High speed Handling?

[joe2612]

I know, bit of a vauge topic title, just wondering what everyones opinion is on the polos handling?

I know the steering is light as hell, but personally i don't have a lot of confidence high speed cornering ( even with coilies and proxes), the front end tends to slide quite alot and doesn't feel planted- has anyone managed to dial out some of the horendous understeer? or am i a minority here

[Bradley]

What sort of speed are you talking here?.Mine dosen't seem to handle too badly at all,i know the Proxes are very soft so should grip quite well in the dry weather.The steering is light as with most power steering cars but i dont tend to get a great deal of understeer unless i leave it too late and hang the steering into the corner too late.

Mines on standard suspension and Michelin Pilot Exalto tyres all round,i drive mine through the local bends so lots of tight,tough bends.Seems abit of a B road eater lol,i can keep up with several friends cars that are running much higher spec.

[alexperkins]

Ive never had a scary moment in the polo. Its planted like hell in the corners, and now I have a strut brace, it should be even tighter to be fair!

[tegwin]

Mine is totally standard, just refreshed every single suspension component at the front... running yoko S drive tyres... as Alex says... sticks to the road like a steaming turd.....

You get understear on very wet greasy roundabouts if you try really hard... but its controllable and avoidable if you want to...


If you are getting really heavy overstear I would be firstly checking that everything is still nice and tight on the front and rear suspension... and then get the complete gemoetry setup properly.. tracking, camber, castor, etc....

[6N2 GTI 00]

I always thought the Polo was fairly poor on standard suspension.
I was driving an old retro metro before I got my GTI and that thing was like a go-kart in the corners and would of left me in the Polo (in the corners).

I am now running the GTI on Spax RSX coilovers at the moment which are superb and really do feel planted in every corner. I had a few scary moments on the original suspension but those scares have now been eliminated thanks to the coilovers.

Depends really what speeds your talking about but my car now leaves most things for dead in the corners.
If your considering lowering the Polo and want to improve the handling significantly then get a set of coilovers
Lowering springs will certainly improve the handling but not a great deal. Like Alex said above a Strut brace will also help in the corners and you would also benefit from a Rear ARB.

Ben,

[emma_88]

I agree with Ben, the standard suspension is s**t IMO.

Fitting coilovers doesn't necessarily mean that your handling will improve. Having a low car does not mean you will have a better handling car. You need to get them set up right etc to see the difference.

The lads round here automatically think that once their car is lowered, they're now driving a go-kart. And they end up learning the hard way when they end up with no license and a written off car.

[6N2 GTI 00]

I agree with Ben, the standard suspension is **** IMO.

Fitting coilovers doesn't necessarily mean that your handling will improve. Having a low car does not mean you will have a better handling car. You need to get them set up right etc to see the difference.

The lads round here automatically think that once their car is lowered, they're now driving a go-kart. And they end up learning the hard way when they end up with no license and a written off car.

Spot on
I guess it depends what you have been driving previously when you talk about the GTI, mine always felt poor and dangerous in the corners on the standard suspension set-up but the coilovers did make a world of difference and now it sticks like sh1t!

Ben

[alexperkins]

I agree with Ben, the standard suspension is **** IMO.

Fitting coilovers doesn't necessarily mean that your handling will improve. Having a low car does not mean you will have a better handling car. You need to get them set up right etc to see the difference.

The lads round here automatically think that once their car is lowered, they're now driving a go-kart. And they end up learning the hard way when they end up with no license and a written off car.

I think it depends how worn the standard setup is - dads GTI (as its only done 15k) drives superbly in the corners, but mine, which is lowered on proper sport suspension and bushes etc definately feels alot tighter.

[Bradley]

I agree with Ben, the standard suspension is **** IMO.

Fitting coilovers doesn't necessarily mean that your handling will improve. Having a low car does not mean you will have a better handling car. You need to get them set up right etc to see the difference.

The lads round here automatically think that once their car is lowered, they're now driving a go-kart. And they end up learning the hard way when they end up with no license and a written off car.

I think it depends how worn the standard setup is - dads GTI (as its only done 15k) drives superbly in the corners, but mine, which is lowered on proper sport suspension and bushes etc definately feels alot tighter.

I think alex must be right here,my standard setup (covered 29,000) still feels pretty damn stiff around corners.Although uprated suspension will increase it's handling.I'll have to wait until ive made this upgrade to be able to compare the two properly.

[Mouse_GTI]

Thought is was ok on standard suspension but much better on the coilovers. I got Toyo Proxes 4 and they are pretty rubbish even when the road is slightly moist, the car just wants to go sideways which can be annoying

Thought I was doing well toying with a Z4 on the way back home from Edinburgh last night, then after dropping my girlfriend in Aberdeen I got annihilated by an Astra GSI

[chrisjames]

Yeah I push and it understeers. On a track you would take measures to avoid this but for general fast road driving its setup is too "safe"

A rear ARB I hope will help ?

[alexperkins]

Well an uprated rear ARB - they already have one...supposedly neuspeed were going to be making uprated ones, but I dont know how far that got!

[emma_88]

I'm sure the Whiteline ARB for the Fabia can be fitted to the 6N2?

[alexperkins]

interesting. any more info?

[emma_88]

http://www.awesome-gti.co.uk/product.ph ... 0&xSec=289

Says it fits the Polo 9N, but I'm absolutely certain I read somewhere that it fits the 6N2 as well.

I think it was Mouse_GTi that got one fitted? I have a memory like a fish!

EDIT - Some more info from Jabbasport too...

http://www.jabbasport.com/store/index.p ... &ref=JSARB