Help! Quickly please.

I'm having lowering springs fitted to my Octavia Estate (pre-FL) next week and decided to try to order new dampers and have them fitted at the same time (originals are on 110k).

No one seems to want to give me the size information for certain. It's either 50mm or 55mm, but which?

I went to measure them just now and it looked like it was 55mm using a tape measure and eye. So I thought I'd get a little more technical and measure the circumference and calculate diameter from that...

I got 188mm circumference which gave me 59.8mm diameter...

Did I measure the wrong place?

I measured roughly where the red lines are on the standard Skoda shocks.

You need 55s. But seriously - just get some coil-overs rather than spending money on springs and dampers. You're paying the same for fitting either way. Might as well do it properly.

Thanks Nick P

Are you 100% on the 55mm bit? Would you like to phone a friend?

I've already got the springs (at a very good price) and the shocks aren't now going to cost as much as I thought. End result is that it will probably cost very little difference to a set of coilovers and I'm not going to get into the debate about which are better (as I have no experience to go on).

I'm sure about the 55mm bit.

Nicks right. if its a 2.0 TDI its a 55mm strut.

Thank you both for the confirmation.

I'll be ordering some from DP Performance Monday morning.

Hate to say it but DPM were very expensive (£312) compared to Demon Tweeks (£194) - so guess who got my money?

Am rather worried though as I looked on Halo Performance website to compare prices and they seem to say that my car has 50mm struts (unless it sneakily has sports suspension - which I doubt). Mine is a 2.0 TDI PD 140 estate - standard suspension as far as I know...

5-7 day delivery from Germany, as well!

Fingers crossed, I need them in 8 working days...

Can i ask what ones you went for ?

Bolstering B4's 55mm.

On their way from Germany and due to arrive in 5-7 days (7 days is the day before they get fitted, so they better arrive in time).

Who?? never heard of them

Bilstein B4's then yes lol

If you were ordering bilsteins then you should have bought them through 123spareparts as they are much cheaper. I got rear b6's for my mk1 4x4 and saved £100

See i was looking at the b6 but couldbt justify the basic double in price for how often i push it when the b4s were less than half the price

Will have to have a look at both tomorrow when im back on a computer

I don't want or need the Bilstein (damn iphone autocorrect) B6's as the B4's are more than suited to my needs.

As for the best price, 123spareparts don't have anything other than Sachs dampers listed for my vehicle!

As both my rear dampers combined were around £100, I doubt the savings would have been anywhere near as significant as yours.

All fitted now and worthy of an update. 55 mm was the right size.

I had the Eibach / Skoda lowering springs fitted (the red ones for an estate) along with the Bilstein B4's (55 mm) by Midland VW on Thursday. They also did the full geometry alignment for me.

Before I give my comments, please bear in mind that this is the first unnecessary mod I have done to any vehicle I've owned and I therefore has exactly zero experience to base my opinions on (other than having owned and driven this car for about 30k miles and two years).

Comments so far (3 days and around 300 miles) is that the car drives different.

It doesn't feel as though something is holding it back. It is also quieter (less road noise). These I put down to the geometry alignment as, apparently, mine was 'off the scale' when it went it. That would explain the problems with the OSR tyre wear / sawtoothing I've had.

As well as being lower the car doesn't dip or lift under hard braking or acceleration anywhere near as much as it used to. It also feels as though the power upon acceleration is being used as opposed to wasted.

It is lower, but I didn't actually measure it properly before it went in so can't confirm that it has dropped by 'up to 32 mm' as stated by Eibach / Skoda, but it looks about right.

In cornering, the difference is noticeable, but not as much as I expected. With the new springs and proper alignment the car runs through corners much better, holding the road and 'wobbling' a lot less (could be the tyres on the 15" wheels flexing). There is still noticeable body roll, but this is so more controlled and less noticeable than before.

In general driving, the ride is not much harsher to drive than previously. Certainly not 'crashy' or harsh. The wife and kids have been in the car and not noticed any difference as a passenger. The only problem was when I drove over a stick in the road at slow speed and it caught the underside of the car - Quite surprised as the stick wasn't that big!

Overall: £90 for the Eibachs, £200 for the Bilsteins and £175 for fitting and alignment (£465) was money well spent. At least I think so.

10% increase in my insurance premium though! - so will need to look around when renewal is due next month as this seems a little steep just for lowering the car... (and adding a Columbus unit and parking sensors front and rear. But they won't include the MDI on the policy...).

10% increase just for that.

That's got to hurt :(

Not too bad as I only have a month left to go on the policy, but it was this explanation that got me:

The £10 broker fee is a standard charge for any mid term adjustments to your policy. The £36.80 for your modifcation consists of the broker fee, 10% increase, £10 insurers arrangement fee and also 6% insurance premium tax. You can find all information regarding fees in your policy documents.

That was with 2 months to go until renewal. Now I only have one it should be less - but they didn't get back to me to take payment when I called them to pay. They referred it to the underwriters...

I'm insured with one company; they pass the query to the brokers; who then pass it to the underwriters!

No wonder it costs so much in fees...

They also said this about the MDI unit:

With regards to the audio cover. The MDi unit that your are having fitted to your stereo is not standard audio and will not be covered under the standard audio cover that we supply as part of your insurance.

So I think I will be looking around for another insurer at the end of this month. I'll try the ones associated with this forum first, then branch out if no joy.