GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk2 => Topic started by: OakeyDoak16v on 25 February 2009, 23:47
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Regarding some spring and damper kits i'm looking at, are 60mm springs too much or is 40mm too little.
I was thinking 40mm as i'm trying to improve handling rather than looks.
Any opinions greatful. :smiley:
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40mm for the handling win :)
I think the wishbones are horizontal at 40mm drop which is ideal :)
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Remeber, the 16v is lowered 30mm (IIRC) as standard. So with a 40mm kit, you'd only drop 10mm ;)
The ideal balance is to keep wishbones at least horizontal, a 60mm drop is likely to make them point up and negatively effect handling.
Which kits you looking at>
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Thanks Mark. Yeah thats what i was thinking, really trying to max the handling atm have recently fitted polyuerethane bushes to certain parts of the underside so this is the next thing. Looking at Weitec kits and some dude on here is selling one brand new but with 60mm springs so wasn't sure.
Think i'll stick to a 40mm kit.
Cheers mate :smiley:
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Remeber, the 16v is lowered 30mm (IIRC) as standard. So with a 40mm kit, you'd only drop 10mm ;)
The ideal balance is to keep wishbones at least horizontal, a 60mm drop is likely to make them point up and negatively effect handling.
Which kits you looking at>
Weitec kits as they seem to be a pretty popular choice and good for the money.
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Also it's about time really as my car sits lower at the back i suspect because the springs are old and knackered.
Riding on Boge turbo shocks atm but been on the car 9 yrs and seem some miles, deffo ready for an upgrade. :smiley:
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They get good reviews - most folk seem happy with them.
I'm ditching my spine snappers (hottunning) soon, so post back with your review and photos of the Weitec if you get them ;)
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Will do Ben. Pay day this week so time to get suspension happy!! G werks have got them for about £250, pretty good price me thinks.
Will let you know when they're on. :smiley:
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I personally have Koni dampers and Eibach springs
Rate them very highly!
Adjustable damping too which is cool :)
They're not cheap and only lower 30mm but are regarded as a very good set up.
Another very highly rated spring would be the H&R spring which lowers 40mm that I would have gone for had I not chosen Eibachs.
Depends how much money you have to play with really :)
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Ahh fair play, you seem set on the Weitecs
I'm sure you won't be disappointed!
Never heard a bad thing about their products to date :)
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As you say Mark it's within the budget i've got to play with. I know you very much get what you pay for with this kind of thing so will give them a go.
Cheers mate. :smiley:
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I personally have Koni dampers and Eibach springs
Rate them very highly!
Adjustable damping too which is cool :)
They're not cheap and only lower 30mm but are regarded as a very good set up.
Another very highly rated spring would be the H&R spring which lowers 40mm that I would have gone for had I not chosen Eibachs.
Depends how much money you have to play with really :)
What kind of money did you spend on the setup?
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Too much really
I got to the stage where it was basically-
- Cheaper and nearly my ideal set up
- Ideal set up (the one I really wanted)
- Spending yet more on some coilovers from Koni/Eibach etc.
I really couldn't stretch to the coilovers and knew I would be disappointed with the 'nearly ideal' set up
So basically scraped all my funds together and went for-
Eibach springs
Koni yellow dampers front and rear
Genuine g60 top mounts
About £550
I winced a lot when I clicked the order button
Worth it though :)
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Eeek, quality costs!
I need to bump a ride off someone with a good setup to really see what its like.
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As said all the time you get what you pay for but sadley thats too much for me atm. Bet it goes round corners like its on rails tho. :smiley:
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If you're at Shady P's meet in easter I'll happily demonstrate :)
I need to play around with the damping really, I have the front set very hard; the rear needs to be cranked up half a turn.
That's the only disadvantage really- you have to remove the rear struts to adjust their damping :(
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Too much fettling for me that is. I would never be happy and prob get ocd on it. I need a simple set up and then work on other aspects such as anti roll bar upgrade if required.
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As said all the time you get what you pay for but sadley thats too much for me atm. Bet it goes round corners like its on rails tho. :smiley:
It does mate :cool:
I reckon I'd scare myself long before the car gave way!
It's worth complimenting the new set up with decent tyres too
ARBs and bushes are definately a good shout as well
Unfortunately funds ran out long before I could get either of these :(
My front arb looks absolutely shot too
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Too much fettling for me that is. I would never be happy and prob get ocd on it. I need a simple set up and then work on other aspects such as anti roll bar upgrade if required.
Ahhh I'm the opposite! I love to be able adjust things :laugh:
Definately can see the advantage of having a simple, from factory, optimum set up though :afro:
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Too much fettling for me that is. I would never be happy and prob get ocd on it. I need a simple set up and then work on other aspects such as anti roll bar upgrade if required.
Ahhh I'm the opposite! I love to be able adjust things :laugh:
Definately can see the advantage of having a simple, from factory, optimum set up though :afro:
Tyres, whole new can of worms right there. (Eagle F1's FTW)
ARB's dont know too much about tbh but having done the poly bush upgrade i'm testing out one thing at a time and working on it that way.
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Definately recommend Eagle f1s! :)
I think Eibach or H&R arbs are recommended
I know Weitec make one but I've not heard much about it
Did fitting uprated bushes make a notable difference?
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Yes. Straight away with almost standard ride the car goes into corners much more positively, could possibly describe it as being more "pointy" if that makes scense. Dont get me wrong, she still whallows round, roundabouts but i found an instant reassurance blasting through the lanes of my home quarters. :cool:
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All the above does really lean on what rubber youre wearing tho at the end of the day.
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I would go for 40mm.
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I'll definately have to consider uprated bushes then! :)
And yeah, all this stuff is pointless without good tyres!
Agree totally :)
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Just priced th weitec kit up properly and comes in at £332 inc vat, not £250 as i origonally thought. Still thinking thats a good price though :smiley:
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Which kit is it the Hicon GTs ?
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i'm busy reading this as i slowly collect parts
i got so far:-
genuine G60 top mounts front and rear
set of GSF poly bushes
new ball joints
just waiting for a set of shocks and springs to show their heads
i see hottuning have a set of springs and shocks for 169 euro's are they any good ??
BUT they list the heights as 40/40 , 40/60 or 60/80
surely the car wants to be level so why would you want 40/60 or 60/80
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i'm busy reading this as i slowly collect parts
i got so far:-
genuine G60 top mounts front and rear
set of GSF poly bushes
new ball joints
just waiting for a set of shocks and springs to show their heads
i see hottuning have a set of springs and shocks for 169 euro's are they any good ??
BUT they list the heights as 40/40 , 40/60 or 60/80
surely the car wants to be level so why would you want 40/60 or 60/80
The front is slightly higher than the rear as standard
Lowering it the extra 20mm brings it all into line :afro:
Wouldn't go lower than 40 and I really wouldn't choose the hottuning's if you were going for an optimum handling set up
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not really bothered about "optimum" handling but good would be nice and as i use my car daily i dont want my spine shortening by an inch every time i go to work
and i will be traveling to the uk and back from holland a few times and the mrs will b!tch if it is too harsh LOL
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This is a great topic, helped me loads, lol.
So what do you guys think of Spax suspension kits? I'm looking at a 40mm adjustable kit (Koni, Spax ect.), new bushes, strut bracers (any recomendations?!) and anti-roll bar upgrade (most come with new bushes anyway). Plan to save about £500-700 for it in total.
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Maybe look at the Koni Strt kit?
Never used them, but they looked good for the money, I'd really recommend some from a renowned manufacturer, as chances are they'll be an improvement over old and worn out items :)
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This is a great topic, helped me loads, lol.
So what do you guys think of Spax suspension kits? I'm looking at a 40mm adjustable kit (Koni, Spax ect.), new bushes, strut bracers (any recomendations?!) and anti-roll bar upgrade (most come with new bushes anyway). Plan to save about £500-700 for it in total.
No experience of the Spax items but I rate my Konis very highly :afro:
No real experience of strut braces either, but again, I'd go for a renowned company as the quality will be better.
Anti-roll bars as said-
Look into Eibach, H&R, Weitec etc.
Can't go wrong with them :)
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Cheers guys. Will wait till I get paid end of March, starting new career so will have extra cash. That, combined with the Hayne workshop manual, Haynes and Max Power modification guides and a girl friend who's dad's a top mechanic equals some serious work. Look out for me in the project thread. :wink:
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Which kit is it the Hicon GTs ?
the gt kit :smiley:
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The front is slightly higher than the rear as standard
Lowering it the extra 20mm brings it all into line
Wouldn't go lower than 40 and I really wouldn't choose the hottuning's if you were going for an optimum handling set up
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I thought mine was lower at the back because it was old and knackered? :huh:
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Old suspension can tend to sag a bit
Lowering the extra 20mm gives the car a more 'nose down' appearance to make it look better, as standard on decent suspension you wouldn't think "the front is pointing at the sky" or anything :grin: it's just a tad higher
:)
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so the hot tuning spring/shaocks set up is poop too ??
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so the hot tuning spring/shaocks set up is poop too ??
No experience of it personally, but i'd definately want to look at a more well renowned company :afro:
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ok so any one know of a good quality german shock manufacturer
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Old suspension can tend to sag a bit
Lowering the extra 20mm gives the car a more 'nose down' appearance to make it look better, as standard on decent suspension you wouldn't think "the front is pointing at the sky" or anything :grin: it's just a tad higher
:)
Yours in your sig appears more nose down is that what you did or is it just the picture? Wasn't sure if it's parked on a hill or not?
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That's more the angle of the picture I think mate, if it's a bigger size, you can see the car is not horizontal :)
Also, the rear springs have settled a bit more since then, so the back maybe a bit lower now :afro:
This pic was taken at the same time, where it looks a bit more level :)
(http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z17/MarkSawczyn/DSCF1741.jpg)
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and how low is yours ??
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Quality mate :cool: Looks level to my eyes. Mine sits visibly lower at the back and it annoys me :angry:
Will be ordering up that weitec kit tommorow morning!!! :smiley:
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30mm according to the box
However I don't know if that takes into account GTis are lower than other mk2s as standard?
So maybe 1cm if that, but the springs may settle a bit more yet :afro:
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Quality mate :cool: Looks level to my eyes. Mine sits visibly lower at the back and it annoys me :angry:
Will be ordering up that weitec kit tommorow morning!!! :smiley:
Cheers mate :)
Let us know what they're like when you get them fitted!
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Will do, should be next week some time hopefully. :smiley:
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Today I put these on. :smiley:
(http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff15/zacstrummer/Copyofsuspension003.jpg)
And this is the crap I was replacing :shocked:
(http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff15/zacstrummer/Copyofsuspension007.jpg)
(http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff15/zacstrummer/suspension005.jpg)
(http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff15/zacstrummer/suspension008.jpg)
Cant believe the state of the old stuff!! All this was last fitted 9 years ago according to my receipts.
I always thought the car handled like a bag of spanners, now i know why.
Happy days though now i have the new kit, mounts and bumpety bump stops on. Running the same ride height but by god does it stick to the road. Well Chuffed! :grin:
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Post some post-install photomographs!
How much did the kit set you back, I've been running coilys for a while now, but the bumpiness is doing my head in.
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Ben, the kit was £345 delivered plus another £80 odd for the bump stops and top mounts., those parts in particular were completely sha**ed as you can see.
Will pop some post op pics up soon, it was getting too dark outside to take any. The ride height has not changed (or it may have slightly) but i think they need to "bed" in a bit and may settle down.
Deffinately a firmer ride and has taken away the wallowey'ness going round corners. Much more "pointy" now if you know what i mean? :smiley:
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deffo do ya top mounts, :afro: i know these things to my cost :cry:
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deffo do ya top mounts, :afro: i know these things to my cost :cry:
I cant believe i managed to stay on the road this long without ending up in a tree or worse :sad:
Can't wait for next day off now to go for a blast :wink:
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Just for reference really..
My car runs the GT kit, remember Weitec is the smaller brother to KW so no compramise in quality & good value for your money, after trying many different set-ups this kit worked well for what I was looking for in the handling characteristics, it's also height adjustable on the rear and it's a shorter damper/rod to match the shorter springs.
Mine is the 40/40 kit, with front Bonrath top mounts, Eibach ARB's with 16v drop links, standard rear axle & front w/b bushes.
Front ride hieght set to 40/41mm, camber 1 degree negative & rear ride set to 37mm
Nose down stance has the following values
1.) Car looks right to the eye
2.) Better stability under braking
3.) Under full throttle the nose remains planted and the rear compression is down to a minimum under load
(http://www.golfgti.co.uk/pageimages/gtispringfest07/32.jpg)
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Nice Summary :cool:
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jesus the price of weitec stuff has gone up! i got mine from c&r for £280 with a set of g60 perdator pads! i was going to go for the coilovers but these were a steal :)
good kit though, better than the eibach springs thats for sure!
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I'm really impressed with the set up now after running with it for a couple of days. It's a good firm ride and very smooth. The car feels like it's handling exactly how it should. Would deffinately recommend. :smiley:
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Brilliant result mate :cool:
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Cheers mate, well happy! :cool:
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Can someone give me a quick rundown of what each thing is and does in the suspension?? I'm confused by the terms ARB, dampers and top mounts :lipsrsealed: :lipsrsealed:
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ARB's are anti roll bars.
Top mounts are fitted onto the damper before mounting onto the car
Dampers are aka shock absorbers
Springs are the springs that go round the dampers
And dont forget bushes and bump stops. :smiley:
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ben - if you replace the hottuning ones anytime soon, i might be interested in buying them off you if they havent seen too many miles?
I dont drive enough to complain about breaking my back. It'l have to be when my loan comes in next though?
keep it in mind anyways