt help things.
IMO the car is a bit too low..

Regarding the lower setting having less bounce at the spring is compressed less, i dont agree, the spring is compressed by the weight applied on it by the car, this is the same no matter what height the colovers are set at.

The vRS alloys that I have on it atm are 17" running a 205/40/17 tyre. The standard alloys were 16" running a 205/45/16 tyre. Obviously the lower profile tyre doesn't help the situation but my main problem was with the shocks not having any travel.

As I said before I don't think my car is silly low. Before I made the adjustments the rear shocks had no travel. I don't understand how some members can run their cars lower than mine without having problems with the ride comfort.

Aimez · Apr 29, 2009

Another thread putting me off coilovers, I find the ride harsh in my car even before I have lower profile tyres. I want to try to improve this and am worried lowering will ruin the ride even more. I hate the crashy ride find it embarrassing with passengers who comment on it!

Nath. · Apr 29, 2009

aimez said:
Another thread putting me off coilovers, I find the ride harsh in my car even before I have lower profile tyres. I want to try to improve this and am worried lowering will ruin the ride even more. I hate the crashy ride find it embarrassing with passengers who comment on it!

Same here, I lowered cars in the past and regretted it. Ended up going back to stock and selling the springs/dampers.

I have never had coilovers but I'm past all that now. The Ibiza handles well enough for me.

I found that reducing the pressure in the rear tyres made a big difference Aimez, have a go, you will be shocked how low you can set the pressure in the rears (20psi) with no signs of soft tyres to look at.

I actually drove my FR for a day with only 20psi in the rears and it was bliss, the only reason I went back up a bit (24psi) was for fear that I'd overdone it.

IMO 24psi is fine in the rears as there is no weight at the rear of an Ibiza. Shoot me down in flames if you think I'm wrong though.

When I need some new tyres I'm doing all 4 and going up in profile for better ride comfort/noise.

Give it a go, you've nothing to loose except 20p...........................why are all the air pumps 20p these days :no:

cardaft · Apr 29, 2009

I had a drive of a Ibiza Sport TDi 130 yesterday. I could not get over how bumpy it was!

I mean i have been in lowered cars, and cars wound right down on coilies, but have never been in anything so harsh and crashy as that :blink:

It maybe to do with old shockers or something, as the ones on my Arosa went hard, so i put new one on and it got a bit softer. It wasnt the best example either, so it might not be right. So that might be the reason, however im not impressed if thats how it shoud be.

Ill try another and see what i think, maybe a TDi SE is softer than a Sport ....

warren_cox · Apr 29, 2009

It's interesting as this isn't the first thread of this nature I've read this week.

Our '54 Ibiza TDi FR suspension was very unforgiving with OE suspension , and if we hadn't got rid of the car so quickly I would have put Weitec springs / dampers on it.

There is no need for a crashy ride if you get lowered suspension, if the dampers and springs are well matched, of a certain level of quality, and set up well, you can achieve a pretty compliant ride.

Part of the problem is that Joe Public think hard = sporty. Hard actually = bouncy. Bouncy on UK roads means no grip / increased braking distance / more chance of crashing / trip to chiropractor! Coilies don't aspire to be comfortable, just road legal. I think that by fitting lowering springs / damper kit (30-40mm or so from OE) you can retain decent compliance in the ride, but then upgrade your ARB's. This seems to be one of the most successful mods to suspension as there aren't a multitude of set up parameters, and the roll characteristic will improve no end.

AdamIbiza is selling his coilies in the for sale section and states because they are harder than expected. I wish more people would think twice about the merits of coilovers for daily use before taking the plunge.

Aimez · Apr 29, 2009

warren_cox said:
AdamIbiza is selling his coilies in the for sale section and states because they are harder than expected. I wish more people would think twice about the merits of coilovers for daily use before taking the plunge.

That is what I have been trying to to do for over year and giving up as don't know what to get still!

Nath as for lowering tyre pressure you may have a point just got my wheel back from re furbishers(v long painful story NOT my fault!) and they pumped it up to 28psi as we were worried about the wheel still causing a puncture on the new tyre. My tyres are all 28 that's what the tyre bloke did them at when he fitted them all is he wrong are they too high? they are 205/40/17s

warren_cox · Apr 29, 2009

aimez said:
That is what I have been trying to to do for over year and giving up as don't know what to get still!

An excess of choices can paralyse you into not making any decision at all. Therefore I'll step in with an independent recommendation: here!. If you drive your car like a road car should be driven on the roads, then these are all you'll ever need!

george130 · Apr 29, 2009

The problem with springs and damper packages like above are that they tend not to lower the rear enough, and you end up with an awkward nose heavy stance... if someone manages to fit a kit like above that lower the car nicely, then i'd snap them up in a second!

Aimez · Apr 29, 2009

Doesn't say if they are stainless.
TBH you are partially right that is why I have made no decision but the other main reason is the pics of Ibiza 130 tdi's coilovers and the corrosion they had suffered when he looks after them and also what followed was a discussions saying I have to strip them down 12 times a years to look after them.
**** that paying up to £500 for this and having to do that, I am not capable of fitting them myself anyway let alone stripping them down. So now 3 reasons putting me off I can't solve.

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