Installed Euro spec suspension on my Skoda Rapid: Initial impressions

05/05/2023

The euro spec Sachs are definitely stiffer than the stock setup. But the way the car handles now is mind-boggling.

BHPian Tuisha110HP recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

It’s been a fabulous 4 years with my Rapid and clocked 40K clicks with the Czech beauty.

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.

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 .

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: