Suspension setup

[BJD]

Personally I find that you only notice strut braces when you fit them, after that you get used to it pretty quickly but they certainly do help the way the car will respond to inputs (less slack). Considering they are there, I would fit them  .

As for the coilovers and the ARB's, I would definately fit the roll bars and see how they improve the handling and fit the coilovers seperately to see if they actually improve the handling or wreck it completely (I have had bad experiences with "budget" coilovers before), making the decision to leave them on or not only after that.

Thank you for your advice 

When you say "budget" surely that cant be £500 worth?

Im going to see what the ride is like with it all fitted and decide what its like.The cars going to be a project through the winter in time for spring so i have plenty time to experiment. I dont want the ride to be harsh cause the roads in Scotland are shocking, im considering taking my 18s and lowering springs of my G4.

[rob.043]

I allways thought that upper braces did nowt aprt from make it look better and if you wanted to stiffen it you would need a lower one fitted. Is this not true?

Other way round on a mk2. The lower sub frame is pretty solid, so there is no flex to remove. The top mounts are however in a better position to move a bit more independently.  So its a top only for best results....

Sorry, £500 sounds like a reasonably mid range set- so hopefully there are ok, maybe even some adjustment available?

I recently changes from a 60mm drop spring to a set of 40mm eibach springs- made an improvement in comfort and handling I think. I was too low previously.

[BJD]

I allways thought that upper braces did nowt aprt from make it look better and if you wanted to stiffen it you would need a lower one fitted. Is this not true?

Other way round on a mk2. The lower sub frame is pretty solid, so there is no flex to remove. The top mounts are however in a better position to move a bit more independently.  So its a top only for best results....

Sorry, £500 sounds like a reasonably mid range set- so hopefully there are ok, maybe even some adjustment available?

I recently changes from a 60mm drop spring to a set of 40mm eibach springs- made an improvement in comfort and handling I think. I was too low previously.

What shockies you running with your eibach springs?

Done a bit of research on the coilovers and its just height adjustment, quote "Damping is preset by V-Maxx to give the best balance between sporty handling and ride comfort for fast-road driving"

[DOA]

When you say "budget" surely that cant be £500 worth?

Yes, even £500 is to my mind a "budget" set of coilovers, properly developed kits with only rebound damping adjustment start around 1k........ Add in that V-maxx jobbies seem to be around £400 on ebay and are not made by anyone of any repute and you have a budget set. Not saying they are crap as I have never run them and have been really surprised at some reheeeally cheap ones on a mates passat recently but I suspect they will not help the handling on anything other than smooth A roads on an older car .

If you really want to preserve the ride quality on crap roads, try Bilstein B8 dampers with eibach springs. The dampers are non adjustable but are set up just right. You do pay for that though.....

[X4MGS]

I cant comment on your Coilies, I rulled them out very quickly due to the poor roads we have in Sheffield... So I went for OEM G60 shocks and Eibach springs (-30mm) and I have also fitted the Eibach ARB's to front & rear and they do make it a nice handling car now..

I also thought about the strut braces but like you I didn't want to start drilling the car.. and the rear one would just get in the way when you put the seats down.. I understand what Horney says and with his being a track car it makes sense but I feel that the improved ARB's & new shocks and springs have on their own transformed the cars ride and handling.. If you fit what you have less the struts and see how YOU like it - Would be my advise and if it's not enough add the struts latter...

HTH

[Mr Blue]

look like £300 coilies.

Please DONT drill into the strut tops

After starting a topic on suspension top mounts - mk3 16v/VR6 top mounts feel way better than the mk2 ones. Look like they can take more of a coilover beating also.

Transformed my mk2 completely

[BJD]

When you say "budget" surely that cant be £500 worth?

Yes, even £500 is to my mind a "budget" set of coilovers, properly developed kits with only rebound damping adjustment start around 1k........ Add in that V-maxx jobbies seem to be around £400 on ebay and are not made by anyone of any repute and you have a budget set. Not saying they are crap as I have never run them and have been really surprised at some reheeeally cheap ones on a mates passat recently but I suspect they will not help the handling on anything other than smooth A roads on an older car .

If you really want to preserve the ride quality on crap roads, try Bilstein B8 dampers with eibach springs. The dampers are non adjustable but are set up just right. You do pay for that though.....

Thank you for you advice. I've never had a set of coilovers before so this is all new. I will a look at Bilstein dampers. Cheers 

I cant comment on your Coilies, I rulled them out very quickly due to the poor roads we have in Sheffield... So I went for OEM G60 shocks and Eibach springs (-30mm) and I have also fitted the Eibach ARB's to front & rear and they do make it a nice handling car now..

I also thought about the strut braces but like you I didn't want to start drilling the car.. and the rear one would just get in the way when you put the seats down.. I understand what Horney says and with his being a track car it makes sense but I feel that the improved ARB's & new shocks and springs have on their own transformed the cars ride and handling.. If you fit what you have less the struts and see how YOU like it - Would be my advise and if it's not enough add the struts latter...

HTH

On previous cars i have ruled out coilies as well due to the shocking roads. Where did you purchase your G60 shocks?

On another note, sweet ride dude  love it. Also, thanks for your advice 

look like £300 coilies.

Please DONT drill into the strut tops

After starting a topic on suspension top mounts - mk3 16v/VR6 top mounts feel way better than the mk2 ones. Look like they can take more of a coilover beating also.

Transformed my mk2 completely

Yes i dont think im going to bother with the struts, im not going to be flying round corners all day everyday and i dont want ruin the classic features of the G2 by adding ugly looking bits of metal, IMO.

I'll have to do a search and find that topic, i've been told the G2's can munch top mounts for fun? So i'd be better to upgrade the, while im upgrading the shocks. Cheers

[X4MGS]

G60 shocks I got from the Dealers...

[BJD]

G60 shocks I got from the Dealers...

Ok, cheers. Do you mind me asking how much they set you back?

[X4MGS]

I got them from TPS so got a decent discount and I "think" they weren't much more than the faulty Boge Turbo ones I replaced...

Just found the invoice and £125.00 plus vat for the pair with 23.5% discount...

I also fitted new top mount, bump stops, bolts, ball joints etc....