Suspension refresh and camber changes

[Roald]

With spring rolling around ( 60 next week in central ohio ) I am getting ready again for Autox. First T&T is in April.

Some of you might be aware of my whole ordeal with RedShift last year. As a result I've sworn off coilovers, plus there aren't that many great options and I absolutely DD this car. Additionally the roads in downtown Columbus are absolute dog shit.
I got sort of lazy last year taking the coilovers in and out and I need to definitely replace the tty hardware one last time. Plus now the front and rear suspension are creaking. The front is definitely the upper bearings. The rear is... I need to poke around.

I currently have superpro FSB and RSB. During AX season I'll set the front to full stiff. I have so far preferred the extra rotation it adds to the rear.
However I would like to add more front camber. The re71rs are taking a beating on the outside shoulder.

I've looked at the Eurosport pucks and new bushings. And I've also come across a number of different possible options for camber plates. Such as vorshlag, though to stay STH compliant ( eehhh ) I'm not sure there's a real different in available camber between the two? or even 034 camster plates?
Additionally I am really eyeballing swapping to Koni SA. The F/RSB have made the ride pretty shaky around town. I suspect the age of the factory shocks and their overall ability is showing.

By the time I do the Eurosport kit with bearings, I am in camber plate territory price wise.
So the question is, do I just skip the eurosports and move to a camber plate? How much worse will NVH be? Is the available camber even all that different?
I may decide to do camber then the SAs. It's undecided so far. I also don't want to deal with something that will need regular care. So poly suspension bushings are likely out.

Finally, if am looking in that direction. Should I just deal with it and do the CSS knuckles and eurosport pucks?
In the end I am really trying to get more camber with the least additional NVH, stay STH compliant, and then also not spend like $1k+ on very little additional camber.

 

[krs]

CSS knuckles are not legal for STH.

I'm at -2.8° with the eurosport kit, and offset LCA bushings, with a mild drop. I went with the eurosport as to keep the OEM topmounts to minimize noise, as well as dealing with winter corrosives like salt.

 

[Roald]

CSS knuckles are not legal for STH.

I'm at -2.8° with the eurosport kit, and offset LCA bushings, with a mild drop. I went with the eurosport as to keep the OEM topmounts to minimize noise, as well as dealing with winter corrosives like salt.

ope well count that as a missed point on my part then.
Seems like the eurosport make the most sense vs price then. Even the 034 camsters are -1.0 allegedly.
Which lca bushings? And is there a concern those will wear out with DD use? / Are those technically a consumable?

 

[krs]

ope well count that as a missed point on my part then.
Seems like the eurosport make the most sense vs price then. Even the 034 camsters are -1.0 allegedly.
Which lca bushings? And is there a concern those will wear out with DD use? / Are those technically a consumable?

Yeah, I would have preferred the CSS myself, probably could get away with it, but I'd feel guilty skirting the rules.

I went with the powerflex bushings, which includes the camber and offset caster.

https://www.powerflexusa.com/shop/p...amber-adjustable-2876?category=1887#attr=1795

https://www.powerflexusa.com/shop/p...rm-rear-bushings-1375?category=1887#attr=2318

They'll wear out sooner than OEM, that's to be expected. I DD my car about (20k miles on the bushings), and have had well over 50 autox events on them, and when I checked them last month they weren't failing yet. There's several other options for those, with different brands. I think there's too many variables to definitively say yeah they'll fail at XX amount of use. Just something to check. I've never tested their lifetime guarantee, but if they start to fail I sure will give it a shot.

I also inadvertently ordered the black (race) and was shocked at how much vibration was transferred by them initially. I don't feel any of it now, maybe I'm just used to it, or it's tapered off some.

 

[IGM2019]

No noise increase normally from my 034 camber mount except the occasional super hard pothole hit, then it will be more harsh noise.

 

[xXDavidCXx]

I would not bother with Koni Single Adjustable. The adjuster will hit the upper shock mount unless you don't use a top camber adder, which is a shame. Rears can't be adjusted easily and likely will cause you to install them and never adjust them, so what's the point.

 

[Roald]

I would not bother with Koni Single Adjustable. The adjuster will hit the upper shock mount unless you don't use a top camber adder, which is a shame. Rears can't be adjusted easily and likely will cause you to install them and never adjust them, so what's the point.

Ah sorry I was referring to the Special Actives. The red ones?
There was mention somewhere of folks tracking/crossing with them and it seemed like a decent factory spring option. As I just don’t think I can tolerate heavier springs around town.

 

[DerHase]

I've got over 20k on my 034 top mounts with zero issues.

Highly recommend them with stock springs + Koni SAs.


I made a short video showing some potential reasons why people might experience noise with them. I suspect many lowering springs can contact the body like shown (like the APRs, just lower levels of "bad").

Make sure your sway bars move FREELY. Should be able to disconnect both sides and rotate the bar up and down with single finger pressure. All kinds of weird shit happens when sway bars bind or stick.

(1:00 mark)

I wore the Powerflex forward bushings out in 1yr/6ish autocross/10 days on track, and the BFI rear "RS3" bushings out in about the same. Both will be normal wear items. Maybe not every year with less use, but I'd prepare for it. It is a good way to get more camber. Use LOTS of lube between the inner sleeve and bushing for the Powerflex ones. Otherwise stick with stock, maybe the 8Y Golf R/S3 bushings, which have SOME void, but not as much as MK7, but not solid. And OEM bushing rubber is usually far higher quality than aftermarket stuff.

 

[xXDavidCXx]

Ah sorry I was referring to the Special Actives. The red ones?
There was mention somewhere of folks tracking/crossing with them and it seemed like a decent factory spring option. As I just don’t think I can tolerate heavier springs around town.

Okay, then get the special actives and either the euro puck thing or 034 plate. I ran special actives with the 034 camber plate, no additional issues with NVH. The biggest NVH was the lower offset ball joint.