New Suspension - PICS!

[Nerih 0]

I understand there is a concurrent thread on this topic but since i have some completely different questions i thought i would start a new one instead of hijacking someone elses.

my requirements/constraints

I have a budget of aprox £200-350 to spend on my suspension at th moment.

I enjoy my vr's classly ride and its ability to waft over large dips/bumps in the road with out too much fuss, but am appaled with the large gap the car has at the front of the car (probably due to the VW springs being beefier at the front) between the wheels and arch. I would like to KEEP a BIT of the class ride but lower the car. I'm not looking for a hard set up that will shake the vehicle to bits every time i go over a bump, i do a few motorway miles an hence need to keep the suspension soft to absorb some of the bumps there.

My last constraint is probably the most important, I'm putting 16Inch Alloys on the car, If i were to put 17 inch - (QUESTION - !) could i keep my suspension standard or would the 17inchers rub against the arches? ASSUME i have 16's.

1. Do you recommend i wait for a while and save up for coilovers, if so, which ones, and where can i buy them.

2. If you think i should buy a damper/spring kit please suggest which ones, how much drop i would get and where i can pick them up from.

I hope there are enough facts to get some useful info cheers,

Nerih.

[ Edited ]

[binliner 0]

1. if you want to retain comfort I'd avoid coilovers

2. You could save up a bit more and get koni damping adjustable shocks and eibach springs which is a subtle drop but a smooth ride .... or Gmax kits are cheap and supposed to be good quality... venom is pretty cheap

[acf8181 0]

koni/eibach & bilstein sprintline won't give you the ride you want....but will make the car handle and grip superbly.

i'd be inclined to go for gmax springs on new o.e. dampers (boge from gsf will be fine - i have some year old rears by the way) if you want looks and ride. won't corner as well, but i've yet to be in a gmax equipt car (and i've been in lots) and feel harshness (haven't experienced their dampers though - but they do state ride quality is one of their prioritys). my car had nice ride on its chassis dynamics/o.e. dampers set up.

[Nerih 0]

Gmax Springs here we come, just need to find out what kind of drop im going to get from them

[binliner 0]

If you're using oe dampers I wouldnt go lower than 40mm

...you'll probably have enough money left to get a set of eibach anti roll bars which will improve the handling no end without affecting the comfort

... incidently I've driven a VR (nickbee's) with koni/eibach set up and that was smooth as you like, didnt find it harsh at all... maybe its because Im used to my coilovers

[Nerih 0]

I just measured 4cm on the car. BinLiner maybe you can help me, why does my car not sit level with OE dampers and springs? why is there more of a gap between the front wheel and arch than the rear wheel and arch? (is it becuase of the 2.8lump at the front?). If buy GMAX springs with a 40mm drop, will the car be level? After all thats what i want a level car that is slightly lowered, but still drivable through the crappy london roads.

Its too much to ask isnt it

[acf8181 0]

its almost impossible to say the precise drop when you fit the springs...

my chassis dynamics (claiming to be -35mm lowering) seemed to lower the front about 50mm, and the rear only about 10mm. where as my bilstein (claims -40mm lower) seems to have droppped the lot about 60mm.

more likely than not the car will be a bit more nose down with just springs. it won't look slammed on the deck, but will look nice (i prefer mild drops to huge ones...think the car looks to chav if its on the deck).

as binliner says, dont go more than -40mm on just springs. if you wanna go lower you'll have to sacrifice ride.

[mk3anni 0]

Also.......the top of the front arch is higher than the top of the back arch.....I think.

Measure it from somewhere else, like sill to ground.

[Nerih 0]

right ive bought gmax springs, but no one wants to fit them for me, the place where i just bought my BRANDNEW RS4 17inchers told me they wouldnt fit 3rd party springs even though i bought them from gsf which is just about opposite them !!!

oh btw, car looks SO FRIGGING AMAZING with 17 audi rs4's, i took the worse plunge and stuck VW centers in them instead of audi , to be a bit different. alloys + very expensive perelli's cost me £760 all in all, im guessing it was slightly dearer becuase its a highstreet shop rather than an internet place, easier to say hey i dont like those take em off to a highstreet place .

Pics

the front wheels are dirty for a reason ..brake dust!

my 8v 1.6 driver

The springs!

poor quality images is my middle name . see my car NEEDS lowering at the front!

[ Edited Sat Sep 25 2004, 05:20PM ]

[Nerih 0]

oh quick update, i want the nose to be down, it really doesnt look right with so much space at the front, hopefully these springs will do that for me.

[acf8181 0]

almost any garage should fit them for you.

it isn't that hard yourself (spring compressors are needed tho) if you have a haynes manual.

either way, make sure you get the camber reset afterwards, chances are it'll go out.

[Nerih 0]

right will look into doing myself, but will probably have the garage do it, since i'm bogged down (pardon the pun ) doing my Boot Install which isnt coming along nicely, i've already ruined two of my moulds the 3rd is the last one i have .

Will have the camber reset so it doesnt look like a dead herby.

[binliner 0]

you didnt hang about getting them! like ACF says have a look in the yellow pages theres bound to be a local garage that'll fit them fairly cheap

[VR6Steve 0]

I know a couple of garages Hemel Hempstead way that can probably help if you get stuck for somewhere local to do it.

[Nerih 0]

Binliner, i had the money, knew what i wanted to do with it, and went out and spent it . I've read in my 'max power' golf haynes manual that lowering springs + original dampers arent a good idea! Is this true? apparantly the original dampers cannot work well with lowering springs. Noooo!

You know anyone who's going to be open on a sunday? I hate waiting around! I just popped into halford'ies and bought some zymol and a haynes manual for ze golf, If i can get the springs stuck on today i'll have ALL day tommorow to finish the boot install...class. (yes no work for 1 year yes, what a wonderful money free life!)

what do you guys think of the alloys? no one has said anything about them yet

[ Edited Sun Sep 26 2004, 09:46AM ]

[acf8181 0]

you're takin the word of max power?! lmao

they don't give as good an improvement as a full kit, thats for sure. but the ride will be better, and Gmax springs are designed for o.e. dampers anyway. on some cars it can be a bad idea to use just springs as, due to the different suspension set up, the springs can disclocate as the dampers are too long.

[six appeal 53]

Boot install may be part of the reason it sits lower at the back?

[binliner 0]

what do you guys think of the alloys? no one has said anything about them yet

do u mean will 17s rub now you've lowered it? depends on width & offset but presuming they're nothing extreme you should be ok... might catch occasionally (when you hit a dip in the motorway at speed usually)

[mark@vagworx 0]

Personally i wouldn't fit OE dampers and lowering springs. The ride will be improved over standard, BUT the ride can be very bumpy at times on certain surfaces.

Secondly, OE dampers are obviously not as short as uprated dampers and consequently NOT matched to the shorter springs. The rebound of a standard shock is no way as sharp as an uprated unit, making the OE shock work a lot harder. In effect, the life expectancy won't be all that good.

Try and get some uprated shocks if you can, Koni are you're best bet IMO.

BTW, the rims look really good.

[ Edited Mon Sep 27 2004, 04:41PM ]

[acf8181 0]

Personally i wouldn't fit OE dampers and lowering springs. The ride will be improved over standard' date=' BUT the ride can be very bumpy at times on certain surfaces.

Secondly, OE dampers are obviously not as short as uprated dampers and consequently NOT matched to the shorter springs. The rebound of a standard shock is no way as sharp as an uprated unit, making the OE shock work a lot harder. In effect, the life expectancy won't be all that good.

[/quote']

trust me, o.e. dampers and uprated springs are much more comfy than having uprated shocks as well.

Gmax springs are designed to be used with o.e. shocks...they are quite a bit softer than most springs. wroked really well on my last car.

[Nerih 0]

After doing alot of reading about, What minty says seems to be true (about o.e dampers and springs not really being matched). But i rang GMAX up today, and they assured me, that my springs and O.E dampers will work perfectly and give increased suspension control, a drop of up to 40mm and retain some comfort. I'm willing to give it a go, my garage says its takes 3 hours to replace the springs.

Sound right?

My garage also tells me that eurocarparts 'ventura' springs are equally good on vr's with O.E. They are also in the range of about £50+.

P.S Acf, i left my car outside for 3 nights and when i took it out, it was idling VERY VERY lumpily until it get to about 50C on the oil....I had to keep my foot on the gas to stop it from dieing when not in gear (and when the clutch was down)....any ideas? I just had the car serviced too, sparks, serpent belt, ht leads, all fluids....

I cant wait, on wednesday i shall take a pic of my car with its lovely new springs and splitters from GPC... oh its gonna look good.

BTW has anyone retrofitted H1 Xenon Headlights (WITH BALLASTS) to their inpro xenon 'look' angel eyes?

I'm interested in the inpro look, with the REAL deal (which are only £250, no cutting or nothing required!)

[Nerih 0]

http://www.vagparts.com/pages/GtiHID.htm

read here lads

[mark@vagworx 0]

Personally i wouldn't fit OE dampers and lowering springs. The ride will be improved over standard' date=' BUT the ride can be very bumpy at times on certain surfaces.

Secondly, OE dampers are obviously not as short as uprated dampers and consequently NOT matched to the shorter springs. The rebound of a standard shock is no way as sharp as an uprated unit, making the OE shock work a lot harder. In effect, the life expectancy won't be all that good.

[/quote']

trust me, o.e. dampers and uprated springs are much more comfy than having uprated shocks as well.

Gmax springs are designed to be used with o.e. shocks...they are quite a bit softer than most springs. wroked really well on my last car.

I'm not going to argue the toss on the subject, BUT it's my opinion and from previous experience, OE shocks and lowering springs are a good stop gap, but the life of the shocks will not be as long as usual due to the extra work.

[acf8181 0]

ok, thats fair...i'll just say that my comments are my opinion too.

ventura springs are rebadged eibach i believe...and they were (and maybe still are) available form vw sort of as an option (kind of like irmscher stuff is on vauxhalls).

on your rough starting, it could be a nuber of things. if your car is OBD1 (upto N plate) may be worth cleaning the ISV. i'd also check the leads are all pushed on correctly, if not you need to get vag-com plugged in and check for fault codes.

[Nerih 0]

acf, not fault codes, its odb2.