Bilstein B6's - Which Spring?

[Leon27]

Been quoted £380 for the B8's and am accepting the fact that the ride isn't going to be as easy as standard but with my leaking shock it will be better! The car had very little use according to the MOT's so theyre all probably weak.. its a 96 with 61 on the clock now.

Went and got the Eibachs:



Superfast! Bilsteins will take about 3 days from Euros which is still quick!

Its the 30mm drop and progressive so in theory it should do what I want. Debating whether or not I should go for the B6's or B8's, the B6's being longer should in theory be more comfortable. Thanks for the info Fozzy.

Thai wronghorse... Let you know what they are like soon!

[fozzymandeus]

No problem, it's just the sum of what I've gleaned and so therefore subject to a bit of woolyness.

Good choice on the kit though. Bet you'll want to get stuck in with bushings next. Frankly with that fitted the "poor handling" that the Mk3 golf is _allegedly_ afflicted with will see you out-cornering most standard metal. 

[thai-wronghorse]

Cheers Leon, I look forward to hearing some feedback on these. 

[Chillbill]

I think B6's would do the job just fine. Btw how much were the Eibachs?

I have a similar problem: currently riding on ROKKOR coils, being ca 50mm down at the front and 40 at the back. They are stiff, but bouncy as hell. I'm looking towards buying 35/35 to 60/40 springs mated with B6 dampers or a full Weitec Ultra kit (60/40, 40/40).

Don't want the spongly handling and tracor-like ride-height of the original but cannot convince myself to buy a Weitec coilover setup as I'm selling the MK3 in about a year and a half...

[fozzymandeus]

Bounce is down to the dampers.

Springs will always bounce if the dampers they are working with arent able to absorb the energy.
Also, if your suspension arms arent properly located, for example because there is play in a balljoint, this will make the car "rock and roll" in an uncontrolled, wobbly fashion.

Oooh and things like knackered top mounts too. All contributes to bouncy crashy horridness.

And, chillbill, careful with the amount of lowering you're planning; B6s arent designed for that amount of drop.
Would suggest coilovers?

[Chillbill]

Yeah, I know good coilovers would be The Best option but, as said beforehand, I'm planning to sell the MK3 next year (to get an MKV GTI or such) so I couldn't justify throwing very large amounts of money at it at this point... Even more so as it's not a daily, more of a weekend toy.

Weitec coilovers are 600 EUR, a Weitec 60/40 kit is 415 EUR. It would make sense to get good second-hand coils but they're rather rather difficult to come by around here (Estonia).

And of course I could just suck it up (bumpiness during spirited driving) and get through another year as it is

[Leon27]

I think B6's would do the job just fine. Btw how much were the Eibachs?

£104 - free delivery, not complaining

[thai-wronghorse]

That's a good price, I think the best i saw a few days ago was £109.

[thai-wronghorse]

Well im hoping you've got good reports on these as ive had to bite the bullet and order some myself as i want to get the suspension back up to scratch this bank holiday weekend. I ordered some of the Eibach Sportlines from C&R Enterprises this morning and should hopefully receive them tommorow. Fingers crossd...

[Leon27]

Angry. Don't like bank holidays especially when delivery times are quoted as 4-5 "working days" Should have arrived today but it didn't and as with you I wanted to fit them over the weekend. I got the Pro-Kit, did you definately get the Sportlines? They are red I think and don't know if they are progressive or not?