[Turbohead]

Originally Posted by coolboy007

Please refer to my thread : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...-vw-vento.html.

The front dampers are fine and you do not need to change them, it is the rear where VW have totally messed up as they are extremely soft and the car bobs like crazy over undulations. Get a set of TRW rear shock absorbers for your car, they cost around 4k and you would not be disappointed. They are much stiffer than oem shocks and you would love the stable/planted ride, that irritating "thud" from rear over speed breakers/undulations is also solved.

Volkswagen is becoming the new Hyundai, they are making the suspension softer every year while Hyundai is making it stiffer.

Hey Coolboy007!
How are the TRW shock absorbers holding up? Are they better than the stock shocks in terms of wear and tear considering you had a bad experience with the stocks? Does the ride become harsh in the city? Where does the ride quality stand in comparison with the Fiesta? Sorry for bombarding you with so many questions.
Turbohead

[coolboy007]

Originally Posted by Ricky_63

Always better to change all 4 corners - lest you have unbalanced damping, whi

The OP has already got new VW OE dampers for the front, i have been running with VW OE front + TRW rear struts for over 10000 kms now and the handling/ride is just perfect. A bit stiffer than stock but the car rides F-L-A-T.

Had tried Trw front struts too but my ride turned too jittery with them on.

Originally Posted by Turbohead

Hey Coolboy007!
How are the TRW shock absorbers holding up? Are they better than the stock shocks in terms of wear and tear considering you had a bad experience with the stocks? Does the ride become harsh in the city? Where does the ride quality stand in comparison with the Fiesta? Sorry for bombarding you with so many questions.
Turbohead

Would answer your questions one by one :

1. The TRW's are holding just fine, i keep looking for a leak when the car is hoisted up on a ramp for washing/alignment and the dampers are doing fine, there is no loss of damping ability so far.

2. My stock shocks lasted 34000 kms and these TRW's have done just 14-15k kms so far, no idea as to how long they would last. We need to wait for that, do not think these would give up early. The TRW dampers feels better built and look better compared to cheap looking OE Gabriel dampers.

3. It is not harsh but it is quite stiffer with 55 profile S drives, those with 195/60 R15 do not need to worry. You do loose the low speed plushness with TRW as they are not soft like OE VW dampers.

4. There is just no comparison between Vento and Fiesta. That Ford is in a league of its own when it comes to ride/handling. Fiesta just glides over every thing and still handles beautifully, the ride is great and handling is mind blowing. Only D segment sedans can compare to Fiesta's ride quality. I recently got a 320D and believe me that the Ford is so damn close to 3's handling despite being 1/4th of the price, it is unbelievable.

[halfbytecode]

Originally Posted by coolboy007

Please refer to my thread : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...-vw-vento.html

VW India have shifted from made in Germany shock absorbers to Made in India shock absorbers by Gabriel. While that may not mean much, they have gone for softer damping over the years and this is the reason why you hate the new dampers.

The front dampers are fine and you do not need to change them, it is the rear where VW have totally messed up as they are extremely soft and the car bobs like crazy over undulations. Get a set of TRW rear shock absorbers for your car, they cost around 4k and you would not be disappointed. They are much stiffer than oem shocks and you would love the stable/planted ride, that irritating "thud" from rear over speed breakers/undulations is also solved.

Volkswagen is becoming the new Hyundai, they are making the suspension softer every year while Hyundai is making it stiffer.

Thank you for the advice. I might get the rear TRWs.

However, I do not think these new front shocks from VW India are as stiff as the two pairs of FKGs I've used all these years. I also have doubts about the new anti-sway links that have been installed. The ball joints are too "soft" on these.

By the way, I asked around to sell the rear OEM shocks, which have been used for just ~3500 KMs. I've been hearing from a spare parts store, a mechanic, and a shock repair shop, that they are as good as trash now, because they are used. I am quite upset I trusted VW to keep my car's driveability intact, but I stand corrected now.

Any thoughts on how I can get rid of them, for a decent price? I am hoping someone preferring the OEM shocks would buy them.

[halfbytecode]

Hi,

I was wondering if it a good idea to buy front and rear shocks manufactured in April/May 2015, or should I insist on ordering the ones manufactured in 2016?

I haven't been able to figure this out by searching online.

[halfbytecode]

Just a update on my situation, in case someone finds it helpful. I had my "soft-damping" shocks replaced with VW OE shocks. The front shocks are made in Germany, by FKG, bearing part number 6R0 413 031 AJ, and the rear ones are made in Czech Republic, by Monroe, having part number 6RU 513 025 A.

Since my car had shocks identical to these factory installed, I managed to get VW to replace the soft-damping shocks with these, by only paying the price difference. It seems to habe worked out well.

[Turbohead]

Originally Posted by halfbytecode

Just a update on my situation, in case someone finds it helpful. I had my "soft-damping" shocks replaced with VW OE shocks. The front shocks are made in Germany, by FKG, bearing part number 6R0 413 031 AJ, and the rear ones are made in Czech Republic, by Monroe, having part number 6RU 513 025 A.

Since my car had shocks identical to these factory installed, I managed to get VW to replace the soft-damping shocks with these, by only paying the price difference. It seems to habe worked out well.

Can you tell the total amount for those pair of shocks? Can you share more details on how the SC procured it, your argument etc?
And is your car back to 'stock'?

[halfbytecode]

Originally Posted by Turbohead

Can you tell the total amount for those pair of shocks? Can you share more details on how the SC procured it, your argument etc?
And is your car back to 'stock'?

The MRP of the front shock is Rs. 3325 currently, and Rs. 4605 on the rear one. Apparently, these are still being imported in India, but usually the SC guys just say they are no longer absorber in India, especially the rear shocks by Monroe. I think two of the shocks, out of four, had the import date marked as December 2015.

The situation was a total nightmare. I insisted that VW cannot transform my car into a completely different car, than the car I liked and bought. More so, without informing me about the difference in shock damping, before installing the parts, to give me an opportunity to decide against that.

The senior service manager was playing hard ball, claiming the new shocks are standard and better due to all the R&D efforts by VW India. He suggested that firmness of shocks does not have any effect on the car's "feel". I stuck by my knowledge about automotives, and not buying his senseless claims.

A formal complaint by email to VW customer care, detailing the unprofessional conduct and stuff, a separate email to VW India MD, resulted in a call like 2 days later about the shocks identical to the ones factory installed in the car being available was made.

Since I was upset about the senior service manager's behavior, I did not want to go back to same SC again. They kept on calling, but I insisted on getting a quote for the replacement before proceeding. Until I brought that to notice of VW customer care, I just received calls from the SC asking me to schedule an appointment. I did not give in, for like a month, as from my previous visit to the SC, I knew all they cared about was marking the complaint as resolved, and not actually resolving the issue.

After I wrote to the customer care about getting a quote, only then the people at SC gave me one. The offer was a decent one, as I pretty much had to pay just the difference between the older and newer shocks.

Having said that, I bought these shocks, despite them having a huge price tag, as the factory installed ones worked well. 55,000 KMs for the front ones, before they were shot, and a whopping 84000 KMs on the rear ones.

Anyway, the car seems to be close to how it has always been. The new anti-sway links from VW are softer, which have changed the "stock" feel, I know of, a bit.

[coolboy007]

Originally Posted by halfbytecode

Anyway, the car seems to be close to how it has always been. The new anti-sway links from VW are softer, which have changed the "stock" feel, I know of, a bit.

Hi, can you please send me your contact details on my emai - rajatsharma0123@gmail.com. I can neither send a PM to you and nor can i send a mail. A friend of mine who needs these imported VW shocks for his Vento needs a bit of help, his rears were also changed with made in India shocks and he is quite disappointed with them.

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by coolboy007

Next upgrade in line is brembo discs,

Did you went ahead with this modification? If yes, can you please share your experience on the discs

[coolboy007]

Originally Posted by Surprise

Did you went ahead with this modification? If yes, can you please share your experience on the discs

I did not yet go ahead with it as my brakes were doing fine after skimming, the car has started shuddering again at high speeds when braking and i will change to the brembo rotors + pads once i come back to India in may.

My friend who owns a Rapid went with the brembo discs and black pads, the upgrade costed him around 9-9.5k as he went for the expensive black pads compared to the red ones. His car has done 8000 kms on this and i get to drive his car regularly on highways, no shuddering issues and the braking is phenomenal compared to the stock rotors + pads from Tvs.

The only issue with brembo pads is a light squeal some times but the much improved braking more than makes up for it, the brake bite is excellent and the brakes dont fade under repeated braking, sheds quite a bit of brake dust and it implies that these are soft pads oriented more towards braking than long life. He bought it from carzspares, there is a page on facebook, you can give my friend's reference (Ekam) and he is a very helpful chap.

The oem discs are pathetic, the brake shudder issues still continue in newer gen Polo/Vento's and vw have not solved this problem yet, the stock discs cost a whopping 5500 and it is guaranteed that you will face the brake shudder around 15-18k kms with the stock discs. Am fed up with this and will go with Brembo now.

[halfbytecode]

Originally Posted by coolboy007

I did not yet go ahead with it as my brakes were doing fine after skimming, the car has started shuddering again at high speeds when braking and i will change to the brembo rotors + pads once i come back to India in may.

The oem discs are pathetic, the brake shudder issues still continue in newer gen Polo/Vento's and vw have not solved this problem yet, the stock discs cost a whopping 5500 and it is guaranteed that you will face the brake shudder around 15-18k kms with the stock discs. Am fed up with this and will go with Brembo now.

Just thought I would chime in about the brakes. Braking was horrible with the newer VW made in India front shocks, and atrocious with all four made in India shocks. These German front and Czech rear shocks have restored the great braking. Just a little note, the made in India fronts shocks I had were oil shocks, as the VW SC guys thought Vento had oil based shocks factory installed until they switched over to gas shocks some time recently. However, my car, bought in 2010, had German gas shocks on the front, and not oil based as they had suggested. (Rears were gas filled shocks, apart from the difference in damping and stuff)

Anyway, I have not experienced brakes shuddering apart from when I had the transparent VW foot mats, that often crawled upwards under the foot pedals. Replaced them with some good floor mats and that is gone. Just my thoughts, in case you find them helpful.

[halfbytecode]

I would also like to add about the shuddering, that it may be possible these service centre people did not torque the bolts holding the brake pads and calipers. Moreover, they have a tendency to reuse nuts and bolts, even if they are torque-to-yield bolts, which are strictly recommended to be replaced every time they are undo, as you may know.

The manual tightening of those bolts once led to the ones on my car to loosen, after a while. I could feel the brakes pads moving around a bit. I believe inconsistent and undertorqueing, accompanied with bolts with stretched threads being used, caused that.

Moreover, about the Stahlwille torque wrenches these guys use, I've seen a couple of technicians just drop them to the floor numerous times just during one car job. One of them began to undo the lug nuts on my car using a torque wrench. Further, they don't usually have them calibrated.

I wouldn't trust the VW guys' work ever to be honest, at least at the service centers I have been to. I would just make sure you have this stuff right to ensure you don't experience shuddering of brakes due to incorrect installation procedures.

Note to mods: Sorry for the back to back posts, but I'm not allowed to edit my posts yet I think.

[thenomad]

Originally Posted by halfbytecode

The MRP of the front shock is Rs. 3325 currently, and Rs. 4605 on the rear one.
..... .......
After I wrote to the customer care about getting a quote, only then the people at SC gave me one. The offer was a decent one, as I pretty much had to pay just the difference between the older and newer shocks.

How much was the price difference you had to pay for the gas filled shock absorber? I am trying to source in the local market and the oil filled ones are going for 5000 a pair and the dealer says OEM gas filled would cost 7800 a pair. The dealer doesn't give me an idea of which company are the gas filled ones as well. Any advise would help?

[halfbytecode]

Originally Posted by thenomad

How much was the price difference you had to pay for the gas filled shock absorber? I am trying to source in the local market and the oil filled ones are going for 5000 a pair and the dealer says OEM gas filled would cost 7800 a pair. The dealer doesn't give me an idea of which company are the gas filled ones as well. Any advise would help?

There seem to be multiple OEM variants of the shocks. There are gas front shocks made in India available from Volkswagen as well, apart from the German ones I bought. From what I have been told the made in India front gas shocks are cost pretty much the same as the German ones.

The OEM oil filled front shocks, for ABS equipped cars, were priced around Rs. 1800 a unit, last year in August.

The rear made in India gas shocks, for cars with ABS, used to cost about Rs. 3000 a unit, last year in December.

You can compare the VW part numbers with the ones mentioned in this thread to determine more information about the shocks, including the manufacturer.

[WCHURCHIL]

Originally Posted by saurabhkum

I installed the TRW's Shocks on my Civic. I installed them both for front and rear. My car had already done around 65k and the original shocks were showing signs of weakness. I have driven the car for almost 3k kms after the install and I'm impressed. My basic reason for shifting to TRW's was the fact they are more stiffer than the original setup. I had found the ride quality of stock Civic to be little on softer side and with this change that issue has been resolved. The handling also has improved for good. Didn't wanted to spend too much and for that matter TRW's fitted my bill perfectly.
Overall pretty satisfied with the result.

Hi,
How is the struts performing after a reasonable long term usage? I am planning to upgrade to TRW struts on my Civic and your inputs will be very helpful.