Going back to standard ride height

verbal_kint

Active Member
Apr 15, 2010
639
31
North West Kent
Fitted Vogtland sports dampers and springs (30mm) all around but really fed up with the subframe grounding.

Everything else about them the set-up has been superb. Very comfortable for most normal rides and I love the feeling like it's stuck on rails going around roundabouts etc.

I'm thinking of keeping the dampers as only a few months old and putting standard springs back on.

Will Sachs springs be Ok? I can't find any other apart from Lesofors out there that are not lowered.

I have a 23mm front arb fitted and will look at putting a rear arb on over the summer.

Any other suggestions to improve handling when at normal ride?
 

irf

Feb 5, 2014
583
1
Don't know about standard ride but definetly agree with all the recommendations on this forum for adding a rear anti roll bar.

I'm going the other way to you in that I've had the rear for a while but will be adding a golf r32 front in the next couple of weeks.
 

19jeff89

Active Member
Oct 20, 2016
67
0
ive just done some work on mine bily b6s with sachs springs new top mounts wishbone bushes and rear axle bushes plus 4 goodyears and the ride is spot on and very quiet no crashy ride but firmer with the b6s plus havent caught my undertray yet lol
 

verbal_kint

Active Member
Apr 15, 2010
639
31
North West Kent
I replaced all the top mounts, wishbones and rear bushes last summer and put 4 Avons on.

So if you've got the B6's with standard Sachs then I should be good to go. It would be nice to get the undertray back on.

My car is my daily workhorse and navigating easily 20 speed bumps every day is no fun.

Along with the rear ARB, is it worth using upper braces as well?
 

19jeff89

Active Member
Oct 20, 2016
67
0
ye mines my daily aswell and had no probs with sachs standards i havent put a upper brace on mine not really sure what the difference is just got put off knowing ive got to drill into the turrets to fit front upper brace, ive had no probs with speed bumps either. ive got a rear arb which made a big difference in handling
 

markrich

Active Member
Sep 16, 2012
249
0
Stoke
The dampers are made to work with 30mm lower springs and so forth have a shorter internal travel so I would of thought they would not work the same with higher stanard springs I can rember a few years back on a focus st forum some one did this with a set of spax and it wrecked the dampers my mate has the same kit as you and two of is dampers haven't lasted very long they need replacing
But as I can remember they were list for cupra not an R due to something do with the fitment but he got them any way
 
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mty12345

Active Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,771
476
bristol
If you're going back to standard springs then i would of thought the damping rates on the uprated dampers would be mismatched? I'm by no means an expert on suspension though, so maybe it will be fine.
 
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Muttley

Catch that diesel!
Mar 17, 2006
4,987
31
North Kent
30mm is a long way down for a TDI. The Sport suspension I had on my TDI 150 is 15mm down, but gets its handling improvements from stiffer ARB's front and back and stiffer springs with shocks to match.

I would go back to standard ride height or maybe 10mm down, but with stiffer springs and shocks.
 

verbal_kint

Active Member
Apr 15, 2010
639
31
North West Kent
Queried with Vogtland and have to give them due credit for replying very fast.

They confirm the shocks will be good with standard springs. Ordered up some Bilstein standard height springs, actually cheaper than ECP and GSF's offerings.

Trying to research rear arbs and seems that ride comfort may be affected and increasingly so as the bar gets thicker.
 

Muttley

Catch that diesel!
Mar 17, 2006
4,987
31
North Kent
The rear ARB is built into the axle body and can't be changed without replacing the whole thing. You can add on aftermarket rear ARB's to get extra roll stiffness. Your PD130 will have the standard suspension, not Sports, and so extra roll stiffness front and rear is a good thing to add.

When I had a PD150 Toledo 2, the difference that the Sports suspension made was a revelation.
 

verbal_kint

Active Member
Apr 15, 2010
639
31
North West Kent
The rear ARB is built into the axle body and can't be changed without replacing the whole thing. You can add on aftermarket rear ARB's to get extra roll stiffness. Your PD130 will have the standard suspension, not Sports, and so extra roll stiffness front and rear is a good thing to add.

When I had a PD150 Toledo 2, the difference that the Sports suspension made was a revelation.

I understand about the existing rear arb arrangement, spent enough time last summer cleaning and hammeriting the whole axle up after replacing the bushes. That's a job I can do without repeating any time soon.

It seems the overiding vote is to go with the rear arb so who am I to argue!

The Vogtlands seem tight and hoping that the bilstein springs will also add firmness.

Looking at getting the Eibach kit which is 25mm bars front and back, but think I'll stick with the existing front arb until the time comes to replace the bushes at the front again.

Annoyingly it's hard to find the Eibach rear sold on its own.

That's an early hours reply Muttley, night shift?
 
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