RS Eibach lowering springs (family wagon)

[kaanage]

According to their website they don't make them for VAG cars?

MCA Suspension

If you're willing to invest in a bit of time and money for the development (tuning really) process, MCA will make a coilover kit to suit your car. One of the Polo 9N3 GTi guys did this and the bonus for the rest of the Polo community is that MCA now have kits to suit Polo 9N3s.

[donweather]

I've got Eibachs on mine. Dampers soon wore out. It stands to reason - shorten the spring height & you need a higher spring rate to compensate. Raise the spring rate & you need better damping.

So you don't rate the Eibachs then if you're suggesting I look elsewhere. Also, you put Eibachs on a non-vRS didn't you? So what drop from your stock height did you get on the Eibachs?

What about if you drive around with a few bags of concrete on board?

LOL - That would work in the rears but actually make the fronts worse. It's the fronts I want to drop. Rears are semi acceptable.

[brad]

So you don't rate the Eibachs then if you're suggesting I look elsewhere. Also, you put Eibachs on a non-vRS didn't you? So what drop from your stock height did you get on the Eibachs?

I think they are a good quality product but just because they are a factory option doesn't mean they are fit & forget.

I got 30mm drop up front & 10mm drop at rear on a 1.8tsi manual gearbox Elegance spec hatch. Keep in mind I fitted vRS diesel wagon springs.

IIRC a vRS is about 15mm lower than an Elegance, so on your vRS you'll get another 15mm drop at the front - maybe 5mm more once they settle.

At the rear, with the correct springs - who knows...

I really like the wagon springs on the rear - the extra stiffness and height over the hatch springs make it a much nicer drive.

[dArK5HaD0w]

on eibachs, my RS dropped 30mm up front and 20mm at the rears.

[donweather]

dS are you still on your stock shocks? If so how many k's ya done on em with ya eibachs on.

[dArK5HaD0w]

dS are you still on your stock shocks? If so how many k's ya done on em with ya eibachs on.

still on stock shocks, and just done 90,000 kms.
they still seem and feel fine.

i had the eibachs done early on, about 6 months after i got her.

[donweather]

Sweet thanks DS.

[donweather]

Got the new Eibachs installed by Jmac yesterday. Hoping for some more drop as she settles in cause at the moment there's not much drop from OEM.

Before After

[donweather]

DS, I just checked your build timeline thread and noticed these dimensions below for your before and after with Eibachs:

DS Specs
before front: 680mm
before rear: 690mm

after front: 650mm
after rear: 670mm

Donweather Specs
before front: 670mm
before rear: 670mm

after front: 663mm
after rear: 665mm

My "after" measurements above are literally the day after the install so they (springs) haven't settled yet.

Odd thing I've noticed from above is that your "before" specs are much much higher than my before specs which is rather odd?? Is yours the pre-FL model?

[brad]

Where are you measuring from? Should only be measured from the centre of the hub to the guard lip. This takes away any variance in tyre diameter due to tread wear, construction variance etc.

[donweather]

I measured from ground surface. Seems like DS did the same.

Can't imagine tyre wear being the differentiator between me and DS?

[brad]

There's about 6mm difference in the measurement between a worn tyre & a new tyre.

Line half a dozen different brands of new tyres up in a given size & there will probably be at least 10mm variation in height. I know when I was selling tyres there was a Japanese brand (can't remember which) and it was consistently under-sized in both diameter & width between 15mm-25mm. It came in handy if clearance was an issue but was very disappointing if you were trying to fill the guards.

[dArK5HaD0w]

as per my build timeline - facelift (MY11)
i'm sure i measured mine from guard lip to wheel hub centre. i took the measurements soon after they were installed.

looking at ur pics, n ur measurements - i c no difference, as u said.
is urs a dsg/manual?
i believe there weight differences between the above two can also b a factor.

also, wagon vs liftback springs might have an impact on the rear 'droppings'.
liftback = 10-79-004-02-22
wagon = 10-79-004-04-22

this was mine on the day the springs got installed.....



this was after a couple of weeks......

[donweather]

There's no way with those measurements in the 670mm range that you measured to the centre of the hub DS. You've measured from the ground surface for sure.

I have a manual. Surely the DSG can't add that much weight (20kgs?) to the front to drop the springs a further 13mm? I have the wagon springs (wagon = 10-79-004-04-22)...just checked the Eibach specs. They are different from Sedan to Wagon:

Sedan
Fronts: 11-79-004-01VA (1050kg)
Rears: 11-85-014-05-HA (1100kg)

Wagon
Fronts: 11-79-004-02VA (1100kg)
Rears: 11-15-007-01-HA (1150kg)

So there you have it....different springs with the unloaded wagon weight combined with manual probably explain the differences in drop heights now (also noting mine still probably have another 5mm to drop as they settle in). Actually, there's differences in the untensioned spring heights (10mm) between sedan and wagon for the rears too. See pics below from Eibach Specs:





I'll remeasure in a few weeks time to see how much they've settled in (if any).

And there is a slight difference in the overall wheel arch spacing....it's just that you can't tell much from those pics of mine above due to differing shadows on the tyres in the pics.

I'm still baboozled by the difference in heights between my stock OEM and your stock OEM though DS....particularly at the front (that's 20mm on OEM). You're running 225/40/R18's yeah? Must be different OEM springs also between wagon and sedan....althoguh seems odd that my wagon was lower OEM if you use the same logic above (spring weights etc) for OEM springs?

I did get new top mounts installed in the fronts at the same time. Perhaps my OEM top mounts were stuffed, hence the new mounts have pushed it back up somewhat? But only done 55,000 k's.....hard to imagine OEM top mounts that rooted?

[dArK5HaD0w]

apologies don, i went back through my timeline - they were measured (with full tank) from the ground to the top of the wheel arch.

RE. oem heights it is baffling indeed - must b a wagon vs liftback thing.
the tyres r the stock standard 225/40/18 (contisportcontact2s).

its interesting from the specs above, the front springs on wagon is thicker and wider than that for the liftback.
while the rear springs r the same thickness and width for both, yet longer for the wagon.

fingers crossed after a few weeks of 'settlement' that u get atleast 20mm drop all round.