Brace yourselves...for another coilover thread. (its a good one I promise)

[ChrisPI]

Okay, so after scouring the forums for what must be weeks I am still not 100% sure on my choice of coilovers,etc so I hope you guys can lend me your expertise.

My vrs has 140k on her so as I'm sure you can imagine, the suspension ain't the best. I've had a vw mech look over the underneath though and apart from the tired springs and shocks, everything seems to be in good repair. I'm looking to add a bit of sharpness to the handling and a sensible drop, maybe 30-40mm but I don't want to ruin the ride as I use the car everyday on normal roads.

I don't have a huge amount to spend at the moment ~£300 so I'm torn between the pro sports and the fk streets (I understand both require shorter arb links).

So, thats the background, Here comes the stupid.

From what I have gathered, the cheaper coilovers suffer when dropped low so I want to mitigate this as much as possible. Would using the 10mm lowering top mounts help with this (essentially lowering the coilover 10mm less at the front for the same drop, so better rebound on the shock)?

Is it worth buying the adjustable drop links instead of Vito ones (I read of a chap who used them and they were ruined after 6 months)?

While under the car, I had planned to change top mounts and bearings and upgrade to TT inner bushes. Is there anything else worth changing/upgrading on top of this (cheaply)?

I've asked DPM about the lowering ranges on these 2 sets as I think they are quoting std octy heights instead of for vrs.

In your opinion, are the pro sports going to be better for a subtle drop (the fks seems to be more designed to go LOW)?

I'd also love to hear of your experience with these coilovers on a vrs if you've used them, give me hour 2 cents if you please.

Thanks for reading.

[MR G]

I'm using fk streets on my car also have the polybush topmounts(-10mm) and it's lowered around 70 mm maybe more and the ride is pretty good not harsh but also not bouncy and certainly a lot better than my kw's were when fully lowered,the only issues I've had is with the fk shortened drop links supplied with the kit..they are rubbish and only lasted about three months before they started knocking luckerly my tuner made up some shorten drop links using std vrs links

Edited 6 June, 2015 by MR G

[Paul thornton]

I did loads of research on coilovers when I was looking for some for my car earlier this year....

Basically the fk streets / joms / prosports etc are what they are... very cheap kits that fit a wind range of cars and do one thing only.. get you low. Ride comfort will be compromised as they are not weighted for any particular car.

The £400 Ap's are apparently designed for the golf, although will physically fit the octy, again are weighted wrong so the ride will be very hard / crashy.

The only kits I am aware of that are actually designed for the octavia are the kw v series which are over a grand and the st ones which again are very expensive.

After researching all of the above, I decided to stay away from cheap coilovers as I didn't want a harsh ride but its up to you if you just want lows but are not concerned about anything else, any of the cheap kits will do.

[ChrisPI]

Thanks for the replies guys. Always helpful to hear other folks opinions and experiences.

At this point I think budget is probably going to make the final call (suppose if I wanted cheapness I should have bought a golf lol!).

Pro sport do adjustable drop links for about 50 quid so that should take care of the cr*ppy fk ones.

Most Ppl seem to be pretty happy with the fks for the cost. My mate ran them on his golf and has now just bought a set for his s3 so they can't be that bad. I don't plan on running them super low either.

Looked into the various spring/shock kits from dpm but most don't take the vrs down as much as the 30-40mm that I'm after and there's No adjustment. Not sure I can justify ~500 bucks on suspension for a car that cost 1500! Seems to be the next step up in price for coilovers on the vrs.

At this point my suspension is actually dangerous so anything will be better than my current set up!

I'll leave some pics and testimony once they're all fitted and hopefully the next guy can take something from this post.

Cheers!

[ChrisPI]

FKs now fitted. Chuffed to bits with them. After taking the car out, my mate is now buying a set for his a3 to replace his joms! Yes, they bounce a tiny bit and ride is not perfect but for 200 quid, its really not bad. Still rides miles better than the RUINED shocks and springs I had before and the car now handles beautifully.

I'll try and post some pics soon as well.

Cheers for your inputs!