My new Golf mk3 16v

[Camboose]

Are you sure they have the same brakes? I thought the 16v were 280mm and the VR6 were 288mm. Is it worth getting braided hoses and vented discs? Will that make a lot of difference?

[carl]

yes im sure you have 288mm brakes same as vr6,
they come as standard on the later 16vs,
they come as standard also on later 8vs,
if your brakes are working right there is no need to uprate them
unless you drive very fast all the time, if they are good enough for
a vr6 they are good enough for a 16v,save you money for your suspention.

[Camboose]

I'm looking to buy some lowering springs. Any ideas where to get them from? where is the best place? Any highly recommended makes/types? I'm not after amazing ones, just good springs that will improve handling and reduce roll (and make the car look better!!) Cheers

[monkeyalan]

eibach every time. expensive but well worth the extra in the long term.

[carl]

yes has he said above eibach are best but if your lowering it
dont go any lower than 40mm with standard shocks
or the ride will knock your teeth out.
if you can go for ajustable coilovers.
try www .venomotorsport.com they are good price.

[Camboose]

Pro or sportline? Is there any difference? Are they easy to fit yourself? My Dad is a pretty competant home mechanic, or is it worth getting a mechanic to do it. Cheers for the advice!!

[carl]

the pro are best,
also if you going to fit them yourself its easy enough but make sure you look
how they come off ,so that you put the spacers and nuts back in the right order,
and dont forget when you undo the front bolts on shocker you will have to have the camber set as its ajustable with these bolts ,it costs about £60 if you can find somewhere that will do it.

[Len]

Cheapest place I ever found to buy springs and in fact most performance gear is - Larkspeed.

www.larkspeed.com will get ya there. Much cheaper than demon Tweeks.

[Camboose]

Hi again. I'm not 21 until May 4th, I can't find an insurance company who will insure me until I'm 21. I want to under my dad as a named driver as he also wants to drive the golf. Do I have to wait until I'm 21 before I can drive it. Does anyone know of any insurance companies who will insure me? Cheers.

[Greg]

You're gonna pay significantly less to be a named driver on your dad's policy, i'd do that for a couple of years. It means you don't build up no claims though, so you have to calculate whats most cost effective.

Suspension wise, you have to decide what you really want & can afford. You have 3 options:

1. Lowering Springs - If you put a set of springs on your existing dampers you will finish them off fairly quickly. By putting lower stiffer springs on tired old dampers you make them work even harder and they generally give up the ghost pretty quick, especially the fronts.

2. Spring & Damper Kit - subtle lowering and improved ride over the standard setup. Firm enought to make it more fun, but also not so firm that driving to the shops is annoying.

3. Coilover kit - Coilovers are designed for track cars, and the ride is very hard. Some people like them on the road, but i don't personally - they can make the car too bumpy as our roads have too many potholes, dips, cracks etc. for coilovers to work properly on.
BUT if low-ness is the most important thing, over 60mm anyway, then coilovers are your only option.

i have a 97 mk3 16v and i've just put on a koni sport kit (£350 delivered from awesomeGTi) - 40mm drop, and adjustable dampers. I fitted it myself. I took photo's so i might do a suspension DIY write-up.