'Shocks & Springs' Vs 'Coilovers' - S&S Win!

The Mk1 needs new shocks as the current ones, (not sure if they're original or not) are knackered.  I need to get rid of the lateral yaw when changing gear or lifting off the throttle as it's quite disconcerting.  Also, whats the point in having a Mk1 Golf if it handles worse than a Mk3?!

I have a budget of max around £250 for the whole car which I know is very low for wanting a decent set-up.  I'd like to go a bit lower and stiffen it all up a bit to allow me to fire her round corners instead of tentatively easing her round.  As far as I've always been aware, coilovers are great if you have a track/race car and are willing to spend £600+ on a properly considered set-up.  I hear and read too much negativity on the cheap as you can get them German eBay specials to buy/fit and drive with absolute confidence.

A friend of mine suggested a Bilstein Streetline Kit at £249.45.  Apparently very good shocks with springs that will drop it a little.  I am, after all after driving suspension, not looking good in a carpark at meets suspension.



What are people's opinions on these relatively cheap shock/spring kits?  Can anyone suggest better kits from other manufactureres for around the same price?  Is there a cheaper place to buy suspension?  Sorry if I'm bringing up boring, often repeated topics, its just reading through from the search function, topics seem to die and don't reach a conclusion!

Thanks,

Paul

I think no definite conclusion is reached on this topic is because there isnt one, what suits one isnt going to suit another, all i would say is bilstein has been around a long time and has a fairly good name.

250 is a high budget for shock n spring kit, so you'll be able to get a proper top quality setup. OTOH 250 is a very low budget for coilovers so the ride on them will be a hell of a lot worse.  if you want good ride quality as well as looks with coilovers you need to spend a lot more money or hunt out a bargain set of 2nd hand ones.

rubjonny said

250 is a high budget for shock n spring kit, so you'll be able to get a proper top quality setup. OTOH 250 is a very low budget for coilovers so the ride on them will be a hell of a lot worse.  if you want good ride quality as well as looks with coilovers you need to spend a lot more money or hunt out a bargain set of 2nd hand ones.

Thanks guys,

Can you comment on best place to buy? Or even what kits are rated vs others?  I don't think I know enough about certain springs/damper combos to make a judgement on buying seperately which is why I'm being annoying with the questions! Apologies.

Found these too;

Gmax Supersport Suspension Kit Lowers 40mm £236.32


Spax VSX Lowered Suspension Kit Lowers 40mm £276.24


Then there's a Koni set which is going up to £290odd.  Getting a bit expensive…

Anyone suggest dampers/springs bought seperately that will be better/cheaper than buying a set 'kit'?

The old non coilover favourite is eibach springs with koni shockers, personally i am using eibach springs with gas adjustable rear koni shocks and gas adjustable front spax shocks, (the koni fronts were a bit expensive).  this isnt a reccomendation just showing im putting my money where my mouth is.

i have the same as abfmk1 i think lol i know i have adjustable shocks with eibach springs & anti roll bars but i cannot remember if i have koni front and spax rears or the other way round, i'll have a mooch through my pictures

yep  same for me koni rears and spax front

Whatever, nice combo

Thanks guys, I'm guessing they are the Eibach Pro-Kit Springs?

Found these on Big Boys Toys, what do we think? They seem a bit of a bargain?

FK AKX Suspension Kit

I know FK are a fairly well respected name.

edit: to correct link.

Ah, can't seem to fin out whether the FK kit is gas or not, assuming gas will give a better ride quality?

on my cabby i had oem mk1 gti springs (i assume anyway) with boge oil shocks, it was awesome. on my mk2 i have boge turbo springs and sachs advantage shocks, which is also awesome

I know it's been a little while, and much deliberation has been had!

I'm definitely going to go for a shock & spring set up and have narrowed it down to either a Spax VSX Kit (-40mm) or a Koni STR.T Kit (-30mm).

After having a few different people suggest problems, I thought I'd ask the experts around here.  Basically, I have Speedline wheels on the car (same as Golf Country).  They're 14", offset of ET38 and 6J wide.  I have 185/60/14 tyres on them.  It's been suggested to me that if I go anywhere past 30mm I will have problems with rubbing etc. with these wheels. Is this correct?  Does anyone have pics with this size wheels/tyres with similar drops?  I think I'd prefer the Spax kit (which incidentally is a little cheaper) so would like to go to -40mm but if this isn't feasible I'll stick at -30mm.

Thanks.

i had et 24 7j wheels up front and 28 at the back on mine and that was as low as i could go, 30 would be fine

What about -40mm?

An update, if anyone's interested.  I thought I'd try and go some way to finishing off this thread as it may be useful to others doing the job in the future.

I settled in the end for an Apex Shock & Spring Kit as I got a great price from Eurocarparts (manager is a mk1 enthusiast with his own cabby) and the Spax kits were out of stock from the manufacturer themselves.

I did the job last night with help from a friend.  It's probably the biggest mechanical job I've done on a car and I actually really enjoyed myself, learnt a lot and found it surprisingly easy.  The kit is billed as being 30mm lower than standard, and I was actually a bit worried when I looked at the difference in length of the springs once released from the old shocks.  I found I was right about the old shocks too, the rears, once compressed, didn't rebound at all, suggesting they'd probably leaked a long time ago, and I had to pour a good few mm of oil out of the bottom of the front struts once I had the shocks out of them!

All went well, even the bolts weren't too tough to get off.  I took it for a drive round some country lanes after fitting and simply could not wipe the smile off my face.  She felt planted and flat through the twisty stuff, braking was dramatically improved and acceleration straight and solid.  I'm really very impressed.  They're quite firm but comfortable and to look at the car, you would think it was lower than 30mm, but I'm chuffed to bits.

Before/after height comparison shots soon.

Big thanks go to GAMMYGOLFGTI for his guide http://www.vwgolfmk1.org.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=51056 which was invaluable to an amateur like me!

New wheels going on in the next few days.  So now I should be booking her into a garage for wheel alignment and camber right?

a great thread.

Just put some new 15 inch wheels on the cab and there is a good clearance between tyre and arch but when i acceleate hard or go over bumps the rear tyres rub on the arches 8O so i think i need some new shocks and springs but don't want to lower car much as i will still get rubbing.

Lokks like i might be visiting my local eurocarparts store, thanks

Before & After pics;

Before:





After:





Onbviously these pics are with the new wheels, and there's a lot more work gone on on the cabby so she looks smarter but gives you an idea for the height comparison.  Best mod I've ever done.

do you have any problems with tyres rubbing the arches??

Not at all, there's LOADS of room.

Whats the ride quality like compared to originals?

How much did they cost if you dont mind me asking?