Hard to handle

[jon007]

I have a Mk 3 16v. What are the options to make it fun to drive? If I push too hard it slides and otherwise it's downright dull. Previous car was a 205 gti which was on rails. How can I make the golf feel at least halfway to the pug? Max about ?400 - but the less the better!

[Dizzie]

what tyres and suspension are you running?

[Blue MK2]

coilovers

[AdamB]

Blue's right - the suspension is lacking on a mk3, upgrade it to something decent, not neccassarily coilovers, but a decent set of shocks should come in under budget and provide you with a better handling car. I hate to say it, but you will be hard pushed to get a mk3 handling like a Pug GTI for under ?400 as the one thing the pugs did have going for them was their handling.

[Blue MK2]

Blue's right

for 375 quid you can get Supersport goldline coilovers. job done right?

[Dizzie]

I'd say tyres were the first thing you should sort out. running sh!te tyres is going to effect the handling a lot. since moving to branded tyres my grip has improved loads.

Personally I wouldn't bother with coilovers. Yes they give you unlimited height adjustment, but unless you pay big money for a damping adjustable set there's not much gain over a decent shock/spring combo like Koni and eibach. If you can't fit them youself then you'll need to account for labour costs as changing all 4 shocks and having them tracked, etc will take several hours. It took the bloke that changed the springs on the back of mine at least an hour and he was working like a machine on it for a set rate.

[jon007]

Avon ZV1's. Not good but not THAT bad! Tread's decent and they grip ok in the dry but very slippery when wet (not wishing to quote bon jovi!!)