Warning: beginner here who's never even changed a flat, so explain things to me like I'm 5 please So I've got Dora, a J reg Mk2F Coupé and I've had conflicting advice on things.

Lowering:

- To put it simply, the handling, cornering, accelleration, top speed etc. all suck right now. I'm arguably the slowest car on the road and I don't like pushing her too hard. So I figure 60/40 or maybe 60 all round kit would be the best option in terms of both effectiveness and price - not keen on coilovers as I'd be paying more for them than I did for the car

- BUT I've had our local garage advise against lowering her at all, because they say with a 22 year old car being lowered, the suspension might die (or whatever the jargon equivalent is). And I do kinda like my suspension atm - if anyone's driven about in Liverpool (specifically on the likes of the A580 Breck Road), you'll know why. Not exactly a smooth ride. So what do I need to know about suspension when it comes to lowering?

- And there's the insurance. I'm on telematics (black box) and thus far it hates my accelleration/breaking/cornering, so lowering might help that a bit. But on the flipside, I hear insurance companies don't take too kindly to such mods.

Wheels:

- I'm on 145/80/R13 steels atm. Garage says I should look for wider, but they don't think bigger will fit. But surely an 86c can take 14"s comfortably? Although I wouldn't mind keeping the 13s (I've just spent £40 on spinner rims). And of course, if I do get it lowered... what do, just wider 13s or look at 14s?

- I was also considering alloys, but then I'd want proper spinners and they aren't cheap

Thoughts and advice appreciated

Edited 20 November, 201411 yr by Vio

most budget kits give a very firm ride , you would be best to see if someone local would give you a ride in thier lowered car

just lowering springs can finish off tired dampers , get a kit with dampers and springs then new top mounts should do it

15" wheels will fit with suitable tyres , theres several on g60 steels

yes chances are the insurance might pull down your pants , ask first

First of all. Spinners are gay! Just my opinion.

I don't see what they mean by lowering will kill your suspension? If you get a full spring and shock kit then you are changing everything. And if you go for a sensible 60/40 kit you'll still have enough height to drive normally and you won't encounter any of the issues you get when you go to the 80/60 kit.

As for wheels if you want to keep the stock look go for GT steels. They are 5.5j compared to 4.5j of the standard steels. On them you can fit a 175/60/13 which is standard G40 size. Should give you a better feeling of grip compared to the 145s.

Obviously all mods should be declared to your insurance. And it's best if you phone them up first and just see what they say.

But if you have the black box big brother thing installed fitting lower suspension will always give you a harder ride and could effect the readings the black box takes.

+1 spinners are gay and should be banned

can you put up the spinner pics? i cant decide if gay or non gay

If your polo is 1992, it's a mk3.

The standard for mine (a GT so might be different) are 13" 5.5J with an offset of about 26 I think. But I can safely take them up to 15" 7J and just take the offset to 19. As for the lowering, you will be replacing the suspension and the ride will be smoother, usually you can handle it faster round corners too

can you put up the spinner pics? i cant decide if gay or non gay

They'll look even better with a chrome wrap

not keen - at least you can take them off if you change your mind

Regarding your lowering for insurance just so you know if you lowered and put bigger wheels dependent on sidewall size if the overall ride height is the same because of the bigger wheels, being lowered the insurance cant charge you more for actually being lowered as its still manufacturer ride height. Pointless i know but i had a friend who done it

Graham Norton is more straight than those spinners.

Regarding your lowering for insurance just so you know if you lowered and put bigger wheels dependent on sidewall size if the overall ride height is the same because of the bigger wheels, being lowered the insurance cant charge you more for actually being lowered as its still manufacturer ride height. Pointless i know but i had a friend who done it

A few issues with this, first of all why would you want to put on wheels so big it lifts your lowered car back up? I know changing tyre sizes for the likes of us Polo owners can effect ride height by a few mm but what do you need to do to raise it back up 40mm or more? Also surely the insurance can still charge you as you have fitted 'uprated' suspension on your car? Plus the silly wheels and I'm assuming a horrendous body kit and a bad boy bonnet scoop thing that gives you +500bhp.

Anyway back onto the spinners...how big is the bet? They are quite camp...

Regarding your lowering for insurance just so you know if you lowered and put bigger wheels dependent on sidewall size if the overall ride height is the same because of the bigger wheels, being lowered the insurance cant charge you more for actually being lowered as its still manufacturer ride height. Pointless i know but i had a friend who done it

A few issues with this, first of all why would you want to put on wheels so big it lifts your lowered car back up? I know changing tyre sizes for the likes of us Polo owners can effect ride height by a few mm but what do you need to do to raise it back up 40mm or more? Also surely the insurance can still charge you as you have fitted 'uprated' suspension on your car? Plus the silly wheels and I'm assuming a horrendous body kit and a bad boy bonnet scoop thing that gives you +500bhp.

Anyway back onto the spinners...how big is the bet? They are quite camp...

I'm not saying those big gash wheels to use. I'm saying if you lowered for arguments sake 40mm on 13s with 65 profile but then say put 15s on with 50 profile tyres and your is back to the original ride hide in effect. Which most decent insurers will not charge more. They are charging you more as in their eyes youve lowered it thats racey.its no different because youve spent a little bit more money on some shocks and springs than say your old shocks where oil filled and the new replacement shocks are gas. I'm only telling you what my friend told me and what I'm aware of as good friends with a independent broker.

Edited 25 November, 201411 yr by theLEGENDofBURT

I just measured from the wheel centres to the guard, and they range from between 33cm to 36cm, so I do think some new springs at least are in order (and I also failed the shoe test).

I'm not looking for absolutely massive tyres, and I'd be happy with 14s to be honest. As I understand it the width is the important bit when it comes to performance, and I was told to look for something around 175/185ish... sound right for an 86c? And a high profile means a smoother ride?

Also I'm not that bad as to go for a body kit/scoop/etc, but a little CF never hurt anyone

And a high profile means a smoother ride?

so you want to lower it for better handling and the harder /firmer ride that comes with it

then ruin any gains by fitting fatter tyres ?

higher profile tyres will cancel out any handling improvements the lowering kit would provide

These little Polos never sit perfect anyway, trust me I've had a few.

Like I said in my first post a 60/40 kit would give you a nice height and 175/60/13 tyres on a set of 13s will give you enough grip while keeping the same standard rolling radius. You don't want to change this too much as it will set your speedo well out and if you go a lot bigger acceleration will suffer.

If you go for 14's I'd recommend getting a 185/50/14 tyre on them. They have almost exactly the same rolling radius as standard but if you go for Yoko A539 tyres they look ace and still to this day the best tyres I've ever put on a Polo

If you want to go bigger, 15 inch is really the limit. With them you can go for a 165/50/15, these have a rolling radius 6mm taller than standard but won't effect the speedo reading that much.

These Polos were designed to have little wheels on them, it is a little car after all. I wouldn't vary much from the tyres sizes I've mentioned above as if you go much wider you'll find the steering will become very heavy at low speeds and if you go for a bigger profile you will effect the rolling radius too much which can effect ride height, speedo reading and in my opinion just look crap.

And a high profile means a smoother ride?

so you want to lower it for better handling and the harder /firmer ride that comes with it

then ruin any gains by fitting fatter tyres ?

Oh, bugger. Right, thick with low profiles, and I think I'll go with the 14s and a 60/40 kit.

Now the final question is, alloys or steels?

Aight, so everyone I know is still against me getting it lowered. Even with new springs/dampers/top mounts, they say the differential will break. How much of a risk is this?

very slim to no chance of a 60/40 kit breaking your diff

put it this way i bet theres more lowered mk2 /2f polos than there is stock now

Edited 26 November, 201411 yr by steveo3002

The only issue I have ever had due to lowering a mk2f is killing a short driveshaft.

I was 80mm plus down and the shaft was probably as old as the car (20+ years).

My current GT/G40 is 60mm down, has been for about a year and a half now and no issues have come up due to it being lowered. Done about 5000ish miles in that time.

Look around on here, most mk2f owners have lowered their car and I bet few have had issues because of it.

I fully agree, but my dad still wants me to take it into a VAG dealership and ask for their opinion first

Total waste of time going to a VAG stealership, they will say NO as it will involve fitting non vag parts

Well the G40 was lowered as standard. So they did it themselves. Was only about 20mm but still lowered.

Going to a dealership because your dad wants you to isn't ever going to get you anywhere!

Besides, he lets you go round with those spinners on so he can't have the best judgement.

Edited 27 November, 201411 yr by mbusby993

I fully agree, but my dad still wants me to take it into a VAG dealership and ask for their opinion first

most of the mechanics wont have ever worked on such old cars , plus they will only be able to preach about only fitting vag standard parts , in fairness you cant expect them to say yeah a ebay lowering kit is what we advise you to do when they do sell them or approve them

they have in the past sold eibach lowering kits for later cars - spose you could see if they list anything

If you went to a vag dealership asking for advise on fitting spinners I think it would be the highlight of their week so go for it