Fitting a New Suspension

[golfvr6]

Good info there! all strut top mounts are the same type on mk3s apart from the very early ones ie 93 or before. You're right in the only change is the spring top plate. When the job is done check the front wheel alignment and front wheel camber, anything else is NON-adjustable.

[nfarina]

You're right, Front Camber & Caster are the only adjustments that HAVE to be made on fitting lowered suspension, but it is worth getting the rear alignment checked out at the same time, as any pre-existing problems here can cause tyre/arch rubbing with lowered suspension and wide wheels.

Nick.

[golfvr6]

I think you mean front camber and wheel alignment, castor is also non-adjustable. There is no point doing rear wheel alignment as its a front wheel drive car, there is no toe-in ,toe-out on the rear.

[modulater]

Castor is set at the factory and the only way your gonna throw it out is by fitting top mkounts that have the mounting to far front or back or by damaging the suspension.

The rear is also set and never needs adjustment, in the rare cases where it needs to be done you need to remove the stub axle and fit a shim plate behind that you cut segments out of to achieve the desired setting.

[vekbak]

Must admit the Eibach springs are good quality, but they do seem to give a firm ride with adjustable shocks set to soft.

You find yourself bobing up and down over bumps. But this is what you get with any sort of sport suspension on a road car with the poor road surfaces these days. You can also expect to eat front tires even more quickly given the increased speed you end up doing round the corners.

I have been told in the past that there are not that many spring manufactures and that several makes are made at the same plants. How true this is I dont know.

[stomper]

Hi all,

I'm pretty new to the forum but i'm looking into suspension kits for my 97 mk3 diamond black 16v.

I've recently bought a set of 16" split rims off an anniversary and i'm unsure of which kit to go for.

Ones i'm looking at/probably going to get are Koni RSK or SSK or eibach/koni combination.

Don't want to drop too much (40mm tops), just lose a bit of the gap.

Has anyone got any experience of RSK kit, TSR are doing a good deal on them at the moment.

Any comments would be muchos appreciated...

[Greg]

Hi Stomper, i've just fitted an SSk kit and i'm happy with it. Its not super low, but makes the car look better - i have to share with the missis, so it was a good compromise.
Handling is like night and day, but i found out that 3 of the 4 dampers on my car were shot.

I wrote up a guide on how to fit it too. Click on the link in my sig.

[stomper]

Greg,

Thanks for the reply, don't suppose you've got any pic of the car after you'd fitted it?

Also whats the best place to get this kit from, i.e. price?

Have you got the dampers set at the soft or firm end or in the middle?

Cheers

Stomper

[Greg]

I do have some pics at home, i'll post em later/tomorrow. I took before and after shots, so you can see the difference. The rear is perfect, the front could perhaps go down another 10mm. Carl on here has the same kit too with some 10mm caps on the front, you might wanna enquire about thems...

The best price i could get after looking around was awesome who did it for £290+vat so about £350 delivered.  i have no affiliation etc. and they shipped it same day.

I set the rears to about 30% firm as mk3's start loosing grip and bouncing when too hard at the back (when you're going quick, that is).  Looking back though, i'd set them to 50% if i were you.

I started with the fronts at 50% firm, but the missis complained (we share the car), so its back to 0% firm for now, which gives a smooth ride for commuting. 50% was flatter on corners and gave more feel, but did occasionally get a little bouncy on bad surfaces. I havent managed to get to my tracking bloke yet as he's away at a hillclimb. So all this should improve soon =)

[stomper]

Excellent, thanks very much for the info, look forward to seeing the before/after photos.

I've seen an RSK kit on ebay, haven't read any reviews of these kits, good or bad, chappy at TSR recommended them though.

Read your web page on your car, looks virtually identical to mine! I'm getting some anniversary splitties at the weekend, looking forward to getting those and the suspension kit on.

Did you find cleaning out the throttle body helped at all in terms of the way it ran/revved?