Raceland Coilovers

[udun4]

I wanted to ask about these Coilovers. I have been reading multiple forums about these Raceland. Nothing negative from anyone who bought them but alot of negativity from people that say the price is too cheap. I have never had any coilovers on my car before and trying to get a gauge about them. Also I have a 09 Jetta that only has the flash on it. No other modifications. And this is the next way I wanted to go. Please advise.

[Nightrider]

I have never owned a set of this (nor will I ever), but I have driven several cars (MkII's-MkIV's) with Racelands/Ultimos/Rokkors. These coilovers handle and ride like absolute garbage. Secondly, there are countless threads about issues people have with them. If you are interested in a car that handles and rides like crap, but is low, then these coilovers are for you.

My best advice is to find someone local (local forums, gtg, autox event etc) that has these or similar coilovers (Rokkor/Ultimos) and ask them to take you out for a spin. For comparison, find someone else that has a proper setup (Koni, etc. coilovers or a spring/shock combo that is at proper ride height). The difference should be very clear.


Threads just from the first page of the Suspension Tuning forum that are Raceland specific:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...d-ultimos-pics

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...hich-Coilovers

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...h-problems-lol

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...-helper-spring

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...bing-on-my-17s

[udun4]

I guess the weird part is the Shop I got the ECU flash done at recommeded it to me. I never heard of them before and they recommended it to me. They stated that they put it on a friends car and it had no issues. It rode smooth. Thats the reason for me asking. I didnt know if it was a hit or miss with the rims, or if the people that had them was slamming their car down on the floor.

[Nightrider]

The shop is trying to make a buck... I'll bet that the shop doesn't have any cars that they track?

[DC Jetta Guy]

Do yourself the favor and listen to Mr. Nightrider's advice. Racelands are novelty coilovers. Don't waste your time with them. And most of the guys who say they ride great have never ridden on quality coils. I'm going to continue to plug Koni's here because I have driven on them daily for over 2 years and the ride/performance is excellent. They're built well, were straight forward to install and have a lifetime warranty. Do it right the first time and you'll be happy you did so.

[Nightrider]

Don't waste your time with them. And most of the guys who say they ride great have never ridden on quality coils.

This really really really is a key point.


Get some seat time in someones car that has a Koni setup, like I said, the difference should be very obvious.

[jettatek]

I just installed a set of Racelands on a customers car that they brought in and was NOT impressed with the quality of product. They are visibly inferior.
They do drop the car alot, 2.75 inches lower is what we set it at with another 2in available. But its easy to see they wont last longer than a few years, especially if you have any kind of winter weather and salt roads.

[vwantihero]

screw it bro..are you going to go do some autocross? are you gonna be racing on a track and crap? if you got the 389$ to blow do it. you'll be sittin low and it will look good. obviously if you are gonna be flyin around like andretti get yerself a 1k+ setup..otherwise, who the F is gonna care, they'll say "dang that crap is dumped" I bought a set last week they're comin in tuesday i'll tell ya what I think of em.

[builtvw]

you've never heard negatives from people that have them???? well i have them and let me tell you they are the worst. its like buying a honda "you get what you pay for". its like having solid beams as your suspension. but now im use to them so i don't care. but everyone elses car feels like a hover craft

[arashb]

I went from the pro damper system to ultimos and they ride almost the same. No regrets in getting them. People bash them because they buy $2k coilovers for daily driving that are almost as good.

[Nightrider]

People bash them because they buy $2k coilovers for daily driving that are almost as good.

Lol, I hear this argument quite often and it just doesn't hold any water. I do not have $2k coilovers yet I'd prefer stock suspension over ultimos/raceland/etc any day of the week.

[myb5quattro]

I can only speak from experience, which is fk streetlines and weitecs in mk4s. I had a set of streetlines a year ago in my 20th. They had a few thousand miles on them, not slammed, helpers and all that were in. Just a little drop and they were so damn bouncy. Maybe they needed more time to be broken in? They had 5k on them though. Then I went to some nice weitecs which have more miles on them but ride infinitely better. I think expensive coilovers are expensive for a reason.. higher quality springs/struts, corrosion protection, nicer ones have dampening adjustability, things like that.

[20jetta98]

i have the ultimos and really dont have any complaints... my friends has an h&r setup and his is worse... u can feel the littlest bump... imo.

[OldSchoolRyan]

Racelands are def a better alternative to cutting or using drop springs.
I just recently put Ultimos on my MK4 and they seem a bit "sloppy" to me
I can go low as hell but I don't think I will be slaloming cones in parking lots like I would normally do lol

If you can afford to save the extra cash for a better set of coil overs, I would do so.
I'm gunna ride mine out till next year and then oopgrade

[GermanCoilovers99]

Exactly, do not buy those crap coilovers...better stay with your OEM suspension,or buy a used set of KW,H&R,KONI,AP,Weitec etc...

or if you cant find used ones,

a good sport suspension that you can lower with Bilstein struts and KW,H&R springs and your good to go,

you are wasting your money on JOM,RACELAND,ROKKOR,BLUELINE,

[Tomppa]

Haters are going to hate, but I will say the Raceland coilovers are a fine purchase as long as you know what you are getting. They will not be as comfortable as stock suspension or some coilovers that cost double or tripe of their price. They will not give you race car handling. They ARE stiffer than OEM suspension and you can adjust ride height.

(I do understand stiffer is not always better and lowering is obviously not good for most grip and best lap times or whatever. When I dive my car to the mall or a friends house, the improved steering response seems more relevant.)

If you do not race your car and you do not have a problem with stiffer ride, why not? Unless you drop them on the bumpstops they are not that bad for daily driving. I've driven worse cup kits, and from my point of view I would never go back to stock, all that bodyroll and wheel bounce...
Another point of view could be my dads opinion on them: they made the whole car a piece of ****.
If you prefer comfort and ground clearance, don't get them.

This is all from MK4 point of view. Don't know how your stock suspension compares.

[CandySucker]

I had the original racelands on my mk3 jetta vr6 for two years. They rode pretty well for the first year I had them with no complaints, fairly stiff, I had all the components in them still with the bumpstops in. In the summer of 2011 I really lowered the car quite a bit for shows and the car in the beginning rode still fairly well. As 1-2 months passed the car increasingly began to ride poorly, worse and worse as time went on.
The ride became bouncy, especially at low speeds and the coils began to make noise when the suspension was completing travel. To rectify the issue I thought possibly cutting or removing the bumpstops would help. After cutting them in half it did help but the coils then were too soft to the point where it was rubbing the tire so much I had to put the full bumpstop back in.
By the end of summer the ride was almost horrible, to the point where I raised the car back up another 1.5 inches before I got better coils.

The just of this story, EVERY review you read from people are people telling you how they do not ride bad at all, WHICH IS TRUE, for the first quarter or half of their life. Why people always hate on cheap coilovers is they wear out, they blow out, and over time the ride gets worse and worse, and worse, to the point where its so uncomfortable and embarrassing.

That is a 100% full review of original Racelands used for 2+ years.

[shaft6s9]

Used them on my previous mk4 awful replaced them after 2weeks with spax coilovers with adj damping, never use that rubbish again.

[SoIAteAPancakeToday]

lol the raceland ultimos ride fine and probably ride better than some of the more expensive coils

[Tomppa]

The just of this story, EVERY review you read from people are people telling you how they do not ride bad at all, WHICH IS TRUE, for the first quarter or half of their life. .

Fair point, however don't you think amount of lowering has some effect on their lifetime? I have agree that these won't last as long as high quality ones, but I'd still say they are worth the money.

[udun4]

You guys have given me alot to think about. I havent commented on this in a while because my ceiling collapsed in a house I was renting and I bought a house after that. Now that I am a bit stable in my home I am ready to address this again. I think the battle for me is cost with getting the more expensive coilovers but I guess thats one of those things where it is better to wait til you have the money for some good ones then jump out and buy some cheaper ones and run them. Hmm. I am still weighing options though.....

[udun4]

Hey Guys,

What do you think about the FK Coilovers?

http://fkcoilover.com/

[vdubdano]

i have rokkors on my mk3 and they ride like ****...but then again its a vr6 not a racecar. as long as its low im happy

[CandySucker]

lol the raceland ultimos ride fine and probably ride better than some of the more expensive coils

I would agree with this quote for the first 1/4 to 1/2 of the life of the coils... I really question how well they will ride after being really low on them for a year or so...

[SoIAteAPancakeToday]

My og racelands still had some life in them after two years and 40k miles. And the ultimos are leaps better than those

[EMagic]

I had the original racelands on my mk3 jetta vr6 for two years. They rode pretty well for the first year I had them with no complaints, fairly stiff, I had all the components in them still with the bumpstops in. In the summer of 2011 I really lowered the car quite a bit for shows and the car in the beginning rode still fairly well. As 1-2 months passed the car increasingly began to ride poorly, worse and worse as time went on.
The ride became bouncy, especially at low speeds and the coils began to make noise when the suspension was completing travel. To rectify the issue I thought possibly cutting or removing the bumpstops would help. After cutting them in half it did help but the coils then were too soft to the point where it was rubbing the tire so much I had to put the full bumpstop back in.
By the end of summer the ride was almost horrible, to the point where I raised the car back up another 1.5 inches before I got better coils.

The just of this story, EVERY review you read from people are people telling you how they do not ride bad at all, WHICH IS TRUE, for the first quarter or half of their life. Why people always hate on cheap coilovers is they wear out, they blow out, and over time the ride gets worse and worse, and worse, to the point where its so uncomfortable and embarrassing.

That is a 100% full review of original Racelands used for 2+ years.

Totally agree with this. They're cheap, and look good, but they will wear out faster, and they may make some noises after a while.

I've been on a set since last year, and they're not horrible. I wanted to go lower, and if you don't have several hundred dollars more to spend then you should go for it. As far as handling, I have an ajustable strut bar in the front, and I'm getting an upgraded FSB and RSB. I also have R32 bushings on my control arms (that are also getting replaced soon), and spacers which I don't think would help handling too much. I've had people that have high-end coils ride with me in the car, and they're blown away by the handling. My opinion is that if I didn't have the strut bar and bushings, I'd get more body roll, but it all got done at the same time, so I couldn't tell you for sure. I also avoid potholes, dips, and speed bumps like it's my job.

If you want to go low, and think you'll have money in a year or two for better coils, go for it. Otherwise, keep it high and put some money into stiffening up your body roll. Or maybe spend a little more, and go with a cup kit. There's plenty out there, and with the right rims you'll look dope. (Oh yeah, and get rims if you don't have them yet.)

[dubjunkeez001]

Just throwin this out there but there was a comment on them being washy. For the 2k you could invest in some expensive ass coils, you could buy the Racelands, some sway and strut bars, nice tires and prolly the wheel set to match. Have the stiffness in the twisties, and the stance you want for daily driving. Since almost none of us are daily race-car drivers and most are just looking for a unique ride to whip around the streets where you live once in a while why spend what you spent on a car just on a set of race quality coils? I see no point. Also, most of the cars we buy end up back on the forums in 2 years max anyway, so let the next guy deal with the blown struts! HAHAHA just my humble opinion. Sorry next guy. (I tend to fall in love with my car and drive it into the ground)

[dubjunkeez001]

Sorry Emagic, i read your post after writing mine! Seeing as we said almost the same thing! Cheers for thinking like an average guy!

[udun4]

I think I will pull the trigger on this. I will just do it later in the summer. I think the hold up is the inclement weather. But I am thinking of doing it

[Jimmymk4]

Anybody who talks crap about these coilovers most likely dOesnt own a set or probably doesn't even have their car lowered. Lol! Haters are gonna hate. I love these coils. For the price you can't beat em. They only ride bad if you run them with like 5-10 threads left and no helper spring. My buddy has h&r ultra lows and he couldn't believe how good these ride.

Here is the best setup on these in my opinion

Pull the helper springs in front and spin them down to 20 threads left on the drivers side and 23 left on the passenger side to be even with the weight of the engine / tranny

On the rear just install the spring without the perch and your good.

This set up is pretty low without sacraficing how the car rides.

My tires tuck all the way around yet don't rub. My fenders are rolled tho.

[Jhollin]

I just put a set on my MK2 and they ride fine. My buddy has an s14 with a 1500$ set of coils and they ride no worse than his do. i agree that if you plan on driving your VW they way it should probably not be driven anyway, like a race car. then don't. but mine is a daily driver and they're just fine. slightly annoying to instal but mostly because I had to make a few sockets for the installation haha fun times.

[xjewx24x]

Cheap coilovers are cheap, End of story. You get what you pay for etc and every other saying. Buy good buy once. Buy cheap and your spine will hate you later

[vdub_tdi3]

ihave a set of raceland ultimo coilovers on my 2010 mkv tdi...i love them no issues with ride or anything of that nature im tucking rim all around and have no issues except that my sub frame needs to be notched and that has noting to do with the coils so i say go for them you will not be upset.

p.s. for those people who have other coils or cars are stock height theres no reason to bad mouth them not evryone wants to spend 1200+ dollars on coils and price doesnt always mean there good ive had alot of exspensive mods and they were junk

[crazymoforz]

You guys have given me alot to think about. I havent commented on this in a while because my ceiling collapsed in a house I was renting and I bought a house after that. Now that I am a bit stable in my home I am ready to address this again. I think the battle for me is cost with getting the more expensive coilovers but I guess thats one of those things where it is better to wait til you have the money for some good ones then jump out and buy some cheaper ones and run them. Hmm. I am still weighing options though.....

well, when they blow and you have to buy another set then ask yourself the same question. why buy something that rides like crap? why buy something that quality is non existent compared to OEM units? yea, other coils are more expensive, but they higher quality that exceed OEM components! i was never scared to go around a corner on my KW's spun all the way down. also think about your safety. FYI my buddies rear spring broke in middle section of the coil on his Ultimos, and he drives like a grandma! YAY RACELANDS!!!

[vdub_tdi3]

i have no looking rings in the front and no perches in the back my car rides fine and turns are no issues to me so yeah