Sport Spindles

[RolfGolf]

Just wondering if anyone has fitted any of the H2Sport spindle kits to correct their suspension geometry after lowering their car? Experiences? Also, does anyone know of a local supplier or do they have to be ordered from Canada directly?

Cheers.

[h100vw]

I think you are entering virgin territory with this one. Brief googling reveals a few positive comments. I reckon overseas purchasing will be the go.
How much benefit you will realise, will be entirely subjective.

I'd be interested to hear what you think if you get some!!

Gavin

[dylan8]

got any links? what part does it correct?

[RolfGolf]

Unfortunately the H2 site is being rebuilt at the moment - due Feb(!)

This is from a post I read on Fourtitude - albeit an old thread ...

"H2Sport's Sport Spindle offers your car the increased handling performance you want while maintaining the stance you desire and is designed to work with most performance suspension set-ups.

The Sport Spindle has been designed to overcome the loss of handling performance suffered by those cars equipped with most aftermarket lowered suspensions.

The loss of handling performance of a lowered car is the result of lowering the car without correcting the suspension geometry. Lowering a car with McPherson strut front suspension, as equipped on the VW A4 chassis, alters the front geometry by significantly decreasing camber gain; introducing bump steer; lowering the front roll centre; and possibly causing the control arm bushings to bind. All of these factors combine to reduce handling performance.

Decreased camber reduces the tire's capacity to generate lateral grip resulting in more understeer. Bump steer increases the cars tendency to wander inclining the driver to continually make small steering corrections. Lowering the roll centre causes more body roll, unfavourable camber change, hence less lateral grip, and ultimately more understeer. Binding of the control arm bushings effectively increases suspension stiffness, reduces tire compliance with the road surface and ultimately more understeer (and premature failure of the bushings).

It's important to correct the front suspension geometry by restoring the camber curve, resetting the bump steer, raising the front roll center bringing it back into balance with rear roll center height, and restoring the control arms back to their nominal position to eliminate bushing binding. The Sport Spindle accomplishes all of this by relocating the lower control arm and the steering tie rod to the correct position. Now the handling performance will be vastly superior when compared to the same car with stock spindles."

Thought it might be interesting to look into as I've definitely noticed the car handles worse when cornering since it has been lowered.

Cheers.

[leighaus]

unless you track your car or illegally do hill sprints (twisties), then i wouldnt be too bothered with it. I know S.A has a few good mountain runs, so it may be your cup of tea.

2003 Volkswagen GTI MK4 1.8t Suspension Upgrade - Eurotuner Magazine

and plenty of pics...

2003 Volkswagen Gti Mk4 18T Car Lift Photo 1

[RolfGolf]

Thanks for the comments - links to the Eurotuner article etc.

It's not that I want to track the car or anything (it's a 2.0 so it would be pointless without major engine mods), I'm just aggravated by the bump steer I've noticed since dropping it a little.

Cheers.

nb.
The spindles are a direct bolt on for the 1.8T (2.0 requires a brake upgrade by the look of things)

[undisclos3d]

I too am interested in these and been hearing a bit about them, also apparently you can get TT or R32 spindles which do the same thing which also allow for camber adjustment.

[RolfGolf]

From what I've read, the TT spindles require a bit of playing around to get them functional. ie. modifying the ball joints/ replacing the lower control arms etc. Having something purpose built like this seems like a better solution.

Cheers.

[rayray086]

I've been looking into this quite heavily too, and although I won't be tracking my car, I believe going for the H2Sport or TT spindles will reduce wear on the LCA bushings and ball joints, especially at the ride height I'm planning to run with (quite low haha). I've got engine mount spacers coming in from EuroImageTuning to reduce driveshaft angle too (so I'm not blowing CV joints every few months).

I've started doing a write-up on my blog but am yet to finish it. I found some good info here - http://audittmk1.blogspot.com/2009/0...s-how-bad.html. I would actually opt for a complete TT LCA + spindle swap to take advantage of the camber adjustment at the ball joint as well as the stiffer stock TT/R32 bushings. Tricky thing is finding them at a wrecker, cos I'm sure they're quite pricey from the dealers.

A lot of the guys on vortex that do this mod also flip their tie rods to match the angle of the LCA. I'm not sure if there are kits out there but it's a matter of drilling out the hole and adding an insert in.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

[RolfGolf]

I saw that blogspot article too. The camber graphs on there make quite a compelling case.

From what I've read, people who have done the mod see it as one of the most significant handling mods they've carried out.

Nice blog too btw - I had trouble with your link rayray, but I got there in the end.

Cheers.