Loud "pothole impact" sound over bumps normal?

[jphughan]

Does it „wham“ in all dcc modes?

I'm not familiar with the R active shocks but I'd try different settings on approach and see if sport helps. That said, when my alltrack was on stock suspension, it never bottomed out but it once did make a very loud bang at low speed when a wheel went full down excursion in a drop off due to woefully poor rebound damping. Thought the chassis hit something I wasn't aware of but it was the suspension going full excursion too quickly.

Thanks to you both. I drive almost all the time with DCC in Normal and my wife drives in Comfort, and this has happened in both of those modes. Haven't tried it in Sport, but now you've got me curious to see if that firmer setting mitigates this somewhat.

When I first got my R I was also pretty taken back when I went across bumps or separations in the highway. I would describe it just like you said. Like "wholly crap did I just send my shock through the the top hat" loud. Jarring also. As others have eluded to, it is a "feature" for the Golf R suspension. It will do it in "Comfort" mode as well.

If you have 19" wheels, that won't help either. FWIW, I own an '18 STi now, and it rolls across the same roads without an issue. On 19" wheels. So your comparison to the other cars is sound. It really is just the way the car drives.

Best,
josh

Thanks! And YES that "I just sent my shock through the top hat" feeling is EXACTLY what I thought. I do have 19" wheels (Englishtown/Spielberg) and I figured they wouldn't be doing me any favors in this situation. But it's good to hear that I'm not the only one who's experienced this in this car. Thanks again!

My R (‘17) does this as well. Impacts that all my other cars shake off seem to be noticeably less dampened in the R.
There is one particular recessed manhole cover on a 35 mph road nearby that in the R creates an impact that sounds terrifying. (“Something must have broken this time FOR SURE...”) In my other cars this same manhole cover hole results in a noticeable impact but the hit is dampened in a way that doesn’t make you feel that something was damaged.
I am looking forward to Apex releasing some hubcentric 18” wheels this year so that I can try to get a little more aspect ratio on the tires to reduce the terror of these road hazards, even though I’m so fond of the look of the 19” Pretorias.

Thanks! Sounds just like josh's experience above. Surprisingly the 19" Englishtown/Spielberg wheels have started to grow on me, which I never thought they would when I first saw them. But I decided I wouldn't let that stand in the way of me buying this car, and I've never been a fan of black wheels (except on track-only cars where I think it works but it still isn't my favorite), so that option was out. Now I don't mind them so much. The Pretorias do look nice, but I kept reading that they're quite soft and therefore prone to getting bent -- although I admittedly haven't read anything about the Englishtowns one way or the other in that regard.

 

[The Fed]

It makes a difference if you lower the tire pressures 2-3 PSI but it's not recommended. Curiously, the GTI (at least on 2016's) actually lists doing this for comfort, but I never looked at what the speed and load ratings on GTI tires are. Look at the sidewalls on the tires on your R, when you decode the speed and load ratings it you'll see the tires are rated for what supercars were not too long ago. So I'm not so sure it's only the larger wheels and lower profiles that are at "fault".

 

[Spoolin]

Maybe someone with aftermarket suspension can chime in with their experience. I notice the same thing (stock with DCC). Even after downsizing to 18" wheels and slightly increasing the overall circumference of the tire compared to OEM, it's really not much better than before. Ive tried running the tire pressure 2-3 psi lower than stock as mentioned above, but didn't notice a big difference.

My previous vehicles (S2000 and B8 sport pkg A4) were so much more compliant. Maybe I'm just missing the sweet double wishbone and multilink suspensions on those cars.

 

[riceburner]

i have dcc on my gti, pretty much always leave it in comfort. very nice over MOST bumps, but like the OP, in some transitions it is so harsh its unbelievable. My car was lowered on VWR's prior to me owning it so maybe i need to check to make sure the doofuses that installed the springs didn't happen to check if the bumpstops/shipping pucks were removed....

 

[VDubberinDE]

Remember you are on a much smaller frame than your Porsche and have 19" wheels and low profile tires. This is pretty normal.
You checked for the pucks, so I would say you are fine. Doubt the dealer would do anything. If there was an issue you would be having other suspension symptoms.
There are certain spots around my house I have learned to take it easy on too. My M4 can go over those same areas much faster and that car is even lower to the ground.
Just the VW's geometry.

 

[jphughan]

It makes a difference if you lower the tire pressures 2-3 PSI but it's not recommended. Curiously, the GTI (at least on 2016's) actually lists doing this for comfort, but I never looked at what the speed and load ratings on GTI tires are. Look at the sidewalls on the tires on your R, when you decode the speed and load ratings it you'll see the tires are rated for what supercars were not too long ago. So I'm not so sure it's only the larger wheels and lower profiles that are at "fault".

I agree that having performance tires that tend to flex less contributes to the issue, but the tires on the R are certainly less aggressive than the "street legal track tires" I've run on the GT4 (Bridgestone RE-71R and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2), and those are low profile on 20" wheels. But the confirmation that I'm not alone in this experience have been reassuring, and the explanations have made sense. On the subject of tires, I kind of wish I had Michelin PS4S on this car, but not enough to write off the Contis that came with it, and I realize that it wouldn't make a huge difference on this particular issue.

Remember you are on a much smaller frame than your Porsche and have 19" wheels and low profile tires. This is pretty normal.
You checked for the pucks, so I would say you are fine. Doubt the dealer would do anything. If there was an issue you would be having other suspension symptoms.
There are certain spots around my house I have learned to take it easy on too. My M4 can go over those same areas much faster and that car is even lower to the ground.
Just the VW's geometry.

Thanks! Especially reassuring to hear the comparison to the M4. Before I got the GT4 I actually had an E92 M3 that I loved, and I very likely would still have it today if I hadn't been able to get a GT4 allocation (which I honestly didn't expect I would!)

 

[dbhajek]

My 2019 sounds terrible also when I go over pot holes, I always think I must have damaged something. My BMW 335 was terrible also.

 

[FactoryR]

I had a 16' R and now a 19' R and know that wham/thud noise you speak of. Makes me clench when I see a pothole or some fucked up concrete irregularity I'm about to rollover at speed and dont have time to slow down or change lanes. It's not a pleasant noise!

 

[mattkosem]

Mine did with the stock 19s. It doesn't with either of the sets of 18s I have now, and didn't with the 17s I had last year either.

 

[Al_in_Philly]

In Philadelphia, we not only have potholes, but we have cobblestone streets too--both put any suspension to the test. I've occasionally hit the bump stops on my shocks, but most of the time it's been when in "Comfort" mode. On the a seriously bad pothole it'll bottom out in "Normal" as well, but rarely in "Race" mode. Then again, I've bent one stock wheel and two flow-formed aftermarket wheels, so I can't blame the suspension all that much.

 

[al3xh]

I also have been dealing with this on my '17 GTI SE. Loud bang that sounds like metal hitting metal on potholes. Interestingly enough, it seems that the geometry and shape of the pothole has a lot to do with it. I hit a pothole about 3 inches deep and was surprised it made the sound. Went over the same pothole a few times and couldn't replicate it - must be a specific way to hit the pothole that makes the sound. After getting a nail in my front left tire, I'm pulling the trigger to go down to 17'' rims and touring tires to see if this problem goes away.

 

[jimlloyd40]

I also have been dealing with this on my '17 GTI SE. Loud bang that sounds like metal hitting metal on potholes. Interestingly enough, it seems that the geometry and shape of the pothole has a lot to do with it. I hit a pothole about 3 inches deep and was surprised it made the sound. Went over the same pothole a few times and couldn't replicate it - must be a specific way to hit the pothole that makes the sound. After getting a nail in my front left tire, I'm pulling the trigger to go down to 17'' rims and touring tires to see if this problem goes away.

I think you should quit driving into that pothole.

 

[al3xh]

lmao yes true and hey man I do try but bad street lighting + shitty northeast streets = bad times sigh

 

[al3xh]

Also for clarity, here's a test (https://streamable.com/vu6nmi you have to turn on sound) I did today for the pothole that was making a loud bang. I went over it at ~15mph and it was fairly loud even at that low speed. This is also a pretty small pothole, no deeper than 3''. I didn't want to risk any damage going over it faster, but at normal traffic speeds these kinds of potholes make it sound like something broke.

What I don't get is that I have gone over deeper, bigger potholes at similar speeds and it has not made as much of a noise, it's not very consistent.

 

[Al_in_Philly]

My '15 R makes some noise on potholes, but I can't recall it ever being quite so loud as that recording, especially at such low speeds. I will tell you though that the tires make a big difference in the ride and sound. My R came stock wearing Bridgestone RE 050A 19x235/35 tires. About a year back I switched to a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4S's. I was shocked at how much more compliant and quieter the Michelins were. Though I still had great "feeling," bump absorption, as well as the accompanying "thud" was noticably improved. I know that VW has long dropped mounting those Bridestones, but your tires might be part of the problem. I emphasize "might."