Lowering advice

charlievwp · Post by **charlievwp** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:54 pm

Hi,
I have been looking into getting my 1.4 SE lowered.

I have been talking with VW and they advise me that they currently do not supply any kits for my car.
The guy I spoke to said about the GTi suspension but couldn't tell me if it would actually lower it any or not...without actually putting my car next to one he said!
I want to retain a relatively 'soft ride' and don't really need to slam it so have been considering some decent coilovers.
However, I wanted to get the parts and work done by VW so that they would honour the warranty in the unlikely event that anything did actually go wrong.
Can anyone tell me whether they think it would be likely to sit any lower if I got the GTi kit?

DanDiesel · Post by **DanDiesel** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:57 pm

i think vw actually approve of eibach (or maybe H&R) kits and they are good quality!
you could get a set of FK Konigsports which have adjustable damping (by Koni) which you could set up how you wanted!

Post by **alexperkins** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:59 pm

GTI kit wouldnt be worthwhile to be honest it doesnt actually make much difference at all - was the same on the MK5 GTI.

As Dan said, HandR or Eibach are good choices. I myself have HandR springs and im very impressed with them!

charlievwp · Post by **charlievwp** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:02 pm

cheers guys - super quick replies!!
Would VW honour the warranty for these parts? Would I have to get them to fit them?
Vw have said they book 90 mins to each corner, plus all the allignment on top....sounds pricey!

Post by **alexperkins** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:06 pm

Umm hard to say - considering VW labour is Â£80 an hour its kinda worrying - thats like 90,180,270,360....6 hours labour. Â£80x6 is like Â£480

A local garage should only charge Â£80 quid all in, and it takes roughly two hours.

As for warranty, im not too sure on that - youd have to take that up with them and see what they say! Most likely "unless you have them done here Mr... your warranty will become void due to outside unauthorised work on the car which isnt approved by VW" - Thats what they say at our dealership anyhow!

charlievwp · Post by **charlievwp** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:11 pm

...or Miss?! Soz, everyone assumes i'm a guy on here LOL

Â£480?! GULP

Hmmm, well they're supposed to be calling me back monday or tuesday to let me know about another query i've had ongoing with them so i'll ask if he can find out about the warranty stuff then. Fingers crossed!!

Thanks for the info Alex....don't suppose you know a ballpark average price for a set of H&R or Eibach?

Post by **alexperkins** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:16 pm

charlievwp wrote:...or Miss?! Soz, everyone assumes i'm a guy on here LOL

Â£480?! GULP

Hmmm, well they're supposed to be calling me back monday or tuesday to let me know about another query i've had ongoing with them so i'll ask if he can find out about the warranty stuff then. Fingers crossed!!

Thanks for the info Alex....don't suppose you know a ballpark average price for a set of H&R or Eibach?

my apologies!! That was a script i usually reel off to people

Ill remember for future reference that you are infact miss and not mr

A set should roughly cost around Â£100 to Â£150 ish. I got mine off ollie on here, but something like this will give you a rough idea;

http://www.europerformance.co.uk/pages/ ... ?id=443464

Hope this helps you

charlievwp · Post by **charlievwp** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:25 pm

Thanks Alex, great site there.
I was actually looking for coilovers but gives me a good idea of pricing. H&R don't show any on that site for 9n but eibach do.
How about FK/Kong-sport? Any good?
Loos like it's going to average Â£400-500 plus fitting.

ModifiedMadness · Post by **ModifiedMadness** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:26 pm

If I was you Charlie I'd give VAG Tech a call on 01525 279513

Cost me an hours labour to have my KW Coilovers fitted which is Â£50 +VAT IIRC

4 wheel laser alignment then cost me Â£50 at www.autops.co.uk who use the proper VW jig.

DanDiesel · Post by **DanDiesel** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:32 pm

hour and a half a corner? they are having a laugh i think! i thought vw were around Â£50 an hour? i guess that would include the tracking and alignment aswell which can cost between $50 and Â£100, depends on where you go!
i got my coilovers fitted by Seat and it took them 3 and a half hours but thats after a fair amount of fiddling to get them at the height i wanted!

if the car was out of warranty then i'd say get them fitted at an independant vw specialist who probably charge a little less but as its under warranty, its tricky! i think they should guarantee their work and if anything goes wrong due the kit being set up wrongly, then they can sort it out!

charlievwp · Post by **charlievwp** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:33 pm

Ahh thanks MM, I had Vagtech mentioned to me today. The VW parts salesman knows the guy who runs the place so he 'whispered' them to me off the record. Their site looks pretty good so i'll give them a bell in the morning and see if they can give me some prices for KW's.

Do your KW's still give the 'comfort ride'?

Sorry people, this is the 1st i've ever really done to a car...I had a (mutters under breath) corsa before that I couldn't stand so just ran it out until I could afford a polo! I not too savvy on all this as yet but learning thanks to my enthusiast boyf!

ModifiedMadness · Post by **ModifiedMadness** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:36 pm

VW here are Â£86 an hour Dan.

I'm sure VAG Tech guarantee their work, they are a sound bunch of guys as well and it's the kind of place you can just go to, to have a chat if you want

When I had my sidelights fitted there, I even gave the guy a hand

Like I say though, took 2 of them an hour to get my old suspension out fit the coilies drop the car down and take it out to make sure there were no noises that shouldn't be there.

EDIT

The KW's aren't bad, they're bumpier than stock of course but I like it. Deffo glad I got them.

Dino used VAG Tech as well, I'll be using them for all my future work.

DanDiesel · Post by **DanDiesel** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:38 pm

wow there were like 3 posts in the time it took me to write mine lol

FK Konigsports are very good and the ride i found was not too much different over the standard ibiza suspension which was fairly hard as is! at first i had the dampers set in the middle but eventually had them adjusted to hard at the front to try and aid a scubbing issue i had! Â£400-Â£500 is a reasonable price for FK KS i think!

DanDiesel · Post by **DanDiesel** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:40 pm

ModifiedMadness wrote:VW here are Â£86 an hour Dan

blimey they've gone up a bit! my Seat garage charge Â£40 and are a top bunch of guys! i mean they have to put up with me AND my car noises! i don't wish that on anyone

charlievwp · Post by **charlievwp** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:42 pm

MM - which variant KW's do you have?