Improving handling and staying at stock height

[mikk]

I'm interested in installing coilovers and uprated swaybars and running at close to stock height. This is for a Beetle. The stock bushings will be getting replaced too as they're a bit worn.

I only want a maximum of 2cm drop. Low looks cool but this car is already low enough for plenty of gutters and speed bumps.

Not sure if my plan is good or not. Any suggestions on what to do to significantly improve handling without going low?

[kaanage]

You will most likely get the better handling than those people who have gone low as the suspension geometry on this platform goes silly when cars are dropped more than an inch. Have a read of Does your VAG handle? It depends...

Why not just get good aftermarket dampers (Koni, Bilstein KW) and keep your existing springs? You can get a heavier front anti-roll bar and add a rear one if you feel you really need it but aftermarket dampers will have compression damping which the OE ones don't and this reduces transient body movement.

[dylan8]

Lowering doesn't really help mk4 with handling, if you do you need to level the control arms back out.
Better shocks, firmer springs, solid bushes, Bigger sway bars (argument if none is actually better these days...)

[Sirocco20348]

I was in the same situation about 1.5 yrs ago.

Pretty much as other people have said you need to fix the geometry problem with the control arms introducing positive camber.

You can buy some h2 spindles and that will allow you to lower your car and maintain good camber. But people find this an expensive route as it adds about another $1000.

So your next option is to chance upon an mk1 Audi tt front cut where you can use the spindles and all associated hardware. Still adds up and then adds the prospect of some insane lift off oversteer, which was fixed with the mk2 tt . still pretty expensive!

I ended up installing bilstein high pressure shocks and shine real street racing springs. Looks gumby as all hell, but the ride quality, and firmer handling is a real treat. Tracked the car 3.5 times now and never really asked for better handling. Obviously you can buy harder springs but these springs are a great trade off.

But seriously i don't you would even notice the handling problem unless your planning on cornering really hard and fast on the track.

[RolfGolf]

I think your plan is basically sound. With coilovers you'll be able to experiment a bit more with ride heights rather than settling for the static drop of a spring/ shock kit. Uprated sway bars are a good investment as they make your car corner like it's on rails. As others have pointed out, you can easily compromise the suspension geometry on a mk4 by slamming it ... drop spindles are one solution to that as are the tt spindles, but it's all cash that you can keep in your pocket if you don't drop it in the first place.

[kaanage]

You can compromise grip by going overboard on anti-roll bars - while excessive body roll does make the suspension geometry less than optimal with camber changes, excessive roll stiffness reduces compliance which is hugely underrated on this forum in its contribution to tyre grip. High roll stiffness may give the car a go-kart feel (especially if you increase the rear roll stiffness relative to the front) but can reduce wet grip and make for unpredictable break away behaviour.

Read the links in the post that I have linked in my 1st post as the discussion in there is primarily about the Mk3 and Mk4 Golf platforms.

Transient body roll is more upsetting to a car's response and quality dampers (which you don't get in cheap coilovers, so be prepared to pay real money for decent ones) will control this and, alone, will improve handling and grip.

If you do decide to get coilovers, make sure they don't have a maximum height that is excessively low - some have a minimum drop of 40mm over stock.