Suspension Mods - Advice Appreciated

Iggu

Iggu

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My car is plenty quick enough in a straight line but I'd like it to be better in the corners - mainly for trackdays but for fast road use also. I'm not interested in how it looks, nor in being able to adjust the ride height. I just want the car to turn in better and carry more pace in the corners and out of them so I can improve my current lap times. I'd like some opinions on my options - listed below:

1. H&R springs and OEM dampers (my current set up). Cost: £nil
2. H&R springs, OEM dampers and H&R ARBs. Cost: £486 fitted
3. Weitec HiCon GT coilovers with OEM ARBs. Cost £650 fitted
4. Weitec HiCon GT coilovers with H&R ARBs. Cost £1,050 fitted
5. H&R "Cup" springs and shocks kit. Cost £754 fitted
6. H&R "Cup" springs and shocks kit and H&R ARBs. Cost £1,275 fitted.

Thanks in advance.
 
Two months ago I bought KW V3, and I must tell you its one of the best mods I have done on my car, the cars handling has very very much improved (I had the Eibach springs on standard shocks before), and when you put it on track settings, it just blows you away, If I knew this before, I would of done it first thing.!
image1020n.jpg
 
Have you looked into getting some Bilstein Coilovers?

Along side with H&R, these are the only systems which are truly developed and tested on each vehicle on both road and track.

The PSS14's are around £1175 and give excellent road manners with vastly improved handling.

Remember not to make the car too stiff by combining ARB's set to max), stiff springs and dampers/coilovers (set to very hard). On the limit the car will unpredictable and over roads with surface imperfection you'll be less confident as you'll essentially have less grip.

You can quite easily have a car which 'feels' like it handles and grips but the faster you go the more edgy and unpredictable it gets.
 
Boydie, do you know what he didn't like about it? The ****** stock suspension feels way too floaty for comfort. The KWv3's worked like a charm on my previous MkV GTI (perfect balance of comfort, ride height and handling) and I'm so tempted to go down this route again. But everyone is telling me H&R springs and ARB's are the way to go. :unsure:

Boydie said:
JonnyC had the h&r springs and arbs, swopped them for KW V3's or the likes and regretted it - summed it up for me personally!
Click to expand...
 
I'm on Oem springs and dampers but H&R ARB's and am pretty happy with the set up, understeer was drastically reduced.

I still think the weak point may be the dampers struggling to cope when things get really bumpy but it's so hard to specify unless driving cars back to back.

Iggu when we are at Oulton you can try mine and see what affect you think the ARB's have had.
Ideal scenario for me would be Bilsteins but with switchable adjustment via dash mounted switch.
 
chagrin said:
Boydie, do you know what he didn't like about it? The ****** stock suspension feels way too floaty for comfort. The KWv3's worked like a charm on my previous MkV GTI (perfect balance of comfort, ride height and handling) and I'm so tempted to go down this route again. But everyone is telling me H&R springs and ARB's are the way to go. :unsure:
Click to expand...

I dont remember mate but just was told this by other ASN members when I asked the same question about suspension.

My mate has a stock S3 and compared to mine, mine handles a lot better with just the H&R springs. So good, that he has ordered a set and they arrived today.

we were both talking about h&r ARB's as we both had a bit of a rumbly moment on a back road which the ARB's would have helped out on lol still good fun!!
 
Spin140 said:
Iggu when we are at Oulton you can try mine and see what affect you think the ARB's have had.
Click to expand...

Thanks Spin - but I'm keen to get it upgraded before this event so I can use Oulton as the vindication of my cash outlay.
I'm very drawn to the idea of a tripartite H&R solution - ARB's, dampers and springs. This has to be better than mixing and matching different products (like Audi dampers and H&R springs - which I currently have). The springs make things better but the rebound rate from the dampers is far from perfect in my opinion. Trouble is - this option is the most expensive at £1275 ...
 
You never know if at some point you want to drop it/adjust it. I have a great ride and cornering ability with H&R coilovers
 
i have option 1 on my car.
for me, the set up isnt the best.
it just feels too harsh on the roads.
luckily i dont use my car everyday...
a good set of shocks will be the next mod on my list..:icon_thumright:
 
am i not right in saying suspension set ups are a bit of a "horses for courses" situation? everyone has different preferences.. some people track there cars.. some people do mainly a road driving.. some people do more stop start driving.. like for me id like to have the hardest sportiest set up possible (if i had coilovers) but i cant because the roads i drive on are shi* and it would just take away the fun out of driving whereas if i lived in another area with more a road driving id be fine..
 
S3RYE said:
am i not right in saying suspension set ups are a bit of a "horses for courses" situation? everyone has different preferences.. some people track there cars.. some people do mainly a road driving.. some people do more stop start driving.. like for me id like to have the hardest sportiest set up possible (if i had coilovers) but i cant because the roads i drive on are shi* and it would just take away the fun out of driving whereas if i lived in another area with more a road driving id be fine..
Click to expand...

That's true....my last performance car was an ex Grp N Escort Cosworth,which came with rose jointed suspension and essentially a Proflex clone damper setup.

The flexibility of something like that over our bumpy roads was quite amazing,as was the roadholding,but at £1k per wheel,plus revalving etc every 5000miles it was a moneypit.

The hardest setup is not always the best for roadholding,or for handling,and sometimes a bit of softness at the rear can be useful,and having the ability to adust that is very useful if you enjoy getting the best out of the car.
 
How about Eibach Sport-System setup ( shocks + springs ) and Eibach Anti-Roll Bar Kit ?
 
Iggu said:
I'm very drawn to the idea of a tripartite H&R solution - ARB's, dampers and springs. This has to be better than mixing and matching different products (like Audi dampers and H&R springs - which I currently have). ..
Click to expand...

Can I have first dibs on your springs please Andy. Still working on the flutter issue, should hopefully be going to ADS Preston next week. Ill give you a shout if your about on way home
 
I'd spend my money on H&R ARBs and a haldex controller unit to allow more rear end action. Then it would be the brakes. The rotors/discs can't take the abuse IMO
 
I don't know many details on the installation of the controller. I think it's pre-programmed and doesn't mess with the ESP function. All I remember is that it has 3 options, each one allowing the rear to be continuously engaged at a different %. Modes are normal, sport and race I think. I suppose that when the rear axle is engaged during initial turn-in, the response from the car will be completely different than normal.:meeting:
 
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