AP Coilovers - Review

[noone]

As a number of people here have been keen to hear how the AP Coilovers are, I thought I'd do a little writeup.

Please feel free to comment about specific aspects you may like covered.

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Basic info:

Where did I get them: UK (Awesome GTI, but are available from a few places)
What they cost me: In the vacinity of $850 including freight, but is very dependant on the AUS$

Info on the product: Good luck. Here is the section of the AP Coilovers website about the product for the Polo GTI, but there is not much in the way of technical info for AP's as a whole. I have read that they are made in the same factory as KW and Weitec, but thats about all. Oh, they are TUV approved.

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To start off with, I think its important I outline a few details:

1: My experience
I don't know Jack about cars. This is the first car I've really Tinkered with. Expect that I'll use poor terminology. I'm learning, but still don't know much.

2: Other mods - Prior:
Before I put the AP Coilovers on, I already had:
- APR Stage 1, V2
- Dump Pipe, Diverter, Seat Intake and other enginey bits
- H&R Springs with stock shocks
- Rear sway bar (set to medium)
- Rear toe shims
- Front brace (installed not long before this work)
- Dogbone Mount

3: Other mods - At same time
When getting the coilovers installed, I also had the following installed:
- Whiteline Control arm rear bushes
- Audi TT Brakes (Fusion's old bits) with DBA rotors
- Front Sway bar (replacing stock sway bar - in case you didn't know it has one as standard)

4: Timeline
My car has done about 18,000 kms.
I had the springs, chip and dogbone done at about 10,000 when I bought the Pog.
I bought the kit about 3 months ago and had a horrible run getting it here. Mostly bad luck, if you go down the path I did, expect to wait a month, then if it only takes 3 weeks, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

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Findings:

After a wheel alignment this arvo and some considered driving (soft and spirited) I think I have enough brain impulses to provide some basic info:

Ride Comfort:
The ride is more comfortable than the day I took my Pog to get the work done. I believe that the stock shocks became overly spongy about 5000kms into their life coupled with the H&R springs and no longer absorbed the bumps and bangs that you really need the shock there for.

Over the generally bad roads of Sydney, the car seems more planted and tends to jolt less than it did. I felt that being the passenger in my car would have made for a unsettled ride, whilst now I have more confidence in how it responds to poor surface changes or potholes, etc.

The floatyness of the stock suspension is something I will never miss, the continued sinewave movement after a change in the road height was uncomfortable, but not to the point of despair.

Noise:
I don't have to listen to my shocks hissing at me over every bump any more which is nice. The new setup has its own internal discussion of knocks, most notible at the front left, but they are not bad, I am listening for them and they will not frustrate me any time soon. As the control arm bushes and front sway are likely to create their own diagloue and I had been warned that coilovers can be 'vocal', I was prepared for the worst. There is a little noise, but it is minimal IMO. maybe in a few weeks after its all bedded, I may investigate, but I'm not fussed for the time.

Handling:
I have not had a chance to really give it a strong push, but there certainly is an improvement allround to the handling experience. Cornering is definately flatter, but I think the front swaybar is playing a big role here, so its hard to differentiate.

I have more confidence in how the car will react over uneven road, which to be honest was a bit of a worry with the old setup. I felt that if I hit a bad section of bitumen that the traction on that corner was compromised because the wheel was not keeping contact with the road. This was somewhat unsettling and I no-doubt will now feel the need to push the new suspensions limits at an appropriate designated track day or other non-public road occasion away from the general public.

Install:
I did not install these, I would not want to try with my level of experience.
The rear end has had the height adjustment ring removed to reduce the overall height of the car. this was done in accordance with other AP Coilover users from UK-Polos.net I think that they have it right, although I have been warned that without the rear adjusters there is potential for the rear springs to fall out (would take some serious angles and bad luck, but could happen).

Few Photos:





Advice:
From my experience, changing the springs and not the shocks is not a great idea. At first, the shocks stood up, but as time went on, they seemed to decline fairly quickly. I had originally had the figure of 50,000kms thrown around, but i found that after 5,000 kms, there was a noticable decline. It is very possible that I have had a different experience from others, please feel free to add your own feed back if you are running H&R's with stock shocks.

I don't think that coilovers are required, it could have been cheaper to keep the H&R's and get some aftermarket shock absorbers. This will not give you the Dubb drop (lowering) which I was after, but others have reported good results with this setup.

I will update this thread in a few weeks when I've had time to bask in the glory of being low and fast.

[vwthunder]

I was never a fan of those wheels, but gosh they look hot on the car sitting that low

Well done

[jesum]

Advice:
From my experience, changing the springs and not the shocks is not a great idea. At first, the shocks stood up, but as time went on, they seemed to decline fairly quickly. I had originally had the figure of 50,000kms thrown around, but i found that after 5,000 kms, there was a noticable decline. It is very possible that I have had a different experience from others, please feel free to add your own feed back if you are running H&R's with stock shocks.

i have aftermarket ABT springs with stock shocks. totally same experience. at first they felt fine. somewhere around 8k to 10k kms, they became floaty. at high speeds on undulations, it would dip too much and i experienced the same sinewave movement. i changed the rear once (stock) and the damping was very nice. however, the front are now giving way.

i'm now thinking of just changing to some aftermarket shocks and keeping the ABT springs. the ride is just too weird (yes, that's the word i use to describe it!) over undulations.

[noone]

Cant comment on the ABT springs, but i believe there is a rebound rate relationship between the spring and the shock which if matched can provide good results and if quite different (like stock shocks and lower springs) can have negative results.

[DeanB]

Noone, if you hadn't removed the height adjustment ring on the rears, how much higher would the car have sat ?

It looks good, glad to hear it has finally all come together for you.

BTW, you need a TIP and FMIC with all the mods you are running now

[noone]

Noone, if you hadn't removed the height adjustment ring on the rears, how much higher would the car have sat ?

It looks good, glad to hear it has finally all come together for you.

BTW, you need a TIP and FMIC with all the mods you are running now

Rear would have been about 1/2 an inch higher, not a huge difference, but every few mm make a difference...

I have a FMIC on the way, hopefully here before Christmas, I'd like a TIP, but they're not cheap and I'm not convinced about the improvement they bring. Comments on the TIP seem to indicate a 'seat of the pants' minor improvement, but i'm not convinced.

[Koz]

What is the height adjustment ring?


Koz

[Whubbsie]

What is the height adjustment ring?


Koz

marked in orange just the blue bit I'm guessing.

[seangti]

nice write up. Will be good to hear the reports after they've done 10,000km too.

[Roodosutaa]

Hmmm nice write-up

Agree that coil overs are a bit of an overkill for the road (went from stock Bilsteins in the old MX5 to KYB AGX/King springs and then Tein coilovers - each about 30000km apart - can't say the difference was really that discernable on the road). But at the current exchange rate landed these APs are lineball with H&R Cup Kit (give or take) so looks like good value, are they adjustable besides spring seat height?