Bilstein B6 for Skoda Octavia TDi


Thread Starter #1
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Jun 20, 2011
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chennai
Hello after a long time,
I took my own sweet time to test the bilstein b6. After driving it for almost 2k kms. Let me put up my primary observations.

Pros:

  • Excellent Handling
  • Increased Height(much needed for octy)
  • Surprisingly comfortable
  • No more sound.(Pusssshhh.. sound while going on speed breakers)
  • Unlimited life

Cons

  • PRICE
  • Availability for specific models.
  • Makes you forget about the speed (not soo good for indian roads.. what you think?)

Installation

So one fine day .. well wait.. late evening. I desperately wanted to intall the b6 in my cars, how long can a car enthusiast have the B6's in the cars boot?? You guys will understand this easily, so no more explanations on the desperateness . I made a phone call to Dhaya(TAI member) for some suggestions and he responded very well and quickly. I have to thank TAI and Dhaya here. So shocks were installed on the stock springs. And almost everyone around suggested me to change the struts while changing the shocks. But i didnt really do that, to be honest, i was not able to do that. Due to the stiffness of the B6 , the struts started to rub on the upper end. So the stock struts were also in good shape, so left it that way. Though i have the new struts in my boot. It was not all that smooth, but was not bad either, so now, even the mechanic was very interested in testing the car.

The Drive

First , the mechanic drove the car. and he was like "what the hell". I actually took some time to find out whether it is a positive or negative reaction [confused] . Fortunately it was a very positive one. He said that the shocks are extremely comfortable. But in my mind, "this is not supposed to be comfortable... and XF#$!EDW!$ " . Then i took the car and tried it, felt a huge difference in comfort. Here, i would easily say, this is because my old shocks have practically died [evil] . But as the mechanic works for skoda, he said that it was more comfortable than a brand new Octy. That too with unchanged struts. It should get better with new struts. I started to get the "happy man" feeling very soon. Labour for changing all 4 shocks was 1.5k, which i felt was very decent.



Comfort and everything is okay.. what i expected from the B6 was better high speed stability. And to take corners easily. I was driving back to my house after getting it fixed. Took a turn near Ashok Pillar (in chennai, and the road is quite big). While completing the curve i was surprised to see my speedo needle pointing 80 kmph(it was about 10 30 pm, so no traffic). It felt like a 30 kmph turn with the older shocks. So good vibrations were all around me. Then i started throw the car into corners in all possible situations. Had an excellent drive to my house. And i was not even able to sleep that night. Was just dreaming about the next highway journey. [;)]

Was it worth?

Totally yes. After using this shocks for 2k kms. It has just made things really better. Though its not as plush as say Hyundai i20. It is quite comfortable. And in terms of handling, its excellent. There is no up-down movement in the car at high speeds even in bad roads. Seems like a right balance, atleast for someone like me. And the bonus here was i i got it for a good price from a nice person who has used it only for less than 5k kms. So it seems even more worth for me. So will i buy a new B6 for my next car? Simply yes, but most probably when my car needs a shock absorber change.

Moderators, I have the same copy of the review in my car ownership thread. I just thought this could be a product specific thread.

Jeno.
 

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