Hi all please help!

Am getting my suspension soon and I'm undecided between fixed at 40mm OR fully adjustable coilovers so I can slam it 80-100mm,

Only reason of asking is I've heard if you drop any cars lower than 40-50mm it spoils the handling.

It's been fine with all my other cars I've dropped but this is my first 6n2 and was wondering if you guys who have slammed your 6n2 gti's could get in touch to tell me what you think about handling after you've slammed it??

Any recommendations would be appreciated as I'm thinkin of bilstein.

Thanks guys :-)

if your only going 40mm and will be happy with that then i would just run shorter springs,for more scope then go collies

if you go the collie route i would spend the extra and get a good quality set

do a search on here,lots of feedback for coilover brands and prices

if your only going 40mm and will be happy with that then i would just run shorter springs,for more scope then go collies

if you go the collie route i would spend the extra and get a good quality set

do a search on here,lots of feedback for coilover brands and prices

I'm unsure how low I want to go.

that's what I'm asking bud, how is the handling when you slam it 80-100mm compared to 40mm??

I've heard the lower you go the worse it gets.

if your only going 40mm and will be happy with that then i would just run shorter springs,for more scope then go collies

if you go the collie route i would spend the extra and get a good quality set

do a search on here,lots of feedback for coilover brands and prices

I'm unsure how low I want to go.

that's what I'm asking bud, how is the handling when you slam it 80-100mm compared to 40mm??

I've heard the lower you go the worse it gets.

The problem isnt so much with the handling!! Its to do with 1:the quality of the kit you go for and 2:the suspension travel.

1: You want to go for a more expensive brand, cause with the hike in price comes a hike in quality! The cheaper sets arent uprated massively over standard shocks, so while reducing the ride height will lower youre centre of gravity, increasing handling and decreasing body roll when you throw the car into a corner, because the shock isnt massively uprated in terms of stiffness the compression ratio of the hydraulic fluid inside remains the same as standard therefore still allowing excessive weight movement and distribution when cornering.

Eg when throwing it into a hard left or hard right, you still get excessive weight transfer to the opposite side of the car due to the viscousity of the hydraulic fluid in cheap coilies. This can lead to massive amounts of understeer.

Now the way that you combat this is buy paying more for a good set of coilies, when doing this the hydraulic fluid in the strut is generally less viscous therefore It takes greater amount to compress the fluid. This thicker viscousity of fluid leads to a stiffer ride. Due to the stiffness in the damper when now cornering it takes a greater weight movement/distribution to cause a compression of the strut. This leads to a more accurate and efficent steering line, encountering smaller amounts of understeer.

2: Due to the nature of coilovers being designed to go low, the strut itself is actually shorter so allows for less suspension travel. EG when taking a hard left, the weight distribution is put on the offside of the car, compressing the offside strut. This weight distribution then leads to less weight being place on the nearside strut causing it to lengthen due to less compression. This then leads to understeer. But this is solved to a certain degree again by buying a decent set of coilovers.

Would make a note though matey, if your worried about handling. The correct dimensions of tyres and the tyre make make a drastic difference to handling. But also strut braces. Its not purely down to your suspension setup.

if your only going 40mm and will be happy with that then i would just run shorter springs,for more scope then go collies

if you go the collie route i would spend the extra and get a good quality set

do a search on here,lots of feedback for coilover brands and prices

I'm unsure how low I want to go.

that's what I'm asking bud, how is the handling when you slam it 80-100mm compared to 40mm??

I've heard the lower you go the worse it gets.

The problem isnt so much with the handling!! Its to do with 1:the quality of the kit you go for and 2:the suspension travel.

1: You want to go for a more expensive brand, cause with the hike in price comes a hike in quality! The cheaper sets arent uprated massively over standard shocks, so while reducing the ride height will lower youre centre of gravity, increasing handling and decreasing body roll when you throw the car into a corner, because the shock isnt massively uprated in terms of stiffness the compression ratio of the hydraulic fluid inside remains the same as standard therefore still allowing excessive weight movement and distribution when cornering.

Eg when throwing it into a hard left or hard right, you still get excessive weight transfer to the opposite side of the car due to the viscousity of the hydraulic fluid in cheap coilies. This can lead to massive amounts of understeer.

Now the way that you combat this is buy paying more for a good set of coilies, when doing this the hydraulic fluid in the strut is generally less viscous therefore It takes greater amount to compress the fluid. This thicker viscousity of fluid leads to a stiffer ride. Due to the stiffness in the damper when now cornering it takes a greater weight movement/distribution to cause a compression of the strut. This leads to a more accurate and efficent steering line, encountering smaller amounts of understeer.

2: Due to the nature of coilovers being designed to go low, the strut itself is actually shorter so allows for less suspension travel. EG when taking a hard left, the weight distribution is put on the offside of the car, compressing the offside strut. This weight distribution then leads to less weight being place on the nearside strut causing it to lengthen due to less compression. This then leads to understeer. But this is solved to a certain degree again by buying a decent set of coilovers.

Would make a note though matey, if your worried about handling. The correct dimensions of tyres and the tyre make make a drastic difference to handling. But also strut braces. Its not purely down to your suspension setup.

Thanks bud that's told me everything I needed to know about ride hight :-)

I was plannin on going for decent coilovers anyways cos you buy cheap you buy twice,

I was also going to get the anti roll bars, strut braces and poly bushes.

What size tire would you recommend for the original bbs rims??

I've got AP coilovers on my polo and there lowerd at 60mm :)

Rides stiff but not harsh like extreme budget collies, Handlings improved alot! Depends what your budget is I suppose!

Pics of the polo? :)

I've got AP coilovers on my polo and there lowerd at 60mm :)

Rides stiff but not harsh like extreme budget collies, Handlings improved alot! Depends what your budget is I suppose!

Pics of the polo? :)

Yeh I'm thinkin coilovers set between 60-80mm :-)

I've not really set myself a budget yet as I'm plannin on keepin her for a while so I'm happy to take all sorts of advice of the best makes then I'll go from there :-)

I'm currently at work atm bud but I'll get some pics up 2nite for you

The only thing sloppy you'll get from lowering your car is from all the pussy you'll be getting. Player.

The only thing sloppy you'll get from lowering your car is from all the pussy you'll be getting. Player.

Indeed :-D but.... How low will they go?? haha (sorry was first thing that come into my head lol)

Richardpolo here's few pics of it since I got it, not had it long tho and my pockets arent very deep atm :(

Bear in mind the gti is lower than standard 6n2s thus any quoted reductions in ride height will most likely not take that into account

I'm going to offer a different point to the one above regarding stiffness of ride. It is generally considered that cheap kits are more stiff (not soft as suggested above). This causes the tyre to leave the road over bumpy surfaces, thus reducing grip.

In the end, if it's really good handling you want, it's best to go for a well balanced spring/shock kit. Using one of these, you can be sure that the spring and damping rates are matched, and suitable for the given reduction in ride height. Consider that most coilover kits are mostly adjustable in ride height only, and not damping. This means that the rebound and damping rates must work over a range of height reductions (0-100mm typically) which is far from ideal. Saying that, for road use, I'm sure a good quality coilover kit will be sufficient. As mentioned above though. If you want a softer ride, then go for a softer kit, and then strengthen the chassis with braces, arb etc.

It isn't necessarily the lowering that stuffs the handling, but more poor choices of suspension for given conditions (standard roads, not glass smooth race tracks). Take F1 cars as an extreme example. Rock hard suspension, but stick like shit to a blanket on the smooth track. But watch as one goes over a kerb - wheels leave the floor and handling is compromised.

Bear in mind the gti is lower than standard 6n2s thus any quoted reductions in ride height will most likely not take that into account

I'm going to offer a different point to the one above regarding stiffness of ride. It is generally considered that cheap kits are more stiff (not soft as suggested above). This causes the tyre to leave the road over bumpy surfaces, thus reducing grip.

In the end, if it's really good handling you want, it's best to go for a well balanced spring/shock kit. Using one of these, you can be sure that the spring and damping rates are matched, and suitable for the given reduction in ride height. Consider that most coilover kits are mostly adjustable in ride height only, and not damping. This means that the rebound and damping rates must work over a range of height reductions (0-100mm typically) which is far from ideal. Saying that, for road use, I'm sure a good quality coilover kit will be sufficient. As mentioned above though. If you want a softer ride, then go for a softer kit, and then strengthen the chassis with braces, arb etc.

It isn't necessarily the lowering that stuffs the handling, but more poor choices of suspension for given conditions (standard roads, not glass smooth race tracks). Take F1 cars as an extreme example. Rock hard suspension, but stick like shit to a blanket on the smooth track. But watch as one goes over a kerb - wheels leave the floor and handling is compromised.

Yeh that all makes sense bud thanks for the info :-)

given the roads around here I don't want it rock hard so I get lift off over bumpy roads I'll be better off going for the spring and shock set rather than coilovers then like you said it will be balanced out right between the springs and the shocks :-)

I don't mean to contradict you here prankstar or try to create an argument but why do race cars run coilovers and not spring/shocks? Nearly all race cars rarely adjust the ride height once a base set up has been found. Many lower motorsport does not even adjust the damping level.

On your comment on F1 cars you are right, in some sense. An F1 car is extremely complex in suspension terms. The front suspension travel for many of the current F1 cars is around 5-10mm. Now when you look at the rear travel it is way, way, way more than that upwards of 80mm. Now this goes against what you would think would be normal. The reason for this is that the front of the car demands a stiff set up to create ground effect from the front wing. The rear of the car is allowed to travel more to create more mechanical grip rather than aerodynamic grip. The front wing of an F1 car dictates the compete aero performance. The spring rates in an F1 car are not really that high, they are just really well controlled.

So to go back to the OP statement.

To create mechanical grip you need suspension/wheel travel without body roll. F1 achieves this with a 3rd damper/spring on the rear where the travel is so high.

With performance coilovers you will not have any change in performance from the damper by lowering it to the max. They are designed to go that low. If they were not meant to perform at max lowering there would not be threads to go that low!!!

The only effect you will have by lowering your to 100mm is adjusting the COG. The only way to work out what the effect on mechanical grip would be is to either try it or do some pretty complex calculations on vehicle dynamics. Lots of expensive books that will talk you through doing that!!!

Along with COG you would need to consider things like roll centre, pitch centre and yaw centre.

In my opinion I would be fitting a decent set of coilovers, ARB, strut braces (front and rear), bushes.

If you really want to go mad and dont mind spending a bit of money get some front wishbones made up with strengthened material. This can often be reduced in weight therefore reducing you unsprung mass increasing the performance of the spring/damper set up

I think that, so long as you dont lower the rear of the car too much you should not suffer from understeer and unless you are a very good driver you will barely notice where you car is under performing.

Again agreeing with what has been said above your wheel/tyre package with make the biggest difference.

Bear in mind the gti is lower than standard 6n2s thus any quoted reductions in ride height will most likely not take that into account

I'm going to offer a different point to the one above regarding stiffness of ride. It is generally considered that cheap kits are more stiff (not soft as suggested above). This causes the tyre to leave the road over bumpy surfaces, thus reducing grip.

In the end, if it's really good handling you want, it's best to go for a well balanced spring/shock kit. Using one of these, you can be sure that the spring and damping rates are matched, and suitable for the given reduction in ride height. Consider that most coilover kits are mostly adjustable in ride height only, and not damping. This means that the rebound and damping rates must work over a range of height reductions (0-100mm typically) which is far from ideal. Saying that, for road use, I'm sure a good quality coilover kit will be sufficient. As mentioned above though. If you want a softer ride, then go for a softer kit, and then strengthen the chassis with braces, arb etc.

It isn't necessarily the lowering that stuffs the handling, but more poor choices of suspension for given conditions (standard roads, not glass smooth race tracks). Take F1 cars as an extreme example. Rock hard suspension, but stick like shit to a blanket on the smooth track. But watch as one goes over a kerb - wheels leave the floor and handling is compromised.

Just for reference your misinterpruting (sp) my original post porankster. The stiffness is ride is relative to the dampening rate. Ie the viscousity of the hydraulic fluid contained within the strut. From this respect cheaper coilovers are softer than more expenive coilovers. Its the mechanical construction of the coilover that has a direct impact on ride comfort not the fact that the dampening is uprated. For example the cheap ass hottuning coilovers I've currently got are uprated 25% over standard. The ride is shockingly bad, but compare them to my fk highsports, uprated 30% over standard. So much more comfortable yet there a stiffer ride.

So with reference to stiffness I wasnt reffering to ride comfort that isnt directly to do with dampening % but also the construction of the coilover.

I don't mean to contradict you here prankstar or try to create an argument but why do race cars run coilovers and not spring/shocks? Nearly all race cars rarely adjust the ride height once a base set up has been found. Many lower motorsport does not even adjust the damping level.

On your comment on F1 cars you are right, in some sense. An F1 car is extremely complex in suspension terms. The front suspension travel for many of the current F1 cars is around 5-10mm. Now when you look at the rear travel it is way, way, way more than that upwards of 80mm. Now this goes against what you would think would be normal. The reason for this is that the front of the car demands a stiff set up to create ground effect from the front wing. The rear of the car is allowed to travel more to create more mechanical grip rather than aerodynamic grip. The front wing of an F1 car dictates the compete aero performance. The spring rates in an F1 car are not really that high, they are just really well controlled.

So to go back to the OP statement.

To create mechanical grip you need suspension/wheel travel without body roll. F1 achieves this with a 3rd damper/spring on the rear where the travel is so high.

With performance coilovers you will not have any change in performance from the damper by lowering it to the max. They are designed to go that low. If they were not meant to perform at max lowering there would not be threads to go that low!!!

The only effect you will have by lowering your to 100mm is adjusting the COG. The only way to work out what the effect on mechanical grip would be is to either try it or do some pretty complex calculations on vehicle dynamics. Lots of expensive books that will talk you through doing that!!!

Along with COG you would need to consider things like roll centre, pitch centre and yaw centre.

In my opinion I would be fitting a decent set of coilovers, ARB, strut braces (front and rear), bushes.

If you really want to go mad and dont mind spending a bit of money get some front wishbones made up with strengthened material. This can often be reduced in weight therefore reducing you unsprung mass increasing the performance of the spring/damper set up

I think that, so long as you dont lower the rear of the car too much you should not suffer from understeer and unless you are a very good driver you will barely notice where you car is under performing.

Again agreeing with what has been said above your wheel/tyre package with make the biggest difference.

Thanks mate that's like loads of helpful info :-)

I was planning on the strut ARB, strust braces and bushes anyway

So what would you recommend a decent set of coilovers?

ARB, strut braces

Well if you want to go and spend lots of money I would be looking into Ohlins. But I doubt anyone driving a polo would be able to afford around 6k per corner.....

Well if you want to go and spend lots of money I would be looking into Ohlins. But I doubt anyone driving a polo would be able to afford around 6k per corner.....

Just that name gets me excited.....thats without seeing the actually strut!!

Ohlins massively FTW

Well if you want to go and spend lots of money I would be looking into Ohlins. But I doubt anyone driving a polo would be able to afford around 6k per corner.....

Mate I love my polo but 6K a corner is alot of dough for a road car! Lol

Maybe when I get a pay rise lol

I know but you do get what you pay for!

They really are specifically for competition use but they are so massively adjustable that the can be tuned for perfect road use. Giving you comfort and perferomance which is something you will never get with cheaper coilovers.

I am running a set of FK Highsports and I can't complain about the ride quality, but then I am not expecting it to be amazing. It's not excessively bumpy and I have mine at about 110mm drop (estimated). I had them fitted to a previous polo and the handling was much better. I am running 13x5.5j steelies with rubbish tyres so that has made a massive difference to my handling performance.

I would recommend them and with a decent set of tyres (not stretched as this massively reduces tyre performance) and at least 6j rims the car will handle well. Then when you add ARB, bushes etc. it will be better.

KW. that is all.

I know but you do get what you pay for!

They really are specifically for competition use but they are so massively adjustable that the can be tuned for perfect road use. Giving you comfort and perferomance which is something you will never get with cheaper coilovers.

I am running a set of FK Highsports and I can't complain about the ride quality, but then I am not expecting it to be amazing. It's not excessively bumpy and I have mine at about 110mm drop (estimated). I had them fitted to a previous polo and the handling was much better. I am running 13x5.5j steelies with rubbish tyres so that has made a massive difference to my handling performance.

I would recommend them and with a decent set of tyres (not stretched as this massively reduces tyre performance) and at least 6j rims the car will handle well. Then when you add ARB, bushes etc. it will be better.

Yeh thought they must of been aimed at competition cars

Yeh buy cheap but twice lol, I've heard alot of good reviews on the FK Highsports and the JOM coilovers so think it's gonna be a set of FKs cos there not as cheap as the JOMs so hopin should be better quality :-)

I'm looking at running some 15 x 7Js or 7.5Js

I'm only lookin to stretch the tyres if I have to

KW. that is all.

Mega money!! wanted to get a set of those but they were way out of my price range

KW. that is all.

Mega money!! wanted to get a set of those but they were way out of my price range

What kinda price we talkin for KWs

From where I found them around £1200 - £1500.