Proposed Suspension upgrades

[jesum]

quick question for folks with lowered springs. i'm on stock shocks and lowered springs (35mm lower) and the shocks are giving way. so i'm considering my options.

1. i notice koni has shortened shocks. are these necessary to go with lowered springs? or will regular length-ed konis work just fine? and i am not looking at this from will-they-fit perspective. my stock shocks are dying (car has about 24k km to it) which i feel is a little premature. i suspect it has come down to mismatched springs + shocks.

2. do you have to cut the bump stops when you have lowered springs + aftermarket shocks (whether full length shocks or shortened shocks)?

flexibility is important for me and i don't track the car. that means either manually adjustable (without having to remove the shocks everytime!) or something along the lines of koni's FSD. i'd much prefer manually adjustable due to budget constraints and better control over how much damping i want to dial in i.e. comfortable for the weekend outing with the family (althought i can't imagine how much more travel can be had with the lowered setup) and firmer when i'm alone.

any suggestions?

[VWindahouse]

I have the H&R spring and Koni adjustable yellow set up. Adjustability is great and convenient on the fronts but rears you have to take the wheel off. As far as I know the shocks arent too much shorter than stock but I have noticed my pog sits a tad lower than other H&R springs with other shock set ups however I have had my suspension in for about 8 months or so, so the springs may have just settled. I have heard bad things about using any other type of springs than Koni with the FSD's so steer clear. The yellows give you the best of all worlds as well as quite weekend drives with the Grandparents! Good luck

PS please check out the link in my signature to see the ride height at a few months ago, may have dropped a tad more since then.

[noone]

Same experience with the stock shocks on H&R's, only more premature again (maybe 8000kms).

I'm not sure how often you would change your damper settings, even if they could be changed by hand, accessing them would prove a pain.

If you think the Koni's are going to give you what you want, why not get them.

[VWindahouse]

Sorry just to clarify it takes 2 secs to adjust the fronts. They come with a adjustment tool or you can use a shifter. Just pop the hood and the little black plastic discs that cover the strut tower tops and twist away. The rears as I said you do have to take the wheels off so choose your settings wisely.

[jesum]

so for the rears all i do is remove the wheel? i don't have to remove the entire shock? that doesn't sound too bad.

thanks folks!

[noone]

They come with a adjustment tool or you can use a shifter. Just pop the hood and the little black plastic discs that cover the strut tower tops and twist away.

Sounds like the sort of thing I'd buy thinking i'd change it, but then would find a good setting and not change.

I do like the idea of dialling it in to your own preference...

[Jmac]

Rears req a wee bit more than the wheels off, it reqs the strut to be removed and adjusted off the vehicle and then refit, fairly quick procedure mind you.
Cheers
Jmac

[VWindahouse]

Thanks Jimmy

[jesum]

thanks Jmac.

i am familiar with removing the rears and they aren't too much trouble indeed.