MkV GTI shocks and springs on Octy Wagon?

[cbay]

My brother is thinking of changing the springs and shocks on his MkV GTI, and being the awesome brother he is, he hinted that he may give me his stock gear... to my ears it sounds like a good set of hand-me-ups

Does anyone know if it will be possible to replace my 90TSI Octy Wagon's shocks and springs with the stock ones from the MkV GTI without problems? And if so, would this make much difference in driving dynamics even if I'm still using the stock 15" alloys?

Any advice would be much appreciated. Cheers!

[Mysticality]

You could always give it a go and find out...

[brad]

They should fit straight on unless the 90tsi has the 50mm strut legs instead of the 55mm on the GTI.

I reckon the back end will be tail-squatting to a certain extent because the rear of a Octy Wagon(~1450kg?) should have a bit more weight than the rear of a GTI hatch (~1350kg?). So the stance will be similar to 3 or 4 bags of concrete in the boot. Having the tail down will also slow down turn-in into corners.

That isn't a show stopper though as you could get the front springs reset to even out the stance. It will cost about $50 IIRC.

Having (relatively) softer springs on the rear might also increase understeer a fraction.

If you can DIY & not have to pay for the install (and possible removal) then it could be a nice cheap mod. I ceratinly considered the same for my Octy hatch but in the end CBF (and still haven't fitted the Eibach wagon springs I bought of the forum).

[gldgti]

I've DIY'd the suspension on my octavia twice - its not a hard job but you do need some tools that most people dont ordinalrily have -

The first is a 14mm triple square driver for the front end - I bought a kit of about 8 bits from GAP because it looked nice and I use this stuff all the time.

The second thing you need is a little spreader tool in order to release the front strut from the lower bearing housing. You can buy these from specialist parts places like GAP etc, but actually I made one that works very well out of an old wheel bolt (by doing a lot of cutting and grinding).

If you arent prepared to get both those tools, you wont have much luck

Also, spring comrpessors ofcourse.

Once you have the tools... well I changed the 4 springs in the octavia in about 2.5 hours by myself, including a cuppa. Probably the easiest to do of all the VW's I've owned.

Now, as for the rates - I think you'll find that your 90TSI will sit pretty high at the front with the GTI springs. It even seems to make quite a difference as to the gearbox you have, as the DSG is a lot heavier than, for instance, the 5 speed manual trans.

So much so that Eibach make spring kits for all the variants pretty much based on all the combinations of engine and gearbox that are available.

Anyway, good luck

[brad]

gldgti:

On the Octavia, did you have to take the driveshaft out of the hub?

All the DIYs I've read on Golfs you have to remove the big mofo hubnut & slip the driveshaft out of the hub to get the lower control arm to drop enough to slip out the strut from the hub.

I have the 14mm triple-square & was going to sacrifice an allen key for the spreader. I hadn't thought of grinding flats onto a bolt

[gldgti]

I didnt take out the driveshafts

once you remove the sway bar link, you can (even with one person, but two would be easier (I'm 110kg) push the LCA and hub assembly down far enough to get the stru all the way out of the housing. It will spring up against the strut once you take the pressure off, but you can use a jimmy bar of some kind or a big screwdriver to lever to two parts away from eachother/twist the housing away so you can free the strut and remove it from the car.

Refitting is a little tricky too my its all doiable, and much simpler than removing those hub nuts

I dont know if this is possible on the golf, but certainly is on the octavia.

[brad]

thanks

Saves me try to scrounge a big socket off my contractors.

[dArK5HaD0w]

i still have my factory vrs springs up for sale if anyone is interested.....
it will lower a standard octavia by 12-15mm.

[cbay]

Thanks for the responses guys! Much appreciated. I'm really not very cluey when it comes to cars but I'm trying to absorb as much as I can. I'm quite certain my octavia's strut legs are 50mm.

Another question... would darkshadow's vrs liftback springs match my 1.4tsi octavia wagon?

[zei20t]

i think the RS springs would be a better match for the 1.4tsi than the GTi springs. maybe the RS springs with the GTi shocks might be a good combination?