need instructions (help) eibach bars

[joesgti]

got my eibach anti roll bars today (£70 bargin of the year ) need instruction fitting them or is it hard to do? should i get a garage to do it? if so how much will it cost roughly.

please help 

[joesgti]

anybody 

[Peskarik]

anybody 

drop RedRobin a PM, he may be of help

[Hurdy]

I think you have to disconnect part of the steering mechanism to fit the front one

[RedRobin]

....Ray West fitted all my suspension. I was there while he did it but it's so long ago I don't remember the details. He used a big X-lift.

[joesgti]

i have a feeling that this will cost me

[kenny.s]

Why bother then? I'm not trying to tell you what to do, everyone to their own, just dont want you to ruin your car.
I personally doubt very much if it will actually make the car handle any better, you may gain a little in the dry when your really pushing but it could also have a detrimental effect in the wet.
VW spent a lot of time developing the suspension and handling of the Mk5 and their hard work was recognised by nearly every single motoring journalist that drove it and subsequently everyone who's bought one. What makes you think an aftermarket part is going to have had anywhere near the same development as the original VW ones?
I've had a lot of cars, most of which i messed about with in one way or another trying to improve it but looking back i honestly dont know why i bothered, i was kidding my self on saying that it made the car better, all i did was make compromises that made the car less user friendly.
Having had the GTi for a month now it's by far and away the best car and best handling car i've ever owned, it's so compliant on rough roads, never seems to get phased by bumps or yumps, you can push on and feel very confident that it's going to go where you want it when you ask it, ok it may lean a bit when really pushed but so what? It still grips like nothing i've ever driven.  And then if you do over do it the ESP helps bring things back into line, has anyone thought about what effect changing suspension and roll bars has on the ESP? It's surely been programed to react in accordance with the stock suspension then you go and change all the spring rates and expect it to still work as it should?

Anyway, wee rant over  as i said everyone to their own, but all i know is my car will be left completely standard.

[RedRobin]

Why bother then? I'm not trying to tell you what to do, everyone to their own, just dont want you to ruin your car.
I personally doubt very much if it will actually make the car handle any better, you may gain a little in the dry when your really pushing but it could also have a detrimental effect in the wet.
VW spent a lot of time developing the suspension and handling of the Mk5 and their hard work was recognised by nearly every single motoring journalist that drove it and subsequently everyone who's bought one. What makes you think an aftermarket part is going to have had anywhere near the same development as the original VW ones?
I've had a lot of cars, most of which i messed about with in one way or another trying to improve it but looking back i honestly dont know why i bothered, i was kidding my self on saying that it made the car better, all i did was make compromises that made the car less user friendly.
Having had the GTi for a month now it's by far and away the best car and best handling car i've ever owned, it's so compliant on rough roads, never seems to get phased by bumps or yumps, you can push on and feel very confident that it's going to go where you want it when you ask it, ok it may lean a bit when really pushed but so what? It still grips like nothing i've ever driven. 

And then if you do over do it the ESP helps bring things back into line, has anyone thought about what effect changing suspension and roll bars has on the ESP? It's surely been programed to react in accordance with the stock suspension then you go and change all the spring rates and expect it to still work as it should?

Anyway, wee rant over  as i said everyone to their own, but all i know is my car will be left completely standard.

....You're entirely wrong! The ESP is what's called "Smart":- It reacts to the actual dynamics (motion dynamics in the case of suspension) instantly as they occur and whatever the suspension is.

Ray West who advised and did my suspension (I supplied him the parts) has many years experience of both building and racing cars internationally and had a Mk5 GTI at the time (featured in a past issue of VW Driver magazine). If your reasoning was true, no-one would ever bother to modify a car's suspension.

Yes, the standard Mk5 GTI/Ed30 has an excellent chassis and very good suspension but, like all car manufacturers, VW have made compromises to accommodate different international markets and laws. Modifying by experts realises the full potential of a car. To be fair, not everyone buying a GTI wants mods (you don't, for example). Independent professional engineers say that VW unofficially build in about +40% 'headroom' tolerances.

I've driven suspension modded and standard GTI's back to back on the same roads with the sole purpose of assessing suspension differences and assure you that a good suspension setup can make a big difference to handling and even safety. I totally accept that people who slam it down and spacer it just because it looks cool, will do more harm than good to their handling.

I hope this helps.

[kenny.s]

Firstly, sorry for taking you thread a wee bit off topic Joe 

Robin, fair enough about the ESP being "smart" i did wonder whether it may be an active system.
I'm not saying a cars suspension set up cant be improved but on a road car it nearly always results in an undesirable compromise, but most people dont accept it since they've just spend a heap of cash on coilovers etc they wont want to admit it's had a negative effect on some aspect of the cars handling.
Building a "race" car and a fast road car are two entirely different subjects. Making a car go fast on a circuit is one thing but making it able to cope with just about every different road condition possible takes a bit more work, therefor i find it hard to believe you can make improvements across the board without having a negative effect somewhere.
I accept that VW made compromises when designing the Mk5 suspension, every manufacturer does, it's just a question of getting the right balance between comfort, grip and safety which i personally feel they got spot on.
There may well be circa 40% head room built into some of the components, i've heard this one mentioned about the engine, but you cant apply the same statement to the suspension.
I used to be one for re-mapping cars, fitting different suspension and not cheap junk, i've used Eibach, Bilstein, Leda and the usual ones, Koni and Spax. Having spent years doing this i've finally woken up and realised i was wasting my time, it didnt result in a better car just a different one that you could say had x,y & z fitted to it.

I bought this car because it was highly regarded as being one of the best fun hot hatches in a long long time, and that it is! Who am i to think i know better than VW? This could go on forever, there's always going to be people who want to change things and thats what keeps the aftermarket industry going, but for me personally i've had enough of it.

Kenny

[RedRobin]

....Fair enough, kenny.

I think we may be talking slightly at cross purposes in some areas:

I only mentioned Ray West's racing pedigree to illustrate his knowledge about suspension and agree with you about the differences between fast road and track cars. That's partly why he advised the KoniFSD and not coilovers. I'd have probably gone for fully adjustable Bilstein for a track car.

I wasn't meaning to apply the +40% specifically to the suspension but just responding to what I understood you to be saying as 'anti' all mods.

As you say, it's a matter of getting the right balance in the whole package. Yes, the standard GTI doesn't need modding but doing so sensibly does greatly enhance it in my opinion. No-one is saying that VW's engineering etc is crap - Quite the contrary, the Mk5 is brilliant.

But, each to their own and not every GTI owner wants to mod.
 


Robin