Lowered 1.5", now I need shock/struts. What should I get?

[RONDAL]

Re: Lowered 1.5", now I need shock/struts. What should I get?

Adjustable shocks are overrated.

Your average enthusiast can't adjust them to be balanced because the adjustment controls are not consistent enough between each of the shocks. So half a "turn" on one might be the same as a quarter "turn" on another, etc. Also they are not always pre-set the same from the factory.

Specialized equipment is really needed to do it right - adjustable shocks used to be for competition cars only, largely because the owners/drivers had the time and equipment to properly balance each corner. Now, marketing has pushed this technology down to hobbyists and street cars but a huge number of people are running setups that do not have the same dampening left to right, which is ridiculous.

i couldn't agree more. people see adjustable, and a higher price and automatically believe its better. Not the case.

In reality you can wind up setting up your car wrong and have worse handling than if it had just been left stock. I also saw someone with KW V3's blow 2 coils apart cause the rebound and damping was set up incorrectly.

[Kor]

Re: Lowered 1.5", now I need shock/struts. What should I get?

i couldn't agree more. people see adjustable, and a higher price and automatically believe its better. Not the case.

In reality you can wind up setting up your car wrong and have worse handling than if it had just been left stock. I also saw someone with KW V3's blow 2 coils apart cause the rebound and damping was set up incorrectly.

RONDAL and I have agreed.

OMG I just saw a pig flying!

Honestly if you read up about it you will see that adjustable shocks are not good unless you pay someone to calibrate all four corners of your setup for you, using scientific measurement of the dampening force. Which nobody on here is probably going to do. Even if you know everything about how the shock works and have a very good feel for the car, you are not going to be able to do it well. Highly recommend you buy non-adjustable basic shocks from one of the reputable companies in the article I posted above (Incl Bilstein, Koni, etc).

[R_Ethug]

Re: Lowered 1.5", now I need shock/struts. What should I get?

bilsein ftw.. muchos good producto

[RONDAL]

Re: Lowered 1.5", now I need shock/struts. What should I get?

RONDAL and I have agreed.

OMG I just saw a pig flying!

Honestly if you read up about it you will see that adjustable shocks are not good unless you pay someone to calibrate all four corners of your setup for you, using scientific measurement of the dampening force. Which nobody on here is probably going to do. Even if you know everything about how the shock works and have a very good feel for the car, you are not going to be able to do it well. Highly recommend you buy non-adjustable basic shocks from one of the reputable companies in the article I posted above (Incl Bilstein, Koni, etc).

yeah you need to have some corner weighting done and do some fun little calculations to dial it all in. When its dialed in its great...but when its not it sucks

[RONDAL]

Re: Lowered 1.5", now I need shock/struts. What should I get?

you know you are low when you do this:




driving this:





yes.....that's a cats eye from the middle of the road jonny high centered on haha.

[VWSM]

Re: Lowered 1.5", now I need shock/struts. What should I get?

ok, I need this in simple terms.

What would be the best for the buck to achieve close to stock ride quality?

factory lowering springs and original shocks.
good luck when you mix and match.
You get what you pay for.

[greenGS]

Re: Lowered 1.5", now I need shock/struts. What should I get?

ok, I need this in simple terms.

What would be the best for the buck to achieve close to stock ride quality?

What springs do you have? 1.5" is low enough where you should get shocks that are designed for a lowered application. You stock setup will eventually blow.

Being ralativelly new to VW I am not sure what all is out there yet, but KYB AGX adjustable shocks worked great on my Acura for the price. Koni Yellow are even better and I am planning on running these with my mild drop. KYB GR series I had in my nissan and they sucked because they were a stock replacement. Bilstein is good as well, no adjusting means you don't have to worry about messing around but I hear they are harder. I looked at the Koni FSD ones and I was really tempted. They are non adjustable and more expensive than Yellows but don't seem to like drop bigger than 1-1.2".

If I were you I'd get either Koni Yellow if you want a softer riding shock/strut or Non adjustable Bilstein for a harder one.

[RONDAL]

Re: Lowered 1.5", now I need shock/struts. What should I get?

factory lowering springs and original shocks.
good luck when you mix and match.
You get what you pay for.

yeah cause you end up blowing the stock shocks after about a year and then it rides like garbage. the person who previously owned my car lowered it like that. it rode like a sea-doo when i bought it

[Guysmiley]

Re: Lowered 1.5", now I need shock/struts. What should I get?

What springs do you have? 1.5" is low enough where you should get shocks that are designed for a lowered application. You stock setup will eventually blow.

Being ralativelly new to VW I am not sure what all is out there yet, but KYB AGX adjustable shocks worked great on my Acura for the price. Koni Yellow are even better and I am planning on running these with my mild drop. KYB GR series I had in my nissan and they sucked because they were a stock replacement. Bilstein is good as well, no adjusting means you don't have to worry about messing around but I hear they are harder. I looked at the Koni FSD ones and I was really tempted. They are non adjustable and more expensive than Yellows but don't seem to like drop bigger than 1-1.2".

If I were you I'd get either Koni Yellow if you want a softer riding shock/strut or Non adjustable Bilstein for a harder one.

Thanks for the input.

I always planned on replacing the stock shocks/struts. I just wanted to see how long the oem stuff would last.

So where would the best local place to order the Koni Yellow's????

[Kor]

Re: Lowered 1.5", now I need shock/struts. What should I get?

I think Eibach shocks are made by Sachs and probably cheaper than the yellows with good results. Autotech too maybe. Going to be about the cheapest you can find that is decent.

Koni's maybe better but depends on your wallet.

[Guysmiley]

Re: Lowered 1.5", now I need shock/struts. What should I get?

I think Eibach shocks are made by Sachs and probably cheaper than the yellows with good results. Autotech too maybe. Going to be about the cheapest you can find that is decent.

Koni's maybe better but depends on your wallet.

Thanks Kor, I was hoping to spend 500-600 bucks total.

[greenGS]

Re: Lowered 1.5", now I need shock/struts. What should I get?

Speedtech quoted me just under 600 for a set of Koni Yellows.

[RONDAL]

Re: Lowered 1.5", now I need shock/struts. What should I get?

see if you can find a group buy somewhere.

VMaxx stuff is alright. Its lower end stuff but it will get the job done. They make a coilover

[Guysmiley]

Re: Lowered 1.5", now I need shock/struts. What should I get?

Speedtech quoted me just under 600 for a set of Koni Yellows.

Concept 1 quoted me 675 for Bilstien.

Do you guys think that is the best route?

The guy at Concept 1 said Bilstien is a better choice than the Koni Yellow.

[Kor]

Re: Lowered 1.5", now I need shock/struts. What should I get?

Concept 1 quoted me 675 for Bilstien.

Do you guys think that is the best route?

The guy at Concept 1 said Bilstien is a better choice than the Koni Yellow.

Is the best choice probably, I'd pay for it if you want the best handling, might not be super soft but will do a great job I bet.