...My response (grab a snack, a drink and your "readers if you're Gen X and older):
Hi [D]!
I was actually thinking of you this past weekend.
Let's dive into your car:
"Bilstein B8 shock/strut
New strut mounts?
Eibach linear rate springs
Audi S3 (or was it RS3?) front control arm bushings
H&R 24mm rear sway bar
Moog endlinks"
You're 90% there! This is a great, proven setup that will address most of the factory weak-points in our cars.
I'll address these in greater detail below:
DAMPERS:
B8s: best damper for the $$$ for a lowered street and track car that prioritizes comfort and safety over max stiffness. They are very robust, high quality monotubes that have no trouble soaking up high speed track surfaces.
Chief issue folks have had has not been the dampers directly, but pairing them with a coil spring that isn't garbage:
Insufficient coils lead to hard hits when the B8s hit their internal bump stops, which are HARSH when you hit them.
I truly wish they had the traditional foam rubber jounce material incorporated into conventional bumpstops. This is only an issue with their struts. Bilstein shocks use traditional factory bump stops, and it's superb.
Folks also have great experiences with Koni sports on lowered cars, and Koni Special Actives on stock height cars (15mm max lowering). The need for a proper coil spring is still mandatory for the Koni dampers to truly shine and stay off the bump stops.
Bilstein B6 and B8 non-adjustable dampers are typically more competitively priced than Koni Sports...are motorsport capable, have fewer incidents of premature seal failure, and are about the same for warranty and product support (50/50 resolution rate).
SPRINGS
The
linear Eibachs are 1 of the 2 the best bangs for the buck to lower your car without destroying the ride and compression travel. I have the part # in my notes if you need it. You'll want to look up the number for "Mk7 Golf R Eibachs", this is the linear spring you want and need if you go this route.
Linear Eibach Downside: stock front spring rates and almost a full inch of drop (real world), sometimes more on SE/Autobahn cars due to the higher curb weights.
A stiffer front spring would do wonders here, since compression travel and static height have been reduced, placing the struts dangerously close to the bumpstops.
This is verifiable throughout the VW community by folks who have taken precise measurements
(Tigeo, Derhase, Scrllock, Hammesticks, and others on golfmk7/com "Suspension" and "Track" subforums).
A well kept secret is to use
2018-2019 Mk7.5 Golf R stock springs.
For 2018-2019, the Golf R was lowered an additional 10mm from the previous R, making it 15mm lower* (front & rear) than the Mk7 GTI.*
A 15mm drop F/R is realized when fitting a GTI with them.
*the 2016-2017 R was already 5mm lower than a GTI, mostly due to the added weight of the 4Motion system, ~100kg or 220lbs.
I did hundreds of hours of research on all available aftermarket suspension and spring options for our cars, as well as the Audi S, RS and TT cars, to discover the Mk7.5 R springs and info. It's why the Mk 7.5 R ride heights look SO perfect and useful (bone stock).
The front rate of the 7.5 R springs is 216lbs/in, versus 177bs/in on the Mk7 R Eibach springs. This means they're better equipped [out of the box] to handle the lowered ride height and increased cornering demands than the Eibach option.
We run them on our shop car and couldn't be happier.
Last note: many Mk7.5 R owners sell these off with low mileage to upgrade their suspension to dedicated coilovers. I picked up our 7.5 R springs 2nd hand for ~$120 + shipping. Compared to the $365 list price for Golf R Eibachs, this was a great budget move.
Moving along...
"Audi S3 (or was it RS3?) front control arm bushings
H&R 24mm rear sway bar
Moog endlinks""
YES to upgraded front control arms. This helps tremendously with wheel hop, cornering ability, safety and steering feel. The ROI is HIGH for addressing weak front LCAs and/or their voided bushings.
You have options. You can:
1) press-in RS3 bushings to stock LCAs (total PITD, do not recommend)...
2) purchase RS3 LCAs online (they fit right in)...
3) purchase aftermarket BFI RS3 "style" arms, which work, but have a limited service life if you track the car...
or:
4) (smartest play) purchase Mk8 Golf R front LCAs. Those are the best price per quality, and bolt right in, and already have the mostly solid rubber bushings. (very tiny voids, required to allow full LCA travel on extension.
5) Polyurethane LCA bushings in the rear location of MQB front LCAs should be avoided in all scenarios. Design flaw, they fail early and often due to rigidity and lack of flex during compression and [specially] extension.
Save your money, learn from the mistakes and experience of VW veterans.
ALUMINUM LCAs:
If budget allows, the
034 aluminum front LCAs have been fantastic, and feature additional camber adjustment.
SuperPro aluminum LCAs are premium, but have had many issues getting the Duraball bushing design to hold up in normal street and track use. I would avoid these unless a killer sale/2nd hand deal should arise.
Just know that
some OE ball joints have studs that are too short for these thicker arms, and fresh/different ball joints may be needed. I have the PN for the correct Moog BJs if you need it.
...Sway bars: I wouldn't recommend touching the sways unless you're prepared to do both front and rear. The chassis balance of a rear-only [thicker] SB car feels terrible when actually driven above 6/10ths.
The front of the car flops in hard cornering and loses valuable camber, while the rear tries to snap loose and drift. On 2-lane roads with no shoulders, this is both dangerous and terrifying. On track days it means destroying the outer shoulders of the tires and losing big $$$.
I can explain this in better detail by phone if you still have questions.
It originates from 20 years of chassis tuning and calibration experience. No armchair QB-ing and speculating like some of the forum folks and FaceBook kids.
Once you've committed to upgrading the sways, the best value on our cars (MQB FWD and AWD) is a 28-29mm front bar and 24-25mm rear bar, with upgraded Moog or (insert other brand)
HD endlinks front & rear.
This assumes you are running stock style struts with streetable spring rates, and not dedicated coilovers.
The latter feature much stiffer spring rates that do not require as much sway bar assistance to control body roll and inertia changes.
NOTE: Stiffer sways are transparent in 90% of street use, but on roads with bad dips, potholes and uneven surfaces with abrupt changes, you will notice the added stiffness, especially when compression is applied to only on side of the car..
For this reason, a stiffer coil spring can be less punishing than an overly stiff sway bar.
Automotive ride quality is MOST proportionate to the damper quality/tuning, strut mount material, and compression travel. for each corner
That said, I run a 28mm H&R front bar and 25mm APR rear bar on the shop car: it is transparent 90% of the time, and it's all worth it when diving into corners and having less drama. Car has incredible composure when summoned.
Not to confuse you, but it's also worth noting:
It is possible to obtain superior ride quality through a quality set of coilovers, but you will need to budget ~$1400-2300 for the coilover set, + labor for install and ride height calibration.
I installed an entry level set of KW V1`s
($1700-2200 for our cars) on a customer's 2021 Mini Cooper S, and it felt like a 6-figure Porsche 911's ride quality post-repair. Very smooth, supple and composed.
You could feel the premium engineering and calibration behind them, but it still gripped the road like a puma running down a deer.
On the MQB platform (non-DCC cars):
KW V2s run ~$2500-2700 and feature adjustable dampers (rebound) to dial in performance relative to rid quality.
V1s run ~$1900-2200 and have fixed damping, ideal for budget minded enthusiasts who will not be tracking their cars.
The ST X and XAs are on this level of ride quality for $500 less; they just lack the beautiful and rugged stainless steel construction, so they aren't well suited to northern winters and roads.
I have a 40-page dossier I put together that goes into detail on every coilover option for our cars, and the inherent benefits and compromises of each. I felt there was too much market saturation and overlap, so I wanted to get to the bottom of it.
Strut mounts:
Use Sachs or OE strut mounts when replacing. Get them with new bearings.
Base this decision of when to replace them on the quality of roads in your area. Shittier roads = short service life of OE strut mounts.
EuroSport street camber mounts are excellent and add 0.8* of front camber, which improves handling, tire wear, tire clearance (relative to the front fender lips), and features stock ride quality.
034 mounts with street density rubber are high quality, but are not compatible with a lot of strut, spring and coilover options out there due to the extreme change in strut geometry. Hard data is available on this, and is not to disparage 034. Only caution you for parts compatibility.
Avoid solid strut mounts (SuperPro, Vorshlag, BC and others) in street applications unless you have ultra smooth roads and surfaces. These are best reserved for track/off-highway use.
There you have it!
Did we cover everything you wanted?
What are your next steps/purchases?
And remind me... your end goal and use for the car?
Thanks in advance,
-Michael @ Goat Automotive
Locations in Round Rock & Cedar Park, TX
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