Lowering springs on factory shocks - a bad idea?

Akagi

Akagi

Akagi

Caporegime
Joined
29 Jul 2011
Posts
37,116
Location
In acme's chair.
Just looking for some friendly advice from people more experienced than myself.

Is it a bad idea to fit 50MM lowering springs to standard shocks on my VW Polo 9N (2002)?

As always the internet is filled with people saying they're fine, others saying they're rubbish, more people saying they will damage the shocks, others saying that is a load of cack, and so on. :p

The only modifications to the car would be these springs and a set of 16" alloys, everything else is stock.

Other more reputable manufacturers such as H&R and Eibach only offer 30 - 35MM lowering springs. I'm guessing there is probably a reason for this?

Thoughts?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volkswage...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item25627e3407

I expect the ride to be harder and a bit bumpier, but I don't want to go over a speedbump over-enthusiastically and buckle something.

Please try and resist suggesting £500 coilover kits like I've seen some other people do, that's more than a third of the cars current value. :p

E; read some crap, don't want to touch those springs now... thoughts still welcomed :)
 
Last edited:
50mm is quite a drop on standard shocks. You risk them bottoming out and it will obviously limit their damping ability due to less travel.

Around 30mm is a better compromise on std shocks IMO, but there is no reason you can't go to 50 if that's what you really want just be aware of the likely impact on ride and wear
 
Last edited:
What is it with slammed VW's these days?

Seem to be everywhere all of a sudden, along with - usually - random daft stickers over the rear window.....


/oldfart :p
 
I don't get the random lowering of cars either tbh, a lower car is more often the result of a decent suspension setup, not the ingredient to a decent suspension setup.

Just get some proven springs and shocks, there will likely be a small drop anyway, then start looking at your arbs, bushes etc.

/Idon'tactuallyknowwhatI'mtalkingabout.
 
Not to mention just doing a 50mm drop without modifying the steering geometry could bring about some nasty bump steer.
 
Save some cash and cut the springs, then at least you won't have to worry about the correct spring rates or other such nonsense.

In seriousness, I don't know exactly on 50mm but on a 30mm drop on standard shocks you'd be fine. You might want to change them for new OE ones while you're there though. I'd imagine 50mm will be fine too.
 
My old Saxo VTR was lowered 50mm but this was with shocks to match.
Car drove fine but tbh I was young and didn't care about ride quality which you could tell by the stripped out interior and bucket seats...

Current MX5 is lowered 30mm on springs designed by a race team up north for the car (specifically with the hard top rather than the soft top) and I feel it has improved the way the car drives but most importantly the looks as all mk3 MX5s look like 4x4s from the factory.

Note that Mazda offer the eibach 30mm springs as a factory option so I guess Im taking a long way to say decent branded 30mm springs will be fine :p
 
50mm?

insane. people on the civic forums lower their type Rs regularly on the 35mm eibach ABP kit and i think this looks far too low.

i wouldnt want to lower a car by more than 20mm really and then, as mentioned already, it would only be part of a suspension overhaul where other factors were considered.

I wouldnt say that you cant just put springs on a 10 year old car and leave the old suspension alone. for some mildly lower springs that may be firmer, this is probably going to be fine.

but a 50mm drop, as Matt says in post3, will likely need a lot more doing to it.

acme15 said:
Other more reputable manufacturers such as H&R and Eibach only offer 30 - 35MM lowering springs. I'm guessing there is probably a reason for this?
Click to expand...

exactly. these two companies put a lot of R&D into their products whereas the ebay ripspeed 50mmz+ drop m8 springs you will see are probably just cheaply made tat.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the feedback. I knew £80 lowering springs were too good to be true :(

I do still want a 50mm drop but it seems like I'm going to have to fork out a bucket load of money or compromise.

There are also £175 suspension kits on the bay, guessing they're crap too?

Also type Rs are already quite low whereas 9N's ride really quite high, I think 50mm suits them well.
 
Last edited:
Scania said:
What is it with slammed VW's these days?

Seem to be everywhere all of a sudden, along with - usually - random daft stickers over the rear window.....


/oldfart :p
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, I can't help it :(

I just think the Polo looks so much nicer with a bit of a drop. If the body overlaps the tyres you've gone too far, if there's a fingers width gap, that's fine by me. :p
 
rjkoneill said:
JOM = NOPE
Click to expand...

I suspected correctly then. :p

Could you give me some reasoning so I have no temptation?

I should probably say that my use-case is:

The car only has 55HP and takes around 17 seconds to reach 60 if you are unkind to it, but it rolls around in the corners which doesn't fill me with confidence. I also think that the car looks a-lot better 50MM lower - it just looks wrong with 16's under it with the standard ride height, and after doing a fair bit of browsing, I like 50MM. I can also get insured for a 50MM drop with hardly any difference in insurance cost.

They will probably only be on the car for 2 years or so before I sell them off cheaply.
 
Last edited:
I am a product manager on an internet website.

I buy things as a job. when I purchase things outside of work, I look at the product and consider what profit margin that company is trying to make.

for my products as an example, with importing costs etc, I look at making around 15% or better. for things like CPUs and VGA, the margins are much tighter.

take this in to account when looking at other things. the suspension that you linked above will have been made cheaply in the far east. It is a heavy, bulky, packaged item and will doubtless have incurred shipping costs. so lets break it down:

cost of coilovers: £179.99
cost of shipping to you: Free [which means that the margin they make to be able to afford to do this is at least 20%]
cost of shipping from the far east: around 10%

without any other considerations such as packaging or labour taken into account, this makes your £179.99 coilover kit, worth a maximum of £130.
 
Would they absolutely be no good for my use case then?

Also I don't doubt what you've told me but the advert mentions they are German - is that BS?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom