Morning all,

While I was poking around under the car, I noticed I can see the struts of my shocks, the 'bellow' cover has come away completely(although technically the spring is the shock absorber, and the shock is a strut, but that's nit picking).

Me thinks it may be time to replace the suspension(has done 172,000, with a big heavy 130 td up front)

I doubt this is its first set at that mileage, but I've only owned it for a year.

So now for the question, I keep seeing everyone mention coilovers and lowering and words to that effect.

What does my L&K estate have as standard and why are coilovers 'better'(assuming the standard setup is not coilover)?

What would people suggest for an estate? I drive with gusto when permitted, and prefer a harder ride, so to speak

Would people also suggest braces front and rear(boot and under bonnet, I would assume)on these cars to help cornering too?

I'm used to Landrovers, with a big heavy spring and a big long shock, those are easy to work out/change!! I hate not being able to get under the octavia without the help of a ramp, doesn't help self-maintenance :(

Thanks for any help,

James

i can do no more than rant and rant about how comfortable the FK Highsport coilovers are. i been driving about for about 3 hours tonight with me mate after fitting them today and they are really comfortable. not crashy what so ever even on larger road defects. they are very firm in the corners and the cars is like a go cart. not cheap but they have my vote.

if you lower a car, you should brace it all up. i have a uper strut brace and will be buying a rear one as the estates flex quite a bit.

my shocks were fecked that i took off today.. my cars at 129k so maybe use that as a comparison.

hope this helps

oh and Ps.. Sell me your head lights!! x x

Considering I've just replaced all the bulbs including the xenons, not a chance!!! Take it yours are normal halogen then.

Thanks for the vote on those coilovers, go-kart sounds like my kind of handling!

James

yeh mate annoying reflector lamps. i have hids in them (that are adjusted to not blind people) but still would prefer projectors. there no way on this planet im paying £500 for a set of head lights so the reflector units will stay.

It cost me around £150 to replace everything, and considering I came from reflectors with bog standard halogens, that made me cry! Good job they last so long!!

I love my xenons

Get in touch with Damien at DPM performance (site sponsors I think) and see what options there are for the TDI. If you don't want the ride to be too firm then you can go for matched springs and shocks instead of coilovers but with the price of some of the coilover kits available today its almost cheaper to go for them.

When I had the VRS hatch I replaced the standard suspension with Weitec coilovers at about 120k and the standard suspension was "f***ed" according to the guy that took it off!

Get new top mounts and bearings for the front! Lepn cupra r ones are firmer rubber!

Also i bet your rear bump stops are creamed, mines on 67k are in 3 pieces! Front drop links would be worthwhile too! Dependant on coilover style you may need shortened ones

If your struggling cash wise demon tweeks have a pay monthly option, im going for kw v1's which utilise the standard drop links, £16 a month over 3 years (nothing)

What suspension setup you want all really depends on your budget, if it still has setup that it came from factory with then at 172,000 will be well past here best.

I have a cheaper set of jom coilovers and am not ovally impressed with them as i have them set to there max ride height and find the rear springs to soft, its actually better to drive with standard springs on rear with coilovers shocks but it just sits to high then and looks like a dragster.

yeh mate annoying reflector lamps. i have hids in them (that are adjusted to not blind people) but still would prefer projectors. there no way on this planet im paying £500 for a set of head lights so the reflector units will stay.

Off topic reply, thank you for having your HIDs in non-blind mode.... from a Halogen Bulb owner ;-)

F-ing hate how many people have HID or Xenon headlights that i swear have been adjusted to get maximum Dazzle effect

On topic reply, I'm reckoning my front suspension is probly gonna be up for renewal by year end, so will be changing out any/all bushes for uprated ones, and will be looking at me options for coilovers vs standards. I've given up driving hard all the time, something about the lazy noise of the Deezil engine just makes me cruise all chilled out and smiley. Still like to have a bit of fun in the bends from time to time though, and at rounder bouts! so do fancy a bit less roll and wallow. RobClubley's set up looks pretty sweet, and on the basis of everything he does is A1, id follow his lead if the budget allows.

If we can be any help just let me know

Damian @ DPM Performance