Need to lower my mk1 cab. Advice please

Not sure what make/combination the car runs not but it feels quite harsh to be honest. Go over a bump and you feel/hear quite a bang inside. Anyway ive bought a set of ATS classics 13" so now is the time to lower her. What can people recomend? Im not after coilovers and would like a nice comfortable ride but at the same time a nice drop to suit the wheels. This is how she looks now.



id love her to look like this though

you can get cheap budget coilovers now ive got jamex ones which are a real nice ride but uber low if i want them to be lol ?300 from gwent vw

i've got some budget coilovers on my mk2 (and i'm getting a set for the mk1 soon), i've taken the helper springs out of mine to get it uber low and it has made it a more comfortable drive as well when i lift it a bit. the ones i got are off this bloke…

http://www.clubpolo.co…index.php?showtopic=35531

he's a top bloke and for the price you really can't go wrong for ?200.

the thing is if your gonna try and get the stance that that other cabby has got you will struggle without coilovers as they are bigger wheels (they look like 15x8 ML's like i have on my mk1).

i had 13's on my mk2 and to pull it off i had to have it so low the sub frame was less than a inch off the ground 8)

liking the mk2 gti splitter on that cabbie...

I have the same dilema!! I have looked at least 10 times!!! at every suspension kit available for a mk1 cabrio!

And in my conclusion…………….I cant/dont want standards spring/shock lower kit……..gotta be coilovers for me……….and despite various good reviews im disauded to buy cheap coilovers….in my experience they fail quickly, or as said they can be harsh…i want to be able to drive my car and still have some teeth and seat base left at the end of a 4 hour journey!!

I have looked at the Jamex ones and they sound a good compromise of all available……………but i am totally drawn to the Gaz kit…….its not cheap at ?490 but its gonna last, the qaulity is easy to see and they are Essex based!!! so easy (for me) for any after purchase needs

now all i need to do is raise ?490 and roberts your dads brother :wink:

(?500 isnt much if you say it quickly  and tell the missus they were ?250 :wink: )

coilovers or not, you will not get the car that low and be comfortable. one or the other.

to a degree…….but coilovers arent uncomfortable, the top end stuff works when its put under pressure in my experience and the ride comfort is not seriously compromised

I have had 3 types of coilovers,  AVO`s, appalling! a H&R kit on my Rallye, they were superb! at ?900 you would expect so! and my VR6 currently has FK`s Highsports on it and I cant fault them for quality comfort or handling and a mk3 VR is a heavy lump!

Gaz seem to be the flavour of the month at the moment and i have not heard a bad word about them

ive got standard dampers and eibach pro springs, its sat nice on 16"'s but comfey it aint, ive hear'd good things about them ?200 coilovers off e bay but likt topoftherange said they might not last

just dont use standard dampers, its not nice, but it handles like sticky white stuff to a curtian

well on mine its a tin top btw it has some cheap shocks and spings off ebay you can go down to about 100 mm safely and mine is setup 60/40 and is perfectly comftable but sticks to road like glue amazing really    

i've got FK highsports, and after not driving the car for a month and going round in my mate's mk2 with those ebay coilovers on, the mk1 felt like luxury when i got back in.

i think the cheap ones are too bouncy.

i wouldn't go for anything other than coilovers, i don't fancy the idea of buying some lowering springs and then finding they aren't the right height. i like that you can fine tune coilovers to the exact height you want. you could end up spending as much on a few sets of lowering springs trying to find the height you want, as you would on a set of highsports (?300 odd on Venom). if you want to swap wheels over for winter or anything, you can adjust your coilies so they are at a suitable height for the other wheels.

if you are going low profile on the ATS, like 175/50 and get it to the height you want with lowering springs, it might not be any good if you swap back to your GTI wheels with the larger 175/70.

at the end of the day, coilovers give you the choice and flexibility. lowering a mk1 affects the throw of the suspension and won't be comfortable, but coilovers will be the best all rounder.

like TOTR said, the FK Highsports are a good choice. i find them to be comfortable enough, good road holding as well, and at not a bad price.

Thanks for all the replies people, it helped me make my decision. And ive decided to go with Mouse Gti's suggestion and get some of the coilovers from the guy on club polo. I dont need any high spec coilovers as its my wifes car and she doesent throw it about so the cheapos will do. Ive got expensive KONI coilovers on my mk2 for that. When i compared them to the other cheapos on Gwent VW's site for ?50 more i realized they look identical, they probably are just with Gwents logo on.

Club Polo




Gwent VW

look the same but gwents are jamex could just be a lable

erm do those springs look like there on upside down to anyone else?

Gives us an update on how you find them.........

looks like the helper springs you an see there not upside down  

yer but i thought the helper springs sat at the bottom of the stroke. so the collar sits around the shell not the stanchion?

novocaine said

yer but i thought the helper springs sat at the bottom of the stroke. so the collar sits around the shell not the stanchion?

indeed but you get what you pay for mine have been very good so far :wink:

Its ok novicane i know what you mean about the helper springs being the wrong way round. On 1 pic they are at the top and on the other they are at the bottom.

Does anyone know where they should be? Top or bottom. Im more of a top man to be honest.

Oh and yeah i will report back once i get them on and tested.

i'd still say the bottom of the shock to give the collar something to slide round and not step out of place. this i going of bike shocks though which see a bit more action than a cars. (push bike for this one my motorbike only has the single spring)

Well i bought them and fitted them at the weekend with my new ATS Classics. In the pic they are at their lowest and i recon just sat on the bump stops as the ride is bouncy as! Its like driving a go cart. Obviously its way too low but we thought we would start low and work our way up from there. Ive only got this poor quality pic, but will take some next weekend when we start winding them up some more.

BEFORE



AFTER