Trackday coilovers

[Paul86S2]

Anyone got any good recommendations?

Need a better set than currently on the car.

I'm leaning towards AVO at the moment but interested in what is working well for other track users. Reasonable budget of £500 but if its going to cost more like £1000 then I will seriously consider buying an M3.

Paul

[gazpowells]

When I had my Clio182 track car i had cheap coilovers,  but i drove a mate,s 182 with LEDA coilovers and the handling was just fantastic... and they are fully adjustable which is great for track use

www.leda.com 

downside expensive 

[Horney]

Heard great things about KW.

I'll have a chat with my mate Chris as he bought some coilovers for his B5.5 passat that he's really impressed with (He's a racer so knows what feels good) and they're rebranded something or others but I can't remember the details.

Nick

[Paul86S2]

Cheers guys, email sent to Leda for prices (Ive got them on my 928 and they are good)

KW's seem to get a good write up so will be interested to see what your mate says Nick.

The cheap coilovers on the car are better than the standard setup but they are letting the handling down now.

Paul

[Horney]

You thought about quality struts and springs as well? I know it's much harder to corner weight a car with fixed height suspension but I'm not sure if you're going to go that far.

I picked up a full set of barely used Koni top adjustable for £180 delivered off ebay. THey were even MKIII ones. They work really well on the Golf and it's nice and flat through the corners but has enough give to soak up enough of the bumps not to spit you out of bumpy corners. I really rate them BUT I've never tracked car on coilovers so I can't compare.

The only other brand I really love and have experience of is GAZ. Had a set of adjustable shocks on my old mini cooper. Build quality was awesome and they were superb shocks on road and track with 32 point damping adjustment. I'm sure they do Golf stuff but I think it might be pricey.

nick

[PT82]

Went on a trackday the other day and the Golfs had Gaz Gold adjustable coilovers. They are now on my list of purchases 

[Paul86S2]

Done some research:

Leda's can supply coilovers with bump and rebound adjustment via a single control and they come in at £1200 plus the springs at either £43 each or £63 each for Eibach all plus VAT. They can be rebuilt fairly cheaply.

Gaz GHA's are fast road coilovers and the fronts are adjustable for rebound only and the rears are rebound and bump adjustable. Various prices around the £520 to £550 mark all inclusive.

Gaz Golds are track orientated with all rebound and bump adjustable via single control. Can get these for £800 all inclusive.

Downside of the Gaz ones is there are a lot of negative reviews on the quality of the rust proofing plating and they had some serious issues with the bottom mounts cracking the other year.

Bilstein B16's are adjustable and come in about £1000 all inclusive.

Koni Coilovers seem good quality but are only bump adjustable and come in at £1000 all inclusive.

KW V3's have really good write ups and are bump and rebound adjustable but are about £1300 all in.

Avo GTZ's are their fast road setup, but the rears are adjustable dampers and not coilovers. About £500 all in.

Avo GTX's are their track version with coilovers all round fully adjustable with inverted dampers. About £1000 all in.

Avo also seem to have a lot of negative reviews.

Still looking at a couple of other options.

Paul

[Diamond Hell]

Bilstein B16's are adjustable and come in about £1000 all inclusive.

That's where I'd put my money. 

Unless you're some sort of super-hero you're just going to annoy yourself and waste a lot of time mucking about with the settings.

[Paul86S2]

Gaz, Avo, and Leda all have plenty of complaints about them and all are too much money to take a chance on.

Too much adjustment means too much messing around and unless you really know what your doing and how to drive could be a complete waste of time and effort. I know I'll spend all day adjusting things and still not be able to work out what is best.

Also looked at BC and D2 coilovers, D"s get bad write ups and BC weren't inspiring enough when telling me about their products. It also looks like quite a few of these coilovers are all made in the same factory but spec'd slightly differantly.

Going to put some poly top mounts on first and see if that improves things, Ive found a bit of play in one side.

Definately leaning towards the Bilsteins but its a shed load of money. Need to decide whether to spend the money or buy an M3.

Paul

[Diamond Hell]

Check the servicing costs for an M3.

And you KNOW you'd be there looking at dearer coilovers for that in a years time.

Although it would mean rear drive fun and it would open up drift days to you as well as track days.....