Review of Koni FSD & stock springs...and WALK...and RARB

[muckipup]

I was fishing around back in October for folks on here with experience of Koni FSDs on stock springs with a petrol VRS without much luck. I wasn't particularly bothered about lowering the ride height and didn't want ride comfort to be at the expense of handling. Well, I went ahead with the plan and had a WALK and an Eibach RARB at the same time. I have had a few thousand miles now and thought I would share the experience:

Koni FSD / stock spring combination:

I wasn't bothered about lowering springs but my first look impression after the Konis were fitted was "oh ****, the car looks like it has been jacked up, particularly at the rear; Nooo, I should have got the Eibach lowering springs to counteract!!". Thankfully I think a few millimetres can seem a lot when you are used to a certain look, either in raising or lowering ride height, and it only took a few days for the suspension to settle down. I had been a bit skeptical when I heard of dampers settling down but now I really can not see a difference in ride height from before. Phew!

On the road, the Konis feel great. I think some of the comments about the feeling of floating over lumps and bumps in the road is exaggerated or a poor choice of words. The suspension feels nicely firm and a tad firmer than stock to me but I can still feel feel every bump. However, both the feel of the bumps and the noise seems to be better dampened by the Konis (well, they are 'dampers' after all). The best example of this is when driving over cats eyes or those painted speed strips as you approach roundabouts etc which now feel like a click, click, click rather than a bump, bump , bump. I can't say I feel a huge difference going over bigger bumps like the sleeping policeman-type traffic bumps.

Cornering - difficult to know how much I can attribute to the Konis when the Eibach RARB was fitted at the same time. What I can say is that the combination is fantastic. The improvement over stock setup was very notable and the car feels much more stable around corners. The only downside is my slight frustration at other cars slowing waaay down in front of me to take a corner when the Octy wouldn't 'bat an eyelid' at it.

In conclusion, I am very pleased at going for this option. It was personal choice to keep the stock springs but, after getting over the first impression with the ride height before the dampers had settled, I don't regret it for a second. Having had the chance to be in a Oct II with Eibach lowered springs recently, I feel that the ride quality is much the same as with the stock springs and, despite the apparent feeling that a more squat, lowered car would be better 'planted' on the road, I found handling much the same too. In defence of Eibach springs, part of the reason that I avoided them was due to my back problems and a thought that the comfort may be worse - I didn't feel that with the Eibach springs (nor should I as I think they have the same compression rate as stock). If I had a non-VRS to start with, I would most likely get it lowered at the same time as the Konis were fitted but the VRS ride height was already low enough for me. In summary, if you like the lowered look then go for lowering springs but nothing wrong with stock springs and Konis - it's personal choice imho.

Eibach RARB:

Well worth it! As stated above, it is difficult to know how much to attribut to the RARB vs. the Konis but I suspect it was a lot when it comes to the big improvement in cornering. Perhaps a more controversial point was JKM's recommendation that I fit a FARB to match the RARB which, after consideration, I declined. The Eibach RARB on its own puts the car very nicely just on the understeer side of neutral which exactly where I wanted it. I see no need to 'improve' on that and my feeling is that a FARB would dial back in a lot of the understeer that the standard VRS has. Again, I respect the personal choice that folks fitting a FARB have but my own feeling is that it is just not worth it especially when fitting the RARB is a doddle whereas fitting a FARB means dropping the subframe and a lot more hassle.

Whiteline Anti-Lift Kit:

A useful addition given that it is not hugely expensive (although still quite pricey for just a couple of lumps of metal) and was done when the suspension was in bits with front alignment being needed anyway. Axle tramp is notably reduced although not totally removed. I see no difference in wheelspin in general though which is to be expected when trying to put 200+bhp through a FWD car. Accelerating in a corner seems less scarey now as both front wheels feel a bit more planted to the road as is what this bit of kit should do, I believe (although I should really stop trying this out for the fun of it before I do it once too often!). Combine this with the more stable cornering in general via the RARB and Konis mentioned above and things are sweet; this is exactly what I was aiming at for the fast, windey roads that I experience in my commute into work.

So was it worth it?

We are talking just over £1000 with fitting for that little lot which is no small sum for me. However, the proof for me is my daily commute on those fast windey roads where the car's set up is now perfect for this. I think that anyone has to be realistic and grounded with any performance mod i.e. 500 bhp for someone who only drives in the centre of London or track-type suspension upgrades for someone who commutes in a straight-line motorway all the time may not be the best spent money unless you've got pots of it. For me, it was money well spent and I should give thanks to those folks on this forum who recommended sorting cornering and suspension out before 'chasing the bhp numbers' more which is always a temptation. This was some of the best advice that I have taken and I would advise anyone to consider this before going Stage 2 or above.

Edited 10 December, 2009 by muckipup

[vRSy]

ARBs are the best handling mod ive done by a long shot. followed by the WALK then the coilovers.

good to see your enjoying it. its like a remap. makes you think why couldnt it have been that good as standard

[Wardy]

Good, comprehensive write-up there. Should be helpful to folk in future, when considering these upgrades. Hopefully they'll find this in a search!

Glad you're happy with your choices

Steve

[Harry_vRS]

I thought the FSD / Eibach combo was absolutely pants to be honest. Glad I didn't pay full whack for them!

I now have fitted AP coilovers since my front FSD's failed, and I'm much happier. The handling is vastly improved and the ride hasn't really suffered.

[Nick P]

Think I'm gong for Weitecs on the new one.

[vRSy]

I thought the FSD / Eibach combo was absolutely pants to be honest. Glad I didn't pay full whack for them!

I now have fitted AP coilovers since my front FSD's failed, and I'm much happier. The handling is vastly improved and the ride hasn't really suffered.

I wouldnt have said the FSD/eibach combo was pants, its defianetly betterthan stock.

i dont find the ride to bad in my APs either. missus didnt even realise i had changed. She never noticed anything other than the piper exhaust which is supposbly I quote '****ing stupid' haha. that was in the dartford tunnel when i couldnt resist the urge to boot it.

[Harry_vRS]

I wouldnt have said the FSD/eibach combo was pants, its defianetly betterthan stock.

i dont find the ride to bad in my APs either. missus didnt even realise i had changed. She never noticed anything other than the piper exhaust which is supposbly I quote '****ing stupid' haha. that was in the dartford tunnel when i couldnt resist the urge to boot it.

They're pants when you compare them to the reviews everyone seems to give them...

[vRSy]

They're pants when you compare them to the reviews everyone seems to give them...

very true considering the shocks alone cost about 350 more than the APs.

[Damian@DPM]

Nice write up!

Damian @ DPM Performance

[muckipup]

Thanks for the comments folks!

One thing that I forgot to mention that Harry VRS reminded me of was the possibility of failing FSDs. I nearly went the coilover route despite my bad back and the fact that I would never adjust them because of some historic discussions of FSDs failing early. I was reassured on looking on other forums and further reassured by JKM that there were a few failures and returns in the early days but this seemed to be a temporary glitch and is now history. I certainly hope so!

[moox]

Out of interest, and slightly OT (sorry) how much do the APs lower the car?

[muckipup]

Out of interest, and slightly OT (sorry) how much do the APs lower the car?

Adjustable from 35-65mm iirc (but I wouldn't recommend going towards the latter!)

[GriffoVRS]

Excellent info Muckipup!

[bahnstormer vrs]

Good solid write up and review; well done and thanks. I have got essentially the same setup (FSDs, rear ARB & WALK) but arrived there is stages.

I started with FSDs when my car was one day old as I wanted a smoother ride without losing the sharp handling; they provided this. However, over two plus years and 42,000 miles the front pair failed (progressively) and were replaced a few months ago by JKM under warranty. I got a new full set and have to suggest that they feel a degree firmer, and therefore better, than my first set; without loosing the ride comfort which smooths out all the little jiggles on our less than perfect British roads (noticeable when compared to my wife's Roomster).

For a rear ARB, I have been 'full circle'. Having the TDI vRS there is noticeably more understeer than the TFSI, which I wanted to counter. I therefore started with a Neuspeed 25mm rear ARB which is AFAIK a bit stronger than the Eibach/Whiteline offering. This reduced the understeer a fair degree and I feel is probably as far as anyone would need to go on a TFSI vRS but I wanted a degree more. I therefore moved onto an APR 27mm rear ARB that provides 90%, 135% and 200% greater stiffness compared to the OE bar (depending on setting). Put on the medium (135%) setting gave excellent neutral handling and really sharp turn-in, great in the dry, but a little nervous in the wet; additionally I found that the ride was a lot firmer. This Autumn I therefore tried to soften the setting to 'soft' (equivalent to the Neuspeed's firm setting) but found that the ARB fouled the lower suspension arms despite a degree of fiddling with the adjustable mounting. I therefore reverted to the OE rear ARB and surprised myself as to how (relatively) comfortable the ride is.

In the meantime, this spring (May 2009) I fitted a WALK which I have commented on pretty fully in this thread http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/114740-whiteline-suspension-bits/page__p__1621641__hl__whiteline__fromsearch__1entry1621641 with the exception that I have subsequently realised that my assessment of the WALK was compromised by my front FSDs being shot! However; since reverting to my OE rear ARB I have adjusted my driving to rely on the rear ARB less to control understeer (avoiding chucking the car at a corner/roundabout too much) and using the WALK by having a slightly lower entry speed and getting the power on earlier utilising the WALK to 'pull' the car into the corner (reducing understeer). For optimum handling/ride I'd really like to revert to a Neuspeed/Eibach/Whiteline rear ARB next spring as the current handling, being slightly 'soft' is fine for the winter months.

Overall; I feel that muckipup's setup is probably the optimum for regular road use for someone looking for an improvement to the OE handling setup without going too far in th 'track day' direction. Top notch and well done.