I've decided to spend some money to improve the handling of my vrs and trying to figure out the best "bang for buck." I was thinking of polybsuhung the front end but have heard a few opinions of them being creaky or crashy. Other thoughts have been on replacing springs and dampers and just replacing wishbones to get new rubber bushes.

 

The front end feels a bit vague and my brother informs me the back end feels light.

 

What's best initial spend on to feel an improvement? Polybushes or new shocks and springs?

R32 ARB and an S3 strut brace iirc from a while back along with a RARB.

 

dampers, springs and coilovers can be a minefield of missold/ mislabelled (often unintentionally) mk4 golf stuff that fits but is the wrong loading. 

bilstein b4 are oem but better quality. b6 are "sporty upgrade" ones. cheap? no, but if you want it to sit right and feel right dont buy cheap crap, esp if you go the coilovers route. hundreds of threads on various ebay specials being terrible, or looking awful because they are leon/golf weight rating, not the heavier octy etc etc.

 

if you look up Bowders1 's project thread, his was, imo, one the most sorted looking mk1s until he sold it when he got a focus RS a couple of yrs ago. theres a few other proper ones from the same timeline, have a look

 

 

 

9 hours ago, mac11irl said:

R32 ARB and an S3 strut brace iirc from a while back along with a RARB.

 

dampers, springs and coilovers can be a minefield of missold/ mislabelled (often unintentionally) mk4 golf stuff that fits but is the wrong loading. 

bilstein b4 are oem but better quality. b6 are "sporty upgrade" ones. cheap? no, but if you want it to sit right and feel right dont buy cheap crap, esp if you go the coilovers route. hundreds of threads on various ebay specials being terrible, or looking awful because they are leon/golf weight rating, not the heavier octy etc etc.

 

if you look up Bowders1 's project thread, his was, imo, one the most sorted looking mk1s until he sold it when he got a focus RS a couple of yrs ago. theres a few other proper ones from the same timeline, have a look

 

 

 

Thanks.

 

Sp it seems roll bars/braces are more effective than bushes.

 

Taking on board your comments about cheap coilovers I came across this unadjustable set (I just want a mild lowering and fresh dampers and springs). Would you lump these in with the horror stories. Reading about the German company, they appear to have decent heritage.

 

https://www.demon-tweeks.com/uk/vogtland-club-lowering-suspension-kit-vog960073/

i have no idea tbh, ive never used coilovers. 

 

my comment is based purely on reading many of the vrs project threads here over the last 8yrs of membership

 

i just retain the base info from them in terms of what works and what you need to be very careful about..

3 hours ago, mac11irl said:

i have no idea tbh, ive never used coilovers. 

 

my comment is based purely on reading many of the vrs project threads here over the last 8yrs of membership

 

i just retain the base info from them in terms of what works and what you need to be very careful about..

 

Aren't what's on the front as standard a coilover as the coil goes over the shock? This term has been vexing me!

3 minutes ago, dan4280 said:

 

Aren't what's on the front as standard a coilover as the coil goes over the shock? This term has been vexing me!

No the spring fits over the strut/damper whereas a coilover is one unit, so damper/coil combined and is generally more adjustable.

23 minutes ago, shyVRS245 said:

No the spring fits over the strut/damper whereas a coilover is one unit, so damper/coil combined and is generally more adjustable.

Thanks!

Full Leon Cupra R/Audi TT front end setup is a direct bolt on upgrade and gives a much better feel up front. You get cast wishbones and hubs along with a 2.5 turns quick rack. Decent, ready to go second hand stuff with a subframe can be had for around £150 - £200.