Thoughts on H&R 45-50mm cup kit spring/damper combo

[candy_wagon]

Now that I have the black bits done on my car I am hating how high the car looks now so I am looking into some lowering options.

I want a bigger drop than the usual Eibach Pro Kit's20mm so I have turned my attention to the H&R 45-50mm springs similiar to those cyclesoul has installed on his pre FL RS.

But Orange Tuning in Germany offer a H&R 'comfort' kit with those springs matched to shortened dampers and the kit can be shipped here for well less than a grand. To me this represents good value,even compared to the H&R coilovers the same company offers for about $1200.

Has anyone had experience with this kit or something similar?

[Martin]

It's not something I would recommend

With the 20mm~25mm drop my under body suffered minor damage
I was also having to hit drive ways slowly and on an angle
If you drop 45mm~50mm you may well we have a lot of usability issues
A big drop may cause more issues when the wagon is full
(I also don't like what dropping the car does to the roll centre)

From a wheel arch over the wheel point of view,
I think a 30mm~35mm drop would be ideal

Eibach have two Pro kits,
one for a ~20mm drop and one for a ~40mm drop
Call Eibach head office and talk to John Kayik
If you go for a drop larger than ~25mm make sure you do both shocks and springs

[Mysticality]

I got Martin's old Eibach Pro's which ended up being a 25mm drop.
On one particular local road the car is a lot more "boaty" than it used to be, I also have to be careful going over everything now - which is a big deal, I can do in excess of 500km+ a day and park in a lot of driveways (mobile IT support) and they're not always best suited to low, or even vRS stock!! (20mm lower than the "normal" models)

I would never go any lower than the 25mm, but thats just me... In fact if I could raise it 5mm, that would be awesome. >.<

[Martin]

I got Martin's old Eibach Pro's which ended up being a 25mm drop

They are the VWR springs - very sport focused rather than comfort
(They are guaranteed to not wreck the stock shocks however)

[candy_wagon]

OK, thanks for your thoughts guys.

I am only looking at this set up as it does include a matched set of dampers. I would never drop the rig that much on standard shocks, the ride would be pretty ordinary. My other option is coilovers, but as I have no track day aspirations for this car, I find it a bit redundant and doubt I would ever set it more than once or twice in the time I will have it. Also, they are significantly more expensive and harder to 'get right' in the set up.

As it sits currently, I have never grounded the front lip at standard height and i am in and out of suburban streets every single day with work, but it obviously is a concern when lowering a decent amount.

One thing I need to ask though, is that there appear to be plenty of coilover equipped cars out there (including Dark Arrow) and they would be dropped quite a bit more at times than I am looking at. So how do they ride? How low do people have them sitting - some companies quote a drop of up to 80mm!!!!

I am not looking at curling tyres under the guards and turning it into a sad VT Commodore rip off after all, just want some stance and some flatter handling. Before you ask though, I may consider upgrading swaybars and bushes down the track too which would also flatten the handling.

[Martin]

You don't need an expensive and adjustable coil over set - not point really (our stock front shocks are coil overs)
You will get scraping with any drop more than 20mm - need to watch the bounce also

This is a ~25mm drop


I suspect 80mm would pose serious problems
On the way back from Stanwell park one of the VW Golf guys damaged his sump going through national park

The VRS sits pretty flat but stiffer roll bars certainly go further and have no negative effect (except for squeaking bushes)
I have stiffer roll bars - together with stiffer springs the handling is sharp and confident

[candy_wagon]

I have been doing some more research and have found that with the RS chassis already being 15mm lower than the standard models, the drop only appears to be 30-35mm with the H&R kit. Looking at what limited pictures I can find, the drop appears to be a good fit for the car on 18" wheels.

Another alternative I have found is the Bilstein B12 Sportline kit which lists a 50mm drop, but realistically goes to 35mm and this appears to be a very popular combination on Briskoda. It pairs Eibach Pro Kit springs with Bilstein inverted shocks as a matched set. Briskoda members have said that this helps handling greatly and seemingly improves on the ride quality with stiffer damping but softer rebound.

I could theoretically get this kit delivered for around $1,000 from the UK or Germany.

[Martin]

I do now have the Eibach B12 Pro Kit in my Octavia
It was meant to give something like 40mm lower
It's a little lower than stock, but not as low as the VWR
Maybe you have to specifically ask for the lowering option/version
I'm not disapointed at missing out on the lowering - I no longer have any usability issues
(And the roll center has not been messed up)



The ride with these is a wonderful combination of comfort and performance
The damping and stable/firm handling is just wonderful - I'm totally satisfied
(It's a hell of a lot better than lower/harder springs on stock shocks)



Oz price is $1,136 + GST - Oz Eibach URL: B12 Pro Kit - Eibach Springs

Fronts installed:


Rears installed:


Do the rears yourself - it's childs play - takes 15~20 min per side
The front installation needs a number of special tools and can be very tricky - get a VW shop to do it for you

[candy_wagon]

+1 ^^^

Thank you for the time and effort you put into that post Martin, its a great help seeing pics as well.

My understanding is that the low version is known as the B12 'Sportline' kit whereas you may have the Pro kit which sits slightly higher. The sportline springs are red and the 'low version', but the black ones like yours are the pro kit. The quote of up to 40mm is based on the standard Octavia chassis, not the RS.

My investigation just got a little harder!!

[Twin_Dad]

You don't need an expensive and adjustable coil over set - not point really (our stock front shocks are coil overs)

I don't want to upset anybody or contradict those who are closer to the vRS than I am but the front suspension setup in the vRS is, like most modern cars, a Macpherson strut. Whilst these are technically coil-overs the generally accepted term coil-over now refers to adjustable strut-in-spring assemblies. The typical Macpherson strut doesn't have camber or caster adjustment which can be affected when installing lower height springs. The most obvious benefit I can see from Martins replacement units is the tube in tube design which is much more robust than the traditional rod in tube design (and that the stroke will be matched to the compressed spring height).

Don't get me wrong just replacing the springs will work but a well designed suspension setup (like Martins) whilst not adjustable will offer a more robust and longer lasting solution.

And always, ALWAYS, get a wheel alignment after changing any suspension components.

[Martin]

Yes, I agree with all that, the term coil over is confusing,
but as I said and as per OP, an expensive and adjustable coil over solution is not required/desired

I do have superior damping now and I'm really enjoying it

Some of the spring only lowering and stiffening options are overly hard, most of the time they are fun,
but when driving hard on the open road and encountering nasty undulations
this solution can be too hard and the car can react unfavourably
My Eibach B12 system has solved that problem

[candy_wagon]

Yes, I agree with all that, the term coil over is confusing,
but as I said and as per OP, an expensive and adjustable coil over solution is not required/desired

I do have superior damping now and I'm really enjoying it

Some of the spring only lowering and stiffening options are overly hard, most of the time they are fun,
but when driving hard on the open road and encountering nasty undulations
this solution can be too hard and the car can react unfavourably
My Eibach B12 system has solved that problem

I agree. My Focus Xr5 had 30mm lowered King springs and it wasn't until I got to ride in one with Koni shocks to match the same springs as mine that I realised how bone jarring my car was. After that I noticed a lot more boating, pitching and crashing that strangely wasn't there before!!!

Sadly finances at the time didn't allow for an upgrade so I never bothered.