illsw

Hi all, I am a newbie here and don't know much about mechanics. I have a 03 B6 1.8T CVT with stock suspension; however, I found the car sway too much, even on staight road. I am looking for a way to limit the sway but not in the race or really sporty fashion. Can I change the spring to lower spring and use the stock damper? With this setting, will there be any negative effect on the parts, such as will it wear out the damper?
Thank you so much

JsprZ

Just getting lower springs will cause your stock damper (shocks) to wear out faster just like you said. See if you can find someone on here who's selling their 1.8T sport springs and shocks. If you are trying to save money, you might want to consider just getting a set of H-sport sway bars. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that'll make the biggest difference in reducing the swaying (lateral body movement) while maintaining your current ride comfort.

illsw

Wear out faster?(Is that mean the damper will wear out anyway even with the stock spring?) How fast and why will it wear out?
How can I know and what will happen if the damper wear out?
Thank you

heateris

there's lots of good options, h-sport, koni, eibach, H&R, tien, staisis, etc. use the search function here and audizine. you'll find TONS of info...

akula-ssh

If by sway you mean you think your car's floaty, try upgrading just the shocks so long as you don't mind the ride height.

DWP

And if it is leaning too much in the tunrs, sway bars are teh answer

JsprZ

How fast depends on the road conditions you drive on.
Basically, the stock shocks were made for the softer stock springs. So if you get stiffer springs, the car will oscillate at higher frequencies, resulting in unusual wear b/c the valves in the shocks were designed for lower frequencies.
If you need more technical information, find out how shocks are made.

Uptown

What you are describing on straight roads would not be what I would call sway. The car feeling soft or mushy on a straight road is a combination of a higher center of gravity from the stock springs plus weaker dampening of the bumps by your shocks, assuming some bumps in the road. The more solid feel you are looking for would be possible with stiffer springs which would also lower the car and give a lower center of gravity for additional stability. Body roll in corners would be corrected with sway bars.

When you hit the brakes hard, the initial dive is lessened by shock dampening, then the springs keep the car stable or more solid feeling.

If you want a more solid feel buy the shocks and springs from a sport suspension someone has upgraded. It will greatly improve the feel you have now and be pretty reasonable.