More than a few of you have been getting impatient for this one. The wait is over. The suspension walkaround of our 2010 Volkswagen GTI long-term test car is finally here.
The going wasn't as smooth as I'd hoped. Volkswagen uses annoying, easy-to-lose lug nut caps that must be removed with an annoying, easy-to-lose wire removal tool, and a liberal coating of tire black at the last carwash may have ruined my pair of jeans. Oh, how I despise tire black.
Enough of my whining already. On with the show and tell.
Up front we see your basic MacPherson strut suspension and some red brake calipers.
But those red brake calipers ain't Brembos. They're single-piston sliding calipers like we see on a lot of other smaller cars. That's no bad thing, but these aren't racing bits. The rubber caps that conceal the two pins on which the sliding half slides are indicated by the yellow arrows.
The L-shaped lower control arm (orange) is stamped from a single sheet of steel, and a long slender stabilizer bar drop link (green) connects the stabilizer bar to a point high on the strut housing where it can stay clear of the tire while the strut steers left and right.
As expected, front-engine, front-wheel drive equals a steering linkage (orange) that acts behind the axle centerline.
But the trick aluminum front suspension subframe (green) is not something we often see. It's a bolted-together structure that holds the steering rack and the stabilizer bar, and it also carries the forward and aft pivot points for the lower control arms. The whole affair ultimately bolts directly to the unibody (yellow) with no rubber bushings in between to dull steering response.
Here's another look at the stamped steel lower arm and the way it mounts to the nifty aluminum subframe. DIY aficionados will appreciate the easily-serviced lower ball joints that bolt straight on. Autocrossers might consider taking a hacksaw to those overlong bolts(yellow) and save like 80 tons or something.
This under-car view (from the right side this time) shows some of the bolts that hold this subframe together. This is starting to look expensive. But it's also looking light and strong.
Peeking further underneath we see that the subframe has one more job to do. It carries a torque mount that controls the roll motion of the engine when you dump the clutch, make a shift or simply roll on and off the throttle in stop-and-go traffic.
That extra black bracket on the transmission end takes away the bending moment from the long through-bolt (yellow), putting it in double shear instead. The other end of the torque link, which is in direct tension when under load, connects to a large bushing housed neatly in the middle of the subframe.
Torque mounts are nothing new to front-drive cars, but this design is unique, and very effective.
Back to more mundane stuff. Here's the top end of the strut and the shock tower.
Before we head to the rear, here's another look at those spiffy red brakes.
The rear suspension wears another pair of red-painted single-piston sliding brake calipers, but these squeeze solid rotors instead of ventilated ones.
More importantly, the GTI's rear suspension uses a multilink setup with a blade-style (green) trailing arm. There are three lateral links in there, but here we can only see the main lower one (yellow) that also carries the spring.
Ah, that's better. The main trailing arm (blue) simultaneously locates the wheel in the fore-aft direction while it handles all of the torque loads from braking. The now-familiar curved upper link (yellow) hold the top of the wheel at the proper camber angle while the lower links (orange and green) handle most of the lateral loads.
And, as we've seen many times before, the forward of the two (green) is shorter, and it therefore swings in a tighter arc to create some dynamic toe-in on the loaded side as the body rolls.
I dreamt about a meteor shower last night, so forgive me for going a little arrow crazy. All of the colors (and their targets) are the same as the previous slide, with one exception: The white arrow indicates where the stabilizer bar link connects directly to the trailing arm.
Here's another view of the same thing. You can see how the mounting point is integrated into the connection between the trailing arm and the rear knuckle casting.
The coil spring sits about midway along the length of a main lower link that's so long it almost meets its mate from the other side in the middle. My eyeball estimate says the arm ratio is about 0.60:1 or so.
The rear shock absorber, however, bolts directly to the cast-iron rear knuckle for a direct-acting 1:1 motion ratio.
Like the front, the rear suspension subframe mount (orange) is direct-mounted to the body.
We haven't yet seen any bump stops because they reside at the top of those shock absorbers.
Finally, those 225/40R18 all-season tires and controversially-styled 18" wheels weigh 50.5 pounds when mounted.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 7,858 miles
clarkma5 says:
05:39 PM, 06/30/10
I like the sound of the direct-bolted front subframe! The squishy front subframe bushings are one of the bigger failures of the MkIV cars from a performance perspective...
dg0472 says:
05:39 PM, 06/30/10
Sure looks like it uses traditional VW lug bolts instead of separate lugs with nuts, but you're the expert. ;-)
maxedoutmax says:
08:15 PM, 06/30/10
No surprises here... well perhaps the wheels. 50.5 lbs is a lot esp for a tire that is only 225mm wide.
Makes me wonder what a nice set of 235mm tires on lightweight 17" rims will do for this car.
tmanz says:
10:06 PM, 06/30/10
use Tufshine on the tires. After getting 'the look' from my wife after she bumped a tire on the truck and ended up with a black streak on her leg I switched to it and no more gunk on the tires to rub off.
blueguydotcom says:
10:16 PM, 06/30/10
Drive the GTI with 17s and 18s...different feel to the car. I'll take the 17s over the 18s any day.
actualsize says:
11:05 PM, 06/30/10
@dg0472: Yeah, I meant caps for the lug BOLTS, of course. Doesn't change the fact that those caps are still lame.
jacton says:
05:40 AM, 07/ 1/10
Note to Dan:
Don't wear clothes that you don't want to get dirty when working on a car!
Nice walk around though; I still think this car needs a real LSD and not some brake modulated wantabe.
mcgs999 says:
05:46 AM, 07/ 1/10
@blueguydotcom - amen.
Dealer looked at me like I was crazy when I said that, in no uncertain circumstances, I did not want 18s. 17s are definitely the enthusiasts choice with this car.
plateface says:
07:13 AM, 07/ 1/10
Awesome Dan! Thanks for keeping up with these walkarounds!
chochmastergen says:
07:16 AM, 07/ 1/10
Hey Dan,
Just wondering, you mentioned on the undercar picture that it was looking expensive (also light and strong). I'm no expert in this area, but it looks to me like a one piece casting bolted with standard bolts. Granted I work on heavy equipment not cars, but a bolted cast piece is about the cheapest solution for a big load-bearing complex piece like that. Especially in the high production volume of the GTI.
I'm just wondering what other cars use, that's cheaper than something like that setup. Good walkaround by the way, I always seem to pick something up from these (the black bracket putting the bolt in shear seems pretty clever to me).
actualsize says:
07:30 AM, 07/ 1/10
@blueguydotcom: It's true. We've seen it ourselves. A GTI equipped with the 17-inch all-season tires (and a Golf TDI with the same rubber) navigated our slalom course quicker than this GTI on these 18-inch A/S tires. Just to make sure, however, we're planning a same-car, same-day follow-up test with all three available GTI tires in the coming weeks.
adamb1 says:
08:11 AM, 07/ 1/10
What's up with the exhaust pipes being all rust covered already? My 7 year-old Ram doesn't have a speck of rust on the pipes and my '09 Mazda 6s are clean too.
makakio says:
08:24 AM, 07/ 1/10
Question: most people say this car needs more suspension to compete. Does the (seemingly) high level of design integration in VW's suspension layout limit or prevent the amount of aftermarket tweaks you can purchase to gain better control?
dg0472 says:
08:39 AM, 07/ 1/10
Well gee Dan you'd lose your lug bolts when they came loose without the caps. Or at least the remains when they broke because they were overtightened and VW would need those remains for the lawsuit, to prove their (and Volvo's) design was in no way to blame. Wouldn't want VW to have to switch to what most of the rest of the world uses, would you?
actualsize says:
09:12 AM, 07/ 1/10
@makakio: This suspension looks tunable to me. It's a sound design. Springs, dampers and tires are all knobs that can be dialed up or down with aftermarket parts.
I think a lot of younger drivers misunderstand the GTI. It's not supposed to be a giant killer. It's a more sporty version of the Golf, and that's it. Back when the model first came out, it was a sportier, more fun-to-drive version of the Rabbit, but it was never a track focused car like we think of today. It's always been tuned-intentionally to be a well-rounded daily driver that handles well and is fun to drive. Tracks days didn't exist like they do now, so that was never really the point. This most recent GTI is true to the original concept. This GTI is what it always has been.
mcgs999 says:
09:12 AM, 07/ 1/10
@makakio - "most people?" people love lowering their VWs but from a geometry standpoint there is some pretty solid evidence this design is near perfect.
stwok says:
09:19 AM, 07/ 1/10
Thanks for the writeup Dan, I can't wait for the 3 GTI comparo.
stwok says:
10:45 AM, 07/ 1/10
Dan, can you please do a suspension walkaround for the Z06?
pe_tor says:
11:17 AM, 07/ 1/10
Hmmm...I weighed the wheels and tires of my 2010 GTI at 52 pounds a piece, and I think they're the same ones (Detroit wheels with Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS tires). Could balancing weights account for such a large difference?
Either way, as soon as the correct sized center rings (ARG!) are delivered, I'm going to be wearing just under 40 pounds per corner of 17 inch rotary cast aluminum and Continental ExtremeContact DW rubber.
Also, I don't mind the lug bolt caps, they look good on this wheel (which is designed purely for looks).
Also also, Dan, while I totally agree with your assessment of what a GTI is supposed to be, I'm still disappointed with the steering feel on this car, as well as the character of the All Season rubber. Too much luxury, not enough fun for a GTI. I could complain about the lack of real LSD and the undefeatable stability control, but those don't really come into play in my non-auto-crossing life.
Also also also, I highly look forward to the 3 wheel comparison! Great idea guys!
And many thanks to Dan for the continued great work on these walkarounds.
carterbw77 says:
01:47 PM, 07/ 1/10
I plan on selling my 18" Detroits new (taking delivery on a '10 GTI next week), and buying some 17" wheels...any recommendations? They will be for street use only. Do not want to spend more than $1,100 on a set.
tdiluv says:
06:00 AM, 07/ 2/10
I haven't read a drive report on the GTI, are the brakes just OK, and need to be improved upon? The brakes in my Jetta TDI are not terrific by any means !
actualsize says:
08:00 AM, 07/ 2/10
129 ft from 60 mph. Average feel, soft pedal. That's clearly nothing to write home about. The tires and what I presume are low-noise, low-dust brake pads probably figure prominently. I wouldn't lay all of it at the feet of the calipers unless and until I upgraded the other two first. Here's our earlier full test, with specs.
http://www.insideline.com/volkswagen/gti/2010/2010-volkswagen-gti-full-test-and-video.html
Dan
psf4 says:
09:37 AM, 07/ 2/10
My MS6 has calipers that look VERY similar to the ones on the GTI. Great feel, firm pedal; even with the stock fluid and pads. With Carbotech track pads and PBR BF-600 fluid, the brakes remain great even in 20 minute track sessions. Same goes for my former RX-8 with meager single piston sliders in both OEM and track-prepped form. Biggest factor in one-stop braking distances is tires. As for feel/firmness, I'm not sure what it is but sliding calipers generally aren't the problem.
alpine6speed says:
12:18 PM, 07/ 2/10
Finally, those 225/40R18 all-season tires and controversially-styled 18" wheels
Controversial
Those are some of the nicest factory wheels ever on any car in 18" Everyone loves them on my MKV GTI and I would not buy one without them. I am very surprised to know that some people dont think they look on the GTI.
The stock brakes on the GTI are its weakest link to me so they are ok at best.
cz_75 says:
07:11 AM, 07/ 3/10
The stock brakes are fairly large for this type of car, and certainly not much smaller than those used on the MS3, which has very good brakes (also single piston floating calipers, same as are used on most BMWs) by all accounts. Heavy 18" wheels and tires (especially A/S ones) certainly wouldn't help braking distance any. Of course the Edmund's test linked had the lighter 17s, but still w/ crap A/S tires.
The soft pedal feel could be helped with better pads (a little), a master cylinder brace (quite a bit) and quality stainless brake lines that meet DOT specs (also quite a bit). A front strut tower brace might also help reduce firewall flex and give the brakes a firmer feel.
diondi says:
10:07 PM, 07/ 4/10
@Dan
Thank you very much for the walkaround! I really enjoyed it, and since I do have a GTI this is very relevant to my interests. It's very nice to come back from a non-Internet connected vacation and find this in the Blog pages. :)
As for the spiffy red non-Brembos... well I asked Donna for Guest Blogger guidelines a while ago, and I hope to submit an entry by the end of the month that deals with putting in actual Brembos into the GTI...
k55 says:
06:12 AM, 07/ 5/10
I would have liked some more comments on how the new Mk VI suspension was improved over the MK V.
foxbat2 says:
07:18 PM, 08/ 8/10
have a look at the bushing between the control blade and chassis.
it seems much larger in ford than in VW