silly lowering help

[steve bain]

Evening all.

There has been a fair bit of talk on here about coilovers recently and the work done and cars are looking ace.

I think i would like to get mine lower than what just fitting coilovers will achieve though. If i could get my front bumper 1-2 inches off the floor it would be about right. I do plan on keeping the 16 inch sport alloys for now which will help and could fit lower profile tyres.

Any ideas the difficulties i will face? and how people have achieved this kind of loweness as i do not think just coilovers will do it.

I can weld if it helps.

 

[Dane]

Air bags are probably your best bet, n8's 8p is on bags but I can't remember an 8L on bags

 

[steve bain]

never been a fan of bags and they cost too much for my budget build. I don't mind driving low cars. My scirocco has about an inch clearance. I may look into the possibility of cutting off mounts and relocating higher up. From what i can gather its the rear springs and front arb which are the major limiting factors. Has anyone ever fitted sprung coilovers on the rear? Or are the mounts not up to the job? the front arb i can get round with an r32 one or something. I can also do tricks to help the illusion, i have skirts and a leon splitter will help ring it down too. Maybe i should get coilovers and see how it goes? mmm.

 

[Alex C]

btw...s3 or a3?

 

[steve bain]

sorry, my bad. A3 1.8T. I will space out the wheels too which will help fill the arches. I guess 30mm or so. Either way the floor will be what decides the height, not wheel clearance which i think is the normally limiting factor as so many use 18's

 

[Jordan1.8t]

Coilovers with helper springs out, rear adjusters out and bump stops cut down is about the best u can get on coilovers. Unless ur skilled enough to cut the springs then heat them to achieve a ring at the bottom for proper fitment.
On uk mk4s there is a thread on how to shorten the topmounts aswell by using polo ones or something. And i think youll find, if the same as a mk4 golf the drivers side chassis will need notching to clear the driveshaft.

If not any golf mk4 bags will fit a a3 8l.

If your wanting silly lows, id say goodbye to your front arb with a grinder aswell, otherwise ull have terrible arb driveshaft issues.

 

[quattro1]

I fitted coilovers to a mates a3 yesterday, hes got 17s and it was sat on the floor even with the fronts wound up 30mm from the lowest setting

 

[aragorn]

The problem is you need a certain amount of travel in the shock absorber for the car to drive properly.

Race cars designed to run on smooth tarmac will often run with only 2-3" of travel and super stiff springs, but this would be seriously marginal on a road car.

Next time your out driving, on a motorway or similar road that appears smooth, take a look at the car next to yous wheel and notice how much its moving, and thats on an apparently smooth road. When you lower a car with a quality kit, the spring rate is increased proportionally, to ensure the car never bottoms out. The more you lower the car, the more you need to increase the spring rate, and you will end up with a simply bone crashing ride (either from the super hard springs, or from smashing the shock into the bumpstop if the springs arent hard enough)

If you have the skill to properly reengineer the suspension mounting points to allow the desired ride height and retain suspension travel then fine, but then if you knew how to do that you wouldnt be posting would you?

 

[<tuffty/>]

One word.... sump....

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