GOLFMK8
GOLFMK7
GOLFMK6
GOLFMKV

GTI springs on 1.8T

jmsanders

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
ATL
I've got some cheap gti springs i can pick up. Is it worth the trouble to install or should i just pick up an aftermarket pair?
 

MeltedSolid

Autocross Newbie
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Car(s)
'15 Golf, e36 328i
I don't recomend OEM springs. Because the golf is lighter than the GTI/R, you won't see as much of a drop as you would hope for, and the spring rates aren't different enough to have a big noticeable effect (from experience).
 

snobrdrdan

former GTI owner
If you're installing them yourself (i.e. free labor), they're DIRT cheap and you wanted the smallest drop possible...then sure.

If you want to go a little lower than stock GTI height though, I wouldn't waste my time. Maybe look at the DriverGear springs or something aftermarket.
 

jmsanders

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
ATL
Thank you both. That's really all I needed to know. I'll see if i can get a a pair of springs used locally and do the install myself.
 

stadawg

New member
Location
Maryland USA!
I have GTI springs on my 2016 GSW. Drop was maybe 1/2". It is a much firmer ride. I also added a GTI PP RSB.
 

jmsanders

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
ATL
Did you find some other springs that were better?
 

ReadTheBook

Autocross Newbie
Location
Bay Area Smoke Hell
Car(s)
DVP Spektrm, MK4 R32
Did you find some other springs that were better?

Haha no, I ended up trading the car in on my GTI when the Sport trim came out. I’d chosen the Golf a year earlier when the GTI wasn’t available with plaid, LP/PP and no Sunroof. Enter the 2017 Sport trim and I traded up. I got a great trade in value on my previous car when I bought the Golf so I actually didn’t end up losing money somehow.

On my GTI I have Bilstein B8 and H&R OE Sport springs.
 

TwinDad

Autocross Newbie
Location
Fort Lee, NJ
I went with gti manual springs on the front of my 16 auto sportwagen. I have the LE that has pano roof and other options. I got about 3/4". I used S3 springs with TT pads on the rear though. The rear is about 1/4" lower. Original plan was R springs for the rear, but I found S3 ones and thought they were the same. They are not. They are shorter. I have a gti rear sway bar, but have the pp bar ready to go in. Even with the gti standard bar, handling is way improved.
I'm guessing on a regular golf, you may get up to 3/4" if you use manual springs on an automatic golf
 

ZuMBLe

Autocross Champion
Location
NY
Car(s)
Alltrack 6MT
Did not know the PP had a different rsb than a regular GTI. Are you still on stock dampers?
 

TwinDad

Autocross Newbie
Location
Fort Lee, NJ
Still stock for those. They will be a future upgrade.
The stock gti is a solid 20mm and the PP is hollow 21.7mm with 3.6mm thick wall tubing.
 

odessa.filez

Autocross Newbie
Location
Roswell, GA
Car(s)
2016 GSW 1.8tsi auto
I have GTI springs on my 2016 GSW. Bought them for $80 and like them.
The Golf / GSW springs are softer and their large diameter inhibit the use of camber plates, so I swapped to GTI.
The look is not aggressive but it is an improvement with little sacrafice of ride quality. The spring rate is firmer but I ran them on GSW struts for about 40k miles and the struts held up well.
 

odessa.filez

Autocross Newbie
Location
Roswell, GA
Car(s)
2016 GSW 1.8tsi auto
I should add:
I deliberately filtered my choice to be from a manual S GTI for my heavier automatic wagon. And I have some extra suspension leverage due to a wider front track which may drop the front slightly more. Rideheight is 14.125" F 14.25" R rounded to nearest eighth.
Car weight might explain why my experience differs from Meltedsolid's ride height comment, assuming he tried it on his lightweight launch addition.
 

jmsanders

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
ATL
ended up going with DG springs. Pretty happy with the drop definitely got rid of the 4x4 look. I also added a PP rear sway bar I picked up for 20 bucks. Completely changed the way this thing handles.
 

Attachments

  • 459CA661-45B2-48CC-8F9A-D658B5BB65C0.jpeg
    459CA661-45B2-48CC-8F9A-D658B5BB65C0.jpeg
    3.6 MB · Views: 182
Top