Some of this may not apply to you guys... like the shine real street setup... to give sme background though... it only lowers the front 3/8ths of an inch and the rear a full inch... which gives the car that 'load of bricks in the hatch' look. I know my car isnt a TT... but the platform is basically the same. Mostly I just want opinions on the ride, handling, etc... the front swaybar issue wont apply to you guys either I dont think (maybe 180 fwd'ers) so.. please read all the way through and respond!

The shine real street handling/ride promises were appealing... but NOT the ride height. No matter how many times I tried to tell myself to get past the height I couldnt... especially when picturing that front gap with 18" rims!!

My other choice was a set of coilovers.... Now i've heard that the pss and pss9 kits have some issues with ride harshness and bounciness (I cant STAND cars that get bouncy over bumps....) and the rear clunking so those i've somewhat shied away from... (this may not apply on TT's... but on the MKIV GTI they are having quite a few problems)

but I've heard nothing but good about H&R's... that they handle excellent and the ride is very smooth and comfortable even for being as stiff as they are. So H&R seems to be my next choice. My only beef with the H&R's is that I really only wanted about 1.5"s of lowering... because I want to run larger 235/40 18s. I'm not sure the H&R's would work with the extra sidewall?

There seems to be some issues with how far the H&R's actually lower the car? I hear 1.8"s is the starting drop.... but then I see people who have them at 1.5 and even 1.12 inch drops?? can someone clear this up please??

Also... all you people with H&R coilovers I want your opinions on the handling, the ride (they arnt bouncy are they??? please say no!) the ride height, the comfort... etc. What kind of drop are you running?? Do you ever have problems bottoming out at speed?? bottoming out on the tops of the tires? ( I had that problem with my mustang.... enough to dent my fenders up and crack the paint ) do you ever get any rubbing??

Another question I had is about the front swaybar... How low can you go before you have to replace it? Or do you need to replace it with the H&R's anyways? Is the front bar larger than stock or the same diameter?

And one last question... where is the best/cheapest place to get the H&R coilovers?

thanks and please respond! long in depth discussion is welcome
_______

 

Without the true rear independent suspension - coilovers are only necessary if you want to be able to adjust your car's height all the time. The Bilstein Sport/H&R sport setup with a neuspeed rear bar and both upper and lower strut tower bars is a great street setup. Get the 25mm rear bar is you want neutral handling with progressive lift throttle oversteer. Get the 28mm rear bar is you want less progressive - snap all at once oversteer.

If you want a bigger drop - go with the H&R Cup kit and the 22mm front sway bar. The front bar is SMALLER - stock is 23mm and you do not want a larger front bar. Anytime you lower the car more than 1.5 inches - you need to change the front swaybar. To do so requires dropping the front subframe. You will need to replace ALL the front subframe bolts and they are "use once" stretch bolts.

email me if you want to discuss this in more detail.

 

rasTTa makes very good points. My son has a 2000 GTI (VR6) with the full Eibach ProKit spring/Pro damper/swaybar packages. In spite of no height adjustment, the stance is great. He used 225/45-17's on 7.5 wide wheels.

The two of us installed the complete package. Front swaybar install(on VR6) is the trickiest. Yes it's not stiffer than stock. The large rear bar, along with the spring and damper calibrations really does the job for handling. He's won 4 of 4 autocrosses in his class and overall PAX winner in 2 of those 4. IMO, with good tires (730's did all the Auto-x winning as well as street driving in summer), this is a great package. All the stuff is available from TireRack for $1088 + shipping. The stuff is first rate, has run for 25000 miles without problems. I very strongly advise doing all three together: don't mix and match bits whatever you do.

It transforms the car.

We don't have digital pics, but he has pics I could send you to see the height.

My $.02<ul><li><a href="http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/Susptabl.jsp?autoMake=Volkswagen&autoModel=GTi+GLS +1.8T&autoYear=2001">http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/Susptabl.jsp?autoMake=Volkswagen&autoModel=GTi+GLS +1.8T&autoYear=2001</a</li></ul>

 

MKI springs is what I've got...took some figuring to get that one. MKIII is current "state of the art"
So mine are at the top of the adj. at this pt. a stock TT is 26.5" ground to center of fender-well, and mine's at 25.25" or so. YMMV as this is not the best way to measure (tires/pressure and general inaccuracy due to the way they're measured).
As to ride, no bounciness at all, firm would be how I'd describe it...oh and Col Bogey pointed out that the TT is best set with the front 1/4" down from the rear (air under the car at speed is bad
g'luck,
Dale

 

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/5426/dropped_side_view.jpg"></center><p>But..the ride height is just about as you describe...Rear is squatting way down on my 255's...But is sitting high at the front, probably 1 1/4 inch off the rubber.

I am thinking of getting 5mm spacers for the front to allow the PSS9's to be adjusted lower without fear of tire interference and maybe even throwing some 10,, drop hats into the mix just to acheive the look I want.

Marcus

 

there are several people who have had problems with the spring coming in contact with the subframe at the point it connects with the upper part of the spring perch. We don't have this problem with the haldex rear suspension since the perch has nothing around it.

 

that would be great!

 

the ride is how the car should have come stock IMHO. $1080+shiping from tirerack. I don't know if I'm selling mine with my car or by itself. I have to sell in the next month. E-mail me at bretbauer@hotmail.com and i'll write more on the kit for you.<ul><li><a href="http://www.geocities.com/bauerfund/GTI.html">http://www.geocities.com/bauerfund/GTI.html</a</li></ul>

 

I've had prokits on my car for YEARS now... almost 8 years and I love them to death... but on a mustang they give a really nice drop (2" front 1.75 rear")

I've talked to alot of people on vortex now about the H&R's and not a single bad word spoken yet... about the ride, handling or quality. So I think i've bout made my decision!!!

I do plan on having the car corner weighted... I have a real suspension wiz here locally with scales who will do it for free

BTW his(or your... ?? heh... who's posting here?) car looks beautifull!!! does he (you) post on vortex?? if so whats his(your) forum name?? I've got a 'readers rides' going and would love those pics to be on there if you can give me a username

 

He's my son and is selling off the GTI.

He just bought a cherry 2000 Camaro SS yesterday. Yeah, I know that VW folks will think he's gone over to the enemy. Power corrupts and the 320++hp of the LS1 is too strong a draw. He also likes my C5.

Good luck with the 2 in drop. There are some vulnerable things hanging down in front of the wheels...especially on a VR. Oil pans seem to be the first thing to hit.

BTW: His degree is in film and photography. Those are prints which he scanned with our Canon 3-in-one. I don't know how to do that, but they came out ok.