Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

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Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

fastar1 said:
That looks like the type of mod miggs was warning about, just changing the rear bar. That's 2x to 3x stiffer than stock rear bar off a GTI! They say it's designed to be used with the stock front but it sounds like too much at 25mm, if stock is 19, OE upgrade is 21, and Brian found he got a neutral handling car on the soft setting using a 23mm bar.

The OP was looking for competent handling car off the showroom floor, not an autocross winner.
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Maybe... If he is used to a Buick. The 034 is not an extreme autocross bar. Yes its aggressive and might be to aggressive considering his jetta is the lowest end car that bar fits on. But come on too much oversteer on FWD... said no one ever :p.

He could just look for a salvage GTI sway bar.

Sent from my DROID Turbo using Tapatalk
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

I have a customer out that way so I know that road. I'm pretty sure I could take those corners at max governed speed in a smart with good tires on it without sliding off the road. I'm pretty sure the Fiat wouldn't have any trouble either. The van might feel a bit iffy.

Unless this was happening on glare ice or in the wet with bald tires, or at 200+ km/h, it's unlikely that the car was actually understeering by exceeding the traction limits of the tires (although it's worth checking tire pressure in case the TPMS is lying). It's possible that it had a feeling of understeer caused by the front end geometry or the tires without the front end actually sliding sideways. VWs have a lot of "geometric understeer" built in - body roll creates reactions that tend to straighten the car out - that's designed to scare the driver a bit before they actually reach the limits of traction (basically scares the driver into slowing down before they actually get in trouble). If it's stock garbage tires and/or worn out tires, that ain't gonna help.
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

Just trade it in for a new civic or accord sport and all your steering and handling problems will be solved. Honda really has their chassis tuning sorted out lately. The slick shifting manual and exceptional reliability will be a bonus.
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

Appreciate the input.

I made an appt to have the alignment checked at the dealership Wed, I just mentioned that it felt unstable in hwy speed curves. I'll see what they say.

I'm leaning towards ordering an Eibach 23mm rear sway bar for now, found a great price on Amazon.ca for $203 with Prime . I looked at 034, Neuspeed etc but the shipped prices to Canada were nuts with the exchange.

If just the rear bar is not enough to my liking then I can always add a front bar, springs etc from the same company, I can do most of the work so it's not uneconomical, got a lot of practice from working on my A4.

I'll also look into performance summer tires, I have a dedicated winter set going on shortly so the crappy OEM all-seasons can go on Kijiji.

Again thanks for the input.
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

SunnY S said:
Just trade it in for a new civic or accord sport and all your steering and handling problems will be solved. Honda really has their chassis tuning sorted out lately. The slick shifting manual and exceptional reliability will be a bonus.
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This is by far the most depressing thing I've ever read.
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

SunnY S said:
Just trade it in for a new civic or accord sport and all your steering and handling problems will be solved. Honda really has their chassis tuning sorted out lately. The slick shifting manual and exceptional reliability will be a bonus.
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Really?

The new one (2016+) is supposedly a different story (I haven't driven one yet) but outside of the Si models, the last few generations of Civic have been great big piles of "meh" in the handling department. Functional, yes. Safe, yes. Inspiring and entertaining, no. (Same situation with the 2011+ Jetta, which was a big step back from the 2005-2010 Mk5)

Friend of mine has a 2013 Civic, and he had a 2002 before that. It's a car. (The 2016 is supposedly a lot better, because Honda finally got the message that they were building boring stuff)

In that size class, the standard-bearers for having well-sorted suspension and steering have been the Mazda 3, Ford Focus, and VW Golf (not Jetta - they were equal up to 2010, but not since). I've done a number of Deals Gap runs in rental Focuses :-) It's possible that the 2016 Civic is up there, but last year's wouldn't have been.
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

Brian P said:
It's possible that the 2016 Civic is up there, but last year's wouldn't have been.
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From the rear, the 16 Civic out Aztecs the Aztec. Butt Fugly.
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

The styling is definitely, um, "busy".
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

I've been trying to 'get' the styling of the Civic for a year now. I give up, there's nothing to get. Its ugly.
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

The last time Honda made a good looking Civic was 1995 anyway... interim years have alternated between ugly and bland
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

the discussion could be wringer washing machines, per 1958, and the same guy would show up and tell you why you should buy a honda product. They really have the spin cycle sorted out.
 
I had an Acura that would corner like it was on rails, right up until the traction broke, then you were into the curb, ditch, traffic, pedestrians. Probably not the best way to go on the street. Just drive within the car's limits.
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

crankcall said:
the discussion could be wringer washing machines, per 1958, and the same guy would show up and tell you why you should buy a honda product. They really have the spin cycle sorted out.
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Dude, that was funny as hell...I really had a good laugh

Samsung washing machines FTW...lol or does he like Blackberry...I forget.
 
Baggsy said:
I had an Acura that would corner like it was on rails, right up until the traction broke, then you were into the curb, ditch, traffic, pedestrians. Probably not the best way to go on the street. Just drive within the car's limits.
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That's the trouble with a lot of supposed "race" set-ups that use really high spring and/or antiroll rates and wheel alignment that avoids positive camber and stiff bushings that eliminate compliance. And it's the reason cars designed for "everyman" have understeer designed into the suspension and steering geometry, and the spring and damping setup are set up for compliance and understeer. All those things are meant to start sending the driver "you're going too fast" warning signals long before they actually are exceeding the traction limits. With next to no body roll and no roll understeer and no compliance understeer, there's no warning to the driver that they're about to exceed the limit until they actually do, and then they're in the ditch. It's a fine balance between sending the driver the right warning signals before they get in trouble, and a feeling that the car is unresponsive to steering inputs.
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

TwistedKestrel said:
The last time Honda made a good looking Civic was 1995 anyway... interim years have alternated between ugly and bland
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I've got a customer where the guy I usually deal with buys an old Civic for a few hundred bucks, drives it until the holes in the floor get too scary (and his threshold is pretty high), then buys another old Civic for a few hundred bucks. He's currently on a '96 - '00 era Civic hatchback ... which I would consider to be the last "good" Civic before (perhaps) the current one. Last of the double-wishbone suspension, before they started gaining too much weight and getting too big.
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

I got a '84 Olds, which has the same suspension as a '72 Buick (and most other GM cars and trucks of the era) (that suspension was first used on 1957 GMs) and it handles OK.

... you do know that a lot of newer cars come with tires who's main focus is gas mileage, not handling. Those two are mutually exclusive.
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

DJM said:
Appreciate the input.

I made an appt to have the alignment checked at the dealership Wed, I just mentioned that it felt unstable in hwy speed curves. I'll see what they say.

I'm leaning towards ordering an Eibach 23mm rear sway bar for now, found a great price on Amazon.ca for $203 with Prime . I looked at 034, Neuspeed etc but the shipped prices to Canada were nuts with the exchange.

If just the rear bar is not enough to my liking then I can always add a front bar, springs etc from the same company, I can do most of the work so it's not uneconomical, got a lot of practice from working on my A4.

I'll also look into performance summer tires, I have a dedicated winter set going on shortly so the crappy OEM all-seasons can go on Kijiji.

Again thanks for the input.
Click to expand...

I got a mk6 jetta, taken it to California and back 3 times, 6 different ways. Almost 100k km in 2 years, never felt unsafe in any way. Car always goes where I tell it. Mine's the 2.0 though, so maybe being under powered hides the problem. Hopefully you figure out whats going on
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

Yeah, "low rolling resistance" (LRR) tires aren't going to have much grip. Better tires is an easy fix, if that's what the problem is.
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

You know how to pronounce "Hockey puck" in Japanese?



Cheng Shin
 
Re: Dear VW. Why do your new cars handle like a #@&% 1972 Buick???

Brian P said:
Yeah, "low rolling resistance" (LRR) tires aren't going to have much grip. Better tires is an easy fix, if that's what the problem is.
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Sounds good but 95% of the ppl will not know that means a harder tire = less grip.

It always amazes me the price ppl on their safety for tires cars/bikes. So what you get 1000km less than the cheaper tire, if you are getting a tire that cost a few bucks more that gives you the better traction, duh, no brainer.
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