I have recently bought a vw polo which has lowering springs/coilovers already fitted and I assume this is what is causing the car to just skid or skip when entering a corner or bend. Is there anything I should know about this problem am I being stupid and this is normal? This is my first car and I don't really know much any help would be greatly appreciated

Is it skidding super easily? What speeds are you entering corners at?

90% of the time it's down to tires I would say, had a saxo that did the same and it was scary in the wet at 25-30 mph whilst gently and barely changing direction.

And they handle brilliantly at stock so I knew it was tires... especially when I got out and looked at them and I found out the local Indian takeaway made them (called kormaran or something)

what tyres and are the pressures okay....seems most "tuners" can afford lowering kits but not good tyres

next step if you feel the tyres are good is get a wheel alignment check

Just had 2 new tyres put on as I thought that was the problem but it's still happening. I'm normally entering corners at 20 mph when this happens as I am trying to go as slow as possible for this not to happen but i shouldn't have to be going that slow on some of the corners where I'm skidding in the wet it is scary I've been lucky not to hit anything so far. The abs light is on could this have something to do with it?

sounds like an alignment problem to me, lowering these things knocks the toe and camber out by miles if not done properly.

How much roughly will it cost for wheel alignment?

£40-100

make sure the place can check and adjust the front camber

No bother cheers mate

You didnt say what tyres you bought.

But yes, your geometry is probably to blame.

tyre wise, I've loads of cars and muucked about with loads of tyres and as long as you shop around and get a decent deal, you get what you pay for.

Sometimes idiots pipe up with, 'I've been using "budget Chinese make" and they are great' - they are not. I've thrown whole sets of nearly new tyres away before in disgust.

Tyres are the one thing you should spend money on. Buy the rest of your servicing parts from cheap Chinese eBay sellers by all means. But tyres you really want to buy the best you can. After all they are the only thing that holds your car to the road. It does really annoy me when tyre places push budget tyres more than proper brands.

Proper tracking will effect handling too. But it won't do much good if the tyres are not up to the job.

I've only got part worns on as I'm on a tight budget after buying the car. What tyres would you all recommend?

What size wheels do you have and what age of Polo is it?

Were the old tyres evenly worn?

As said above, don't skimp on tyres - remember the old adage that the part that contacts the road surface is roughly the same size and shape as the sole of your shoe!! - In other words, there is never very much rubber in contact with the road at any one time.

There can be all sorts of reasons as to why the 'part worn' tyres that you bourght were sold - they might even be the same ones that Retrotub chucked out

It would pay to check that the tyre pressures are correct - this can make a world of difference to handling.

If you have the camber checked, make sure that it is a propper garage or specialist that does the work, - not your local tyre bay.

Regards

http://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=110&cart_id=69791727.110.23127&sowigan=GAN&Breite=165&Quer=65&Felge=13&Speed=T&kategorie=6&ranzahl=4&rf=&Transport=P&tyre_for=&x_tyre_for=&Ang_pro_Seite=15&sort_by=speed&rsmFahrzeugart=PKW&Label=E-B-69-2&details=Ordern&typ=R-287912

I've only got part worns on as I'm on a tight budget after buying the car. What tyres would you all recommend?

Avon - premium tyre, mid range price. Every time I buy something else I wish I hadn't.

But yeah, get your tracking done before anything else. If your wheels aren't pointing in the same direction, it isn't going to be right whatever you do.

Def sounds like alignment/ camber issues to me.

Having a look round the forum, I recently stumbled across a couple of posts about accurately setting camber and alignment using home made gauges. I cant find them anywhere now. Could someone point me to them please ?

Def sounds like alignment/ camber issues to me.

Having a look round the forum, I recently stumbled across a couple of posts about accurately setting camber and alignment using home made gauges. I cant find them anywhere now. Could someone point me to them please ?

if you google diy tracking , string tracking method etc you will lots of information

post 42 on here kinda explains it well

http://www.clubgti.com/showthread.php?169701-DIY-tracking-gauge/page2&highlight=tracking

Edited 11 December, 201510 yr by steveo3002

Works so long as it's not too low and tucked to get the string round.

You can do camber with a spirit level for that matter, depending on what sort of wheels you've got, just remember to run it up the road and recheck.

I did the camber on my Ibiza with an iclinometer app on my phone :)

I did mine with a bit of wood, a set square and a pack of beers.

But I laid the yard so I know it's dead level.

To do the camber, can you support the front of the car under the bottom arms so that the suspension is compressed and with the wheels off ? so that you can get to the relevent bolts ?

If you did it that way, can you put a spirit level on the cam cover to check the car is sitting level ? If not on the cam cover, then where ?

If you're not using a digital spirit level, do you think that a slight bit of negative camber could be acheived by having the bubble at the line on the appropriate end, rather than in the middle ?

Would a hint of negative camber make for better road holding or would you get uneven tyre wear and a bit of slide in the bends on a wet road ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIY-Gunson-Trakrite-Magnetic-Alignment-Camber-Castor-Gauge-Race-Rally-Garage-/191253644863?hash=item2c879b063f:g:fj4AAOSwAQFTxhwo

use something like that on flat gorund and take down the readings , figure out how much you want alter it by lets say + 1 deg , then raise the car up on stands and take a new reading , then adjust until its new reading + 1deg

Nice one Steveo. That looks pretty straightforward.

Just read the description and it seems like an invaluable piece of kit.

The local Vdub garage want £93 to set up the wheels. Camber and tracking. Bit of a no brainer even if I get the local tyre centre to do the tracking for £30

Sod it. I'm getting one, right now :)

I undid the bottom ball joints from the arms when I had the gearbox out recently and obviously didnt put them back just as they were. Ever since, it feels like I've got a couple of space saver spares on the front and wore a pair of tyres out pretty quickly on the inner edge.

Similar symptoms to what JackT, the topic starter was describing, just not as bad.

If you are disturbing the front suspension you should get it checked afterwards anyway