Suspension and Brake Overhaul Package in Performance

A chassis overhaul: both at once, which overlaps on labour and is the sensible scope on a car being put right rather than patched.

We are an independent parts supplier. We are not Volkswagen, Audi, Seat or Skoda, and we are not appointed by any of them. Those are their trademarks and what we sell are parts that fit their cars. The useful thing about this group is that four badges share platforms and share parts, so the same component fits a Golf, an A3, a Leon and an Octavia and costs four different amounts at four different counters. We list it once, at one price, and tell you which platform it belongs to.

Specification and fitment

• Fits: Golf Mk5 Mk6 Mk7 Mk8, Passat B6 B7 B8, A3 8P 8V 8Y, A4 B8 B9, Leon 1P 5F KL, Octavia 1Z 5E NX, and the other group cars on the same platforms
• Platform: chosen above, and on suspension the platform is the part number. A Golf arm and an Octavia arm on the same platform are the same arm. This part is shared across the group. The Volkswagen, the Audi, the Seat and the Skoda all take it, it is the same component in four different boxes, and the price here is the same whichever badge is on your car. Choose your badge above for your records, not because it changes anything.
• Engine: not engine dependent, but the specification is: the same platform with a 2.0 TDI has different spring rates from a 1.0 TSI. This group changes specification mid production and does it on a platform basis rather than a model year basis, so two cars registered the same week can take different parts. Send us the VIN with the order and we check the part against the build data before anything is dispatched. It takes two minutes and it is the difference between a part that fits and a return.
• Production dates: 2003 to 2022 depending on platform
• Quality: uprated beyond the original specification for output or durability. Road legal, emissions equipment intact, and we will not supply anything that is not
• Part number: cross referenced to the group part number for your VIN and confirmed before dispatch. We do not print one number against a listing that covers several supersessions, because on this group the supersessions are the whole point
• The failure this addresses: wandering at motorway speed, a knock over broken surfaces, uneven inner edge tyre wear, a snapped rear spring, a long pedal or a judder under braking
• Labour time: four to six hours an axle, a full day for four corners, plus an hour on the geometry rack
• Coding: the electronic parking brake is retracted with a diagnostic tool before a rear caliper is opened. Winding it back by hand destroys the actuator
• Also needed: single use bolts on every arm, drop link nuts, brake fluid and wear sensors on the brake kits, and a four wheel geometry afterwards
• Torque: torque the bush bolts at ride height with the wheels on the ground. Tightening them with the suspension hanging preloads the rubber and tears it within a year, and it is the commonest mistake in the job
• Interval: brake fluid every two years because it absorbs water and the boiling point falls. Suspension is not scheduled and is a wear item
• Weight: approximately 66.1 kilograms
• Warranty: three years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first
• Platform parts: this is where the group's shared platforms save you real money, because the arm that costs one price in an Audi box costs another in a Skoda box and is the same arm
• Rear springs: on several of these platforms the rear springs snap, and they snap inward into the tyre. If one has gone, replace the pair
• Ride height torque: the single most important instruction on this page
• Geometry: changing an arm moves the camber and the toe, and a month on the wrong toe costs a set of tyres

What arrives

• every arm, bush, link, mount and damper listed
• discs, pads, sensors and fluid on the brake kits
• single use bolts and nuts throughout
• a geometry voucher where the kit includes one
• printed instructions with the ride height note

Fitting

Four to six hours an axle. Torque the bush bolts at ride height with the wheels on the ground, and on anything with an electronic parking brake retract the caliper with a diagnostic tool before opening it. Then book the geometry.

Which version to buy

This is the clearest example of why buying on platform rather than on badge saves money. The front arm on an MQB Golf, an MQB A3, an MQB Leon and an MQB Octavia is one part, and the four counters will quote you four prices for it. On tier, buy OE supplier dampers because the cheap ones are genuinely worse, and premium aftermarket arms and links because they are genuinely fine.