hey guys,

i'm so fed up with the poor set up of the standard suspension and i wanna make my car handle better. i've got a mk4 8v and i'm trying to decide either to get coilies or shocks and springs. i know with coilies you can go lower, that don't bother me, but which will improve the handling?

i was looking at the £200 phil j coilovers but i've read a few people have had issues with them seizing etc. what do you guys reckon? are any of you running the ta technix coilies from phil j on a 6n? is there a noticable difference in the way the car feels?

also, i've recently got myself a set of 15" bbs rx2's. was thinking of getting some toyo t1r's, are they any good? or is there a better tyre for the money? :)

thanks

Edited 25 January, 200818 yr by emuni

fitting coilies wil definatly make the suspension stiffer and boucier, it makes you feel the car is safer if nothing else.

then coilies which sieze will last alot longer if people look after them but yes they wil sieze eventually. if youve got the budget go all the way.

I've jus bought the spring and shock kit. and its awesome. collies need maintaning from time to time. with the springs once you got them on the car you are fine. the handling is fab its gripping the road on every turn

cheers for the quick replies!

polomon -

your car looks pretty low in that pic, what are you using?

saju-

what kit did you get? the phil j one??

i was thinking of getting the £200 kit, is it worth spending £500 on coilies? will it make a difference if i keep em maintained?

or would i be better spending £200 - £250 on a set of shocks and springs?

thanks

Edited 25 January, 200818 yr by emuni

I've had the cheap kits philj does in the past atm I've got a set that arent from phil but are near enough exactly the same as that he sells. and they were fine clean them when you wash the car and take the whels of and move them abit in winter and that an dyou will be fine.

i did have kw's which i had to sell due to someone not likeing coilies but they were great! I'm glad i payed what i did for them i couldnt fault them.

Edited 25 January, 200818 yr by POLOMON

i bought the 60mm spring and shock kit for £120

yea it was from phil j

i bought the shocks and springs....and for the love of god wish i had bought coilovers, shocks n springs, at some stage you will regret buyin em and want coilovers.....look after em and you can change the height as you please. so if you change your wheels can get the right height to match

so, reliability aside, would you say there's much difference in the feel and handling between shocks and coilies?

thanks Neil, did you get the phil j shocks? why didn't you like them??

hmm, coilovers will be better handing, but doubt you will notice the difference pottering around town and the odd country mile....they are stiff tho!!

my suspension does my head in when you come across a bad quality road

what is the point of lowering your car just the way you want. then in the future I'm wanna lower some more so repeating again by taking the collies out and adjusting them

yes they were the philj ones

just for the extra money would have bought the fully adjustable coilovers...thats just me lol

what is the point of lowering your car just the way you want. then in the future I'm wanna lower some more so repeating again by taking the collies out and adjusting them

who said you had to take them out????

wheel off, get you coilover spanner and change it....not difficult

some people like to change the height regularly, new wheels, adjust the height.

are the phil j coilies not fully adjustable then?

yes they are, 100mm+ adjustment

am just on bout paying the difference of 120 for the shocks and springs when for a extra 100 quid i could have got coilovers...

useless info..... i bought the 40/40 kit, dint think it were low enough, so i had to buy all new springs and adjust the rears (cos the shocks and springs hav adjustable rears) so now it sits 60/60

if i had bought coilovers in the 1st place, all that wouldn't have been a problem

neil when you ordered the philj kt did you receive and instruction with it??

neil when you ordered the philj kt did you receive and instruction with it??

lol, u dont no, you get shocks and springs, no way of knowing how they should fit on....they just replace the standard ones really so a haynes manual is really usefull.....

mk4's are rate easy compared to my mk3...mk3's you have to take the whole front strut off, mk4's its 2 bolts at bottom and one at the top as far as i can remember.

rears, me never touching them before did one side in 20mins

the way coilovers look is pretty much the same as you standard strut but with a thread running through the middle. there made to fit your car when you buy them

Edited 25 January, 200818 yr by neil_dubgt

so would you say phil j's coilovers would make the car handle better than spending £200 - £250 on shocks and springs?

i'm wondering how people rate the toyo t1-r's aswell, anyone using them now?

yes, most coilovers are loads better than shocks and springs. but it depends weather u think you guna benefit from the handling differences, ad buy coilovers for the adjustability....

the handling will be spot on with either one u buy

i've had my coilovers about a year now and they're the phil j ones and had no problems with them, just smothered them in grease when i put them on (threads etc not actual shocks) and they've been fine!

I bought springs and whacked them on my standard shocks and the ride quality was bollocks, whether putting them on proper shocks makes it better i don't know but they were way too bouncy and crashy when the roads were bumpy, however now on FK silverline coilovers rides nice and low and the ride quality is just brilliant its firm but still retains a fair bit of comfort! I'd save up a bit for some nice coilovers its such an important bit of your car you may as well save up and make a good job of it you'll feel the dogs bollocks when you know your riding on a good set of coilovers!

thanks for all the replies!

ok looks like i'm getting coilovers! just gotta decide which ones...

well you pay for what you get really so if you have the money for some expensive ones get them if not get teh cheaper ones theres nothing wrong with the cheaper ones thye just arent damping adjustable and the like but they are fine for me.