Suspension advice for Passat

[Zed!]

I'm buying an 09 Passat V6 4 motion highline, haven't driven it yet though, it's getting shipped over from Vic. How is the standard suspension? Is it only the r36 that gets the sports suspension? What would it cost to upgrade (roughly)..

[kleung]

I'm buying an 09 Passat V6 4 motion highline, haven't driven it yet though, it's getting shipped over from Vic. How is the standard suspension? Is it only the r36 that gets the sports suspension? What would it cost to upgrade (roughly)..

Congrats on the new ride.

From memory, the V6 4Motion Highline gets an 'in between' suspension, coupled with Adaptive Chassis Control as standard. The ride height from memory is about 15mm lower than the 4-cyl Passats (R36 is 25mm lower). From what I have read, having the ACC set to 'sport' gives a ride quality similar to that of the R36. Drive your new car for a bit first, then decide whether you really need to upgrade the suspension.

[Zed!]

Congrats on the new ride.

From memory, the V6 4Motion Highline gets an 'in between' suspension, coupled with Adaptive Chassis Control as standard. The ride height from memory is about 15mm lower than the 4-cyl Passats (R36 is 25mm lower). From what I have read, having the ACC set to 'sport' gives a ride quality similar to that of the R36. Drive your new car for a bit first, then decide whether you really need to upgrade the suspension.

OK, it's an 09 though not an 10. The 09s got the ACC? Is ACC similar to stability control/traction control systems?

[kleung]

OK, it's an 09 though not an 10. The 09s got the ACC?

According to these VW specs, in MY09, the Adaptive Chassis Control (not to be confused with Adaptive Cruise Control) was fitted as standard exclusively to the 3.2L V6 Highline, the R36 got the 25mm lower sports suspension, and all the other models got 'regular' suspension.

MY2009 specifications

For MY10, ACC became available as an option across the Passat range, but was only fitted as standard equipment for the 3.2l V6 Highline. The 3.2L also got 15mm lower suspension, and the R36 suspension carried over.

MY2010 specifications

Is ACC similar to stability control/traction control systems?

ACC is independent to stability/traction conrol, as it operates on the suspension, and on the steering. There's a good explanation of how it works in the glossary section of the spec documents linked above.

[Zed!]

great thanks

[sloutch]

Depends on what sort of roads you normally drive on. If it is smooth highway kind of roads, the R36 suspension is good. However, in Melb where i'm from, driving the R36 in the inner city suburbs is quite a pain as the suspension is pretty stiff for this sort of car.

Mind you, i came from an evo 9 with aftermarket suspension. -.-

[Hooksta_v1]

Hi Zed!

Depending on what you're looking for ride/looks wise ACC is a good compromise. I missed out on getting it on my '11 TDI Estate so ordered a set of Eibach Pro Series springs & Koni FSD shocks from Awesome for A$1200 delivered and fitted them myself.

For me the Passat sits way to high and even the 15mm drop that you get from the Drivers Gear springs that a lot of people fit didn't do enough for me. With the Pro Series I got 45mm drop and coupled to the FSD's I've got a performance/ride quality/look that I would happily recommend to anyone under the age of 50 who didn't live at the end of a long dirt road.

[Nath]

Also need to remeber that if the car comes with ACC you cant go slapping any old suspension to the car, I think there are a few around that claim to either work with the ACC or trick it or something but most people dont go to the trouble and just stick with the ACC.