my parents keep asking me what i want for christmas, and i thought, what a better present than lowering the polo down a bit.

so.... i was thinking 30mm for starters or possibly 50mm (shortened shockers were recomended for this), and i just want some feedback. i.e - will i get any problems with this? any rubbing? preblems with speedbumps?

I'm not quite sure myself

Edited 27 November, 200718 yr by danielpasieka

my parents keep asking me what i want for christmas, and i thought, what a better present than lowering the polo down a bit.

so.... i was thinking 30mm for starters, and i just want some feedback. i.e - will i get any problems with this? any rubbing? preblems with speedbumps?

I'm not quite sure myself

help us abit

what size wheels you got on it bro?

if you want a proper drop, then get coil over's.... and yes u will get problems with speedhumps with a big drop, but its worth it :]

oops sorry... 16s , standard suspension at the moment, 5 door (dunno if that makes a difference)

so what difference would i get from coilovers compared to springs? apart from the huge difference in price

i came across these coilovers:

FK Automotive Highsport Coilovers

+ Massive lowering with on–car height adjustment

+ Fixed motorsport tuned dampening rate

+ Zinc Plated for protection against road salts

+ FREE Protective Aerosol and C–Spanners

£365

Edited 27 November, 200718 yr by danielpasieka

springs go for normal & i suppose practical drop.

coilovers go for excessive drop.

on my 6n2 i have 17s, lowered 50mm on springs. just about right, but smaller wheels require more drop to look right!!!

Edited 27 November, 200718 yr by scottpolo2001

am i right in saying that with coilovers i can highten or lower as and when i please? as many times as i want? or am i getting the wrong idea here

yes you can

so really i am much better off splashing out the extra cash. could well be an investment, plus it means if its too low i can heighten it... or if its too high i can lower it..

correct.

altho you wont get much of a drop on 16s without problems id say.

but your call.

& if you do some archwork you can drop it big!

howcome? will it rub on the arches or what?

if you go for a big drop yes!

if you want to go for a big drop, go for coilovers & get your arches rolled.

here is my pic, 17s lowered 50mm

look carefully.

altho it will sit lower if you have heavy sound equipment in!

bare that in mind!

One important factor everyone has over looked with the 9n. When lowering a 9n by a fair bit your anti-roll bar will rub against your drive shafts causing all sorts of issues. Three options:

1) Don't lower it too far...

2) Buy an uprated ARB...apprently there is a company white line that make them? Difficult to get a hold of from what I hear.

3) Remove the ARB and let the stiffer suspension control body roll.

It's just something to bare in mind...there may be other ways of getting around the problem. It only really applies if you want to get the car real low...you might have no problems if you just eliminate the arch gap. Coilovers are a good option wether you want to go really low or just 30-40mm.

One important factor everyone has over looked with the 9n. When lowering a 9n by a fair bit your anti-roll bar will rub against your drive shafts causing all sorts of issues. Three options:

1) Don't lower it too far...

2) Buy an uprated ARB...apprently there is a company white line that make them? Difficult to get a hold of from what I hear.

3) Remove the ARB and let the stiffer suspension control body roll.

It's just something to bare in mind...there may be other ways of getting around the problem. It only really applies if you want to get the car real low...you might have no problems if you just eliminate the arch gap. Coilovers are a good option wether you want to go really low or just 30-40mm.

Correct. No there's no other way around it! Buy an ARB for a big drop. I had my 9n sitting 85mm on the front and OH my gosh what a bitch it was. All sorts of problems.

Did you manage to source another ARB?

We went for option 3) I removed Pidge's ARB with an angle grinder (wasn't going to take the subframe off at 10PM in the dark)...the reason behind this being the ARB is there to stop body roll on cars with soft suspensions. Thus you get a nice comfy ride and good body control. Well Pidge went and fitted hard as fook coilovers, thus little or no body roll. Whipped the ARB off and the springs seem firm enough to keep everything in check. It might not be the best ballanced/handling car now...but you'd have to push it awfully hard to noticed it was there...if at all.

Edited 27 November, 200718 yr by Tav

you wont need arch work on a 9n if your going down 60-70mm on 17s sayin that depends on your tyres

Ste

If you want lowering springs plain and simple 30mm max without shortened shockers anything lower you need the shockers or its an MOT fail and a rattle that will put you off driving the thing for life!!! Coilys for anything lower then 60mm but as said before bare in mind the ARB!!!! its an extremely extremely difficult thing to consider because there's whether to declare it to insurance company when you've done it!! Trust me they don't want to know you once you've lowered it!! Mine is 17's and lowered by 50mm with just lowering springs and shortened shockers. Its a right idiot to sort out but definately worth it in the long run the car looks so much different and listen to the comments roll in!

i have found coilovers that have taken my fancy 'FK Automotive Silverline Coilovers' anyone know about these?

Yes these are the ones we fitted to pidges car. They seem to be good quality. Not sure how they are standing up to wear and tear...not looked at them since. Ride is ok...quite firm but not painfully so.

yeah same ones as pidge has, drop is pretty decent on 16x8 wheels. No scrubbing whatsoever.

Ride isnt uncomfortable either, i would say that as i drive a mk3 haha!

Yep thats what I've got on mine. I cant say I've had any problems with mine. Ride can be a tad on the firm side on a reallly bumpy road but the way it goes round corners now its worth putting up with. Again the drop youll get away with is dependant on tyre sizes and wheels offsets but unless your running 8s with balloon tyres youll be reet

Scottpolo2001, 'altho you wont get much of a drop on 16s without problems id say' 9N's are a completely different kettle of fish to 6n2's and I'm sorry if this sounds harsh but seriously I dont know how you worked out that you wont get much of a drop on 16s. 9N arches are MAHOOOSIVE so much so that i managed to fit 17x8.5s at the front and 17x9.5's on the rear of mine without TOO much scrubbing. Any scrubbing there was was caused by me having my coilovers all the way down which a simple 5 minute adjustment job sorted!

Edited 28 November, 200718 yr by Pidge87

thanks for the feedback. i think these will be getting bought then! XD

my dad is also gonna try and source out an ARB for me

also.. just thought i would add that its my 18th birthday today (wednesday)

Edited 28 November, 200718 yr by danielpasieka

Happy birthday and good luck with the lowering

thanks for the feedback. i think these will be getting bought then! XD

my dad is also gonna try and source out an ARB for me

also.. just thought i would add that its my 18th birthday today (wednesday)

Happy Birthday mate :)

Just a quick bit of info for you about the ARB. It is made by an australian company called Whiteline

http://www.whitelineautomotive.co.uk/

Their main UK distributer is based in Fife or Falkirk (cant remember which) and you should be able to phone them up direct and theyll sort you out as they are really helpfull! The design of their ARB has flat sections in place of the normal hoops which makes the bar go under your driveshafts giving the necessary clearance

You will probably need to get a new set of drop links from them aswell but dont quote me on that as I'm not 100% sure. The ARB costs ~£113 and youll need a garage to fit it properly as your subframe needs dropping (you could do it yourself but its a bit of a pain in the hooper

Oh the part number youll need is:

Swaybar-h/duty Blade adjustable BWF18Z R 2 22mm

or

Swaybar-heavy duty BWF18 R 2 22mm

and the drop links

Swaybar link kit-spherical rod end KLC063 2 adj extra h/duty

Hope all that helps and let us know how you get on with whiteline as I may invest in one in the new year :)

THANKS!

handy that seeing as i live in fife

EDIT: i just checked on their website.. turns out that not only are they situated in fife.. they are situated less than two minutes walk from my house and one of their main dealers dastek is also just along the road..

as for you pidge, i scoped out a couple of automotive main dealers near your way, so you should be able to just go to them to get the parts sent up:

wallace performance

Address: Unit 17 , Murcar Commercial Park , Bridge of Don , Aberdeenshire . AB23 8JW

Tel: 01224 708444 Fax: 01224 708333

Brian Downie Car Sales

Address: 29 Station Road , Kemnay , Inverurie , Aberdeenshire . AB51 5RB

Tel: 01467 643546 Fax:

Email: sales@briandowniecarsales.co.uk Web: www.briandowniecarsales.co.uk

Edited 28 November, 200718 yr by danielpasieka