Neuspeed Sport Springs -v- Eibach ProKit Springs

Suspension Comparison: Neuspeed Sport Springs –v- Eibach ProKit springs

The aim:

This test involves putting too very similar suspension packages through their pace back to back on real Australian roadways.
In this case it’s the newly released Neuspeed ProCup Kit + Neuspeed Tubular (hollow) 25mm 3 way adjustable sway bars front and rear. The Neuspeed ProCup Kit consists of Neuspeed Sport springs and the American tuned Koni FSD dampers.

A second exactly the same vehicle has been fitted with Eibach ProKit Springs, Koni FSD dampers that are tuned for the Euro market + H&R solid 3 way adjustable anti roll bars (26mm front & 22mm rear).
The Neuspeed vehicle has its tubular sway bars set on soft front and rear. The Eibach ProKit vehicle has the H&R bars set on soft at front and hard at rear.

Both vehicles are MKV VW Golf GTI – 1 black and 1 white.
(1)Black GTI – Neuspeed
(2) White GTI – Eibach/H&R

The venue:

Sir Bertram Stevens Drive, Royal National Park – Toll both to toll both. In addition several up and down trips to Garie Beach Road to test each setup on exactly the same stretch of bitumen. Roadways consist of coarse & smooth bitumen, gradients uphill & downhill, with rough and airport runway smooth surfaces. There are a compilation of a few long straights with passing opportunities, sweepers, a myriad of tight 35-45-55kp/h rated corners. The idea is to use a roadway that replicates much of what every driver is likely to encounter in day to day driving conditions. Weather conditions for test were overcast and dry.

Drive impressions:


Neuspeed ProCup Kit + Neuspeed bars

Neuspeed and Eibach springs are progressive rate. The neuspeed ride is more refined and supple than relative to Eibach ProKit sprung GTI. The neuspeed springs feel as if they are about 10% stiffer than the stock GTI Euro springs. This gives the Koni FSD has greater control in dampening the inertia of the spring movement as opposed to the slightly stiffer eibach spring. The slightly softer neuspeed spring does an excellent job of keeping the vehicle from bouncing around on pot holes, pock marked surfaces or major undulations or a series of undulations – definite advantage over the stock OEM GTI setup that seems to have this problem in areas like Sydney with poor roadways. If you not critical of the stock GTI in this respect – drive the neuspeed procup version. You soon will be.

The grip levels are markedly improved aiding all that APR power to be put to the ground. No issues with wheel spin on any surface other than very steep inclines with Continental CS2 – even with APR chip. The neuspeed sport springs and Koni-FSD dampers do a superb job of increasing drivability of the front wheel GTI. Pitch fore and aft is reduced considerably and the vehicle never feels as if it’s going to get out of shape or bite you back for an ill judged corner entry speed. The ride is firm without being over harsh. The Koni FSD do an excellent job of opening the softening valve on major high intensity bumps/pot holes or on high frequency undulations to give you that trademark Koni ride.

Both eibach and neuspeed springs in each vehicle have been sleeved to further reduce the noise typically associated with progressive rate spring slap. The neuspeed springs under full duress are much quieter than the eibach prokit spring. The different in noise is more like a chasm rather than marginal. This gives the neuspeed a refinement that the eibach prokit cannot match. A section of the drive has a tight series of 35kph switchbacks with the last of 3 corners sporting three undulations just after apex with each bump being progressively larger as the GTI drops into a dip. Most suspension systems bottom out in this section as did the neuspeed procup kit. The noise level was a muted thud – similar but not as refined as stock OEM linear springs. Much quieter than eibach springs.

Handling is dramatically improved with the addition of springs, dampers and sway bars. This combination makes the GTI more rewarding and easier to drive fast. The Golf GTI sits much flatter in turns with body roll noticeably reduced, whilst still retaining some adjustability on the throttle. Information is telegraphed sooner than the eibach/H&R GTI; although you do lose some of that forgiving nature of the stock GTI.

Approaching the limit in the neuspeed GTI has this vehicle under steering much to my surprise. Big front and rear 25mm sway bars would dictate that the handling would be closer to neutral – not the case. Ultimately handling bias depends on tubular sway bar thickness, size, shape and adjustment of the neuspeed bar. The bars do convey a little more under steer earlier than my memory can recall when the eibach/H&R bars were on soft front and rear. Needless to say, body roll is a dramatic improvement on stock GTI. The under steering nature of this chassis bar setup had me waiting that extra second or two to apply the power out of corners. There is no doubt that the rear bar set on hard would dramatically improve drivability out of tight and hairpin corners. Even with both bars set on soft – repeated stabbing at the steering wheel to fight under steer as encountered in a stock GTI is not the case with the neuspeed sway bars.

The Koni FSD dampers are great for reducing bump steer. Strike a major bump or series of bumps mid corner – and the Koni FSD valve works its magic to prevent the vehicle from skipping or bouncing from underneath you similar to what a super tight Porsche 911 GT2 track special would be likely to do. That’s what makes the FSD so good – two dampers in one in an instant. The neuspeed pro cup kit has been tuned to be sporty and comfortable in the one setup. The American tune dictates that the procup kit has a slight bias to ride over handling, but this bias is only marginal.

Eibach ProKit + H&R small set sway bars.

To clear the air – H&R make two sets of bars for the GTI. The small set are 26mm/22mm solid and the large set are 28mm/24mm solid. Remember that the Neuspeed bars are tubular – and taking the average size wall thickness into account – the 25mm hollow bars are likely to be similar to a 23.5mm solid; that’s not withstanding the shape of the actual bar which may vary – these are only guesstimates.

The eibach prokit springs are up to15% stiffer than stock OEM GTI springs. They are therefore about 3-5% firmer than the neuspeed springs. The ride is definitely firmer which can occasionally jar on rough surfaces as encountered on the test run through the Royal National Park – even with the Koni FSD valve working overtime. This is not as noticeable with the neuspeed sport springs which offer a more comfortable ride.

Neuspeed is an American company albeit run buy guys with a German descent. Neuspeed springs are made in Germany to American specification. Americans put a higher value on comfort in addition to handling. Europeans are the opposite – the people from Deutschland demand handling when traveling 200kph on their speed unlimited expressways. The Australians seem to slot somewhere between the Yanks and the Bavarians in preference for ride/handling mix.

Eibach prokit springs reflect this bias towards handling at the expense of reduced comfort and noise. Remember – we are talking marginal spring rates of 3-5% firmer; so differences are small but notable.

Noise of the eibach prokit springs is one major disappointment. Left unsleeved they sound like race springs on a race track. Hardly fitting for a 50K GTI where refinement is a well known attribute of a European designed vehicle. In fact; I would go as far to say that the noise from the eibach springs when bottoming out are far from acceptable. They crash and bang leaving you to think that the front struts have pierced through the strut towers. Not acceptable in this day and age. Sleeving the eibach prokit springs will reduce noise by up to 50%; but they are still far noisier than the neuspeed sport springs.

Another interesting find on this test drive was made at the super tight 15kph sign posted downhill left 180 degree hairpin leading to Garie Beach. The eibach prokit springs seem to carry a bit more rake than the neuspeed springs – that is the front end is a little lower relative to the rear end. This may be the cause of the two scrubbings of the front outer tyre on the inner fender screw & flange. Yes – this occurs with stock OEM 17” Denver wheels. The less raked neuspeed procup kit GTI did not scrub at all on this corner. This only adds to the refinement of the neuspeed procup kit – bigger wheels anyone? Maybe not with eibach prokit.

Doug, the owner of the Neuspeed GTI indicated that he thought the white eibach/H&R GTI to be perfect in terms of ride/handling equation – it’s a matter of personal preferences in my opinion. In town the firmer setup of both neuspeed and eibach become more apparent due to low speeds of city driving. Neuspeed would be more comfortable in day to day motoring in town. The eibach prokit likely to offer you more agility, stability and control at higher speeds on autobahns.

The front of the eibach/H&R GTI had less body roll due to the much stiffer front anti roll bar – 26mm solid H&R –v- 25mm hollow neuspeed. Ultimately we are not comparing apples with apples here as the neuspeed GTI had both bars set on soft position inducing on the limit under steer when pushed. Adjustability in sway bars is a great option to have.

Eibach/H&R was noted for being the most balanced vehicle on this test run – even when compared to other GTI’s sporting coilovers and very stiff anti roll bars. The vehicle very rarely gets too out of shape as the rear 22mm solid bar on hard adjustment is always smacked into line via the even bigger front 26mm bar on soft setting. The bigger front H&R sway bars allows some latitude, but not too much.

On the limit this H&R setup is defined as neutral. Lift off over steer or hard/fast steering response will induce over steer response to a degree. Turn in response is another world away from a stock GTI. This setup inspires confidence. Approaching the 25kph infamous blind hairpin near Bald Hill leaves the heavier R32 Golfs struggling to keep pace in entry and exit speed in the dry. Drive out of corners compared to a stock GTI is miles ahead; although this is at the expense of some throttle adjustability and forgiveness on the limit. While the eibach/H&R vehicle always maintains its composure, on the limit transitions do occur faster without that safety of the telegraph message sent at 8/10ths by the stock suspended GTI. Bump steer is also a non-issue with Koni-FSD dampers with eibach-prokit/H&R as the neuspeed pro cup kit.

Which is faster? Difficult to say at the seat of the pants. I feel that the neuspeed would have an advantage on very rough roadways, in the wet and on very low grip coarse bitumen roadways. This is due to extra compliance of the softer neuspeed sports springs. The Eibach ProKit/H&R (or Eibach ARB) is likely to be faster everywhere else. Differences would only be marginal and obviously tyre and tyre pressures would also play a role.

Upgrade from 17" Denver wheels weighing in at 23lbs - to - 18" Huff wheels weighing in at 28lbs - and the eibach prokit springs still provide a more taught ride and higher effective spring rate over the neuspeed sports springs with standard 17" Denver wheels.

Result:

In terms of refinement and ride quality - neuspeed procup kit wins hands down. If you have some of that boy-racer in you; the eibach prokit will offer you that extra bit of handling at the expense of some ride comfort and a major disadvantage in noise suppression. The eibach prokit springs themselves are $605 – neuspeed are @ $350. The Koni-FSD dampers are the same price from the cheapest internet sales guy in town (Ian @ www.rennenhaus.com - American tune) @ $1000. The neuspeed bars front and rear sell for @ $700 while H&R retail for @ $900. Simply looking at price – the neuspeed procup kit is a better value. If you have your partner drive your vehicle or a family with children – neuspeed refinement is the way to go – If you do not have a family, place a heavy weight on handling, don’t mind a lot of crashing and banging on major bottoming out bumps, and don’t mind paying a bit extra – then eibach prokit springs may be for you. If you’re full on into sports set-ups – these suspension systems may not be for you. Perhaps we need a Round No.2 for when the black neuspeed GTI has its rear anti-roll bar set to hard position – only then will we be comparing apples with apples.

PS: There were a number of drivers along on the test day – I invite you to post your comments in respect to each setup – especially Doug, Mat, Gerard, Nick, Maurice and Julian.

Dimension 3 – The KW V3 + Hotchkis Anti Roll Bar (27mm f & r hollow):

Mat (TinyGTI) is sadly leaving us for the greener pastures of the United Kingdom. He was along for one last www.golfmkv.com blast. His Silver GTI is the best looking GTI in my opinion and sports a myriad of modifications: Cold air intake, custom exhaust, GIAC chip, lightweight Rays alloy 18 inch wheels, KW V3 compression/rebound adjustable coil over suspension with Hotchkis 27mm hollow anti-roll bars – front set on medium and rear on hard.

I had the pleasure of taking this awesome GTI for a spirited test run as a gauge against the two Koni FSD vehicles. I also had the pleasure of having this GTI in my rear view mirrors for the first leg of the drive.

The first leg had Mat cruising right behind me. I noticed how flat and taught this GTI sat on the low grip coarse bitumen roadway in the northern part of the Royal National Park. Once we arrived just north of the narrow bridge near Bundeena turn off, things get slightly more serious. There are a set of left handers followed by a switch back – all low speed; so speed is not really an issue – but handling is. The GTI is given a real spurt in this section of park that I know so well. I saw Mat drop back a bit and wondered what was going on. Was he paying attention? Mat’s driving skills are excellent and he has plenty experience and has done some track work. So ability is not an issue.

A similar thing occurred on the run down to Garie Beach. This time we were traveling on very low grip level coarse bitumen and when a series of low speed tight downhill corners and a switchback were encountered. I could see Mat’s GTI over steering through corners when my GTI was hovering around neutral – slight under steer or over steer depending on entry speed. Mat’s Yokohama tyres grip well so tyres were not an issue. After a series of turns Mat was no longer in my mirrors. To put things into perspective – the stock GTI behind Mat could not keep up with him.

I came to the opinion that Mat’s awesome looking KW coil over + hotchkis 27mm sway GTI was set too stiff for low grip coarse bitumen roadway driving. Not to mention the huge rear sway bar had tightened up the rear considerably. We are talking race car like stiffness. Remember – what makes a good road car doesn’t make a good race car and vice versa. As soon as when stopped at Garie Beach, Mat approached me and mentioned that he had encountered a lot of over steer on the downhill run. This cost him a lot of time and distance.

The hotchkis 27mm front and rear bars were set at medium front giving Mat’s GTI an increase of 70% at the front. The rear bar was set at hard position adding a whopping 200% stiffness in the rear. To put things into perspective: My Eibach ProKit/Koni FSD/H&R sway barred (26mm/22mm) GTI has @ + 85% stiffer bars front and rear with front on soft and rear on hard. Remember there is less weight in the rear of a GTI being a fwd vehicle.

This is a point of contention between the engine builder and suspension Guru ‘Dan GSR’ in the States and myself. For terrible roadways with low grip levels of coarse bitumen roadways – a super stiff compression or rebound and more importantly – a super big rear anti roll bar is not always an advantage on public roadways. You need that suspension compliance in low grip situations which includes wet weather driving.

After speaking to Mat – I gave him a run up and down Garie Beach roadway in my Koni FSD/Eibach/H&R GTI. He’s a very smooth experienced driver and after seeing him drive, I had the confidence to agree to swap vehicles later on for a Waterfall to Bald Hill south run which has smooth grippy bitumen rather than rough coarse bitumen of Garie Beach. Mat’s stiff setup was more suited to these types of roadways. The vehicle sits very flat in turns and the Yokohama have their job cut out for them coping with all the added power of the GIAC engine mods. Approaching the infamous blind 25kph super tight corner at Bald Hill – Mat’s GTI did not seem to have the turn in that my GTI has. The car pushed wide on exit twice – once with Mat driving and once with me driving. To put it in perspective – many R32’s push wide at this corner on exit despite the all drive advantage. Driving into Bald Hill car park without an entry lip to unsettle Mat’s GTI, the rear inner wheel lifted right off the ground. Yes – that rear end is super stiff.

After some deliberation – my advice to Mat was that his vehicle was set up well for the race track – but had to be softened up for public roadways – especially poor quality roadways. My suggestion would be to soften up those huge 27mm sway bars from f & r: med/hard to soft/med. This will give Mat’s GTI about 45% at the front & 135% at the rear of extra stiffness. Once this is done, I recommend another run on the same roadways to tangibly feel the difference and improvement in turning and cornering. The softer setting on the bars will allow the vehicle to move around a bit more helping in low grip situations. After this; the KW coil over suspension may need to be altered in compression and rebound front to rear. Mat has his compression & rebound set at higher levels than the preset Koni FSD; difference is notable rather than overwhelming.

Mat commented on the squeaks of the older 2005 build GTI. It may be age; it may also be the 05 build; or it may be the stiffer suspension causing some flex in the body.

Mat commented that my GTI was very balanced; albeit softer than his current setup. I was happy to hear this.

The 4th Dimension - APR

Now its time to come out of the closet.

After trying Doug’s APR – Neuspeed GTI I have to say that I have become an APR believer. I have sampled on a number of occasions the Bluefin & GIAC in the GTI and even Revo albeit in an R32. APR offers the power where I want it the most – the top end. It’s the smoothest application and almost feels as if your not chipped. In comparison the Bluefin is punchy and GIAC super responsive in throttle application. Having said this; Mat’s GIAC GTI with cold air intake and exhaust in 05 model was much smoother than Nick stock GIAC chip only 07 model. Is APR worth the extra spend – in my opinion it is.

I may have to think about changing part time courses in effort to have my employer pay my fees – or forgo my planned trip to Europe - leaving some cash for a possible APR upgrade.

Cheers
WJ

Pics

Ride height comparison: Neuspeed Sport -v- Eibach ProKit.

Wow! There's a lot of work gone into that write up. Great read.

Is it just me or does the FSD push the rear of the car up a bit higher? (or lower it less)

WhiteJames said:

The 4th Dimension - APR

Now its time to come out of the closet.

After trying Doug’s APR – Neuspeed GTI I have to say that I have become an APR believer. I have sampled on a number of occasions the Bluefin & GIAC in the GTI and even Revo albeit in an R32. APR offers the power where I want it the most – the top end. It’s the smoothest application and almost feels as if your not chipped. In comparison the Bluefin is punchy and GIAC super responsive in throttle application. Having said this; Mat’s GIAC GTI with cold air intake and exhaust in 05 model was much smoother than Nick stock GIAC chip only 07 model. Is APR worth the extra spend – in my opinion it is.

I may have to think about changing part time courses in effort to have my employer pay my fees – or forgo my planned trip to Europe - leaving some cash for a possible APR upgrade.

Cheers
WJ

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You will find that the more you add as far as modifcations, the smoother the GTI gets.

With all my mods, I find the GTI is extremely drivable if you want to cruize around traffic, but when you put your foot down, all hell breaks lose but in a pretty controlled manner.

After adding the twincooler, the tourqe I get from the APR tune would now be closer to the GIAC but the top is definatley still there. I just don't have to rev the car to get any extra grunt out of it.

As you are pretty familiar with the other tunes out there I would like to invite you to have a drive of my GTI and see what you think. I know I haven't done the suspension yet so it won't be as comfortable, but is definatley worth a try.

Let me know when you guys are planning another testing session and I will see what I can do. Usually not good during the day because of work.

OZVWConvert said:

After adding the twincooler, the tourqe I get from the APR tune would now be closer to the GIAC but the top is definatley still there. I just don't have to rev the car to get any extra grunt out of it.

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LOL all I know is, that in a straight line, I just see your dust! :bellyroll:

dodgey said:

LOL all I know is, that in a straight line, I just see your dust! :bellyroll:

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Speaking of which, because I can never tell, did mine blow a lot of smoke when I took off?

OZVWConvert said:

Speaking of which, because I can never tell, did mine blow a lot of smoke when I took off?

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Nah, pretty clean actually, just a small puff. Not like the TDI or the MPS!

Guess you and your wife got home OK then :w00t:

Did you detour via the National Park home? :happyanim:

dodgey said:

Nah, pretty clean actually, just a small puff. Not like the TDI or the MPS!

Guess you and your wife got home OK then :w00t:

Did you detour via the National Park home? :happyanim:

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Good to hear!

We were going to go via the National Park, but we were pretty buggered from the day and was glad when we finally made it home. I think I have created a monster with my wife, she is now keen to go on as many GTGs as she can! :headbang: Is good for me as she now understands my passion for driving!

OZVWConvert said:

Good to hear!

We were going to go via the National Park, but we were pretty buggered from the day and was glad when we finally made it home. I think I have created a monster with my wife, she is now keen to go on as many GTGs as she can! :headbang: Is good for me as she now understands my passion for driving!

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LOL, she'll be out modding you now with the Mini!! :bellyroll: