Eibach Springs/Dameprs vs Standard (Fabia vRS)

[faboka vrs]

Had the eibach springs/dampers fitted for around 10K miles. Recently reverted back to standard.

The eibach kit does a great job of giving that "sporty" suspension feel. Steering response is noticably better, low speed body roll reduced, dive under low to medium braking reduced and traction off the line and out of corners reduced.

Traction

When back on standard suspension the traction is the first thing you notice. Accelerating out of corners in 2nd gear in the wet the wheels just spin. With the eibachs at the same speed it would just grip. You would have to push it a bit harder with the eibachs to get it to spin.

Dive under braking

With the standard car the first thing you notice when travelling at speed and stamping on the middle pedal is the backend become light and starts dancing. With the eibachs this doesnt happen. You also notice on the average journery is the dive you get when braking has also gone. Their is however still a hell of alot of diving when pushing it very similar to the standard suspension.

Comfort

Many people comment on how the ride quality isnt that much different to standard. When on decent roads (not many in britian) I can agree but however my journey to work is far from decent. With the eibachs I found the ride can be very crashy and in some cases going round corners with not so great surfaces the car can infact bouncy across the road. You also have to approach speed bumps with a little more care. One because the rides stiffer and 2 because the engine tray can some times hit the bumps.

I need to add however that some of the ride problems could be down to my tyres. I currently run 215/40's. The lower profile is probably not helping matters. In fact since going back to standard I find the ride to be a stiffer and not as much floating about then what I remeber when I first bought the car. Next time I get tyres I'm going back to 205/45's

So why dont I like it?

Well when you put day to day driving a side and go for that blast down your favourite lanes or chucking it round roundabouts you find that body roll is in fact very much still there. I would say the amount of body roll is the same as standard just the rate in which it gets there is slight reduced same with the diving under heavy braking. Put it this way. A standard car has no problems keeping up with the same car fitted with eibach springs and dampers.

I'm not knocking eibach as a feel the springs are probably just the right stiffness for fast road use but feel the dampers (infact made by sachs) could be better. Problem being not many people make dampers for the vRS model. Koni on their sport yellow dampers exclude the vRS model. This maybe down to the front nose weight. If you look on koni's site. The same dampers are used on the Ibiza models. When you look at the sport models koni recommend you increase the front rebound. This maybe due to the front springs having to be stiffer because of the engine weight. Koni now produce FSD for the fabia. Some people say they work fine on the vRS but find it strange how the yellow exclude the vRS giving you the impression the damping rates needs to be different but yet the FSD's fit all.

[Sonic1980]

Have you got the rear ARB fitted? Body roll is dramatically reduced, with no compromise on ride quality....

[Tom_vRS]

Faboka, I TOTALLY agree with your little write up - likewise I have just reverted back to standard. On my favourite B road, its twisty and bumpy - the car is 6mph faster on average speed compared to when I had the Eibachs... and 6mph is A LOT. It was only around 10mph faster average when I got it remapped.

I also agree that on fast, smooth a roads, sweeping bends etc, the Eibach setup wins hands down. Long motorway bends at 3 figure speeds feel safer with the Eibachs too.

But for me, most of my driving is done on bumpy poorly constructed roads, so the 25mm drop isn't worth the discomfort or loss of progress imho.

[faboka vrs]

Originally Posted by Tom_vRS

Faboka, I TOTALLY agree with your little write up - likewise I have just reverted back to standard. On my favourite B road, its twisty and bumpy - the car is 6mph faster on average speed compared to when I had the Eibachs... and 6mph is A LOT. It was only around 10mph faster average when I got it remapped.

I also agree that on fast, smooth a roads, sweeping bends etc, the Eibach setup wins hands down. Long motorway bends at 3 figure speeds feel safer with the Eibachs too.

But for me, most of my driving is done on bumpy poorly constructed roads, so the 25mm drop isn't worth the discomfort or loss of progress imho.

Cool so it not just me then And theirs me thinking I was getting old.

[faboka vrs]

Originally Posted by Sonic1980

Have you got the rear ARB fitted? Body roll is dramatically reduced, with no compromise on ride quality....

At the moment no. But tomorrow about 11am I will

[Chris GB]

I really dont want to gloat here but how often have I posted about the effects of fitting lowering kits? Look cool, usually degrade the handling on bumpier roads and over camber changes.

What I found to be highly relevant is tyre differences. Just fitted the Kumho KU31s to the standard suspension vRS and it feels like the car has new improved dampers fitted.

Chris

[Irf]

Koni FSD's They rock! We got the Merc back today and as it's an Avantgarde spec (slightly lowered and firmer from factory as standard) it feels bumpier than normal Mercs. But the Furby is smoother on the roads and has less roll/dive, even though it's all aftermarket stuff. Totaslly different cars, but the Merc is much bigger and has higher profile tyres, which theoretically should mean it's smoother.

[bahnstormer vrs]

Got Koni FSDs fitted to my Octavia vRS on Friday and, to coin a phrase, they do it exactly as it says on the tin!!

I had Koni Sports on my Fabia with standard springs and they made the ride quite firm and pretty jittery on broken/corrugated surfaces but with the expected tightening of the handling.

The Octavia vRS as standard is really nice and taught with great high speed handling BUT at the expense of the ride which is more jittery than my Fabia was; to the point of being uncomfortable.

Having now fitted Koni FSDs to the Octavia vRS there is no change to the taut handling, if anything it is a shade more taught BUT (and this is the best bit) the ride is now softer and definitely more comfortable.

Certain bits of local roads that would jar the Fabia/koni sports and buck the standard Octavia vRS are now suitably soft. I am not talking of Rolls Royce ride levels, you certainly know that you still have a sporty handling setup and can feel the wheels riding the bumps/broken tarmac, BUT the ride is now more than tolerably comfortable.

The best of both worlds? Definitely - for the spirited brisk driver for normal road. OK; if you want a track biased setup then other shocks/springs will probably do the job better; but for typical road use they are absolutely excellent.

I most certainly recommend them for any Octavia vRS to get a smoother ride. Other Octavias on normal suspension will get the benefit of improved/taughter handling without ruining the ride.

Final comment - they should be OE spec on the vRS!!