I want to lower my octavia. I'm tempted by the H&R cup kit which is matched springs and dampers and is around £500.00. But, since I'm tight I'm also tempted to just stick some springs on and run standard dampers - about £200 saving me £300 which is about the same as I've been quoted to sort some body work problems.

But, my octy is my daily driver and as a result the family wagon. Am I right in assuming that asking 60,000 mile old dampers to cope with lowered springs is just asking for trouble and will create an awful quality ride?

IMHO it would be a risk. You might get away with it, but theyre not likely to last long. I would go whole hog as its alot of labour£££££s to get in again if they do fail

They have done a lot of miles

I kept mine after lowering but only 20,000 miles

I would replace ifyou can at the same time to reduce fitting costs

If you go with the standard dampers, the lowest you can really go is either Eibach pro-kit -20mm springs or the H&R of similar drop,

I had my vRS lowered on those springs with H&R dampers, but the drop was hardly noticeable,

In the end, I got a set of H&R 45/50mm springs to replace my 30mm ones, as I was unhappy with the drop on the 30mm's.

Do it right the first time, as you probably won't be happy with just the smaller drop, I wasn't.

My car is a family car also, and with the H&R cup kit (there's 2 variations, make sure to get the one with 45/50mm springs) the car is still really comfortable, the suspension doesn't ruin it whatsoever.

HTH

Thanks for the replies. I guess if I'm going to do it I should do it properly. But then that makes me think the wietec coilovers are only £200 more.

Coilovers typically give a much harder but decent ride. The problem with replacing just springs, especially on higher mileage cars is that the damper is asked to operate in areas on its piston where dirt and other debris has collected over the many miles, this in turn will wear out the internal workings of the damper and cause them to fail. They fail quiet quickly after fitting, then you'll need to pay labour to take the whole lot apart to replace the dampers.

I've been through this same scenario very recently and went " cowboy" way and fitted H&R -35mm springs on OEM dampers and so far no problems. Quality of ride improved but wouldn't be expecting M sport type suspension by just changing springs. Body roll/ nose dive improved and car looks much better as well. As everyone mentioned on the top of your springs price you need to add label of around £150-200 with wheel alignment.

Another vote for the H and R cup kit. Fitted on my 1.9tdi estate family wagon with Whiteline ARBs. Fun rewarding drive and only slightly harder that standard now I've done a few K on them. See my previous post for a pic.

I've been through this same scenario very recently and went " cowboy" way and fitted H&R -35mm springs on OEM dampers and so far no problems. Quality of ride improved but wouldn't be expecting M sport type suspension by just changing springs. Body roll/ nose dive improved and car looks much better as well. As everyone mentioned on the top of your springs price you need to add label of around £150-200 with wheel alignment.

This is also what i did, put in H&R 35mm springs on standard dampers, and there is 80k on the car and no issues so far *fingers crossed*

It depends how low you want to go i think