Opinions on lowering springs

[loz]

Ok so at the end of next month I'm planning on fitting a set of lowering springs and I've narrowed them down to the h & r lowering springs 25/40 or the approved vw springs by eibach 25-30 all round, seen plenty of piccys of both just wanted to see if anyone has any opinions on the ride quality of both, want it to look and corner a bit better, I'm currently on a set of 16's the knight vw alloys, possibly get a set of 17's in future. Not interested in low low I want to try and keep it oem looking

Benefits of h & r would be lower at the back and get rid of that ridiculous gap at the back
Benefits of the vw approved springs would be warranty, I have a year left

I live in London atm and some of the roads round here are pretty shocking

Thoughts?

[Pearls]

My experience of Eibach lowering springs on my previous 1.2 TSI R-line was that they made the ride a little more bouncy but it did give slightly better feedback in the corners. I hated so many things about lowering it though. It wasn't slammed, it was OEM and within warranty as I had it done at the dealership with the recommended springs.

I had to take speed bumps very slowly
I couldn't drive up steep driveways or drop to a lower level in a car park without going very slowly/avoiding the situation all together as the front end would rub on the ground
Pot holes are very bad in my area and I drive with so much caution because of them and the fact that lowering springs exasperates the issue
I couldn't even climb a kerb (not that you should) but if an ambulance/fire truck is behind you you sometimes need to, if I climbed a kerb I would have ripped the front bumper off.
Any parking with elevated kerbs in front of the space could not be parked up to front facing as you would hit the bumper on the kerb.

So, are the cosmetics of lowering worth it on today's roads? I don't think the ride is much better and in some cases its made worse as it bounces a little more on lowering springs.

Up to you though, if you don't mind them things then it certainly looks a lot better lowered. My GTI is staying stock, I'm quite enjoying having a car that's slightly higher, it makes it a lot less troublesome to drive around town.

[loz]

My experience of Eibach lowering springs on my previous 1.2 TSI R-line was that they made the ride a little more bouncy but it did give slightly better feedback in the corners. I hated so many things about lowering it though. It wasn't slammed, it was OEM and within warranty as I had it done at the dealership with the recommended springs.

I had to take speed bumps very slowly
I couldn't drive up steep driveways or drop to a lower level in a car park without going very slowly/avoiding the situation all together as the front end would rub on the ground
Pot holes are very bad in my area and I drive with so much caution because of them and the fact that lowering springs exasperates the issue
I couldn't even climb a kerb (not that you should) but if an ambulance/fire truck is behind you you sometimes need to, if I climbed a kerb I would have ripped the front bumper off.
Any parking with elevated kerbs in front of the space could not be parked up to front facing as you would hit the bumper on the kerb.

So, are the cosmetics of lowering worth it on today's roads? I don't think the ride is much better and in some cases its made worse as it bounces a little more on lowering springs.

Up to you though, if you don't mind them things then it certainly looks a lot better lowered. My GTI is staying stock, I'm quite enjoying having a car that's slightly higher, it makes it a lot less troublesome to drive around town.

Thanks for such an in depth reply, I've been really attracted to the idea of the way it looks and haven't really thought about the compromises of everyday use, I assumed that being a vw approved
Part it wouldn't have been so troublesome compared to people who slam their cars 50mm

But il have more of a think before I invest, I could always save up the money and put it towards a gti only had my car 6 months but I'm bored of the 1.2 diesel sounding petrol engine haha hope your enjoying the gti

[loz]

I might just buy a set and change the springs on the back and leave the front as stock

[Pearls]

Bare in mind I was in an R-Line which has a front splitter and more aggressive front bumper. In a standard Polo you might be ok with the lowering.

[iichel]

[loz]

Thanks for this, so I might actually be ok in a standard 6r, hmmmmm interesting