NEW OWNER! A4 (2005) GTI Suspension and Other Q's

Hey guys,

It's been awhile since i posted on the group. I've been busy. I just recently bought a 2005 GTI 1.8T (Tornado Red! Fully loaded) I'm very happy with my purcahse and it's actually my first new car. After I bought it I started thinking of the MKV GTI's and I don't know if I made a mistake but nonetheless I do love my car. There is one thing that i bothering me though. What is the deal with the torsion bar suspension in the back. I know a good amount about cars and stuff, but my impression is that torsion bars are bad. I mean I know VW apparently went comfort on the GTI in the A4 style, but I like what it has. It's soft, and it rides well and it's sporty. I wouldn't mind some stiffer aftermarket suspension afterwards to improve the gushy handling, but for everyday driving it suits me just fine.

But why did they go to independent suspension in the MKV, I know it's apparently better (for what reasons i'm only partially sure of). What i'd like to know is, is that if the GTI is supposed to be sporty why would they put a torsion bar in it at the MK4 level. I had an 87 Jetta before this and it had independent suspension as far as I knew. I should mention though that the GTI handles better than my 87 but I can def see room for improvement.

I miss my 87 in fact I cried when I dropped it off I put so much work into that thing but it was starting to be a money pit, i had that car practically dissesembled and put back together, but I like the fact now that I got some power and people enjoy riding in my car.

So what's the deal with the suspension, and can adding aftermarket suspension bring it to an acceptable race level (not that i'm racing it or anything yet it has 1500 miles on it now (2 miles when I bought it).

I have some other Q's but that should be enough for now.

-Brandon

87 Jetta GL 156,000 miles 2005 GTI 1.8T
Reply to
aperture01
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The '87s had a "semi-independent" rear suspension, with a trailing-arm/torsion bar set up. Nothing wrong with the design, you get some of the benefit of a trailing-arm without the weird geometry changes at big roll angles of full trailing arms, like the old BMWs used to do. Also, the suspension is more compact, because they don't need big body mounts for independent trailing arms. The rear end of my '01 looks to be the same set-up as the '87, except that the springs are not over the shocks. I'd worry less about the design, and more about the real-world results. Do the tires stay stuck on the road during hard cornering and extreme roll angles? If they do, there you go.

Reply to
Brian Running

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