Is there anybody in Cornwall or maybe Devon with a vRS on Hicon GTs who wouldn't mind me having a ride and/or maybe a quick drive? I could do with new shocks and I'd prefer FSDs and H&Rs, but with the price where it is atm, I just can't justify it. I wanna know how much worse the comfort is and how much better the handling is over stock.

Handling is the biggest difference, feels like a different car afterwards. You'll find corners to drive around just for fun when you first fit them!

Comfort isn't as bad as you might think, as long as you don't drop the car on the floor. My car is still very comfortable at the setting I have mine on. It is obviously stiffer, and as a result you do feel more bumps and lumps in the road. But it's not bone shakingly bad or uncomfortable. The only situation where I really notice the difference in terms of comfort is when on an undulating dual carriageway. Sudden dips and brows at high speed are no longer absorbed or filled by the squidgy suspension, so when the road drops suddenly the whole car drops too if you see what I mean. Basically it's alot easier to get the car airbourne over hump-back bridges! It's a good thing!

To demonstrate comfort...... I drove to Austria and back in mine a few weeks back. Passenger in car and loaded up with loads of kit. I didn't once think that it was too stiff. Was perfect.

Handling is the biggest difference, feels like a different car afterwards. You'll find corners to drive around just for fun when you first fit them!

Comfort isn't as bad as you might think, as long as you don't drop the car on the floor. My car is still very comfortable at the setting I have mine on. It is obviously stiffer, and as a result you do feel more bumps and lumps in the road. But it's not bone shakingly bad or uncomfortable. The only situation where I really notice the difference in terms of comfort is when on an undulating dual carriageway. Sudden dips and brows at high speed are no longer absorbed or filled by the squidgy suspension, so when the road drops suddenly the whole car drops too if you see what I mean. Basically it's alot easier to get the car airbourne over hump-back bridges! It's a good thing!

To demonstrate comfort...... I drove to Austria and back in mine a few weeks back. Passenger in car and loaded up with loads of kit. I didn't once think that it was too stiff. Was perfect.

What he said

In fact the more weight you put on the wetecs the better they become. Drove from Colchester to Havant with full load of Family(2 adults and 3 kids) and a roof rack and top box to get all lugage in. Very comfortable trip.

Wetecs are stiffer than the FSD'd no question, but not in a bad uncomfortable way, plus you can set them to standard ride height which should be no problem to you if you like a more softer feel. At the end of the day the coilovers will be stiffer as that is what they are designed to be, I had Koni FSD's and H&R springs on prior to replaciing with the Weitecs and have not regretted it. What you will get is far better turn in and positive handling with coilovers than the typical shock / spring set up.This to me far outways any other neg points if any.

The FSD's are great set up and difficult to beat, but the pricing is ridiculas and I wanted more adjustment that the coilovers give to ride height and stiffness based on the ride setting.

Edited 28 April, 201016 yr by Bowders1

Is there anybody in Cornwall or maybe Devon with a vRS on Hicon GTs who wouldn't mind me having a ride and/or maybe a quick drive? I could do with new shocks and I'd prefer FSDs and H&Rs, but with the price where it is atm, I just can't justify it. I wanna know how much worse the comfort is and how much better the handling is over stock.

Depending on work mate, IF and its a big IF I can get down to the GF parents sat some point Ill give you a shout mate as you are just around the corner from them iirc?

Ill kep my eye on this thread and let you know.

billy

Thanks for the replies. Billy, I've moved to the Roseland, but that's still only 35 minutes from Truro.

As for the Weitec love, I really appreciate the comments. It's just that handling really isn't that important to me. The stock handling (even at 140k) is pretty good and a cut above most stock cars in my experience. I'm more concerned about comfort. If I wanted to improve the handling I would save myself a fortune and just get a RARB.

I've had coilys before on my MK3 Golf and it handled awesomely. It was also on it's ass, although I wouldn't be looking to repeat that, as it's just impractical for me. They might not have been the same quality (they were FK, so hardly utter crap) but the difference in stiffness was not always appreciated by my head unit, or me, or the rest of the car which was slowly rattled loose over the years.

The shocks aren't desperate, I just wanna get a feel for the options before I commit to £500+ which I don't have...

I hav weitcs fitted and like the other guys love them, however........look at all of our cars (those who have posted), we all run modded cars and to us handling IS important so for us we do sacrifice some comfort for the benefit of handling!

Frankly if you are not doing this for handling and are only doing it for comfort IMO you would be making a mistake, coilovers are coilovers at the end of the day and offer customisation but like everything there is a payoff and its not what you are after!

Dont get me wrong, i just came back from switzerland with my car no issue for me, but i like a firm ride, its down to perception however and if you think the stock setup at 140k is acceptable (which would be sloppy as hell in my opinion) then you are just gonna find the weitecs hard and not your cup of tea.......

If you put them to the same hight as the std stuff then the ride to me is quite a bit firmer but very nice. if you have bad roads then they are not the best option. why not go for the std stuff again?

I am thinking about putting the std stuff back on mine lol, just to wear it out a bit and see what it was like, not sure when ill have the time tho.

One thing ill say tho is the lower you set the Weitecs the harsher the ride, I found my car to be very harsh when I had it at first as I set them low but Ive lifted it twice since and each time its got nicer. the rear on mine now is about std hight and the front is a bit lower than std with the wishbones just off level, I found the car drives abnd handles much better too being higher.

I hav weitcs fitted and like the other guys love them, however........look at all of our cars (those who have posted), we all run modded cars and to us handling IS important so for us we do sacrifice some comfort for the benefit of handling!

Frankly if you are not doing this for handling and are only doing it for comfort IMO you would be making a mistake, coilovers are coilovers at the end of the day and offer customisation but like everything there is a payoff and its not what you are after!

Dont get me wrong, i just came back from switzerland with my car no issue for me, but i like a firm ride, its down to perception however and if you think the stock setup at 140k is acceptable (which would be sloppy as hell in my opinion) then you are just gonna find the weitecs hard and not your cup of tea.......

Again agree what he said

Now i know what you are really after in terms of comfort and not fussed about performance type handling then don't get coilovers, you will just not like the car following the uneven road dips as the stiffer rides tend to do. You could go for FSD's on your standard springs as your first option if money is your driver. But as the shocks/springs have done 140k putting those on FSD's with that milage might kill the springs and you won't get best from FSD's. If it was my money and based on your requirement, get FSD's and either standard springs or OEM equivalent from GSF or Euro car parts which will be less cost.

mine sits rather low on weitec's and the ride is still comfortable compared to other coilovers ive had in the past so i would say go for it

Again agree what he said

Now i know what you are really after in terms of comfort and not fussed about performance type handling then don't get coilovers, you will just not like the car following the uneven road dips as the stiffer rides tend to do. You could go for FSD's on your standard springs as your first option if money is your driver. But as the shocks/springs have done 140k putting those on FSD's with that milage might kill the springs and you won't get best from FSD's. If it was my money and based on your requirement, get FSD's and either standard springs or OEM equivalent from GSF or Euro car parts which will be less cost.

Couldnt have put it better myself! fsd or standard oem type replacement

As mentioned the Weitec's are a really good choice.

Aimed for everyday fast road use so not too stiff like a lot of coilovers can be.

The damping rate is very good and with Weitec being owned by KW the quality is also superb.

Overall a top choice.

Damian @ DPM Performance

I'm aware that 140k stock setup is sloppy as hell. I can feel it when I drive her. However, it's still better than other contemporary cars and were OE shocks not so bloody expensive, I would consider just replacing the standard stuff and maybe adding a RARB.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to coilies for comfort, I would like improved handling and I've driven coilies before, so I know what to expect in that department. However, I won't be decking this car, as it's fairly down there standard IMO. So height adjustment is irrelevant to me. I was considering the Weitecs, purely because they're cheaper than either OE replacement setup, or FSDs and springs. If I had the money (not that I do for the Weitecs tbh) I would look at one of the latter two options.

Comfort is important to me because the Octy is the most comfy car I've ever owned. It's quiet and refined and I have an expensive HU which has seen coilies and a front impact and an uprated transport from Alpine over the years!

It's just that, I wanted to try a car on Weitecs to see if it would acceptable to me. I know a lot of people say they're comfy for coilies and maybe they are. But it's a lot of money to consider spending blind. I'm sure you guys get that.

As it is, I may wait until my current setup is utterly knackered and then go with whatever is cheapest at the time. But I'm loathe to get pattern parts and whenever I'm forced to replace something, if there's an uprated option that makes sense, I like to take it. I have the G60/VR single mass upgrade, because it made sense. FSDs and springs makes sense performance and comfort wise, but not price wise. Hence my dilemma.

Edited 29 April, 201016 yr by okenobi

psi tuning are doing weitec hicon gt's for £412 including vat and delivery at the moment,i gonna get some!