Hey guys, I finally got my Octavia (1.6) working / drivable. After a little test drive I realized that the shocks are probably dead or on their way out as the ride is a bit rough and rigid.

 

I am searching for options on purchasing shocks right now however I am from the Caribbean and it will be cheaper and easier to puchase these from the US. The problem is I barely find any parts for the Octavia on the US sites, I am ssuming it did not sell in the US and bringing in the shocks from the UK will be overly costly given the value of the car.

Searching for Golf MK4 does yield results however. I was able to locate a pair of koni front shocks for the front but can't find the rear koni. Other than the koni I find sets of really cheap coil overs and another set of shocks branded Stagg. Never heard of the brand Stagg before, any idea if these are junk?

 

Also I have a set of 17 rims that I wanted to install on the octavia with a set of 215/50 tyres or maybe 205/50 tyres depending on the clearance. Fearing that this may raise the car too high I may install some lowering springs. I was hoping that there may be a lowering spring around a 1" drop as I don't want to end up with a harsh or rigid ride because the car will be used as a daily commuter vehicle. I see a lot of options for MK4 golf springs such as eibach, tein, megan racing and more. Any advice on what may be a good option?

 

Don't use Golf springs or dampers, because the Octavia is a heavier car and the spring rates will be too low as a result.

 

As a brand name, the only context I've heard the name "Stagg" in before is canned chilli con carne!

 

Most people who're lowering Octys go with EIbach springs or coilovers. I'd also consider Koni reputable, and whilst I've heard of Tein, I've only ever heard of them in the context of J-tuning.

The Skoda brand is/was not available in the US at all, could you not import from Central or South America where they were sold.

While on the subject of springs. Golf ones are claimed to be to "weak" for the octys lardy backend.. What about bora springs?

I just confirmed with a local Parts dealer that the Golf MK4 and Octavia shocks are the same but the spring rates are different. I saw on the Eibach site that their springs for the Golf are rated for 930Kg front and 1020Kg rear while their Octavia springs are rated for 1000Kg front and back. The Bora seems to be 930Kg front and 950Kg rear. (All stated Kg are for the 1.6/ 1.8 variants).

All springs provide a 1.3" drop. Does anyone have any experiences with these spring in terms of harshness and ride comfort?

As a generalisation, lowered springs will have a higher "spring rate" (which is expressed as "mass per unit distance", for example 315 pounds (force applied) per inch of compression) than standard ones for the same car. The numbers you quote from Eibach are just masses, which I'm not sure how to interpret.