Hello everyone.

After reading a lot of topics of this forum I haven't been able to solve my problem yet so I hope I can get some help on this topic.

My car is a 92 vw polo coupe 1.0 mk2f. I bought it last year and i fell in love with the car so I started to fix her up and give it a new life.

One problem i haven't been able to solve yet is the feeling i get on corners with bumps i feel the back end slipping sideways over bumps even at low speeds.

I have already replaced all 4 shocks with brand new standard OEM. That seemed to reduce a bit of slipping but not completely.

So I bought 4 eibach pro-kit performance springs. Before I mount them on should I be concerned with something else i should replace while the shocks are out? I haven't replaced any rubbers last time because they all seemed in okay condition.

The front end has also new wishbones.

Are you sure it is the back-end?

What condition are the ARB mount rubbers?

If you are lowering with the performance shocks try fitting G-Laderseite (maxrpm.de) ARB blocks to increase the caster angle too.

Yes I'm sure its the back end.

The ARB mount rubbers seem okay I've tried pushing and pulling on the anti roll bar to see if the bushings would let go and movement but no movement at all from the bushings.

I'm going with standard OEM shocks so would it really need ARB blocks or just new standard bushings would suffice?

I've been trying to figure out if i should get these

http://www.maxrpm.de/Racing-bearing-for-rear-axle-for-Polo-86C-The-original-from-MaxRPM

and how to mount them but i haven't been able to find any guide or video.

Don't know either if these bearings would help me with my problem.

Standard OEM really should be fine unless you are lowering.

You might find something worn when you take off the old parts.

What tyres are you running on the car?

They do suffer from lift off oversteer as standard, but something as simple as putting good rubber up front and cheap budget tyres on the rear can make it worse.

My tires are 165/70R13.

I got new tires at the front and half tread Michelin tires at the back that already came with the car. All the wheels have been balanced.

swap the front and the rears over and see if it still happens

tyres have a date code , you could check that they are around 5 years or newer , if they're super old they could be rock hard and offer little grip

its a pretty basic car , sounds like youve done the right thing so far , have a really good look at the axle pivot bushes though , and does it all damage free ? maybe its had a slight bump into a kerb?

Just checked the time code and they are from 2006. 9 year old tires maybe they are the ones giving me troubles.

There's no noticeable damage to the rear axle.

I'll try to check the axle pivot bushes next weekend when I do the springs.

Also make sure your tyre pressures aren't too high. Think standard is only 26psi, (check though as I could be wrong), as the back of these cars is really light..

tyres have a 6 year life

The word 'Michelin' and road holding don't go together !!!!

Michelin are great for resisting wear, but this is at the expense of a 'softer' tread compound which would help with grip.

Ever seen Michelin tyres on an F1?

Regards

That's a good point. They came as standard on mk1s and never wore out. My mates still got one with just about full tread on.

Rear axle bushes...?

got michelins on mine, drives fine no strange behaviour at all

yeah likewise I have used Michelin tyres for years and never had handling problems either guess that's why they are a premium tyre manufacturer and Porsche fit them as standard. But any make that is old can and will harden you should always fit new tyres on the rear anyway as it gives more predictable handling.

The word 'Michelin' and road holding don't go together !!!!

Michelin are great for resisting wear, but this is at the expense of a 'softer' tread compound which would help with grip.

Ever seen Michelin tyres on an F1?

Regards

Michelin road tyres in the late 70's early 80's were terrible the "ZX" & "XZX" range were the worst "Rubber??" you could fit, as said they just didn't grip but would last forever!! that's why many manufacturers fitted them as standard.

Michelin in F1 certainly, 1978 ~ 1984 & 2001 ~ 2006 apart from their disaster at the 2005 USA Grand Prix when all the Michelin runners had to pull out of the race due to safety concerns after several failures during practice ( similar to Pirelli @ the Silverstone race a couple of years back, and they have been asked to tender for next years F1 season !

They are the sole supplier to the new Formula E race championship teams & the top teams in the WRC use them (inc the world beating VW POLO team!!)& they are also big in the motorcycle racing scene

So I wouldn't tar Michelin with the reputation of their old tyres, they must of moved on with new technology otherwise they would of gone out of business

Update: After checking the tire pressure i noticed the rear tires were a bit high lowering them just a tiny bit under the specified psi seem to get rid of most of the rear end skidding I was experiencing.

I'm going to replace the rear tires in a month or 2 anyway since 9 year old tires are not that healthy.

Next weekend these are going on

Update 2:

The springs are on!

Not the best photo but its the one i have.

The car is around 2 to 3cm lower and I find it's the best height since roads over here are not the best.

Cornering gives me much more confidence now its just the right amount of body roll and no comfort is lost.

Now i have found a new limit to the car. The same 90º Corner I used to be able to make at around 65/70 km/h I just did at 80 km/h until I felt the car starting to under steer.

Is there a good way to correct under steer without changing tire size? The front ones are brand new and at the right PSI.

I can't change tire size because its very difficult and expensive to register them on the car paper and if it's not there cops will give you tickets.

I've read that a rear end sway bar would help under steer but this car doesn't have one from factory and i can't find one anywhere.

Would someone know if there's any sway bar from another car that would fit this one?

You've got 9 year old tyres on the back that skid and brand new on the front.

How quickly can you go round that 90 degree bend in reverse?

Conventional wisdom is newer tyres on the back (assuming they will fit now you have lowered 3cm - usually fine in coupe harder on squareback)..

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/safety/car-tyres.html

As for rear beam, PoloGT and G40 models have a an extra torsion bar on the rear axle.

http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=139182#entry1303526

Edited 21 March, 201511 yr by dvderlm

I will get new tires on the rear in a month or 2. Its a coupe so it still has another 2 or 3cm gap from the rear tire to the fender.

So as far as i can see there is no real way of bolting a sway bar at the rear and swapping the whole rear axle is too much trouble I guess i'll just change the tires and stay like this.

Thank you for all the help!

90 degrees at 80kmh is good!

But why not swap rear wheels with front wheels so newer tyres at back?

(if same size)

Cost nothing.

Edited 21 March, 201511 yr by dvderlm

The car is my daily driver and on the town I work there's a lot of uphill old stone roads and when I had the rear tires at the front they would slip like crazy.

With the new ones at the front I never had a slip on those roads and I wanna keep it that way :p

It sounds like you've answered your own question. Those old tyres need to go!

PoloD.

The car is my daily driver and on the town I work there's a lot of uphill old stone roads and when I had the rear tires at the front they would slip like crazy.

With the new ones at the front I never had a slip on those roads and I wanna keep it that way :p

Yes.

The reason for saying "never fit better tyres to the front than you have on the back" is simply that its easier to recover from the front wheels sliding than the back and that directional stability from the rear tyres needs to be stronger than the steering pull (trying to change direction) from the front tyres.

If you can drive within the limit of your tyres and are sure they will not slip (you're braver than me) - then there is no reason why you cannot have better tyres on the front than back. Just remeber that if the front starts to slip then the rear has probably already gone.

Recording the tyre size on the documents is a real pain - we are lucky not to have that in the UK. Is it just size that resricted? I was in Germany during the 80's and my bike was allowed only two specific makes/model of tyre and only one size.