lowering springs question???

[dub6n2]

do 6n lowering springs fit on the 6n2 model? and will 60mm lowering springs damage standard shocks? bet it's too much for standard shocks no? thanks

...the springs are KW

[dub6n2]

or maybe -40 OMP springs??

[6N2 GTI 00]

Not sure if the 6N & 6N2 springs are interchangeable but yeah 60mm is far too much for the standard shocks to handle.

40mm should be ok but your still going to reduce the life of the shocks

[dub6n2]

Not sure if the 6N & 6N2 springs are interchangeable but yeah 60mm is far too much for the standard shocks to handle.

40mm should be ok but your still going to reduce the life of the shocks

thanks mate I ll go for -40 then ... does anyone have an OMP springs experience?? cos on some other forums I got the impression that they are s**t :/

[bstardchild]

Not sure if the 6N & 6N2 springs are interchangeable but yeah 60mm is far too much for the standard shocks to handle.

40mm should be ok but your still going to reduce the life of the shocks

I always struggle with statements like that - not wanting to cause offence here just stating a viewpoint

I ran 60/50 lowering on a MKIV for a couple of years on std shocks with no issues or failures - sure it wasn't perfect in terms of ride (to get that you need to get a matched set of dampers and springs) but it was acceptable and certainly not dreadfull - I later went to coilovers but only because it was an opportunity that came along.

I've also run chopped springs on a few cars too also with std dampers and uprated adjuastable dampers had no issues with either.

A damper is a damper and it damps out the spring action - as long as you aren't bottoming or topping out the damper you are unlikely to have issues with the damper units failing thro anything other than old age and general wear and tear.

For handling and ride it's always going to be best to match dampers to springs however if the lowering springs aren't shorter than the avaliable maximum damper stroke (so the springs have an element of spring compression even when the damper is fully extended) then you aren't going to fail an MOT for loose springs.

Bottom line is (with the proviso that you don't have loose springswhen the car is jacked up and you aren't on the bump stops when driving) I can't see any reason at all why lowering springs would cause std damper to fail any quicker than they would with std springs - they are just a damper after all.

[dub6n2]

thanks for the great explanation mate figured out I'll have to go with the -40 springs as lower than that will result in a bottom scraping with the ramp when going down the basement ... I am now more concerned about the brand as OMP aren't that renowned for springs imo

[6N2 GTI 00]

I always struggle with statements like that - not wanting to cause offence here just stating a viewpoint

I ran 60/50 lowering on a MKIV for a couple of years on std shocks with no issues or failures - sure it wasn't perfect in terms of ride (to get that you need to get a matched set of dampers and springs) but it was acceptable and certainly not dreadfull - I later went to coilovers but only because it was an opportunity that came along.

I've also run chopped springs on a few cars too also with std dampers and uprated adjuastable dampers had no issues with either.

A damper is a damper and it damps out the spring action - as long as you aren't bottoming or topping out the damper you are unlikely to have issues with the damper units failing thro anything other than old age and general wear and tear.

For handling and ride it's always going to be best to match dampers to springs however if the lowering springs aren't shorter than the avaliable maximum damper stroke (so the springs have an element of spring compression even when the damper is fully extended) then you aren't going to fail an MOT for loose springs.

Bottom line is (with the proviso that you don't have loose springswhen the car is jacked up and you aren't on the bump stops when driving) I can't see any reason at all why lowering springs would cause std damper to fail any quicker than they would with std springs - they are just a damper after all.

You have made some fair points there and I can’t argue with them however it’s pretty common knowledge that running lowering springs on standard shocks can cause issues. Let’s face it the standard shocks on the Polo are not of great quality and are designed for a certain ride height & damping.

Lowering springs make the ride harsher putting more stress on the shocks and causing them to fail prematurely (especially on British roads)
Performance cars such as your Impreza's, Type R's, Evo's etc already have very high quality shocks as standard and can quite easily handle lowering springs without any issues but a car such as a Polo isn’t designed for performance and that’s reflected in the suspension set-up.

The standard shocks on the GTI are shocking excuse the pun and even if you did drop it on 50mm springs I’m not saying the shocks would just disintegrate but your certainly going to reduce their lifespan on the car. In general if you go for lowering springs of 40mm or more its best to uprate the shocks too.

With better shocks you will also get a better ride quality & improved handling

[bstardchild]

I always struggle with statements like that - not wanting to cause offence here just stating a viewpoint

I ran 60/50 lowering on a MKIV for a couple of years on std shocks with no issues or failures - sure it wasn't perfect in terms of ride (to get that you need to get a matched set of dampers and springs) but it was acceptable and certainly not dreadfull - I later went to coilovers but only because it was an opportunity that came along.

I've also run chopped springs on a few cars too also with std dampers and uprated adjuastable dampers had no issues with either.

A damper is a damper and it damps out the spring action - as long as you aren't bottoming or topping out the damper you are unlikely to have issues with the damper units failing thro anything other than old age and general wear and tear.

For handling and ride it's always going to be best to match dampers to springs however if the lowering springs aren't shorter than the avaliable maximum damper stroke (so the springs have an element of spring compression even when the damper is fully extended) then you aren't going to fail an MOT for loose springs.

Bottom line is (with the proviso that you don't have loose springswhen the car is jacked up and you aren't on the bump stops when driving) I can't see any reason at all why lowering springs would cause std damper to fail any quicker than they would with std springs - they are just a damper after all.

You have made some fair points there and I can’t argue with them however it’s pretty common knowledge that running lowering springs on standard shocks can cause issues. Let’s face it the standard shocks on the Polo are not of great quality and are designed for a certain ride height & damping.

Agree with the quality aspect but designed for a certain ride height and damping I don't agree with - the damping rate is constant accross the range of damper rod movement - where the damper rod sits at normal ride height v its position at a lowered ride height isn't going to change anything at all to the way the damper works or make it leak or fail.

Lowering springs make the ride harsher putting more stress on the shocks and causing them to fail prematurely (especially on British roads)

Again I don't totally agree - springs take the load - shocks provide the damping to control the compression and return of the springs - dampers aren't "stressed" so to speak - if the lowering springs are correctly rated for the car (I'll conceed that a lot of cheap lowering springs are just softer springs that result in a lower ride height) then damper movement should be less if the ride is stiffer - less suspension movement = less damper movement - if cheap soft springs are used then potentially the damper movements could be more and the ride would be choppy that could lead to more damper movement (working them harder) but it's not a huge amount

Performance cars such as your Impreza's, Type R's, Evo's etc already have very high quality shocks as standard and can quite easily handle lowering springs without any issues but a car such as a Polo isn’t designed for performance and that’s reflected in the suspension set-up.

Totally agree - most of the cooking models don't even have roll bars - if you are lowering a Polo you are doing it for looks and without going down the coilover route where dampers are matched to spring rates ride quality is never going to be great - handling may be improved provided spring rate is suitable

The standard shocks on the GTI are shocking excuse the pun and even if you did drop it on 50mm springs I’m not saying the shocks would just disintegrate but your certainly going to reduce their lifespan on the car. In general if you go for lowering springs of 40mm or more its best to uprate the shocks too.

With better shocks you will also get a better ride quality & improved handling

I agree better ride and handling will come with a matched spring damper set up but we aren't going to agree on shortening the lifespan of the std dampers running with lowering springs unless they are topping or bottoming out as that will kill a damper very very quickly

PS not looking for an internet fight - just that it's so commonly banded around that fitting lowering springs with std dampers will result in knacked dampers in double quick time - my experience says it won't be brilliant on the handling perspective - ride might be choppy / underdamped etc etc but as long as you are't on the bump stops there is no reason that the dampers will fail quickly

[alex-m-21-07]

Spent a long time deciding on which way to go when lowering my 6N2, went with -40mm Weitec on standard shocks. Agree with bstardchild; improvement in ride height, useable over speed humps, generally OK on ride - some surfaces feel underdamped as you feel some bounce, minimised roll generally. Didn't uprate shocks due to budget and the fact whilst 10 years old they'd only done 30'000 miles!

Some pics - before


and after



Photos don't show it well, but you can see difference between sill line & wheel centre.

[bstardchild]

Spent a long time deciding on which way to go when lowering my 6N2, went with -40mm Weitec on standard shocks. Agree with bstardchild; improvement in ride height, useable over speed humps, generally OK on ride - some surfaces feel underdamped as you feel some bounce, minimised roll generally. Didn't uprate shocks due to budget and the fact whilst 10 years old they'd only done 30'000 miles!

Nice to hear someone with similar experiences - thanks for taking the time to post

[dub6n2]

thanks all for your help mates =) I should be collecting a set today form a guy. They where on a golf mk3 but he claimed that they fit the 6n2 no problem!! is this true cos I don't want to finish up with a set of useless springs :/ ?? and will it still lower by -40mm as on the golf or less because the polo is lighter??... quick replies highly appreciated cos I only have till 3 in the evening to collect :/ thanks