[d_himan]

Originally Posted by drpudhi

Hi, i see that one of our t-bhp member has also upgraded to B6 and he has replaced the front strut mounts to ECS heavy duty stuff. Did you also replace the mounts or kept the oem mounts as it is ?

Top mounts retained... Everything in the suspension except B6s is stock. You could try perhaps...anyway the mount has to come out during install.But I'm not too sure about effect on ride quality.

[d_himan]

A quick update after ~1000 km. The B6s 'settle down'. The ride is slightly less firm at low speeds, the unflappability over bad roads is staggering, the car feels as eager to turn as a cornered cat. The weak link may be stock bushes, but I don't want to replace with PU and lose ride quality. Also, I have stock Alnacs - they are giving up slowly, ESC now kicks in on-demand due to wheel spin, even in 3rd! It's fun, the way a cooper s/BRZs have 205s - stickiness removes fun, so my tyre upgrade has to be chosen carefully. With everything done on my car right now (PS: I'll never do intake and exhaust changes), I feel the Cooper S and the gti are the only true upgrades for this car right now in the city, no other car can really can give this effortless combination of potent mid range, crazy cornering, braking and ability to slip into gaps due to the small size, unflappability over bad roads/potholes AND the convenience of a super snappy automatic transmission. Touchwood, I'm so happy right now with my motoring life, I could get a VW tattoo!

[Annibaddh]

Originally Posted by d_himan

Bilstein 4x B6 Full Kit Car Dampers Shock Absorbers 35-168560 24-067898. The total with express shipping (1 week) was ~ £410. The exchange rate was favorable in October end when I bought it.
Have PMed the seller details. And the reason why customs was 'low'!

Would be great if you could share the details please. Have been struggling with it for a while now. Sourcing them locally seems risky. Thanks!

[d_himan]

Originally Posted by Annibaddh

Would be great if you could share the details please. Have been struggling with it for a while now. Sourcing them locally seems risky. Thanks!

Have mentioned the seller details earlier in this thread.

After many months now, there's another positive I may have missed - the dampers are eerily quiet. Not the slightest bit of compression sounds. Absolutely silky.

Also the B6s have saved me at least 25 lacs. Have an opportunity to upgrade, but I just don't feel like buying another car at all!

[gopi_rm]

Originally Posted by d_himan

After many months now, there's another positive I may have missed - the dampers are eerily quiet. Not the slightest bit of compression sounds. Absolutely silky.

Hey,
I would like to know whether B6 is too hard over bumps. I checked german forum and few have mentioned that ride became hard with B6 and even small rough edge is noticable.

I’m planning to replace my stock rear dampers (crap with rumbling noise ) in my Golf Mk7 with Bilstein but confused between B4 (stock equivalent) and B6 (sport).

[d_himan]

Originally Posted by gopi_rm

Hey,
I would like to know whether B6 is too hard over bumps. I checked german forum and few have mentioned that ride became hard with B6 and even small rough edge is noticable.

I’m planning to replace my stock rear dampers (crap with rumbling noise ) in my Golf Mk7 with Bilstein but confused between B4 (stock equivalent) and B6 (sport).

Hi, here's my assessment after spending ~3 yrs on horrible Mumbai roads

As a consultant, i feel compelled to make a 2x2! Axes - condition of road (good and bad), speed of the car (low <60 kmph and high)

1. Good roads, high speed - Bliss. Even hitting the double ton feels yawn inducing - such is the stability and speed masking ability. No ups and downs, No dive on emergency braking, ridiculously high speed direction changes, fantastic cornering (slight body roll, in a good way) - all are the new normal. The only problem is anything less than 200 bhp may become really boring. My 1.2 tsi feels awfully slow. Comfort oriented tyres will begin to show their limitations in super hard cornering - the suspension keeps asking for more and more, the sidewalls become too squishy and you can't exploit the last 10% potential

2. Good roads, low speed - Great. Feels like normal suspension, only more quieter. Just can't hear the dampers work. Very fluid.

3. Bad roads, high speed - uber-SUV mode. Fantastic again, only limited by ground clearance. Everything gets dismissed. Potholes, ruts etc. Minimal up and down movements, far lesser 'tossing around'. Very hard on suspension components, not for the faint hearted, but hey, fantastic fun.

4. Bad roads, low speed - the chink in the armor. Definitely harsher than stock. Low frequency ripples on concrete roads, rumblers are all felt more. Speed breakers and going off shoulder feel invincible though. Some remedies - a) tyre pressure: my polos' recommended tyre pressure is 29 psi. If I put in 33 psi, the ride feels harsh. If i go down to 27-28 psi, feels 90% like stock b) type of tyres - old hardened tyres/stiff sidewalled tyres would feel worse. Comfort tyres help. My MRF Perfinzas + 28 psi combo feels great to me. Bit sporty, but not unduly harsh. A compromise I'm very happy to make given the saintly benefits of 1,2 and 3.

[gopi_rm]

Originally Posted by d_himan

Hi, here's my assessment after spending ~3 yrs on horrible Mumbai roads

As a consultant, i feel compelled to make a 2x2! Axes - condition of road (good and bad), speed of the car (low <60 kmph and high)

4. Bad roads, low speed - the chink in the armor. Definitely harsher than stock. Low frequency ripples on concrete roads, rumblers are all felt more. Speed breakers and going off shoulder feel invincible though. Some remedies - a) tyre pressure: my polos' recommended tyre pressure is 29 psi. If I put in 33 psi, the ride feels harsh. If i go down to 27-28 psi, feels 90% like stock b) type of tyres - old hardened tyres/stiff sidewalled tyres would feel worse. Comfort tyres help. My MRF Perfinzas + 28 psi combo feels great to me. Bit sporty, but not unduly harsh. A compromise I'm very happy to make given the saintly benefits of 1,2 and 3.

Thanks a lot for your very detailed review.

The bad road+low speed combination is the weakest point in my stock VW damper also. Some guys switched to B4 mentioned that it feels better than stock and few switched to B6 and mentioned there is no difference in terms of rumbling noise compared to stock.

[Luke]

I am planning to upgrade my Vento (2016) TSI suspension with B6. I was also planning to upsize my tyre to 205/55/R15 MC5s. From your post I see the ride height being increased as the only negative. Will upsizing the tyre offset this negative? The dealer is insisting me to remain with the stock tyre size. I am little be confused

[sharan1988]

Originally Posted by Luke

I am planning to upgrade my Vento (2016) TSI suspension with B6. I was also planning to upsize my tyre to 205/55/R15 MC5s. From your post I see the ride height being increased as the only negative. Will upsizing the tyre offset this negative? The dealer is insisting me to remain with the stock tyre size. I am little be confused

Is b6 available for the Vento ? I guess the rear springs need to be changed inorder to compensate for its height.

[d_himan]

Originally Posted by gopi_rm

Thanks a lot for your very detailed review.

The bad road+low speed combination is the weakest point in my stock VW damper also. Some guys switched to B4 mentioned that it feels better than stock and few switched to B6 and mentioned there is no difference in terms of rumbling noise compared to stock.

Sorry for the late reply. I don't know about B4 but the B6 is absolutely silent. On smooth roads, there's literally pin drop silence. The dampers make absolutely no noise. Only the other suspension paraphernalia do, and that'll remain true until you replace every single bush, top mounts and link rod with better quality, more supple stuff.

Originally Posted by Luke

I am planning to upgrade my Vento (2016) TSI suspension with B6. I was also planning to upsize my tyre to 205/55/R15 MC5s. From your post I see the ride height being increased as the only negative. Will upsizing the tyre offset this negative? The dealer is insisting me to remain with the stock tyre size. I am little be confused

I upsized to 195/60 R15 Perfinzas and couldn't be happier. The ride height increase is mostly visual - and with these tyres, it looks close to stock (not that the stock looks good ). It can't actually be felt during driving.

[S2!!!]

Originally Posted by d_himan

3. Bad roads, high speed - uber-SUV mode. Fantastic again, only limited by ground clearance. Everything gets dismissed. Potholes, ruts etc. Minimal up and down movements, far lesser 'tossing around'. Very hard on suspension components, not for the faint hearted, but hey, fantastic fun.

Does your front suspension crash really badly each time you hit a sharp bump or pothole? I'm running Bilstein B6 in my car, and the front suspension feels as though some component might just break every time I hit sharp potholes. From what I know is that the standard OE Abarth bump stop can't be transferred to the front Bilstein B6 shocks, and because of the absence of this rubber stopper, you can hear it crash. Is it the same case with the Polo as well? Have you found a way around this?

[d_himan]

Originally Posted by S2!!!

Does your front suspension crash really badly each time you hit a sharp bump or pothole? I'm running Bilstein B6 in my car, and the front suspension feels as though some component might just break every time I hit sharp potholes. From what I know is that the standard OE Abarth bump stop can't be transferred to the front Bilstein B6 shocks, and because of the absence of this rubber stopper, you can hear it crash. Is it the same case with the Polo as well? Have you found a way around this?

Absolutely no crashing, feels cohesive, silent and solid, much, much better than stock. And it's this way even after 3+ years. Bottoming out is an extremely rare event.

The front bump stops are built-in the B6 strut. I also retained the original top mounts.

I suspect either an incorrect shock/compatibility issues or a poor installation.

[S2!!!]

Originally Posted by d_himan

Absolutely no crashing, feels cohesive, silent and solid, much, much better than stock. And it's this way even after 3+ years. Bottoming out is an extremely rare event.

The front bump stops are built-in the B6 strut. I also retained the original top mounts.

I suspect either an incorrect shock/compatibility issues or a poor installation.

This is the part, and it was bought from Pete's, so in terms of compatibility, it should be.

Installation was done on 2 different Abarths, once at Kundanmal, and once at N1 Racing - the crashy behavior was the same.

As of now, I've gone back to stock dampers at the front and have retained the Bilstein B6 rear shocks. I love how the rear ones are so well-behaved, but I just can't live with the crashy nature of the front's. I need a way around it.

[d_himan]

Originally Posted by S2!!!

This is the part, and it was bought from Pete's, so in terms of compatibility, it should be.

Installation was done on 2 different Abarths, once at Kundanmal, and once at N1 Racing - the crashy behavior was the same.

As of now, I've gone back to stock dampers at the front and have retained the Bilstein B6 rear shocks. I love how the rear ones are so well-behaved, but I just can't live with the crashy nature of the front's. I need a way around it.

What are Peter or Rishad saying about this? Peter, in my experience, is very responsive if you aren't happy. Maybe you could drive another Abarth with Bilsteins to compare?

Separately, at your risk, there are several enthusiasts who "mod" Bilsteins. Trawl through Fiat forums perhaps..

[coolboy007]

Originally Posted by S2!!!

From what I know is that the standard OE Abarth bump stop can't be transferred to the front Bilstein B6 shocks, and because of the absence of this rubber stopper, you can hear it crash. Is it the same case with the Polo as well?

I have been using B6 with stock springs on my 320D for over a year now and there is no noise from the front dampers. Infact, they are much more silent and make less noise compared to stock dampers when i hit a pothole.
As d_himan said, the B6 come with internal bump stops and it is not possible to put in your rubber stops for the front dampers.

As you have bought it from Pete's which assures you local support, show it to them and have their views on it, this is not a normal behaviour and i have not read about anyone complaining about the Bilstein B6 on our forum so far for a similar issue.