Suspension & Wheel combo thread

[fried]

Hi all,

I thought I'd start a thread for a topic that is covered a millions times through and through but never quite gives all the answers.

I guess in all automotive forums, this question is always asked to death.

We can start with a simple template, and ad either your experiences, or info found on other forums.

CAR: (year, model)
SUSPENSION: (coilovers, cup-kits, springs - include brand, model)
WHEELS & TYRES: (brand, size, offset, tyre dimensions)
HEIGHT: (provide both the Company "stated drop" and ACTUAL drop)
EXPERIENCE: (road comfort, handling etc. Only compare products that you have had personal experiences - in most cases "your current setup vs stock". Don't bother telling everyone "brand X is better than brand Y" if you have never really had any experience with brand Y)
PICTURE: (if you can provide before and after pics - best to be "hip-height" profile of the whole car)

I think this could be a great resource for all future queries. I do have a link to a vwvortex thread at home, and i'll post that up, with some examples, but most of it is chit chat rather than useful information.

Cheers guys.

ps: if anyone has any experience with H&R Sport Springs (40/40) or H&R Cup-Kits (60/40) on thier 1996 MK3 2.0L GL - you can start with yours

[Brisben]

I have a 93 MK1 Cab.

Stock everything suspension wise. Just fitted a set of Hottuning Coilovers.

I have had several sets of suspension upgrades and without comparing brands I have found.

Coilovers perform better than lowering springs and uprated shocks. Although adjustables are better than fixed shocks.

I find the Hottuning coilovers to be of good quality for the price and having driven the car for around a month, I have noticed it handles much better, feels firmer, a little harder, but I am runnning stock 60 profile tyres, so that absorbs a lot of the bumps.

I have found that it is a little choppy/bouncy on poor roads, but as you would expect on uprated suspension.

The Cab's are known for having a twisty chassis anyway but it does feel tigher in general.

If your after a nice upgrade for a small money I suggest hottuning are good value, however if a track car I would go something better along with strut braces etc.

You can see before and after pictures in my gallery if you click on my Avatar.

[Mrk_Mickey]

CAR: 1994 Mk3 VR6
SUSPENSION: Stock for the moment, but soon to be either HotTuning or something similarly priced.
WHEELS & TYRES: Stock for another week Then will be 16" x 7" Audi wheels, and I'll wrap them in Kumho's or Falkens (205/45 16 87W)
HEIGHT: Who knows, mine's high as a kite because of stock suspension.
EXPERIENCE: my experience with stock height/stock wheels....well, i get front wheel slide when turning around roundabouts anything faster than snail's pace, and my car bounces all over the place. It feels horrible trying to fang it around a corner, at least compared to people's mk3's I've sat in when they've shown off their suspension
PICTURE: not quite side on, but good enough I suppose.

[rayray086]

CAR: Mk3 Golf GL

Current setup

SUSPENSION: Koni Specials (Red) struts, GroundControl coilover sleeves + GroundControl-Eibach custom springs (300lb front, 250lb rear)
WHEELS & TYRES: Mk4 widened steelies, 15x8 ET25 front ET15 rear, Falken Ziex ZE329 195/50R15
HEIGHT: I'd hazard a guess and say ~80mm lower than stock
EXPERIENCE: Tyres are quite new so they grip well. Pronounced lip protector which helps make the tyres look wide and chunky. A bit of tyre noise though. Suspension has been good - not overly harsh but reacts to the slightest bump on the road. Body roll much reduced from stock setup. Initial turn-in is sharp but at high speeds, the car has a tendency to wallow through a corner. I think the struts aren't matched to the springs (spring rate higher than what the Koni Reds were meant for).
PICTURE:



Previous setup:

SUSPENSION: Koni Specials (Red) struts, Koni lowering springs
WHEELS & TYRES: BBS RS 15x6.5 ET45, Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3, 195/55R15
HEIGHT: Labelled 40mm - looked about right. After a few months they dropped down a little more, but not much.
EXPERIENCE: Very tolerable setup. Not harsh at all and since the Koni struts are damper adjustable, I could really fine-tune the dampening force. Usually had it at the middle setting and it was very comfortable. Soft enough to take grandma for a spin, yet hard enough to give you the assurance that it'll stay planted on the road. The GSD3s have been the best set of tyres I've driven on. Grips relentlessly in the dry, and still does a really good job in the wet. Very quiet as well. Only possible downpoint is tread-wear, though I didn't get to use them long enough.
PICTURE:



I've had more wheel setups but nothing else worth going into.

[The_Hawk]

CAR: 1996 Mk3 Golf VR6
SUSPENSION: Dynamic Coilover Kit Gold from GCP in Germany @ AU$950 to my door
WHEELS & TYRES: VW New Beetle 16" on black round tyres The fronts are Faulken, no clue on the rears since I haven't replaced them since buying the car.
HEIGHT: Low. I think it's been dropped at least 3 inches, although there was never an official measure.
EXPERIENCE: Excellent. The handling feels 100% better, nice and tight response to steering and grip seems improved. Note that I also put the Neuspeed front upper strut brace in with the coils so that helps I'm sure.

Ride. Yes it's rougher, but with uprated shocks and springs it's expected. Not something I can't live with but depending on price I would consider slightly softer springs. Reality is that the coilover extravaganza will help to see if diferent brands make much difference in these stakes.


Before:


After:

[tassie_euro_mk1]

CAR: 1994 Golf VR6
SUSPENSION: Front: Koni yellow adjustable shock with unknown Eibach springs. Back: Koni yellow shocks with unknown Eibach springs
WHEELS & TYRES: 17" BBS RN. 215/40 tyres. maxxis brand
HEIGHT: Very nice height considering they are not coilovers. I wouldnt go any lower in my opinion
EXPERIENCE: Great. This settup came with the car and I have no intensions of changing this settup. Handles very very well.

Note: I now have the arch flairs back on so it looks even tighter.

[Tim]

CAR: 95 VR6
SUSPENSION: Bilstein PSS9 coilovers
WHEELS & TYRES: SSR Competition 16x7.5 ET35 with 8mm spacer in the rear to clear the coilovers. 205/45/16 pilot preceda tyres
HEIGHT: around 40mm drop
EXPERIENCE: firm ride yet still comfortable on the softer damping settings, handles a bit on the understeery side without the addition of a decent rear sway bar. Very neutral with 25mm adjustible neuspeed rear swaybar

before


after

[MattyT]

CAR: 1995 VR6 Colour Concept GREEEEEN
SUSPENSION: KW V2 LE Coilovers
WHEELS & TYRES: 16" Dodgy generic rims, Nexen N3000 205/45R16 tires
HEIGHT: Buggered if I know. Needs to be lower.
EXPERIENCE: Vastly improved from a very worn stock setup. Excellent firmness without harshness. Tires have **** grip and even worse in the wet. Dont feel confident at speed and increased road noise. You get that for cheapies. Really want to go back to pirelli's with my next set!
PICTURE:
BEFORE:


AFTER:

[Lorenz]

CAR: 1997 MK3 Golf GL
SUSPENSION: Hottuning Coilovers
WHEELS & TYRES: Modena Autostrada 16x7 +39 195/45/16 Continental Sport Contact II
HEIGHT: Around 40mm for now, will be lower soon!
EXPERIENCE: Have had them in the car for a few months now and love them. Very very compfy ride, stiffer than standard, but not too stiff unlike alot of other coilovers Ive driven with in the past. Only height adjustable, but good enough for me and the set dampner rates are fine for daily driving and a good hills thrashing. Soon to be tested on the track
PICTURES:
Before:


After:

[V®6]

CAR: 1994 MK3 Golf VR6
SUSPENSION: Standard factory suspension from what I can tell.
WHEELS & TYRES: 215/40/17 Antyre (some cheap brand I should really replace)
HEIGHT: Stock height, planning on lowering the suspension to the same as what Tassie_Euro_MK1 currently has.
EXPERIENCE: Feels great with only the one person in the car, with three people in the back the car though it hits on the bump stops quite badly. So stiffer suspension is definetly on the cards
PICTURE:

[Mrk_Mickey]

Thanks for the revival dude! I deffers need some new picture action.

Here goes...

CAR: 1994 MK3 Golf VR6
SUSPENSION: Koni Red dampening-adjustable Shocks; Eibach Coilover Springs matched to Ground-Control Coilover Sleeves.
WHEELS & TYRES: Some Audi 16x7 ET42 wheels wrapped with 205/45/16 Kumho KH11's; 15mm spacers on the front - NOTE: atm I'm on mk4 gti wheels, 16x6.5 on the same tyres.
HEIGHT: Umm....really low...
EXPERIENCE: Yeah I like it it's not too bumpy considering how low it is, and it holds nicely around corners. I find it quite hard to slip out when the fronts have a bit of negative camber
PICTURE: I'm still trying to get the photo's from Friday night, but here's some older photos of my audi wheels (I'm refurbing them so they're not on the car for a while):





EDIT: And here's a pic from Friday night