MK V GTi Suspension

[GTIFanBoy]

Hey all

First Post - long time lurker though.

Here asking if anyone has done much suspension wise to their MK V. I have slapped on an adjustable rear sway bar and a solid front bar, and it is sooo much better - but not sure where to go beyond that. There's no caster kits available I can find, and saving for a set of PSS9 Bilstein Coilovers (luckily I have friends in good places so I am getting them cheap), but not sure where else needs attention at this stage.

Doubt any mod will be as good at the sway bars though, they are soooooooof'ing good

Anyhoo, post away
Regards
MC

[Oneofthegreats]

G'day GTIFanBoy

I can say that I just recently fitted some H&R spring's to my brother's GTI & that made a absolute world of difference to the ride comfort.
Standard suspension is to jerky & stiff, but with the new spring's a much more refined, forgiving ride which tighten's up the harder you push. Also feel's more stable at speed.

I think its a VW standard to have never being able to match the spring's & shock's. That's the way I see it. The Mk4 GTI's another pefect example. Over sprung & under dampened.

[GTIFanBoy]

G'day GTIFanBoy

I can say that I just recently fitted some H&R spring's to my brother's GTI & that made a absolute world of difference to the ride comfort.
Standard suspension is to jerky & stiff, but with the new spring's a much more refined, forgiving ride which tighten's up the harder you push. Also feel's more stable at speed.

I think its a VW standard to have never being able to match the spring's & shock's. That's the way I see it. The Mk4 GTI's another pefect example. Over sprung & under dampened.

Yeah, VW and Audi have the same issue with "performance" models - they really don't match the two - hence why I ordered a set of Bilstein PSS9 coilovers... I'm not much of a fan of H&R springs, I find their rates a bit funny, but cool cool

[craig_the_german]

Hi,

I'll just throw my two bobs worth in here.
I have a MKIV and I know exactly what you mean about the suspension.

I think a lot of the issues may be due to the fact that VWs and Audis and probably most euro cars were never designed for the Australian road conditions.

A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of driving in the euro car's natural habitat...Germany.

The roads there were nothing like the roads here. Ours are undulating, rough and in general, in poor condition whereas the roads I drove on in Germany were smooooooth. And I am not talking about the Autobahns either...they are awesome but even small country roads.

Perhaps the suspensions fitted to cars sold into Australia were a compromise to try and handle the Australian conditions.

Add to that, I would suggest that most of us in this forum are "enthusiasts" for want of a better word and are looking for precise handling rather than the the "average" handling of most cars.

The car I owned before the Golf was a humble Daihatsu Charade, but it had uprated struts, aftermarket adjustable swaybars, urethane bushes throughout...I guess I was looking for the "precise handling" I mentioned.

Just a though

[GTIFanBoy]

Add to that, I would suggest that most of us in this forum are "enthusiasts" for want of a better word and are looking for precise handling rather than the the "average" handling of most cars.

The car I owned before the Golf was a humble Daihatsu Charade, but it had uprated struts, aftermarket adjustable swaybars, urethane bushes throughout...I guess I was looking for the "precise handling" I mentioned.

Just a though

I had the same discussion with the guy at Selbys.

Most standard cars under $300 000 in australia really aren;t up to the handling expected of an enthusiast, and any that is, uses aftermarket suspension - but most can still be improved.

That said, what "enthusiasts" enjoy is a precision handling car, and we can only get that with use and knowledge of aftermarket suppliers.

I really think Audi/VW have the wrong mindset with their performance branded cars - they aim for too much luxury, not enough performance from the suspension - even an S3 or an R32 Golf still need a fair bit of tweaking to get them just right...