Skittish Handling

Ken Long said:
Quick update. New rear shocls and springs fitted just before our journey to Scotland. It's completely transformed the handling of the car. No skipping off line through corners, no more sideways shimmy over cats eyes, so much more relaxing to drive!
We would like to get the fronts sorted out soon, but as it stands the car handles so much better.
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Superb! How's the rear looking height wise without passengers? My black one without OSS has kyb standard springs all round, looks a bit low at the back and high at the front. The silver looks better as it's rear is higher and front lower but no idea what parts it has fitted. The A2 does go down a lot at the rear with kids in the back, might try oss rear springs on the black one
 
Howey said:
Superb! How's the rear looking height wise without passengers? My black one without OSS has kyb standard springs all round, looks a bit low at the back and high at the front. The silver looks better as it's rear is higher and front lower but no idea what parts it has fitted. The A2 does go down a lot at the rear with kids in the back, might try oss rear springs on the black one
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Interested to know why you wouldn’t just replace the springs with new OE / the spec that should be on there?
 
Interested in this, as I had a replacement front leg on the front to get me through the mot.

Had 3 cracked springs.

Not really driving mine around but had new Kumho's fitted (a set) I noticed when driving back, the steering seems a bit vague, and for a split second here and there like it's got a mind of it's own.

I've put this down to probably having one good front shocker and three duff.
I'm currently going round changing them all to new ones.

I will get the tracking done when everything is complete.
 
Howey said:
Superb! How's the rear looking height wise without passengers? My black one without OSS has kyb standard springs all round, looks a bit low at the back and high at the front. The silver looks better as it's rear is higher and front lower but no idea what parts it has fitted. The A2 does go down a lot at the rear with kids in the back, might try oss rear springs on the black one
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Mine's on original springs, at 56,000 and it does sit a bit higher at the front, I believe they all do as built, to give clearance when turning.
This was discussed a while back, and that was the conclusion.
Mac.
 
Ken Long said:
I’m not sure if I’ve posted this in the right place. It’s more “Handling” than just tyres so please move to the appropriate section!

Bear with me here, I’m trying to give as much info as possible to help remote diagnosis.

We’ve had our A2 (2001, 1.4TDI) since the end of September and we really enjoy it. However, on rough surfaces (which Herefordshire has loads of) the handling is what I would describe as skittish. If we hit a rough patch, or selection of small potholey type things the car seems to skip, and in extreme instances it definitely feels like it’s moving sideways. This is particularly noticeable in the wet but it can happen in the dry. I have noticed it happening when crossing particularly pronounced cats eyes on motorway or dual carriageway driving.

I understand that depending on wheel and tyre combo the A2 can have a firm ride but this is definitely more than that.

On smooth roads (where such things exist…) the car tracks straight and true. There’s no crabbing or pulling from the steering, and there are no vibrations through the steering wheel. When parked the car sits level.

When we picked the car up there were a few things that needed attention. The two that I think relate to this topic were the CV boots being worn and one tyre being very low, tread-wise. (There are no steering or suspension related advisories on the MoT now.)

We had new CV joints and boots fitted and I went to a local tyre place to get two new tyres fitted. Budget didn’t permit fitting top end tyres at this point so two Kumho Ecowing 175/60 R15s were fitted to the front which left two Landsail LS388 175/60 R15s on the rear. I realise that these are not the best tyres in the world! Pressure wise, they’re running around the mid-30s psi.

So, questions:

  • Could the car’s skittish handling simply be down to poor tyres?
  • If so what would the A2OC Hivemind recommend? I’d rather not spend huge money! Also, we don’t have a set of winter wheels so I would be looking for an all year option if possible.
  • Are 175/60s the right size for this car? When I popped the filler flap open to check suggested PSI, the information given was for 155/70-15 tyres. Would a narrow profile suit the car better?
  • What PSI is suggested for 175/60s?
If it’s not the tyres, what should I investigate? Although the car has a full service history, it didn’t come with any receipts for work done. So it is possible that the shocks need replacing. Could they be responsible for skippy handling? And again, what replacements would you suggest? To be honest, time and skill mean I would probably need to get this done at a garage, so recommendations in Herefordshire or Gloucestershire would be great!

Sorry for the long post, but I thought it best to give as much information as possible.

Cheers in advance.

Ken
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Hi Ken,
2 areas to check would be rear shocks & also the condition of the tyre tread( true running ) when spinning a wheel off the ground as they do develop bulges as they get towards the end of their life even top brands seem to suffer.
Hope that helps
Keith.
 
kp 115 said:
Hi Ken,
2 areas to check would be rear shocks & also the condition of the tyre tread( true running ) when spinning a wheel off the ground as they do develop bulges as they get towards the end of their life even top brands seem to suffer.
Hope that helps
Keith.
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Shocks and springs replaced, 3 month old tyres on the rear. So much better now!
 
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