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Mss track kit VS H&R vtf kit

NopeR

Autocross Champion
Car(s)
18 Golf R
Both are adjustable spring kits which are designed for dcc struts.

Now, I already have an mss track kit that I've yet to install. However, I'm reading that a lot of people are having issues with them as far as ride height adjustments.

Has anyone install the H&R vtf kit that could provide some input as to their adjustability and ride quality?
 

SLC4EVER

Passed Driver's Ed
Check out KW H.A.S. kit as well. Very happy with it and DCC.
 

Cptnjosh

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Kentuckiana
Car(s)
2017 Sport
Crild is right, as much as it pains me to say. I have an MSS kit. Started with fully adjustable. I had a lot of problems with noise and getting the height right. I did switch to the standard height front springs which are a solid .75” lower in the front, and I am running 280lbs Swift springs in the rear along with the MSS black spring kit. I am happy with it at this point but it took some time and $ to get here. It’s overpriced with average results. I can only recommend their standard height kit. I have 30k or so on the kit paired with oe dampers.

My advice. Get some Revo springs from Fastuning for $150 and some B8s and be happy with all the money you saved.
 

NopeR

Autocross Champion
Car(s)
18 Golf R
Pretty sure I have the swift spring upgrade as well. I got the kit from a forum member on here back in October.

Reading more and more recent reviews however is making me apprehensive about doing the install come spring time.
 

Cptnjosh

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Kentuckiana
Car(s)
2017 Sport
Go ahead and throw the MSS kit on ebay, unless u want to purchase the standard height fronts. Which I have been very happy with. Perfect height, compatible with oe dampers, and plush ride. If you would rather not put more money into the kit, sell um. You will not be happy with the MSS front adjustables.
 

Autobahn

Autocross Champion
Location
Huntington Beach, CA
Car(s)
'18 Golf R
MSS did redesign the front to move the adjusters to the bottom and provide more adjustability. The desirable part of their kit are the spring rates, most other kits are going to be soft, great for street and mild track.
 

NopeR

Autocross Champion
Car(s)
18 Golf R
At this point I almost feel like getting 034 dynamic+, Apr, or eibach springs. Neither of those seem to give more than a 3/4" drop and work well with the dcc dampers.

Sucks because I have the whole mss kit in my garage. Shipping that bitch will be $$.
 

SLC4EVER

Passed Driver's Ed
I thought of those as well. How low can you set them? Impressions?

Much lower than I would want to go. Enough to bottom out the front struts no doubt.

My car isn't lowered all the way but it is low enough to make it challenging getting out of my driveway. DCC settings feel like they should, very happy with the results. Although after lowering my car I had multiple error messages associated with DCC and ACC. All suspension modes were very harsh. Had to have the DCC and ACC recalibrated and everything was back to normal. Keep that in mind if you want to dump it. It's not an inexpensive procedure either.
 

NopeR

Autocross Champion
Car(s)
18 Golf R
There's a drop down for dcc compatibility. I don't know shit about what spring rates would be appropriate.
 

burgerkong

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Ontario, Canadeh
I recently discovered Ground Control also makes an adjustable spring kit:

https://groundcontrolstore.com/coll...n/products/mk7-mqb-a3-coilover-conversion-kit
you can pick your spring rates and lengths to match your preference, but it's not clear if they work with DCC struts or not. Might be worth it to call them to find out though.

Don't get the GC kit, the springs are too short so when you lift your car or jack it up, the perch falls down from the bearing. Literally disassembles itself everytime, have to pay attention and line the bearing and strut mounts back up.
 

mike-y

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Los Angeles
Car(s)
2017 GTI / 2016 R
Can't you get longer springs to keep that from happening? I had to get longer springs on my E90 setup when the initial drop was a little too low. Same spring rates, but just taller.
 

emichel6888

Go Kart Champion
Location
TX
Can't you get longer springs to keep that from happening? I had to get longer springs on my E90 setup when the initial drop was a little too low. Same spring rates, but just taller.
Well it is not that simple, the shorter springs they provide are designed to give the desired ride height range already, so if you go with a longer spring you would also have to go much softer which defeats the purpose of the upgrade in the first place. This is also why you cannot add a helper spring with this kit, because even though it fully compresses, it still adds about an inch of height, which again takes you out of desirable ride height range.
An actual coil over strut is able to use a helper spring because the lower perch is about an inch lower, so they can add the helper spring and use similar spring rates/length and also stay at a desirable ride height range. This kit is designed to work with the stock struts and because of that the lower perch is higher so you don't have that space for a helper spring, and if you try to go with an even shorter stiff spring you will limit spring travel, which causes another problem. I know all of this because I have the GC kit and have been tinkering with it, a lot. I am very happy with my setup, but it wasn't exactly plug and play.
The issue mentioned above about it falling apart when you jack the car up really isn't a problem, the parts are designed so that when you lower the car it all slides right back into place, and it does do that every time.
There is no perfect option from what I can see, if you want to maintain the DCC with height adjustment and significantly stiffer springs, you have this option or the Bilstein B16 and with that kit besides the cost, uses 4" springs and I saw where if you want to use camber plates (and you do) the spring rubs. So now you will want to find a 3" spring that will work with that setup so... However, if you don't care about maintaining the DCC function, then a full coil over system is definitely the way to go.
With the GC kit I went one step further and found some thin 1 mm thick hub rings that were the right size for the upper and lower perches. This allowed me to press the spring into the the perches and the whole assembly stays tightly together even when the car is raised. This was not actually necessary but my OCD kicked in and... (see pics below)

20190623_110943.jpg

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So now when the car is jacked up the entire assembly stays tightly together like this:
20190705_194459.jpg


Also the 034 dynamic mount probably works well with the OEM bearing but with the GC adapted strut bearing I was not happy with how it seated so if you are familiar with those parts you will notice I did a bit of modification there as well.
So what's it like? Well first of all, would I like custom shock valving that matches the spring rates? Sure, but I talked with Bilstien about that, and on there DCC dampers they do won't do it. From what they tell me with this spring rate they would actually decrease the compression damping and increase the rebound damping. So it is not ideal, but honestly it works a lot better than you would think. One thing I noticed is that the difference in ride and handling from comfort to sport is much more pronounced. Driving at low speeds on a bumpy road it is firmer and bounces you around more, but it is not what I would call harsh, there is more motion but it always has a bit of spring to it so it doesn't beat you up like a car with really stiff dampers will do (for reference I have driven a focus RS and this is way better than that). The best part is when you drive aggressive/fast on a bumpy road, that is when you will really appreciate these springs, it is so much better than stock. The thing I find about the stock suspension is that it is fairly complaint (for a sports car maybe but not great IMO) but when you hit some major bumps at speed it easily bottoms out in a very harsh way. I found that far more unacceptable than a firmer bounce at low speeds. Now I can hit major bumps at speed in the middle of a corner and the suspension just soaks it up and never bottoms out accept under truly rare and extreme situations. Oh and no weird noises, clunks, or anything like that.
So like every other option it is a compromise, but for $600 and I get to keep the DCC adjust ability, it is the ideal compromise. Just keep in mind if you are going to start mixing and matching components, it won't be a simple plug and play.
 

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