Coilovers...

hi,
just after some advice on fitting coilovers to my mk1, if anyone feels that they can lend me their knowledge or experience….
currently running on 15's - i want/need to know the max drop i can give the car without having to do any arch modifications and have a ballache with speedbumps, ramps, sudden steep inclines etc.
cheers,
gary

The bigger problem you face with a large suspension drop on a Mk1 Golf is that when you reach a certain height you invert the front wishbones and the handing goes horrible.  My mate Phil had his dropped 120mm - it was too low and used to catch the tyres and bottom out - looked cool though.

sales 2modified .com for a price on Coils

The Mk1 im getting will be slammed as soon as possible!

Steve_Matthews said

The bigger problem you face with a large suspension drop on a Mk1 Golf is that when you reach a certain height you invert the front wishbones and the handing goes horrible.  My mate Phil had his dropped 120mm - it was too low and used to catch the tyres and bottom out - looked cool though.

When you say you invert the front wishbones, do you mean you change the castor from positive to negative?

Yeah - basically, the wishbones are designed to work from horisontal up over, once they drop below horisontal they start to behave what I can only describe as bizzare!

but then again it depends on what wheels your running as different offsets will only allow you to drop a certain amount…

and the type of roads will soon govern how low you go… trust me

Personally I'd leave coilovers for the track and impractically slammed show cars. On anything else they're likely to be a pain. Chose how low you want to go and get something like a set of konis.

Fair point stew72. However I want to lower my golf no more than 25-30mm and I havent seen any kits that allow this other than ones that say ajustable ride height. I presume these are coil overs?????

Is it a GTI? They are 25mm or so lower than a stock Golf, so if yours is stock then you could simply replace your springs with GTI ones. I had a quick look on TSR's website, they do spring sets which lower the car by 25mm and 35mm, I'm not sure if this is from the stock height of a GTI or non-GTI, though.

Sorry yeah its a GTI so I would like to go 25mm lower than a GTI.

you can buy top mounts from gwent vw (telephone orders) ?10 a pair and will lower your golf by 15mm..nice and cheap….im lowering my golf by 80mm on standard shocks (i know im a fool, but im 17 lol) ill let you know how it goes) my mates brother lowered his with the same springs and the lowering top mounts = 95mm drop and he said he doesnt get too much hassle, just clenches his bum every now and then when he goes over some serious bumps…looks good though.
Mitch

Woolley said

Fair point stew72. However I want to lower my golf no more than 25-30mm and I havent seen any kits that allow this other than ones that say ajustable ride height. I presume these are coil overs?????

G-Max do a 25mm kit for just over ?200. I fitted one a few years ago to one of my sciroccos and it was pretty good for the money.

I've got coilovers and arch mods on my driver, when i bought it it was ridiculously low, the problem was the wishbones weren't horizontal cus it was so low and it made a right mess of the setup. The camber was all over the place and my front tyres were catching the strut inside taking a chunk out of my tyres. I took it to one garage who couldn't work the problem out and highered the coilovers as high as they would go which was ridiculous. I took it to my current garage and i had to pay for laser alignment. Had mk3 bolts stuck in which are thicker to stop the setup going wrong again as soon as i hit a bump, and now my golf sits just nice with about 20mm gap between the arch and tyre and handles like a dream. At least when its going and not full of water.

Cost of the whole adventure: 2 tyres ?100, first trip to the garage ?100, and eventualyl the laser alignment ?120, not to mention what the previous owner spent on arch mods. So wish i'd not bothered with it all in the first place!!!

The joys of being a Mk1 owner , MOT soon!!!

I was thinking about getting coilovers for my MK I but I have been put off as my new mk MK II had Supersport coilovers fitted shortly before I bought it. They are fine around town but on bumpy country roads what the Golf was designed for they are rock solid and ruin the fun IMO. I will be replacing these soon with some Konis/H&R setup.

If you are going to do track days or want to ride really low of build a show car then coilovers will be for you. If you are driving for fun then you might find the ride a little hard unless you go for a quality kit.

Just my opinion.

I can recommend the weitec adjustable coil over setup . Seems to be of good quality and not a harsh ride like some coilovers great on the bumpy stuff and superb on track - not cheap though , bought mine at a show and got ?100 off the list price which made them abit cheaper . I'm running on 15's too and you should just about get away with the extra 25mm drop over gti standard depending on which tyres you use , 195-59-15's will rub when pushed hard in bends so ive fitted 185,55,15's which so far havent been a problem . Having said that i do agree with Quiksilver having had rides in mk1's with coilovers that were very harsh , hope that helps .

supersports are the stiffest coilovers, there budget ones too and are not damping adjustable,

i have weitecs on mine and there great, i have a set of AVO's as well if any1 is interested!

True George and not my choice they will soon be on Ebay and I will either get  a brand with damping adjustments or some spring/shocks as I use it for my daily drive.

I might get some coliovers for the MK I though  

G60RGE said

supersports are the stiffest coilovers, there budget ones too and are not damping adjustable,

i have weitecs on mine and there great, i have a set of AVO's as well if any1 is interested!

PM'd :wink: