Hey all, couple questions.
I don't plan on doing coils or springs, like the height of the car and how the car rides. Thinking of keeping it simple and easy, bolt on's and tunes....
So looking for some new wheels for my 2015 R INDIUM GRAY. Need some ideas so please post away.
Sway bars for the front and rear, also a turbo back exhaust. What's everyone liking these days?
thanks for your insight
Mike
Increasing the torsional stiffness of your anti-sway bars will help reduce the weight transfer in the corners, but it comes at the expense of limiting the independent action of the front and/or rear axles. If you are thinking of frequently tracking your car, that's not a huge consideration, but on less than smooth real-world streets, that reduction of independent action between the wheels can actually hurt both the handling as well as the ride quality. If you are going to add beefier anti-sway bars, make sure you get ones which are adjustable, as that way you can optimize the trade-offs between flat cornering and control over bumps. Many people want to make their tail ends rotate easier; to do that, going to just a firmer rear bar often does the trick. Just remember though, that the joy of a little tail wagging in the summer months can become quite a fright once there is snow or ice under your tires.
Personally, I'm all up for a bit more boom coming out of the R's tailpipes, especially if it's nice and full of bass. But that's pretty much all a cat-back exhaust system will do for you, as any horsepower gains are typically pretty minimal. I guess it all depends on how deep you pockets are and how important the right exhaust note is for you.
My tip for the biggest bang for the buck, handling-wise is installing a Eurocode front strut brace. It's an easy install and only costs $250. The MQB chassis is strong, so you might think that an R wouldn't benefit from additional bracing at the struts, and in some ways you'd be right. But to me, my biggest gripe about driving the R is that the steering "feel" isn't what I'd like it to be. Some of that has to do with the electric assist power steering, but some has to do with the play from the front subframe and bushings. The strut brace reduces a lot of that looseness, giving you at least some semblance of real road feel. Better yet, there are no trade-offs from this mod, which is pretty rare.
