Beginner’s Guide / Tips for Buying a Street-Based Suspension

[Slipstream]

@Hammersticks - Would you say the Konis at full soft are on par with the B8s for firmness and responsiveness? Considering one of these two paired with either DG springs or H&R OEs - I want to close up the wheel gap and tighten up the responsiveness a bit, but not heavily impact the ride quality. I do auto-x occasionally but 90% of my driving will be daily/commuting. Thanks in advance!

 

[Waltari]

Just get the B16s.

I had EMD springs on stock shocks (good enough), then B8s as an "upgrade" only to find out that B8s don't have enough compression damping to not blow through all the travel with fairly low rate lowering springs. Ride was not as good on big bumps/bad roads and handling didn't seem like an improvement either.

I've had B16s on for about 9 months, 2-3 track days, and 10k miles of commuting and I regret nothing EXCEPT not buying them 4 years earlier. I usually run with damping middle road on the street and just crank them all the way on the track. They aren't a race coilover but do much much better than any shock/spring combo out for handling, ride quality, and adjustability.

Also I run 18s on the street and 18s or 17s on the track. 19's are going to have some harshness and usually have a higher weight.

Well thank you for saving me the trouble of trying this setup. I've been eyeballing B16s for a while and was thinking about pulling the trigger before next rack season. Then I saw a set of brand new B8s from one source and EMD spring from another that would have come in at $500 together. Was serious contemplating it, but sounds like I'd be disappointed quickly. Sounds like it'd be worth the extra grand to just do it right the first time

 

[tigeo]

@Hammersticks - Would you say the Konis at full soft are on par with the B8s for firmness and responsiveness? Considering one of these two paired with either DG springs or H&R OEs - I want to close up the wheel gap and tighten up the responsiveness a bit, but not heavily impact the ride quality. I do auto-x occasionally but 90% of my driving will be daily/commuting. Thanks in advance!

We run Koni Sports on the softest setting with Eibach springs on my son's car and I would say it feels v. similar to the B8/H&R kit I have on my Sportwagen.

 

[danbfree]

Great guide, but of course comments are subjective to the OP. I have a Golf 1.8 and went with DG springs on stock dampers as I was still low mileage, 25k, and they are literally the OEM sport spring like you would get with the $250 Audi factory option. They are linear springs that are a little stiffer than stock GTI and there is nothing "floaty" about them, they are actually fairly bouncy, but not harsh, maybe slightly bouncy is what was meant by "floaty"? They eliminated what was definite float on the stock springs, reduced body roll by 75% over stock and responded well to adding a 25mm RSB... Progressive springs will literally float over road imperfections for a better ride, but can add body roll, which a full front and rear set of sway bars can seriously mitigate... Just my $.02!

 

[DFWGOAT]

Spulen Competition Lowering Springs For VW MK7/MK7.5 GTI​

Lowered Ride Height: Front 1.6"/ Rear 1.5"

please share pics !!!

so i would really like to see what the ride height or what these look like installed and how yall feel about them if you have them?
i have looked and looked and can not find anything on these.

p.s. if you have a MT even better.

 

[GTIfan99]

Spulen Competition Lowering Springs For VW MK7/MK7.5 GTI​

Lowered Ride Height: Front 1.6"/ Rear 1.5"

please share pics !!!

so i would really like to see what the ride height or what these look like installed and how yall feel about them if you have them?
i have looked and looked and can not find anything on these.

p.s. if you have a MT even better.

How is a spring kit that lowers the car into the bad part of the camber curve called a "competition" spring kit?

You can lower a car that low for competition purposes, but the spring rates need to be really high, bump stops shorter and firmer, to keep the car in the good part of the camber curve.

You need a real suspension setup to lower that much and not actually make the car handle worse than stock.

 

[El_bigote_AJ]

Spulen Competition Lowering Springs For VW MK7/MK7.5 GTI​

Lowered Ride Height: Front 1.6"/ Rear 1.5"

please share pics !!!

so i would really like to see what the ride height or what these look like installed and how yall feel about them if you have them?
i have looked and looked and can not find anything on these.

p.s. if you have a MT even better.

Alrighty then… after you read the lovely high horse comment above, here’s an actual response to your question/request

I ran them for like 5-10k, felt fine on the streets/highways/and driving in parking lots that are used for actual parking lots. (Cannot speak to them in regards to parking lots filled with orange cones and walkie talkies though.) but then again didn’t see you ask about them either .

This is how they sat and yes my cars manual.
-First pic is with a 235/40 tire
-Second shows vs a coworkers stock height
-Third show diff. From stock to unsettled spulen springs.

 

[DFWGOAT]

Alrighty then… after you read the lovely high horse comment above, here’s an actual response to your question/request

I ran them for like 5-10k, felt fine on the streets/highways/and driving in parking lots that are used for actual parking lots. (Cannot speak to them in regards to parking lots filled with orange cones and walkie talkies though.) but then again didn’t see you ask about them either .

This is how they sat and yes my cars manual.
-First pic is with a 235/40 tire
-Second shows vs a coworkers stock height
-Third show diff. From stock to unsettled spulen springs.
View attachment 238889View attachment 238890View attachment 238891

THANK YOU !!!!! this is the info i was looking for.. i will say i do understand where GTIfan99 comment is coming from being it has " competition" in the title but i just copied and pasted from the Spulen website but i have no plans to actually track the car. it is just a daily driver so i should have been more descriptive on the info i was actually looking for.

but yes the pics and info you gave me was what i was looking for as a daily driver stand point. however one more quick question did you have to run the TT rear pads to not have any reverse rake on the car or was this stance in the pic just the springs only ? No fender rub with the wheel and tire setup ? i am running 18's but they are a 18x8.5 et 42 TSW from the looks at the pics you posted if i run a 235 i think i will be just fine.

 

[El_bigote_AJ]

Oem rear pads, no you won’t rub with that size and offset you posted.

 

[GTIfan99]

THANK YOU !!!!! this is the info i was looking for.. i will say i do understand where GTIfan99 comment is coming from being it has " competition" in the title but i just copied and pasted from the Spulen website but i have no plans to actually track the car. it is just a daily driver so i should have been more descriptive on the info i was actually looking for.

but yes the pics and info you gave me was what i was looking for as a daily driver stand point. however one more quick question did you have to run the TT rear pads to not have any reverse rake on the car or was this stance in the pic just the springs only ? No fender rub with the wheel and tire setup ? i am running 18's but they are a 18x8.5 et 42 TSW from the looks at the pics you posted if i run a 235 i think i will be just fine.

What shocks are you planning to use?

 

[DFWGOAT]

Oem rear pads, no you won’t rub with that size and offset you posted.

awesome it is soo hard to tell weather or not i was going to have to run those or not.

 

[DFWGOAT]

What shocks are you planning to use?

Bilstein B8 Series is what i was planning on running with the springs. i am pretty sure thats what most people swap out to right ? however i am more than open to suggestions

 

[GTIfan99]

Bilstein B8 Series is what i was planning on running with the springs. i am pretty sure thats what most people swap out to right ? however i am more than open to suggestions

B8 is popular, as are the konis.

Just don't run the stock Sachs shocks.

I'm pretty sure the B8 have internal bumpstops, but if not, or you go with the konis, I'd trim the fronts a little.

The last thing you want to do is get into the bumpstops in the front. The car goes into terminal understeer. On street, that means in an emergency.

 

[DFWGOAT]

B8 is popular, as are the konis.

Just don't run the stock Sachs shocks.

I'm pretty sure the B8 have internal bumpstops, but if not, or you go with the konis, I'd trim the fronts a little.

The last thing you want to do is get into the bumpstops in the front. The car goes into terminal understeer. On street, that means in an emergency.

really thank yall for all the info. i just needed some direction on what i should do.

 

[danbfree]

These are the VW Driver Gear springs with stock dampers on Golf 1.8 TSI after a good few thousand miles to "settle" both on actual height and ride, they were quite bouncy at first but are great now, for linear anyway. On the TSI they lower about 1.2" but since the TSI starts out riding so high, and with stock and DG springs being linear, I kind of wish I went with H&R Sport (non-Super Sport) for a couple of more tenths of lowering and better daily ride with progressive rate springs. Especially now that I have a RSB with metal end links, it would offset the slight body roll of progressive springs nicely.