VRS springs in a 1.9TDI

[gldgti]

Hey fellas
A while back I bought GTI Daves old vrs springs for my octavia - I wanted a little lower ride height but not as much as all the aftermarket spring kits so I thought I'd give it ago.

Anyway I finally fitted them yesterday (such an easy job, only took me 2 hours and I had to make a little strut spreader tool)

Good news is the handling has tightened up on the front end a bit

Bad news is its settled to about 12mm taller than before!

Just goes to show how much extra weight all you VRS owners must be lugging around!

Anyway, I'll leave it as is for now but I just thought I'd put the info up here for anyone thats considering something similar.

Cheers
Aydan

[Gti Dave]

Bad news is its settled to about 12mm taller than before!

Wow really? Holy Crap!!! Never would've expected that. If anything should've expected a little lower

[gldgti]

Yeah - i should've guessed since the faithful car manual puts my Ambiente 1.9TDI manual as pretty much the lightest of the kombi varients....

Sooo... basically, when I put a VNT-17 on the car - watch out VRS tdi's

[brad]

front & rear or is it a bit "sit up & beg" style like in the '70s?

[gldgti]

actually i only swapped the fronts, I was going to keep the rear stock because i often carry lots in the back of the wagon. The floor sills now are pretty much dead level with the road, so it doesnt look too bad apart from the extra wheel gap :-P

[MarksVRS]

Photos please!! Do you have any before/after side shots?

I guess you could always consider cutting a coil from the originals if you have a spare set as back up!

[gldgti]

Photos please!! Do you have any before/after side shots?

I guess you could always consider cutting a coil from the originals if you have a spare set as back up!

Coil cutting not an option for mk5+ gen springs - they are variable rate and have all different diameter coils, with the end coils specially shaped for the top and bottom seats (so they have a top and bottom aswell)

I think an aftermarket kit is probably the only option, but i'm thinking coilovers might be the better long term solution, so we'll see

[Buller_Scott]

that's bizarre, given the weight of the tdi engine...

does that mean that you're towing an invisible caravan now, holden style?

[MarksVRS]

Coil cutting not an option for mk5+ gen springs - they are variable rate and have all different diameter coils, with the end coils specially shaped for the top and bottom seats (so they have a top and bottom aswell)

Bugger! I remember the good ol' days when you could modify almost anything and everything.... Oh well, that's progress for you.. and variable rate springs is a much better option!

[gldgti]

that's bizarre, given the weight of the tdi engine...

does that mean that you're towing an invisible caravan now, holden style?

not quite - looks a bit more like a scout without the bodykit

you say given the weight of the TDI engine - but the TSI's and 2L TDI's are more complex and have large heads/manifolds, pipework and stuff, so comparitively still heavy.

Apart from the engine, the only other thing I can think of that by itself might add a lot of weight is climatronic air con, which my baseline octavia doesnt have (just normal manual a/c), and ofcourse the VRS's must all have... oh and the 5 speed manual in mine must be heaps lighter than a 6sp DSG, and still lighter than a 6sp manual... I havnet had the chance to carry around a 6 speed or a DSG, but a diesel 02a whilst heavier than an old 020 is still alright to carry by yourself.

[pologti18t]

Where both sets of springs the same length to start with?

[gldgti]

no, the vrs springs slightly shorter.