Coilovers????

[alexoc]

Thinking of getting some coilovers, has anybody got any experience of running coilovers on the mkvi GTI?

At the moment i'm leaning towards H&R, I have KW v3 on my M3 and they are good but take quite a bit of fine tuning to get right so looking for something of similar quality but a bit more straight forward to set up etc.


Any opinoins appreciated, thanks guys

[alexoc]

BUMP!!

Nobody put coilovers on their MKVI Gti!?

[Ess_Three]

BUMP!!

Nobody put coilovers on their MKVI Gti!?

Now would I...can't see the need.

[KennyGTI]

I would never fit a set of coilovers again, been there done that. So uncomfortable and back breaking, plus the GF would not be happy!  They do look good on a car if not over done (like the VW lowering trend  )

What about a set of springs? I lowered mine 25mm on springs and over the moon with the set up 

[Ess_Three]

I would never fit a set of coilovers again, been there done that. So uncomfortable and back breaking, plus the GF would not be happy!  They do look good on a car if not over done (like the VW lowering trend  )

What about a set of springs? I lowered mine 25mm on springs and over the moon with the set up 

Same here Kenny.
I have an old Mk3 on coilovers and it's not pleasant everyday.
Even with decent coilovers like KW V3s, they are hard/harsh, noisy and it's easier to bugger the handling up than improve it for many people.

A decent set of springs works well...especially with ACC.

Whe whole VW 'scene' of stupidly low cars with silly wide wheels out past the arches and -4 degrees of negative camber to tuck the tread under the (stretched) arched just fills me with derision.

Unless it's a bespoke track day car, I can't see the advantage of going to coilovers on a car as well sorted as a Mk6....and if it's just to dump it in the weeds, I can't see the point in completely buggering up the handling of an already sweet handling car.

Each to their own though...

[alexoc]

No intention of slamming the car onto the ground or anything like that (not into that whole 'scene' thing at all), just find that sometimes the handling gets a little wallowy, particularly the back of the car, it can pitch around quite a bit.

I think a very small drop can be nice too, i'm talking 25-30mm.

Unfortunately I don't have ACC

[Ess_Three]

No intention of slamming the car onto the ground or anything like that (not into that whole 'scene' thing at all), just find that sometimes the handling gets a little wallowy, particularly the back of the car, it can pitch around quite a bit.

I think a very small drop can be nice too, i'm talking 25-30mm.

Unfortunately I don't have ACC

I'd suggest a decent set of lowered springs (VWR, Eibach, H&R etc) with a drop of 20-25mm, and a set of uprated dampers if you feel the need, maybe Bilsteins or Konis.

[Exonian]

Not so long ago coilovers (which is a bit of a misnomer anyway) were introduced for the high end of suspension tuning (ie. expensive) primarily for track day use. Hence the ability to adjust ride height and daming characteristics.
Think about it though, how many people have easy access to garage ramps? You can't just walk out in the morning and decide you're going to crank up or wind down the ride height before the commute to work. So they're a little pointless to the average person who've been sucked in by the internet know it alls and glossy car mags.
If you want to lower and stiffen the car slightly for everyday road use only do it the old fashioned way which is cheaper and doesn't involve a back breaking ride quality or your adjustment mechanisms filling up with road crap and thus rendered useless anyway.
All you need are some good quality lowering springs and some matching uprated gas dampers. Some will ride better than others so the best advice I can give is look at the mk5 forums to see which come the most highly recommended being as the suspension systems are so similar (but not identical).

I've had loads of different suspension systems on Golfs and SEATs over the years but never found one I was 100% happy with. In fact I think the mk5 and mk6 Golf GTIs have one of the best ride/handling balances out there straight out of the box and the suspension doesn't to my eyes look too high.
If it were my money I'd just get some uprated dampers and leave the standard springs on there. However if I was running 19'' wheels maybe the suspension would need a bit of a visual drop so I'd go for some Bilstein dampers coupled with Eibach 25mm springs.
But that's just my preference as I'm old and fussy about such things.

[Ess_Three]

If it were my money I'd just get some uprated dampers and leave the standard springs on there. However if I was running 19'' wheels maybe the suspension would need a bit of a visual drop so I'd go for some Bilstein dampers coupled with Eibach 25mm springs.
But that's just my preference as I'm old and fussy about such things.

Agree 100%.
Bilstein dampers would be my choice too, based on past experience...
With VWR springs, based on current experience...although I couldn't see a problem with either Eibach or H&R.

 

[endy]

before reading this i was leaning towards the bilstein bss10 coilovers or eibach pro but now you guys have made some really good pointers about the springs

in my previous car mk5 1.4 122 i had just the eibach pro with stock dampers and that was a huge difference obviously it won't a big difference with the gti as its got quite a sporty suspension anyway

also are the VWR much better than the eibach?

decisions decisions decisions ...