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Loud "pothole impact" sound over bumps normal?

dunkelweizen

Go Kart Newbie
Well, I guess glad to see it is not just me also. I have GTI with DCC and over some pretty shallow potholes (like an inch or two deep) at even 10-15mph, it feels like my car just fell off a cliff. I even had a few time (at low speed) where there is clear 'tink' sound of metal hit like the wheel itself hit pavement. FTR, I did check air pressure right away when I got home and it was fine (36PSI). These dampers are such Jekyll & Hyde. Works great except when it isn't...
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
Well, I guess glad to see it is not just me also. I have GTI with DCC and over some pretty shallow potholes (like an inch or two deep) at even 10-15mph, it feels like my car just fell off a cliff. I even had a few time (at low speed) where there is clear 'tink' sound of metal hit like the wheel itself hit pavement. FTR, I did check air pressure right away when I got home and it was fine (36PSI). These dampers are such Jekyll & Hyde. Works great except when it isn't...

Did you recently get new front brake pads?
 

Mk_GTI

Go Kart Champion
Location
Hellinois
Car(s)
2018 Golf R
The problem is likely 19” wheels with 35 series tires. Swapped my 17” 45 series winter set a couple weeks ago with the OEM 19” set and noticed how much more harsh hard bumps and potholes feel and sound now. Comfort setting helps a little, but still spine jarring.

Consider 18’s if the roads in your area are bad.
 

riceburner

Autocross Champion
Location
nice try PPNT
Car(s)
MK5 Best GTI
if i'm not mistaken it seems that most everyone in here that is joining the club of harsh impacts over not-so-typically-harsh bumps has DCC? And we are all able to replicate it on even the softest setting?
 

riceburner

Autocross Champion
Location
nice try PPNT
Car(s)
MK5 Best GTI
man, that sucks. Yeah, over most bumps it has stellar road compliance but just some of those certain, mostly 'sharp' impacts it is really bad. like cringeworthy.

Oh well, guess ya just gotta watch where you step out there.
 

al3xh

New member
Same here, my GTI does not have DCC and is on stock 18'' rims/tires, springs/shocks and has that loud banging "bottom out" sound on certain potholes.

98354726_537107373833721_8426293477574180864_n.jpg


This one is not that big of a pothole (2'' deep) but the GTI seems to bottom out over it. It has been inconsistent since it's gone over bigger bumps at similar speeds without issue. It's almost like something about the geometry of the pothole has more to do with it...
 

dunkelweizen

Go Kart Newbie
Did you recently get new front brake pads?

Nope, still on original brakes. And have checked for shipping pucks more than once to confirm no shipping pucks. Also, typically on Normal or Sport DCC modes, but doesn't sound it like Comfort would have helped judging from experience of others.

@al3xh I run 225/45/17 Conti WinterContact for my winter setup and it made very little (barely perceptible) difference as far as harsh impacts over potholes go vs my 18" Austins on factory 225/40/18 Bridgestones. As a matter of fact, it was with my 17" winters that I hit a pothole about same depth as your picture above, but with more defined/sharp edge and blew a tire and bent that wheel going over it at about 35mph. The car in front of me and behind me both hit the same pothole at roughly same speed. Neither vehicle had to pull over because of a flat...
 

al3xh

New member
Interesting, I would've thought the softer tires and ~10% more sidewall would help immensely. Huh... I guess at this point I just want to know whether this is normal for all other GTI owners. It seems like it's an issue for some but most people seem to not have this problem or probably live in areas where potholes are not an issue?
 

riceburner

Autocross Champion
Location
nice try PPNT
Car(s)
MK5 Best GTI
Its definatwly odd if people even on 17s experience it.
I always stay in comfort on dcc pretty much.
Have replaced swaybar endlinks so far, better ride of course but hasnt helped this issue. Been looking oved the car for things that are worn and am coming up blank for sure

Overall, it sounds like its not our cars that need fixing but the roads! ;)
 

riceburner

Autocross Champion
Location
nice try PPNT
Car(s)
MK5 Best GTI
kind of reminds me of a geometry thing the MK6 has always been troubled with - shaking at high speeds, typically somewhere in the 60-80mph range. I was part of a large group who pretty much tried EVERYTHING to get it to go away; tie rods, all bushings, all swaybars/endlinks, strut mounts, wheels/balancing, alignments, hub assemblies, brakes... at the end of the day pretty much nothing solved it for anyone, some would get lucky and it would go away somewhere along the line lol.
 

al3xh

New member
It seems like less suspension travel in the MK7 has been cited by some as the reason why this happens. Out of curiosity, I rented a 2017 Golf TSI and went over that same pothole and it felt a lot better. Definitely could hear/feel it but no metal on metal banging sound. I imagine the suspension travel length must be comparable between the GTI and TSI (correct me if I"m wrong) and given that the TSI has softer springs I would assume it would be susceptible to bottoming out more easily?

Another factor could be that the tires were 195/65/15, giving it 40% more sidewall, which is a substantial increase compared to what we can get on the R/GTI due to clearance concerns w/ brake caliper, rubbing, etc...
 

Al_in_Philly

Autocross Newbie
Location
Philadelphia USA
Same here, my GTI does not have DCC and is on stock 18'' rims/tires, springs/shocks and has that loud banging "bottom out" sound on certain potholes.

View attachment 173547

This one is not that big of a pothole (2'' deep) but the GTI seems to bottom out over it. It has been inconsistent since it's gone over bigger bumps at similar speeds without issue. It's almost like something about the geometry of the pothole has more to do with it...
Hey, stop taking pictures of my street! Now I remember where I left my Coke.
 

ATR

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Baltimore
Car(s)
'17 Golf R 6mt
Don't use comfort mode on crap roads. I've noticed that my car will bottom out much harsher in comfort mode then in normal or race modes.
 

Al_in_Philly

Autocross Newbie
Location
Philadelphia USA
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.
I may have figured it out (emphasis on "may"). Maybe those wheels are the source of the loud impact noise. The Engilshtown wheels are quite heavy cast aluminum: 26lbs., almost 50lbs per wheel with tires. That's a lot of unsprung weight*, meaning a lot of inertia for your springs, shocks, and the bumpstops to slow down and stop when the tire goes from quick downward movement to quick upwards movement as it goes over a pothole. Your upwards wheel movement doesn't suddenly stop when it rises up exiting the recess of your pothole; it continues its upwards trajectory until the spring forces (aided by the slowing of the shock dampening) slow the upwards motion and then start the wheel on its downwards return. If there isn't enough resistive force and/or time to reverse the upwards movement of the strut within its normal range of travel, it his the bump stops, sometimes hard enought to transfer the upwards force solidly into the chassis. Voila: "clunk." And since those 235/35/19 tires provide little to no cushioning, this becomes even more critical, as the initial upwards trajectory isn't reduced very much by the elastic cushioning of the tire itself.

I haven't experienced the loud clunking which you are hearing and feeling, and it might be due to the fact that I (like a good many other R owners) switched over to light weight flow-formed wheels, not too long after I bought my R. That loss of around 5 lbs per wheel reduced my overall unsprung weight (and thus the vertical inertial forces which the suspension had to cope with) by a significant amount. The bonus there, aside from aesthetics, was better traction on rough roads, less intense impacts felt in the cabin from potholes and bumps, plus faster acceleration and quicker braking due to the reduced rotational inertia of each wheel.

I can't promise that changing wheels would fix your problem, or that my changing wheels has kept me from experiencing the clunks that you clearly are. But it may be a fix, and there are additional tangible benefits from going to lighter wheels, especially if their construction method doesn't reduce their overall strength. Of course, you do have to pay for them. . .


*unsprung weight is the total amount of weight which moves up and down with each wheel. The further outwards from the suspension pivot points, where the suspension joins the rigid chasis structure, the greater effect this mass has on its vertical movements. So the overall mass of the wheels and tires effect the ride as well as the car's ability to maintain contact with the road.
 
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