Thanks Owain.

Its probably in the FAQ but its taken me till now to even realise the back is torsion bar and not spring,

Ok i will probably do as you have done and get the front sorted pronto.

I think 40mm lowered at the front looks just right. And is it considered good for handling and comfort?

Im hearing Bilstein B8's and eibach springs being thrown around alot?

Wheres the cheapest place to get these parts - eurocarparts?

Cheers

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''Oh, it does handle like a golf!'' Why drive a Golf....when you can drive a GTi-6?

Haha, nice try!

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''Oh, it does handle like a golf!'' Why drive a Golf....when you can drive a GTi-6?

Avo not such a great kit then?

Laughable they are charging you to fix their w*nky spring which could have damaged your car quite badly!

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''Oh, it does handle like a golf!'' Why drive a Golf....when you can drive a GTi-6?

Well this is another thing to consider - you could spend less money on a cheap setup that can break/corrode/disappoint or spend more upfront and have a kit you can enjoy properly then take off and sell on when you get rid of the car if you need the money back.

I think my KW kit is 40mm lowered at the front, and I think that looks spot on. Handling will be much improved, and with a lower car you can get away with 195/50/15 tyres, which seem to be significantly cheaper than the standard /55 profiles

O.

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Yeah I finally got round to doing the back, I bought another beam second hand, reconditioned and lowered it then put it on as a whole. And yes, I replaced the rear dampers with KW ones while I was there.

The only picture I've got at the moment is on my build thread at the bottom which is the car at Woodbridge. Bear in mind it's on a corner so it's a little lower than normal, but that's 40mm or thereabouts

I wouldn't fuss too much about 30 or 40mm to be honest, the two sides of a car can differ by up to 10mm or so anyway. The rear can't be set to the millimetre either as it's defined by where the splines line up on the torsion bars. I bet if I go my car on a flat surface and measured the arch heights all round there'd be at least 10mm difference anyway...

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No I don't think it's as large a gap as that, I think about 5mm steps or thereabouts. I may be wrong, it happens a lot

Lowering a car will always improve the handling due to a lower centre of gravity, but cheap springs and dampers can ruin it again. Lower weight is one thing, you still need good dampers and springs to match else you'll have poor grip on bumpy surfaces at speed - it's down to your dampers and springs to make sure your wheels get back down to the floor after a bump in the road.

As ever, it's a compromise - softer dampers are more comfortable, harder ones make for a harsher ride but you'll have much better grip.

People tend to think of tyres when grip's concerned but I'd say it's actually *more* down to the suspension. My mate's evo felt crapyourpants unsafe on Tein's, yet stuck like shit to a blanket on KWs. It's about reading up, studying people's opinions and then going with it - don't be the guy who decides to try and be clever and go for something else, just to find someone else has trodden that world of pain before you

Just to throw another spanner into the works, there is also no single answer to what you're after. What will you using the car for? Do you do trackdays, "fast road" or do you literally just want it lowered to impress the laydeez?

O.

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Righty ho, if you're just looking to lower it then yes, you're spot on. Fronts you'll be needing springs and dampers, rears just the dampers.

As for which ones though I won't be any good I'm afraid, I've only ever used KW on mine. It's a case of searching on here and reading pretty much every thread you find. Expect to lose at least 2-3 hours of your life

I did have Eibach springs on my old car, and was very impressed by them.

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30 mm drop at the front, on standard dampers, with a 30mm drop and 21mm torsion bars from a 306 estate on the rear. You can upgrade the dampers later if you are flush, until then you will have a cheap, relatively easy to get setup that really will work. If you can combine it with some B8s up front and some 205 grpN tarmac rally dampers at the rear you will really have a very sensible setup that will eat up B road miles and still hold its own on a trackday.

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R H Davey Welding Supplies. I sell new and used welding equipment in the Hampshire area. I take on welding jobs in the evenings, ally casting repairs are one of my specialities but I can weld pretty much anything. PM me with your requirements.

Some of my services: (See my for sale threads)
Engine mount/chassis repair
Solid Beam Mounts BACK IN PRODUCTION
Harness bars

The car is too soft at the rear already, fitting harder, lower springs at the front is helpful to handling. But, you need to do the same at the rear to maintain balance. To that end fitting bigger diameter torsion bars will increase rear end stifness in line with the front so you don't end up with the car pitching up and down at the rear and reacting totally differently to bumps than the front of the car. In order to get a cohesive suspension package that works you must aproach it as a whole. As standard I think the 6 has 19 or 20mm bars, that extra mm or so seems like nothing but it actually makes something like a 25% increase in stifness (Phillip M will be along shortly to tell me to the nearest .000001 of a % how close my estimate was)

This was the exact setup I ran on my Rally for ages and it really was a very good setup for very little outlay. I think I got yhe bars for £120 (New, you could find second hand ones but I'm not patient) and I think I found some really decent Eibach 30mm drop springs for around £60 (Second hand of course, more like £100 new)

Uprate the dampers later when you can afford it, the car will not be drasticly under-damped with the above parts fitted and you will still have good compliance for wet grip and with uprated rear bars you can carry fat passengers and luggage in the boot without worrying about bottoming out on every bump and compression.

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R H Davey Welding Supplies. I sell new and used welding equipment in the Hampshire area. I take on welding jobs in the evenings, ally casting repairs are one of my specialities but I can weld pretty much anything. PM me with your requirements.

Some of my services: (See my for sale threads)
Engine mount/chassis repair
Solid Beam Mounts BACK IN PRODUCTION
Harness bars

Keep and eye on the for sale section on here, plenty of people have upgraded to coilies so there are often used dampers up for grabs. Place a request in the Wanted section too for more chance of success. As for new, Euro Car Parts, GSF, etc. Do a few comparrisons against each other.

________________________________________

R H Davey Welding Supplies. I sell new and used welding equipment in the Hampshire area. I take on welding jobs in the evenings, ally casting repairs are one of my specialities but I can weld pretty much anything. PM me with your requirements.

Some of my services: (See my for sale threads)
Engine mount/chassis repair
Solid Beam Mounts BACK IN PRODUCTION
Harness bars