Suspention upgrade and bigger wheels... HOW?

[Torchd]

erdmankw...

Thanks for the details..

I dont think I wana lower it at all. I am using everything stock at the moment. And I have poor road conditions in my country, I want it to have a little harder suspension so that when I go 15/16 rim the tires dont rub on every bump. I also wana get rid of the body roll.

Droping a little bit wont hurt but definately not 60/40 thats too much for here. So can you suggest according to this?

I wudn't mind get a nice cheap complete kit including springs and absorbers.

cheers!

[erdmankw]

to take care of the body roll i would highly recommend a rear sway bar... i know it doesn't sound right but the best bang for your buck on getting rid of body roll. as for stiffening it up a bit i would start with struts... take your pick theirs a ton out there. billstein hd's are probably on the stiffest end for both your car and your wallet. then for springs you could stay stock and not have to mess with alignment or any of the nuspeed springs don't have a lot of drop. i think the softsports are less than an inch of drop. probably wouldn't really effect your camber that much.

speaking of camber in regards to the question. when i lowered my GTI My alignment wasn't that far off. I drove it to the shop. i did use camber bolts $40. the only part of alignment that got messed up bad was the toe due to the fact that the geometry changed for the steering rack.

[Torchd]

Hmm.... By struts you mean only the front ones or the rear ones as well?

If I stay with stock springs... will I have to change absorbers to achieve what I want?

What kinda a harm does a wrong camber do? Extra tire wear??

Will I be able to go 16's with what you have suggested?

Thanks.

[erdmankw]

sorry I didn't clarify yes by struts I meant all four.

if your looking for the best possible handling with stock springs i would upgrade all four struts and shocks, use stock springs and add a rear sway bar.           to do it on the cheap.

to go from there I would add a better spring with maybe an inch or so of drop. and change out your bushings. especially the front control arm bushings ( use TT bushings and polyurethane for the front bushings) to add lateral stiffness. I think you can get the bushings for the control arms for under $50

if your not dropping it it shouldn't mess up the camber. When I installed my 60/40 on the GTI i used camber bolts to correct it... no problems since. i would say an inch or two of drop you wouldn't need to correct the camber.... and yes bad camber leads to more tire wear and can be hard on wheel bearings as well.

16's should not be a problem on this setup it will just have to be a lo-pro tire.

[Torchd]

Arite. Understood.

I think i wana drop it an inch or so.

What advantages to the yellow sports springs from many manufacturers give over the stock ones.

And similarly what advantages to the yellow absorbers give over the stock ones.

Does dropping entirely depends on springs? or does it have to do anything with absorbers too?

I already plan to use polyU bushing EVERYWHERE... I saw a complete kit for like 120$ which included each and every rubber component.

Thanks.

[erdmankw]

DO NOT USE POLLY ON THE rear mount of the front CONTROL ARM. they will work for about 5000 miles and wear out. everywhere else is fine. those ones use the bushings for an audi TT/R32 $44 from MJM Autohaus for the whole set of 4. thats all you really need to change unless other bushings are bad.

[kaneb]

A 1.5" drop with a nice cup kit(won't sacrafice ride comfort) And some 16" wheels with a 45 profile tire i think would be good.  Get rid of your body roll and if you want more stiffness less body roll start looking into anti-sway bars.  

Kane.