GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk5 => Topic started by: The Wheel Man on 09 April 2008, 17:42
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I am thinking of putting some lowering springs on the GTI, probably the 25mm kit my company sells. Thing is, i dont want to cock up the ride / handling balance the car has as standard.
I have heard plenty of people who what the Eibach coil over units but very little on just springs. Has anyone just fitted lowering springs?
Also, when i do this i will probably fit some 5mm shims to the fromt and rear wheels to push them out just that little bit more, also anyone elso done this and do ave you had any problems with it wearing the bushed any quicker????
Thanks
Ben
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Hiya, mines is lowered just on springs. I havn't ever had a car that has been lowered on coilovers so i couldn't honestly tell you the difference. But i have had alot of problems since lowering it, it is sitting on 19's as well though.
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i lowered and put 19" alloys on my old car, and it did look very nice, but it did compromise the car a little imo, i would seriously try one before you do it
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Springs are okay, but limiting in respect of what you get you are stuck with.
The reason you hear more about coilovers is that they are the preferred choice over just an uprated set of springs. Getting the ride height is important too as well as a balance of comfort and handling. Again that is why most go with coilovers. :smiley:
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Springs are ok but I for the cost I would upgrade the shocks also - I went for Koni FSD and H&R springs. It sits perfect and handles better.
I did a lot of research before getting mine done and went for something I knew would be ok as the last thing you want is to be swapping round suspension components to get it right - let someone else do the hard work :wink: (Gaz in my case)
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The spring cost doent matter too much (they will be free) :smug: its just the other stuff that goes with a lowered car.
Hiya, mines is lowered just on springs. I havn't ever had a car that has been lowered on coilovers so i couldn't honestly tell you the difference. But i have had alot of problems since lowering it, it is sitting on 19's as well though.
What kind of problems are you getting?
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i asked vw speed and they told me to go for the eibach sportline springs as they lower it to about 25mm up front and about 20mm at back. they also said that the quality of the ride would remain good as long as it was not lowered more than that amount on springs.
has anyone got a picture of a golf gti with eibach sportline springs?
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Here you go had both on last 2 Mk5s -
H&R -
(http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j146/robintegra/outside2.jpg)
(http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j146/robintegra/3-3.jpg)
Sportlines -
(http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j146/robintegra/DSC00143.jpg)
Fitting Sportlines to my new Gti tomorrow :D
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....I've got KoniFSD+Eibach ProKit+ARB's - Not as low as some here but she rides very flat and is well planted and not harsh. :cool: (no spacers and they are not recommended with my AP Racing Big Brake kit).
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Here you go had both on last 2 Mk5s -
H&R -
Sportlines -
Fitting Sportlines to my new Gti tomorrow :D
do you find the sportlines better or the H&R better? and which one lowered the car more?
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i ran springs for a while then upgraded to coilovers, the main reason is because i didnt like the ride height, once coilovers were on they make the car handle like a go kart!!
:smiley:
picture with springs
(http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd153/joesgti/Picture008.jpg)
picture with coilovers
(http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd153/joesgti/Picture013.jpg)
(http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd153/joesgti/Picture007-2.jpg)
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Fitting Sportlines to my new Gti tomorrow :D
Another! what spec now?
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I have to say the coilover kitted cars look better, but then in suppose the lower the better (for looks). Just had a look and i can get a coilovere kit that loweres 20-50mm fron and rear..... Just sent an email to the manufacturer to see what kind of a deal they can do!! :evil: Fingers crossed!!!!
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the lower you go the harder the ride, right?
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try a company called weiteck. i was going to get them but got offerd eibachs at the same price, think theyr about 440. aslo whilst your getting it done you mayaswell splash out and get uprated eibach anti rolls :tongue: :cool:
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the lower you go the harder the ride, right?
not always, depends on your kit :smiley:
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try a company called weiteck. i was going to get them but got offerd eibachs at the same price, think theyr about 440. aslo whilst your getting it done you mayaswell splash out and get uprated eibach anti rolls :tongue: :cool:
Well i wasnt planning on paying for the coilovers :cool: I probably coulddnt afford the ARB's, any mods will be very minimal as i have pushed myself to get this car and most of my money goes on my new house!!
If i cant get the Coilovers FOC then i will definatly get the springs FOC so either way my ass is headed for the floor!!! :grin:
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If Janspeed still have this deal on the coilovers then I can recommend them. Had mine on for about a month and did an 800 mile round trip with them. They performed excellently and seem to be dialed into the car really well. Not to stiff either. I have their downpipe and CAT to which seems to be an improvement even on the Milltek item.
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=76637.0
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Don't coilovers have to be maintained? I was going to get some KW variant 1 or eibachs, but ended up getting eibach shocks n springs because i was told you have to adjust the height at least twice a year so the threads on the strut don't get weathered too much? Obviously less so on galvanized coilovers, but surely still an issue if like me u don't do track days and therefore don't lower and raise your ride height often.
Kev
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Well my eibach ones are stainless bodied so theres less chance of corrosion and the adjustable collars are a plastic type of material so a sieze up should be less likely. i will however clean them at least every 6 months anyhow.
(http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j310/b10cker/P1010847.jpg)
As far as the lower/harder goes, the platform just lowers the spring so unless your so low that your using the bump stops then it will be no harder the lower you go.
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i fitted just Eibach sportlines last month
have been pleasantly surprised how good the ride has remained
the standard shocks are made by sachs so i thought they were worth taking a chance on with low milage car
i had coilovers on my MK4 and really you can only adjust them until you are happy with the ride height and then you'll be luckiy to get them to adjust again after any legnth of time
i honestly wouldn't go back to coilovers again after fitting the eibach springs, for me a perfect compromise between looks and ride quality
here's 2 after pics and 1 before
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e316/scad68/P1020268.jpg)
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e316/scad68/P1020263.jpg)
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e316/scad68/P1020250.jpg)
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Hi all.... this is to be my next mod, I've been offered some Eibachs Coilovers from a (manual) GTi, used for 9000 miles for not much more than the price of springs only. I've been in touch with Eibach to see if they will fit on my DSG GTI as the two show as different part numbers. If not it will be either H&R's or the Eibach springs for me. Waiting on some pictures of a GTI just lowered on Eibach Pro-Kit springs to see what the height is like, but I must say I do like the H&R's on the white GTI. Might get the H&R's ARB's to go with it at the same time.....
I'm not rushing into yet, trying to get as much infor as possible, don't want to cock things up....
martininwillerby
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(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/neil.gibbs3/images/gti/GTI_5.jpg)
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/neil.gibbs3/images/gti/GTI_2.JPG)
19's but you get the idea as there about the same height as the Monza's, H&R and FSD's
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19's but you get the idea as there about the same height as the Monza's, H&R and FSD's
Just as I have
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Anyone got single way adjustable dampers? Would be nice to have a bit of adjustability in the bump/rebound settings.
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Nope..but thats why I opted for the FSD's - they do it for you
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Hi all... So what order and what drop (mm) would you put these three sets of springs. This is what I'm lead to believe from what I've read.
Eibach Pro-Kit 10-15mm Drop F/R, Eibach Sportlines 20-25mm F/R, H&R's 30mm Drop F/R
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Hi all... So what order and what drop (mm) would you put these three sets of springs. This is what I'm lead to believe from what I've read.
Eibach Pro-Kit 10-15mm Drop F/R, Eibach Sportlines 20-25mm F/R, H&R's 30mm Drop F/R
That sounds about right to me mate.
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....Yep, I can confirm Eibach Pro-Kit 10-15mm. :smiley:
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Brian G that Tornado Red looks great, and that drop make the car look a lot better.
A few questions for you if possible,
How does the ride compare to standard, is it better when driving normally, or is it a boneshaker?
Are your wheels 18" or 19"?
If you fitted them yourself, was it striaghtforward, and did you have to use any special tools?
I'd also have to make sure my warranty was intact, if so i think that would be my next purchase!
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it's not harsh in any way
i'd say about 20% less comfortable if that makes sense but worth it for the looks and improvement in handling
my wheels are 18s
eibach state a 50mm reduction for the sportlines but the springs are for TDis and GTis
the GTi is about 15mm lower than the TDi so brings the GTi down about 35mm
i changed them with my bro in law who is a mechanic in his workshop on a 2 post lift
the back is 10 minutes a side, very easy
the front can be done a couple of ways, if 1 person doing it you would need to take off the driveshafts and hubs to then be able to hammer off the struts from the clamps
we did it by levering down the wishbone while the other person hammered off the struts so not needing to take off the drive shafts
he has hydraulic spring compresors, much easier and quicker
took about 2.5 to 3 hours all in
but i wouldn't recommend trying it yourself unless you have the right tools and someone to bail you out if you get in trouble
hope this helps
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Thanks for the advise. :smiley:
It does look a lot better with those springs on. I had a set of Eibach springs with Koni shocks on my first VW, a red Mk1. I loved that car, and it handled really well on 15 inch wheels!
I might give the rears a go myself and get a garage to install the fronts.
Did you get an alignment after it had all settled in?
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Always best to get a full alignment after lowering, mine felt fine and went it a striaght still but did need altering slightly - rear is adjustable on the Mk5 too.
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Hi all... So what order and what drop (mm) would you put these three sets of springs. This is what I'm lead to believe from what I've read.
Eibach Pro-Kit 10-15mm Drop F/R, Eibach Sportlines 20-25mm F/R, H&R's 30mm Drop F/R
yes sounds right but i have heard that the H&R dont lower as much as what they state.
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Hi all... So what order and what drop (mm) would you put these three sets of springs. This is what I'm lead to believe from what I've read.
Eibach Pro-Kit 10-15mm Drop F/R, Eibach Sportlines 20-25mm F/R, H&R's 30mm Drop F/R
yes sounds right but i have heard that the H&R dont lower as much as what they state.
That's what I thought... The above are measurements are taken from their respective web sites. what I was after was 'Real life Drop'.
Martininwillerby
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I'm going for a full set of Sachs Coilovers tomorrow :D
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Check the pictures of NEG's car, thats on H&R springs, and the drop is spot on, it looks mint in the flesh.