Billy B8s, H&R Springs & Spacers, Forge Tie Bars & Neuspeed ARBS fitted!

[Andy_S3]

Just came back from having my new toys fitted from Demon Tweeks, a 6 hour round trip so im pretty shattered!

Took the lads at Demon Tweeks over 6 hours to fit it all and get it aligned, but it only cost me £180 all in for fitting, so I cant fault them one bit for the service they provided and would recommend them to anyone - especially as local places were quoting me over £600 for the same work! It really pays to shop around! Id also like to thank Damian at DPM, and Sarah at Awesome GTI for the parts. :icon_thumright:

Anyways onto the suspension itself. Im no expert on these parts so can only comment in a very 'amateurish' way! I recommend reading Ess_Three's & ChriS3's reviews which are stickies at the top of the page. I have these two gentlemen to thank for me ending up forking out nearly 2 grand getting this done!

The B8s are fantastic. I could swear the car is actually more comfortable than standard, whilst still being firm round the corners, although this could be down to the ARBs (22mm on the front, 19mm on the back).
The H&R springs (25mm) and spacers (10mm each side on the front, 15mm each side on the back) appear to give the car a much better stand imo, although the rears seem to be a little lower than the fronts, but I can live with this as it doesnt look too bad. There is no rear end 'squatting' when giving it the beans, it just goes!

My only concern at the moment is that my steering seems very 'floppy' and unresponsive. Which is a disappointment. Its as though there is a delay between me turning the wheel and the car actually turning. Now the guy has informed me that the front N/S CV Joint has gone (which will apparently be an MOT failure) There is no knocking noises or squeaks anywhere, but does anyone know if this is the cause of my poor steering feel? Or could it be my wheel alignment? Which is as follows:

And just a few before & after pics:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Will get a profile pic of the car tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!

 

[MartayMcFly]

Can you get a side-on view up? Before and after if possible.

 

[Andy_S3]

Here you go buddy

Before:

After:

The after shot was taken on a slight slope so its hunched down a little more than normal, but you can certainly see the difference

 

[S3 Rav]

that looks very nice. amazing the difference in fitting costs though.

 

[IIIadidasboy]

Looks very nice, the front - rear thing is only just noticable, the main thing is you like it, well done!!

 

[Andy_S3]

Thanks! After re-reading ChriS3's sticky im certain the geometry is way off and is probably the root cause of my steering issues. So Ill give it a few weeks then get it all re-aligned properly somewhere local. The guy at Demon Tweeks said leave it for a couple of thousand miles!?

 

[S3Lol]

Hi Andy, I would be interested to see how this goes, as Im planning to use the cash I get from the Cupra on my suspension upgrades. Useful thread. Laurie

 

[bantam1]

too much -ve camber at the rear and could get more at the front.

did you have any bushes checked / renewed?

 

[Andy_S3]

The guy only brought up my CV Joint and the fact my discs need changing soon. to replace the bushes im probably talking a couple of hundred quid for the lot, not sure whether to go OEM with them or get Poly bushes - put off by them after hearing theyre quite harsh.

As for the camber it looks to me as though he hasnt adjusted the rear adjustable tie arms one bit! Which is a bit annoying. And he strongly recommended the camber on the front not to be put to the -1.3 degrees that I asked him to as he said id go through tyres like nobodys business. I think once I go for the second alignment Ill ask for -1 degrees or less on the back, and -1 on the front

 

[Andy_S3]

Hi Andy, I would be interested to see how this goes, as Im planning to use the cash I get from the Cupra on my suspension upgrades. Useful thread. Laurie

One thing I can definitely vouch for is the Billy B8s mate. The ride quality isnt compromised one bit but stiffens up when it matters

 

[bantam1]

The guy only brought up my CV Joint and the fact my discs need changing soon. to replace the bushes im probably talking a couple of hundred quid for the lot, not sure whether to go OEM with them or get Poly bushes - put off by them after hearing theyre quite harsh.

As for the camber it looks to me as though he hasnt adjusted the rear adjustable tie arms one bit! Which is a bit annoying. And he strongly recommended the camber on the front not to be put to the -1.3 degrees that I asked him to as he said id go through tyres like nobodys business. I think once I go for the second alignment Ill ask for -1 degrees or less on the back, and -1 on the front

I have the same set up (getting tired and worn now as done a lot of mileage on it) which is set at -1.0 per side at the front and -0.5 per side at the rear, parallel toe. No tyre wear issues to speak of. Doubt this or the CV joint would cause the feeling you describe though.

When i had it done i renewed all bushes at the same time. I recall nearly hitting a bollard when turning into a road after driving away as the steering was so much more responsive.

 

[Ess_Three]

Andy, this man speaks good words:

I have the same set up (getting tired and worn now as done a lot of mileage on it) which is set at -1.0 per side at the front and -0.5 per side at the rear, parallel toe. No tyre wear issues to speak of. Doubt this or the CV joint would cause the feeling you describe though.

When i had it done i renewed all bushes at the same time. I recall nearly hitting a bollard when turning into a road after driving away as the steering was so much more responsive.

You need less rear camber for sure...and more front.
Mine had -1.5 per side at the front and didn't wear tyres unevently...unless you run lots of toe out.

You are...
You have 4 mins toe out per side, which is what I ran...and it's super aggressive and will grip like sh*t to a hairy blanket...but will wear front tyres unless you corner hard enough to scrub the outside edges to even up the wear!

I'd suggest going for -1.3 to -1.5 degrees of nagative camber once the lot has settled, and reducing the toe out to 2 mins per side.
Try that...and see if you want the steering to feel a little more lively...if so, go back to 4 mins per side.

Also, with lots of negative camber and toe out, you need to forget about nannying it into a corner progressively and smoothly...just chuck it in hard and make the think work...it'll go!

 

[DPM]

Glad you're happy with the setup Andy. It's looks, and I'm sure hadles, great!

Damian @ DPM Performance

 

[Andy_S3]

I have the same set up (getting tired and worn now as done a lot of mileage on it) which is set at -1.0 per side at the front and -0.5 per side at the rear, parallel toe. No tyre wear issues to speak of. Doubt this or the CV joint would cause the feeling you describe though.

When i had it done i renewed all bushes at the same time. I recall nearly hitting a bollard when turning into a road after driving away as the steering was so much more responsive.

Can you remember how much you paid to have all the bushes replaced including parts & labour? And did you go for OEM or Polybushes? Sounds as though this is the way forward - I've always promised myself if im going to do something to the car, to do it properly and not cut corners! (Excuse the pun)

 

[bantam1]

Can you remember how much you paid to have all the bushes replaced including parts & labour? And did you go for OEM or Polybushes? Sounds as though this is the way forward - I've always promised myself if im going to do something to the car, to do it properly and not cut corners! (Excuse the pun)

Sorry mate - we're going back 3 years or more now and i had everything done at once so not sure what i was charged labour to change the bushes. I fitted OEM (didn't want to risk having a squeeking monster) - the bushes themselves are inexpensive. I'd imagine it would cost you £150-£200 to renew at the front, plus alignment. Please don't quote me on that though!

 

[s3_kev]

was there any point in them doing the alignment if there not going to set it up how you want???
if your looking at doing the cv joint id recomend getting that done before you get the alignment re-done as they will have to take one side of the hub appart to do the cv joint which will efect your setup when they re-fit it,
also take it to somewhere that will set your car up the way you want it, as said the front camber wants to be more like -1.5 each side personally id have the tracking parelle or 2mins out, then the rear camber anywhere between where it is to -0.5 depending on how you want it to feel the more negative you go the more twitchy the back end will feel, also have the rear tracking parelle

 

[Andy_S3]

Went for a spirited drive on the North Yorkshire Moors this morning, and the car had me smiling ear to ear the whole time, even with its poor alignment! Its definitely a more fun car to drive now, and when I get the bushes replaced, and have it re-aligned it should hopefully be better still! No squeaks or rattles to report neither which is good. Got a couple of pics whilst up there: