Will_
Autocross Champion
- Location
- SF Bay Area
- Car(s)
- 2017 GTI S DSG
Haven’t seen a ton of reviews for this kit yet so thought I would add my two cents. I just had this installed yesterday so this is more of an initial impression/setup overview. I will post updates as I get more mileage on the setup.
TLDR: So far, it’s fantastic
Background:
I purchased this kit for two main reasons. 1) I wanted the adjustability features, and 2) since adding Superpro camber plates to my APR springs/Bilstein B8 setup, the daily driving attributes of the car has decreased significantly. The APR/Bilstein/Superpro setup I had was great on a backroad and held its own on the track, providing me with about 1.1” drop and 2.2 degrees of front camber. Prior to adding the Superpro plates, the setup was quiet and rode very well. If anything it was a little too soft for my liking, as on larger bumps the dampers were often overwhelmed and would react quite harshly. Once I added the Superpro plates, things took a turn for the worse. While the turn in and mid-corner grip improved significantly, the ride quality got noticeably harsher, and the addition of them introduced a lot of squeaking; rattling, and binding noises. It felt embarrassing to drive the car in a parking lot sometimes because of the noise. I decided it wasn’t worth it, and started looking for a new setup to replace them with. EQT’s kit ticked all the boxes, and I figured by enlarging the strut towers I could achieve similar camber. Now, onto the actual review.
Setup:
I mirrored the setup of these based off photos from @Jovian’s setup. I set front height to 10 threads, rear springs to 18 threads, and rear dampers to 45 threads. This was obviously just preliminary as I wasn’t sure how it’d actually look till it was on the car, but so far it looks like we nailed it. Ride height is at 25” 3/8ths FTG all around with a nice clean gap between fender and wheels.
For camber, I was under the impression that the pillowball mounts would allow between 0-1.5 degrees of adjustability. I set the camber about 2/3rds to max, and figured that when combined with the camber gains from lowering (generally .8 degrees for every inch lowered) I would be in the relative vicinity of 1.8-2.0 degrees. I am happy to report that it appears I actually am getting more camber than that. I will confirm with an alignment soon but the eye test shows it as more than the 2.2 degrees I had with the Superpro plates. Here is a photo of how it looks in the strut tower. Thanks to the enlargement, I might be able to adjust it without even dropping the strut, just jacking the front wheel off the ground. I will probably move it to a more neutral position for the winter/non-track season.
Ride:
As for the ride - so far it has been excellent. I set the dampers at 12 clicks from soft on both front and rear. That is the supposed mid-point as each offers 24 clicks of adjustability. The ride is very smooth, and most importantly, DEAD QUIET. No noises to speak of at all. With how I have it set now, it feels slightly firmer than my old setup, but somehow more comfortable. It really absorbs larger/harsher bumps excellently, so much so I actually found myself aiming for some on my drive home. Cornering wise, I can't speak much to it yet, but I made a left turn at a light pretty damn quick earlier and it was nice and flat. I am going to try a few weeks at full soft to see how I like it, but even at the middle setting it is very liveable. Can’t wait to start turning it up and figuring out the best setup for the track.
Overall, I am extremely happy so far. I also have to give a huge shoutout to @Hammersticks for the install and enlarging the strut towers so cleanly. I haven’t sanded/touched them up yet but it already looks quite clean. The fact that there is zero noise also speaks to the quality of his install in actually torquing things to spec, unlike shops that just brrrt everything with the impact. Also thanks for pointing out I had a nail in my tire :O
I intend to post more updates once I get more mileage with the setup, but for $1250 (less if you buy now with the boost weather sale) I don’t think there’s any better value out there. It’s a really really sweet kit, and the initial quality is very high. I can’t wait to really dial the setup in.
TLDR: So far, it’s fantastic
Background:
I purchased this kit for two main reasons. 1) I wanted the adjustability features, and 2) since adding Superpro camber plates to my APR springs/Bilstein B8 setup, the daily driving attributes of the car has decreased significantly. The APR/Bilstein/Superpro setup I had was great on a backroad and held its own on the track, providing me with about 1.1” drop and 2.2 degrees of front camber. Prior to adding the Superpro plates, the setup was quiet and rode very well. If anything it was a little too soft for my liking, as on larger bumps the dampers were often overwhelmed and would react quite harshly. Once I added the Superpro plates, things took a turn for the worse. While the turn in and mid-corner grip improved significantly, the ride quality got noticeably harsher, and the addition of them introduced a lot of squeaking; rattling, and binding noises. It felt embarrassing to drive the car in a parking lot sometimes because of the noise. I decided it wasn’t worth it, and started looking for a new setup to replace them with. EQT’s kit ticked all the boxes, and I figured by enlarging the strut towers I could achieve similar camber. Now, onto the actual review.
Setup:
I mirrored the setup of these based off photos from @Jovian’s setup. I set front height to 10 threads, rear springs to 18 threads, and rear dampers to 45 threads. This was obviously just preliminary as I wasn’t sure how it’d actually look till it was on the car, but so far it looks like we nailed it. Ride height is at 25” 3/8ths FTG all around with a nice clean gap between fender and wheels.
For camber, I was under the impression that the pillowball mounts would allow between 0-1.5 degrees of adjustability. I set the camber about 2/3rds to max, and figured that when combined with the camber gains from lowering (generally .8 degrees for every inch lowered) I would be in the relative vicinity of 1.8-2.0 degrees. I am happy to report that it appears I actually am getting more camber than that. I will confirm with an alignment soon but the eye test shows it as more than the 2.2 degrees I had with the Superpro plates. Here is a photo of how it looks in the strut tower. Thanks to the enlargement, I might be able to adjust it without even dropping the strut, just jacking the front wheel off the ground. I will probably move it to a more neutral position for the winter/non-track season.
Ride:
As for the ride - so far it has been excellent. I set the dampers at 12 clicks from soft on both front and rear. That is the supposed mid-point as each offers 24 clicks of adjustability. The ride is very smooth, and most importantly, DEAD QUIET. No noises to speak of at all. With how I have it set now, it feels slightly firmer than my old setup, but somehow more comfortable. It really absorbs larger/harsher bumps excellently, so much so I actually found myself aiming for some on my drive home. Cornering wise, I can't speak much to it yet, but I made a left turn at a light pretty damn quick earlier and it was nice and flat. I am going to try a few weeks at full soft to see how I like it, but even at the middle setting it is very liveable. Can’t wait to start turning it up and figuring out the best setup for the track.
Overall, I am extremely happy so far. I also have to give a huge shoutout to @Hammersticks for the install and enlarging the strut towers so cleanly. I haven’t sanded/touched them up yet but it already looks quite clean. The fact that there is zero noise also speaks to the quality of his install in actually torquing things to spec, unlike shops that just brrrt everything with the impact. Also thanks for pointing out I had a nail in my tire :O
I intend to post more updates once I get more mileage with the setup, but for $1250 (less if you buy now with the boost weather sale) I don’t think there’s any better value out there. It’s a really really sweet kit, and the initial quality is very high. I can’t wait to really dial the setup in.
Last edited:
). Interested in long-term feedback but definitely a great start. Enjoy!
. If I do, will have some better reports after that.