[Tuisha110HP]

It's been a fabulous 4 years with my Rapid and clocked 40K clicks with the Czech Beauty. Most of the highlights of the ownership experience has been documented in the link below.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...d-1-5-tdi.html

As the car crossed 40,000, got a feeling that the car is losing its dynamics and the front end is nose-diving under braking. Also, the amount of grip reduced substantially under varied road conditions.

My heart was itching for an upgrade, which got further cemented by the wife's comment on the expressway to Delhi. She also commented on the driving dynamics and said the car is moving up and down with highway undulations and not settling with just one cycle.

What more can you expect from a car guy when wify says your car needs an upgrade? ORDER Parts, right: Cheering:

Now comes the interesting part. Researched a lot about different kinds of setup. From stock to Bilstein and everything in between. Finally thought of getting the Sachs suspension for front and back. The front was readily available, however the rear ones from Sachs was something which I couldnot find anywhere.

I contacted german Cart https://www.instagram.com/german_cart_/.

P.S. Not a sponsored post, but this guy is a gem. He took an extra step to make sure I get the right part and I receive what I wish for. During shipping there was a confusion which he cleared and sent me the correct part. Also, made sure, I can compare all brands before I make the purchase. Highly recommended.

I ordered Sachs front with part no. 314717. The actual rear which is compatible with Vento and Rapid is 313378. The other part number for rear sachs 317336 is being sold as vento/rapid's which infact is the correct part number for only polo. 317336 is shorter by 2 cm than stock.

As luck would have it, I could not got hold of 313378 and then ordered the next best thing- TRW one bearing part number JGT9006S. Please keep in mind, both JGT9006S and 313378 are shorter than stock by 1 cm, hence pretty much identical.

Now, since I was not sure of the part numbers, asked German Cart. He was also not sure. What he did was something I never expected. He ordered the Polo rear (317336) which you can find and also the TRW and sent me the size difference.



The polo ones were clearly the loser and I ordered the TRW ones. Got that delivered after 4 days of ordering with kits.

Twist in the tale: As I was getting ready to get the kit installed, got a call from german cart saying the ones I got was actually TRW for polo and he did send me the actual Vento ones which I would receive it 3-4 days. There was some confusion with the dealer and the pic below is what the actual difference looks like.






Got the kit after 5 days and went straight to get the front and rear changed. Initially, I asked them to fit the front one without changing the mounts, as the mounts were changed from ASC just 30 days back. Since the front one was almost dead with no rebound when pressed inside, the mounts got shorter by few mms. The mechanics after fitting found gaps in mount caps and said, its better to change the mounts as well.

Had to redo the entire ordeal again and fit in the new mounts. Now, the end is not so rosy. The shocks went in the slots behind brake calipers the first time within just 2 mins, this time around, dont know what happened, the mechanics were simply not able to put the lower end inside its cavity. The metal was not going in the slot. It took them 3 hours to get both the right and left fronts to fit as both of them were getting stuck somehow. They said, this the first time, they also faced the issue. The rear one were just 15 mins job. Finally got the entire thing done by 9 PM at night.

Now coming the point: How does it feel to drive?

Simply put: FANTASTIC. The euro spec Sachs are definitely stiffer than the stock setup. But the way the car handles now is mind-boggling. Changes direction like a piece of cake and brake great. The undulations on highways are almost flat now. Cant feel a thing when I pick up speed. 120 kmph feels like 90 now. Cant imagine how Bilstein B6 would perform, if just Sachs and TRW feels like this. Probably one of the best upgrades done so far in the car. The FISS FISS is gone for good.

The bad: Definitely stiffer like I said. Uneven roads are felt more and you have to slow down on broken roads otherwise the noise would creep into the cabin. The other side of the coin is that, small speed breakers are not felt at all. The car simply glides over them.

Wish I did get the rear ones from Sachs to feel the real change. Will change the rear afterr a few thousand KMS to Sachs for sure.

Installation Pics:




Ride Height Front and Rear:




Somewhere after the upgrade:

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[wheelnpaddock]

Do check out this thread.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...-vw-vento.html (Installed! TRW Struts in my VW Vento)

Contains information from members who have fixed TRW shocks on Vento / Rapid. Also has feedback after use.

[sachin_cs]

Hi buddy, good to see your car munching miles and you going ahead with the suspension upgrade. My Rapid has done 73k kms now and I’m stuck in a situation. I feel that my car doesn’t drive like before, there’s body roll, some rattle from steering but my service centre says everything is alright with the car ( I have visited them twice for the same). Anyway, they have quoted me 70k for suspension overhaul and steering rack change. And top of that they don’t have steering rack with them from last 3 months. What do you suggest, should I go ahead with the Sach as you did and also change my steering rack from an FNG? What expenses I’m looking at? All I want is a decent handling car with not too stiff ride quality as roads here are not in the best shape.

[Tuisha110HP]

Originally Posted by sachin_cs

they have quoted me 70k for suspension overhaul and steering rack change. And top of that they don’t have steering rack with them from last 3 months. What do you suggest, should I go ahead with the Sach as you did and also change my steering rack from an FNG? What expenses I’m looking at? All I want is a decent handling car with not too stiff ride quality as roads here are not in the best shape.

Thats way too much. I got the set of sachs and TRW with entire kit for 22-23K. The steering rack from Skoda was billed for 15K which would be cheaper in FNG.

Even if you buy the rear Sachs, the cost would be 8-9k (TRW rear is 4.5K). Trust me, it transforms the car night and day.

I too went to ASC 3-4 times, according to them, all was well. All they could do was replace the mounts for 3.7K, absolute waste of money. Helped with nothing. The mount was down by 1 cm, because my front struts were almost dead. You can try the TRW full set, heard they are a little less stiff than Sachs. For me, the upgrade was great. I find them not too hard : Just as much as required.

Dont go for Stock shocks. They are genuinely degraded from the original Vento/ Rapid quality.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=n_TwGWPvkyA?feature=share

[Elvis5.0]

Mod Note: There are several language, spelling & grammatical errors in your posts. This negatively affects the forum experience for other readers.

Kindly ensure that you proof-read your posts prior to submission. Also, it would be a good idea to use a spell-checker (Grammarly available as a browser extension and is highly recommended).

[GTO]

Great mod, Tuisha110HP! And so happy to see more & more suspension options being easily available for Indian cars. Car manufacturers usually give the most basic, cheapest dampers and / or springs they can get away with. For enthusiasts, the suspension tune is perhaps as important as the engine & gearbox. I recently got a modified suspension for my Thar which has significantly enhanced its ride quality.

[proximo]

Very useful updates, Tuisha110HP! For the last few months, I have been feeling the urge to make some changes in my Rapid's (2015 make) suspension. Every pothole and every slightly uneven road is felt inside the car. ASS is unable to find any problem with the car, except suggesting a replacement of the steering rack (17000/- approx.). However, I am considering visiting a good FNG now!

Thanks for the information about the spare parts guy. Any suggestion for a good FNG in Mohali/Chandigarh area? That would be really helpful. I couldn't find any in the Team-BHP directory.

[MADMAX111]

Good upgrade Tuisha. Is it an FNG in Delhi where you got the job done. If yes please give a feedback about them, their area of expertise in terms of German cars. I have a Jetta, so need an FNG once in a while. Thanks

[Karthik Mathur]

Hi,

I am looking at upgrading the suspension of my 2021 Rapid and came across your thread. My use case is a little different, I actually want to make the suspension softer and make the ride qualify over bad roads better. While there would be a trade-off when it comes to handling and travelling at high speeds, I rarely get the opportunity to do that. But I have to live with uneven and undulating roads everyday so I'd rather do something to fix it.

Are you aware of any such option?

Thank you

[ankitsharma]

Originally Posted by Karthik Mathur

Hi,

I am looking at upgrading the suspension of my 2021 Rapid and came across your thread. My use case is a little different, I actually want to make the suspension softer and make the ride qualify over bad roads better. While there would be a trade-off when it comes to handling and travelling at high speeds, I rarely get the opportunity to do that. But I have to live with uneven and undulating roads everyday so I'd rather do something to fix it.

Are you aware of any such option?

Thank you

I think the stock suspension is soft enough for city usage already. Then there is sachs which offers a mix of both and then bilstein which is geared towards high speed and cornering.
Probably if you are facing issue with the suspension then try getting it checked. I also own a 2021 Rapid and have clocked 47K till date. Have got the strut mounts changed and the mechanic also quoted that one of the lower arm bushes has developed some cracks.
So maybe getting these parts changed might actually boost the experience.

[Tuisha110HP]

Originally Posted by GTO

Car manufacturers usually give the most basic, cheapest dampers and / or springs they can get away with. For enthusiasts, the suspension tune is perhaps as important as the engine & gearbox. I recently got a modified suspension for my Thar which has significantly enhanced its ride quality.

Hi GTO,

Yes, the dynamics and handling have increased have increased manyfold. Couldnot have imagined the lane changes and highway un-evenness getting disappeared so well with stock- Now it does

Originally Posted by proximo

V
Thanks for the information about the spare parts guy. Any suggestion for a good FNG in Mohali/Chandigarh area? That would be really helpful. I couldn't find any in the Team-BHP directory.

Yeah, the ASC guys did change my strut mounts at 30K KMS. I didnot help at all. I also changed my steering rack as early as 40K kms becuase it had developed cracked rubber mounts.

The installations can be done with pretty much anu good FNG. Go for it.

Originally Posted by MADMAX111

Good upgrade Tuisha. Is it an FNG in Delhi where you got the job done. If yes please give a feedback about them, their area of expertise in terms of German cars. I have a Jetta, so need an FNG once in a while. Thanks

You can probably check out Autopyche or GT tunerz. They are one of the best.

Originally Posted by Karthik Mathur

Hi,

My use case is a little different, I actually want to make the suspension softer and make the ride qualify over bad roads better.

Are you aware of any such option?

Thank you

I think the best combination for your use case is the stock ones. They are a good compromise.