How many of you folks have after-market suspension?

[Dudey Head]

I was just wondering how many of you have left the suspension setup standard or altered it any way, whether it be different springs, springs & dampers or whatever?
How low did ya dare go & has there been any problems if so? (A nice little rhyme there for you!!)
Do tell... (because I'm nosy...)

((plus I'm still trying to get to the bottom of whether the Koni springs & dampers on my '94 coupe have messed up the geometry & are causing the tramlining & wandering that's driving me mad!))

:biglaugh:

[Ben]

all standard.

if it aint broke don't fix it.

[Eshrules]

I'm currently looking for a full setup , springs and dampeners, lowering the golf by around 30/35mm, which should firm her up just nicely.

perhaps some uprated ARB's may follow, funds dictating.

[Sam]

Koni Sport Suspension Kit here :)

30/40mm depending on who you ask.

Pros - improved handling, no floatyness at motorway speeds and purely aesthetically, it closes the wheel arch gap

Cons - terrible scraping sounds on speed humps, travelling on unmade roads requires a spinal board

[Dudey Head]

I'm currently looking for a full setup , springs and dampeners, lowering the golf by around 30/35mm, which should firm her up just nicely.
Should get rid of all that floppy wallowy standard nonesense nicely ;)


Koni Sport Suspension Kit here :)

30/40mm depending on who you ask.

Pros - improved handling, no floatyness at motorway speeds and purely aesthetically, it closes the wheel arch gap

Cons - terrible scraping sounds on speed humps, travelling on unmade roads requires a spinal board

Yeah, mines a Koni SSK as well. It's so stable in bends & no wallowing over dips in the road. It's really quite comfy for the vast majority of roads, although, like you say, a nasty bit of road can leave you with compacted vertebrae! I've not had any nasty noises on speed humps though.
Have you noticed any tendency of the car to tramline or wear the tyres quicker on the inside? I posted this thread a little while ago:

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=33982 (http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=33982)

I've yet to get around to checking out some of the suggestions.
I was wondering how many people have altered the suspension & whether they've had similar symptoms.
I don't actually know if lowering it has caused the prob's or not because it was already lowered when I bought the car (chopped springs, I think & standard dampers) so I hoped that a decent kit like the Koni would improve things.
Does lowering it alter the steering geometry that much? Suerly the travel in a standard set up regularly travels 30mm & back & firmer springs & dampers would mean less travel over bumps anyway?
:confused:

[Sam]

I fitted the kit then got a full alignment (with before and after print outs to prove they'd done something!) carried out. The geometry wasn't too far out, but it was enough to make them do the job.

I've had no issues with tyre wear, but due to the larger wheels (and thus skinnier tyres) I find it tramlines in the bigger ruts.

[Audi A4 Lover]

Iv gott a full system,not sure whos it is as a previous owner fitted it, its very low(and sexy) but not spine shatteringly stiff.Its jkust right if you ask me.he kit was 500 bucks as I found the recipt in the huge history file I got with it hahaha

[Dudey Head]

I fitted the kit then got a full alignment (with before and after print outs to prove they'd done something!) carried out. The geometry wasn't too far out, but it was enough to make them do the job.

I've had no issues with tyre wear, but due to the larger wheels (and thus skinnier tyres) I find it tramlines in the bigger ruts.

Well that's quite good news, in that your tyres are alright & that adjustments could be made. I've had doom-mongers on another forum going on about how it'll never be right & to put it back to standard (not that I've ever had this car with standard suspension).
The standard suspension looks weird, it's too high & ruins the look of the car. Plus it's too floppy & bouncy.
Surely a company like Koni did a bit of research & development to figure these things out rather "that's it fella's, it fits in, job done"!
Maybe the 215/45 R17's are to blame.
Then again you see some pretty damned expensive new 'performance' cars with rubber bands for tyres! Nobody's gonna pay £30-£40k for something that's gonna drag them all over the road!Actually, there're a lot of peeps with more dosh than sense...

[VAG_SNR]

i have coilovers on mine dropped as low i can on 19s and looks weeks

[Clinterous]

Do Bilstein still do gear? Ran a set of their shocks on an early mk2 Golf - the ride and handling was superb.

[Crasher]

1302 LS auto Bug, Weitec dampers and front springs, OK.
Golf 1 GTI, Weitec coilovers and Eibach ARB’s, ohh my back!
Golf 2 16v, Weitec coilovers and Neuspeed ARB’s-rough!
Golf 2 GTI 8v, Weitec 20-mm lowering kit, harsh but OK
Octavia VRS, standard-I am getting old now!

I now sell/fit Vogtland as I worked my bottom off for ten years making Weitec a known brand in the UK and I walked away with a 12” (well 30-cm) knife sticking out of my back.

[Dudey Head]

Octavia VRS, standard-I am getting old now!
:biglaugh:


I now sell/fit Vogtland as I worked my bottom off for ten years making Weitec a known brand in the UK and I walked away with a 12” (well 30-cm) knife sticking out of my back.

Always nice when your hard work's rewarded by bein pooped on! Hate ****ers that are like that.
You never had any geometry/ handling/ tyre wear probs with any of those set ups?
I'm not convinced when people tell putting it back to standard will eradicate tramling & chomping tyres on the inside, (cue yokel accent) there be unseen forces at work!
Just dunno what!

[Crasher]

Geometry issues on the Golf 1, 2 and 3 are common after lowering but there are always simple ways around it so getting the camber back to spec and then the tracking is never usually a problem, the Golf 4 and 5 platform is a different matter. VAG decided in their pompous arrogant wisdom that they could build the cars accurately enough not to need to provide a method of camber adjustment, they were wrong though, they can’t build them accurately enough and the lack of camber adjustment is causing trouble as the cars age. If you suffer on lock inner arch rubbing on a Golf 4 platform, you also have to replace the rack for a special reduced lock unit. The Golf 5 platform puzzles me in its logic, at the front the only adjustment is tracking but at the back it is fully adjustable, very odd.

[Sam]

There's a company called CCP that makes adjustable control arm end links if you're willing to spend the cash to get a fully adjustable camber/caster.

From a bit of searching Regal Autosport seem to be a distributor - http://www.regal-auto.co.uk/ - I'm sure there are many others though.

[Crasher]

I have seen Caster Camber Plates by Ground Control for Golf 4 and by an Australian company but never a wishbone for a Golf 4? The only trouble with CCP,s is they make the suspension noisy as they are not rubber isolated.