xtentual
UBRG33K
- Location
- Atlanta, GA
- Car(s)
- 2008 CW Rabbit
I’ll start with a small timeline.
Stock
Alice got raped
Koni Springs on stock shocks/struts
ST Coilovers
INSTALL
Went to a buddy’s house and we got started around 9am doing the coil install. Everything went really smooth, and the only semi difficult part was getting the front struts out of the car w/o something to spread the boot apart, but none the less we got it done without much cursing. The whole install was done by 1:30pm with several smoke breaks and food breaks. So we’ll say 3 – 3.5 hours total.
First test drive was with 6 threads left in front and rear. At this height the car felt more connected to the road…but as far as ride quality/bumps…I couldn’t differentiate between these and the stock setup.
Second test drive was at 3 threads left in front, 1.5 in the rear….When I went to set the set screw; I stripped the plastic around the screw. Oh well, went for a drive either way. At this height the bumps were definitely more noticeable, but they weren’t bad at all you just noticed they were there.
I liked the height and ride here, but knew I had to do something to the front passenger set screw to keep the perch from moving. So I went and bought two up sized set screws and tried to rethread the holes but it didn’t work…So I said screw it what is 3 more threads lower gonna hurt?
I was done messing with it this weekend and didn’t get around to adjusting the rear all the way down…but it only has 1.5 threads left so nothing major, I will get to it this weekend.
As it sits now (0 threads left up front and 1.5 threads in the rear)
REVIEW
I am very impressed with every aspect of these coils. Ride quality is amazing. These are very comfortable and not harsh or bouncy at all. Performance wise I haven’t really tested them on any really nice curvy roads, but I expect them to handle as good as, or better than my stock suspension so I have no worries here. The few roads I did push the car on they took it like a champ. I feel my weak point right now is my tires as I have a set of Falken PT-722 600 Treadwear All Seasons on the car, and it feels as if the sidewalls are pretty soft because those were flexing and wanting to lose traction at higher G corners.
I put about 200-300 miles on them this weekend, and I can say the car is much more pleasurable to drive.
GIRLFRIEND REVIEW:
“It’s not much rougher than stock, just barely, but it’s not bad”
Then she said, If I had to make a comparison it would be:
“Your old setup was like a pair of nice running shoes, and the new setup is like the barefoot running shoes. The old setup was comfortable and supporting, and the new one just lets you feel the road more, but your foot is still protected by the sole of the barefoot shoe”
I will post up updated pictures after I drop the rear the rest of the way down.
I will also be purchasing new perches soon, in the event I want to be able to adjust it back up (very doubtful!). Does anyone know if you can use another company’s double adjustment rings on the ST/KW Front struts? The reason I ask is I feel these would be much more reliable and I wouldn’t have to worry about stripping the set screw again.
Stock
Alice got raped
Koni Springs on stock shocks/struts
ST Coilovers
INSTALL
Went to a buddy’s house and we got started around 9am doing the coil install. Everything went really smooth, and the only semi difficult part was getting the front struts out of the car w/o something to spread the boot apart, but none the less we got it done without much cursing. The whole install was done by 1:30pm with several smoke breaks and food breaks. So we’ll say 3 – 3.5 hours total.
First test drive was with 6 threads left in front and rear. At this height the car felt more connected to the road…but as far as ride quality/bumps…I couldn’t differentiate between these and the stock setup.
Second test drive was at 3 threads left in front, 1.5 in the rear….When I went to set the set screw; I stripped the plastic around the screw. Oh well, went for a drive either way. At this height the bumps were definitely more noticeable, but they weren’t bad at all you just noticed they were there.
I liked the height and ride here, but knew I had to do something to the front passenger set screw to keep the perch from moving. So I went and bought two up sized set screws and tried to rethread the holes but it didn’t work…So I said screw it what is 3 more threads lower gonna hurt?
I was done messing with it this weekend and didn’t get around to adjusting the rear all the way down…but it only has 1.5 threads left so nothing major, I will get to it this weekend.
As it sits now (0 threads left up front and 1.5 threads in the rear)
REVIEW
I am very impressed with every aspect of these coils. Ride quality is amazing. These are very comfortable and not harsh or bouncy at all. Performance wise I haven’t really tested them on any really nice curvy roads, but I expect them to handle as good as, or better than my stock suspension so I have no worries here. The few roads I did push the car on they took it like a champ. I feel my weak point right now is my tires as I have a set of Falken PT-722 600 Treadwear All Seasons on the car, and it feels as if the sidewalls are pretty soft because those were flexing and wanting to lose traction at higher G corners.
I put about 200-300 miles on them this weekend, and I can say the car is much more pleasurable to drive.
GIRLFRIEND REVIEW:
“It’s not much rougher than stock, just barely, but it’s not bad”
Then she said, If I had to make a comparison it would be:
“Your old setup was like a pair of nice running shoes, and the new setup is like the barefoot running shoes. The old setup was comfortable and supporting, and the new one just lets you feel the road more, but your foot is still protected by the sole of the barefoot shoe”
I will post up updated pictures after I drop the rear the rest of the way down.
I will also be purchasing new perches soon, in the event I want to be able to adjust it back up (very doubtful!). Does anyone know if you can use another company’s double adjustment rings on the ST/KW Front struts? The reason I ask is I feel these would be much more reliable and I wouldn’t have to worry about stripping the set screw again.
