Morning all,

When my insurance is up, I may look at moving companies and finally doing some small modifications to the vRS.

Does anyone have some suggestions for a good suspension setup that will improve the handling, but not rattle my teeth out on my daily commute?

I was thinking along the lines of FSD's and standard springs as I don't really want to lower the car much, if at all. Maybe couple those with a new ARB, but not a huge one as I don;t want to totally change the balance of the car for daily use.

Is there any point going coilovers? I guess not if I don't want to lower it, or if I went for fixed damping ones?

Suggestions welcome!

Thanks,

Nathan

Could have some custom springs made up, changing the spring rates etc, couple that with some better dampers it should work well. Maybe lowering of 5mm of the springs may help as it'll have a slightly lower centre of gravity without being too low or looking much lower.

Cheers Matt,

I'm not sure I'd have any clue where to begin with spring rates though! But I agree, a small reduction in ride height, maybe 5-15mm might be OK I'm also toying with just new standard suspension and an adjustable rear ARB.

I do like the look of the FSD's, but they are very expensive for just shocks and I'm not sure how (new) standard springs would cope with them?

Nathan.

If your standard suspension is in good nick then i can highly recommend golf MK4 R32 front arb (23mm) and Neuspeed rear (28mm) adjustable arb. Great handling improvement and stock ride comfort and height .

The standard suspension is shot to ****!

But I do have some new replacement springs and rear shocks to go on, but deciding if I should buy OEM front struts or uprate the whole lot.

But it's good to know the ARB's make a difference. Does the 28mm rear not make it tail happy on lift off though? I used to own a 309GTI and that just wanted to swap ends for fun! I'm too old for that now

Edited 27 December, 201213 yr by NathanF1

I'm selling a r32 and nuespeed rear 28'mm if your interested

The standard suspension is shot to ****!

But I do have some new replacement springs and rear shocks to go on, but deciding if I should buy OEM front struts or uprate the whole lot.

But it's good to know the ARB's make a difference. Does the 28mm rear not make it tail happy on lift off though? I used to own a 309GTI and that just wanted to swap ends for fun! I'm too old for that now

Rear Neuspeed is adjustable, mine on mid setting (of 3 available) with r32 front would lift off oversteer but that can be usefull (and will inherantly help turn in anyway. You can always soften it up a tad if needed.

best suspension for daily use.........standard,as you have said your setup is shot so new standard shocks and springs will transform it

If your springs are ok then go for bolstering b6's

Stupid iPhone. Bilstein

Hahaha, I did wonder. I've a friend who used to rally and he swears by Billies. But my god they are expensive! Over £500 for a set of 4.

But I have got brand new springs waiting to go on.

The standard suspension is shot to ****!

But I do have some new replacement springs and rear shocks to go on, but deciding if I should buy OEM front struts or uprate the whole lot.

But it's good to know the ARB's make a difference. Does the 28mm rear not make it tail happy on lift off though? I used to own a 309GTI and that just wanted to swap ends for fun! I'm too old for that now

I would have said keep std suspension and move to front and Rear ARB's to assist your suspension, but if shot and you want to keep near std feel and height, you will not go wrong with Koni FSD'd and H&R lowering springs. That combination is made for each other and i had this for 2+years. Only changed because I wanted lower. My friend still has my old set up on his car after 3 years going strong.

The H&R springs only lower car between 10-15mm and if your springs are shot, you probably will not see any ride height change at all.

That would be my option if I were you.

Not cheap set up but well worth it.

I would not go for 23mm FARB and 28MM RARB just yet until you get a feel for how better suspension has changed your car and then maybe start with a 22-24mm RARB as this is a very good aid to a good suspension set up

P.S I had a 309GTi Goodwood in my younger days and lowered the torsion bars quite a bit. Nothing I have owned since comes close to that handling Mine was like being on rails. Plus I swapped engine for the Mi16v one and it went like a rocket too.

can't resist a few pic..lol

Hmm, that is going to set me back a bit but as you say it might be worth it! I'll see who is doing the best prices.

I must admit, coming from my old RWD days, I might be best sticking with a milder setup as I am not the smoothest driver out there and I can't deal with the back end like I could in a RWD. I did enjoy the 309, but again the car was probably better than my driving skills. A friend of mine still has his, E Reg, stripped out, roll cage, mi16 on throttle bodies. It's nearing completion and I guarantee there will be nothing on the road these days to match it for induction roar! But it is designed for track/hill climb use. His other daily driver is a GTI-6.

So, back to me! Thanks for all the advice guys, I am going to do a bit of research and pricing then I might even cancel my current insurance and start modding in the New Year. I'm planning on getting a stage 1 remap also, so I'm really hoping I fall in love with the car after that and the suspension changes.

Nathan

Hmm, that is going to set me back a bit but as you say it might be worth it! I'll see who is doing the best prices.

I must admit, coming from my old RWD days, I might be best sticking with a milder setup as I am not the smoothest driver out there and I can't deal with the back end like I could in a RWD. I did enjoy the 309, but again the car was probably better than my driving skills. A friend of mine still has his, E Reg, stripped out, roll cage, mi16 on throttle bodies. It's nearing completion and I guarantee there will be nothing on the road these days to match it for induction roar! But it is designed for track/hill climb use. His other daily driver is a GTI-6.

So, back to me! Thanks for all the advice guys, I am going to do a bit of research and pricing then I might even cancel my current insurance and start modding in the New Year. I'm planning on getting a stage 1 remap also, so I'm really hoping I fall in love with the car after that and the suspension changes.

Nathan

Don't read any more on Briskoda then as you will only get the performance bug......not like me at all.....

Yes that suspension set up is not cheap but excellent for your type of needs, But you can go cheaper buying coil overs to be honest and just have them set to std height, then should your tuning ideas and mods expand you have the coil overs to adjust when needed.

If you know you are going to mod car then i would think ahead and plan the mods you want to get best value of spend.

A stage 1 remap is a fine way to start modding and loving your motor.....

+1 what Bowders said

Ahhh RWD !

i like the pic of you in there pete! Engine, tho the engine is more sexy! :p

While we're here, my other!

Back on track. If you just do Golf R32 FARB and Neuspeed 28 mm RARB and stage one map then you will have a very enjoyable VRS.

That reminds me, this is mine

Really need to get it back together and put this in it

Ahhh RWD !

correct me if wrong but that look like a old skool Escort

While we're here, my other!

And this looks like Old skool 2.8 Capri

That reminds me, this is mine

Really need to get it back together and put this in it

Do it. I still have my 309 GTI 16v badge as they were std fitment to 309's in France.....

Love them..

I think my mine is made up, shock/spring wise at least!

Sat in the loft I've got some brand new OEM (Lesjofors) springs that I picked up at a good price and a full set of new Monroe shocks. Now despite them being the ones on the Monroe site that apparently fit the vRS, the fronts wont as there is no ARB droplink mounting point! But the rears should be OK?

So for the time being I'm going to head to my local dealer today and order some Skoda front struts and throw them on with the new springs and Monroe rear shocks. I'm also putting a full front and rear set of new bushes in, so that should tighten things up.

Going forward, I will be looking at which ARB setup to go for, but as advised I will wait and see how the car was meant to handle when it left the factory. That should keep me going until Feb when my insurance is up and I can move to a company that will cover a remap etc.

Once done, I'll post a new thread as I'm sure there will be any number of owners (or potential ones) that might be in the same boat and wondering if new OEM kit will make any difference.

Thanks for the advice guys!

when you get a price from the stealers have a look on http://www.123sparep...pare_parts.html for standard stuff but also when you have Bilstein B6 partnumbers they are the cheapest around by a good margin