Handling on B-roads

[Deekster]

Having owned a my01 Seat Leon Cupra when they came out and my friend having an FR when they came out I was always impressed with the handling of seats.

Bought my Ibiza Cupra and im very very dissapointed with the handling. So much so im considering selling it. I drive to the Nurburgring each year and was hoping to take the ibiza but I just cant seem to trust it.

Totaly know where your all coming from with it throwing you about the cabin. I gave it a right beasting across some county roads in the rain the other day and whilst it handled well and shifted It just didnt feel planted when I hit uneven sections of the road.

 

[Ninety]

Massive no-profile tyres on FRs and Cupras don't help,but it must possible to get better. My old 9n Polo Sport handled like a go kart with an H&R Cup kit on it (far too hard,but no more crashy than the Ibiza over the little stuff) and my Dad's same model 9n3 rides beautifully on the stock setup (predictable and safe handling,understeery if you're pressing on).
If anyone's got a magic bullet for this I'd love to know it-still intrigued by the bushes and geometry changes also.

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[Dubbed]

Massive no-profile tyres on FRs and Cupras don't help,but it must possible to get better. My old 9n Polo Sport handled like a go kart with an H&R Cup kit on it (far too hard,but no more crashy than the Ibiza over the little stuff) and my Dad's same model 9n3 rides beautifully on the stock setup (predictable and safe handling,understeery if you're pressing on).
If anyone's got a magic bullet for this I'd love to know it-still intrigued by the bushes and geometry changes also.

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How on earth can a polo handle like a go-kart

 

[Ninety]

It's early...that was an exaggeration. A front wheel drive go kart prone to understeer?

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[mick-fr]

Massive no-profile tyres on FRs and Cupras don't help,but it must possible to get better. My old 9n Polo Sport handled like a go kart with an H&R Cup kit on it (far too hard,but no more crashy than the Ibiza over the little stuff) and my Dad's same model 9n3 rides beautifully on the stock setup (predictable and safe handling,understeery if you're pressing on).
If anyone's got a magic bullet for this I'd love to know it-still intrigued by the bushes and geometry changes also.

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I don't think its much to do with tyre sizes, cheap tyres maybe, but not the size.

My Megane is on 235/40/18 and it handles much better than my old FR on 205/40/17. It's obviously more to do with the suspension/chassis etc rather than tyre sizes.

 

[Ninety]

True - I doubt my cheap tyres help.

 

[Packham]

anything french and standard would be better

Yep, my old saxo 1.1 was more fun on country lanes than the Ibiza

 

[vroomtshh]

Hope this doesn't count as resurrecting a too-old thread (1 month), but I wasn't here when it started - I did my first long trip in the Ibiza yesterday (~300 miles) down a mixture of motorways (great), A-roads (OK) and B-roads (hmm). Suspension mods have just gone to the top of the list.

Are you saying that poly bushes improved the handling *and* ride? The way mine crashes around makes me think the bushes aren't too clever, so this could be a good first step - I'd always assumed that stock rubber was the way to go, but if mine are shagged after less than 50k, that perhaps says something. Also, what geometry changes did you make?

The poly bushes make the handling a bit tighter, and while they don;t improve the ride quality, they don;t make it worse.
I run 1deg camber all round, 0 deg toe, the rest as per factory settings.

 

[Ninety]

The poly bushes make the handling a bit tighter, and while they don;t improve the ride quality, they don;t make it worse.
I run 1deg camber all round, 0 deg toe, the rest as per factory settings.

@vroomtsh - excellent! That's exactly what I was after,thanks. Going to have a go at the bushes in the New Year, so when it goes in for wheel alignment afterwards I'll get the -ve camber dialled in too (and any toe dialled out). Thanks, man!