Looking for suspension build advice for MK4 Jetta.

[toby lawrence]

So, long story short: I want a suspension setup that is performance-oriented with the slightest drop so it doesn't look like I could fit a small baby between my wheels.

For recommendations sake, let's say I have $2,000 to spend.

My main questions:

- what dampers should I look at?
- what springs should I look at?
- bushings: I want solid or rubber ones, not ****ty poly ones... which ones should I convert first?
- sway bars? front? back? both? sizes?

I've culled a decent amount through the board but I'm mostly interested in getting the best suspension performance while achieving the slightly dropped look that I want. I'm looking for real world experience and anecdotes... ideally from people who actually run their cars hard but I'll take whatever wisdom I can get.

TIA.

[GermanCoilovers99]

IF you have 2k to spend...

go get KW V2 Inox-line for less than 2k,youll be very happy,very nice ride and stiff(very good handling)

[toby lawrence]

IF you have 2k to spend...

go get KW V2 Inox-line for less than 2k,youll be very happy,very nice ride and stiff(very good handling)

Heh, $1,750 for coilovers.... dunno about that. Seems like a wasted investment when there's so much more in the suspension that could be freshened up or beefed up.

[T-redmk2ABA]

http://www.kermatdi.com/servlet/-str...-Street/Detail

Your car will handle like a dream better hurry not many left shine stopped making it

[KG18t]

It all depends on how extreme you want to go. Are you planning on using this on the street, or is it going to be mostly a track car? Yes, spending nearly 2k on coilovers is silly without other modifications. There's a long list of mods one can do, but some of them are not street mods, they wear out... metal bushings for instance.

If you're looking to still keep a mostly street suitable car - I'd suggest something like a set of PSS coils and some camber plates - I'm partial to GroundControl.

Another excellent upgrade - find someone selling the front clip out of an R or TT - the spindles, control arms, steering rack, sway bar, subframe bushings. The spindle hub thing gets to be a pain depending on what transmission you've got. 5 speed or auto will require the hubs that go with those, the 6 speed hubs are the same as on the R. Sway bar stuff is a little different here - if you want to plan for it, just get front shocks made for an R, that way you'll have the bosses for the sway bar already there.

[toby lawrence]

It all depends on how extreme you want to go. Are you planning on using this on the street, or is it going to be mostly a track car? Yes, spending nearly 2k on coilovers is silly without other modifications. There's a long list of mods one can do, but some of them are not street mods, they wear out... metal bushings for instance.

If you're looking to still keep a mostly street suitable car - I'd suggest something like a set of PSS coils and some camber plates - I'm partial to GroundControl.

I plan on it being a daily driver that can handle getting pushed decently hard around a track or through some cones. I know I won't ever be the fastest car in those situations, but I want it to work well no matter where I take it... except for gravel/dirt which I have no intention of messing around with.

Another excellent upgrade - find someone selling the front clip out of an R or TT - the spindles, control arms, steering rack, sway bar, subframe bushings. The spindle hub thing gets to be a pain depending on what transmission you've got. 5 speed or auto will require the hubs that go with those, the 6 speed hubs are the same as on the R. Sway bar stuff is a little different here - if you want to plan for it, just get front shocks made for an R, that way you'll have the bosses for the sway bar already there.

TT/R32 spindles I had planned on doing, eventually, so that the lowering had little to no effect on LCA-to-road parallelism. Why switch to the TT/R32 LCAs and sway bar, though? Why switch to the TT/R32 steering rack for that matter?

[kastashado]

That all seems like a lot of work. I can't say I have the best set up either, but it's decent. I'm using Eibach Pro Street-S coilovers, Eibach anti-roll kit, camber plates and shim kit. It's fully adjustable in both the front and back. Right now I'm sitting 5 inches from the floor in the front bumper and 7 in the rear valance. But that's dialed all the way down on 17's. I'm gonna lift it to fit 18's on there and give the springs some play so the ride smooths out. All in all, she handles nice with tight cornering. I just have to watch out for pot holes and take it easy on speed bumps since a skid plate hasn't magically appeared yet....
All together everything cost about 2000 (back in 2005) w/o install costs , (1300 for coilovers, 400 for anti roll kit and 300 for pro alignment kit) . But like everyone says...it's all about what you want. Eibach cup over kits, like the pro system plus, is a great set up that comes with the anti-roll kit included for 900 and only has a 1 - 1.5 in. drop. Just search around...the best prices I've seen are through autoanything.com. I bought it a few year back so the prices have dropped down a bit...you'd spend about 1700 for the set up I have now through them and the 900 I quoted is recent on their web page.
Good luck and let us know what you decided to go with.
Rich.

[TMCCRline]

http://www.kermatdi.com/servlet/-str...-Street/Detail

Your car will handle like a dream better hurry not many left shine stopped making it

Did Shine make this for a Mk V or Mk VI ?
For my 2012 CC.......

Thanks!

[T-redmk2ABA]

Did Shine make this for a Mk V or Mk VI ?
For my 2012 CC.......

Thanks!

No , back to the op if you don't want to drop take a look at the link I posted , its by far the best suspension money can buy.

[toby lawrence]

No , back to the op if you don't want to drop take a look at the link I posted , its by far the best suspension money can buy.

I do want a drop, though.... which is precisely why I never bothered looking for an SRS MK4 kit or contacting Shine Racing.

[KG18t]

As far as the rest of the R hardware -
LCAs - cast as opposed to stamped, adjustment possibilities for static camber, can bold on beefier ball joints
Front Sway - it's actually smaller than the regular bar because with the improved geometry, a larger one isn't needed. This actually gives you more front grip because you're lifting the inside tire less.
Rack - It's a much tighter feeling, quicker ratio rack. It really makes a difference in the way the car feels.

Given you're planning on still being daily, I'd definitely stick with rubber bushings on the LCAs. There are two options for subframe bushings - R/TT and Brass. The brass will be cheaper, but probably much harsher, the bit of rubber on the R bushings doesn't allow much flex, and absorbs at least some vibration. A brace you'll want to obtain - an LCA brace, this in combination with the stiff subframe bushings and some camber plates (or some other form of solid top mount) does AMAZING things to turn-in and predictability. Being a Jetta, I wouldn't worry as much about a Unibrace - although this is a must have item for a Golf chassis.

I would definitely see if GroundControl makes a camber plate setup that will accept the top of Bilstein's PSS coils... they're one of the better designs out there in my opinion. You could actually do the rest of this without any drop or spring upgrades at all and you'd be amazed at the improvement of handling. Other option for spring/shock - Koni Yellows and a GroundControl coil kit... but this is fairly advanced, you're probably better off going with a pre-packaged bit like the Bilsteins.

Oh, and find a fat rear sway bar, either an external, or an internal O bar like Shine's... if I hadn't already had an external, I would've purchased an inside mount bar.

Someone said all this looks like a whole lot of work... well, it is, and it's worth it. Lowering a mk4 with just springs and shocks in most cases does more harm than good. Due to slightly stiffer springs, it may feel more reactive, but you've actually got less grip out on the edge.

[spartiati]

Tobz the two biggest things that made a difference on my car were the Unibrace in the rear and the H2sport spindles.

Those two literally transformed how the car behaves and responds. There is a knockoff unibrace out there that can be had for under 100 bucks. spindles are pricey but again totally worth every damn penny. As far as suspension goes like everyone said if its daily then keep the stock bushings. If you are going all out USRT has tubular front control arms with spherical bearings. Great for a track car but I wouldn't do that for the street.

For coilovers you really can't go wrong with any of the big names. Bilstein, Koni, HR. I went with Vogtland. 10 year warranty on shocks and lifetime on springs. No brainer for me since its my daily.

[toby lawrence]

I think I'm going to attack the damper portion of the system first. After talking with Madmax, I've decided I'll probably splurge on a set of Bilstein PSS coilovers. Since they're Bilstein, atleast I know they can and have been revalved for a respectable price.. meaning I can tune them down the road if I ever get that into it.

If I could find the whole front clip of an R or TT somewhere... I'd consider swapping all that stuff over but I'll probably focus on the standard **** for now.

I have a brand new subframe, since I smashed up a mount point on my other one, that I plan on having reinforced with some simple cross-bracing and what not. I'll probably end up getting the TT subframe bushings and R/TT heavy duty LCA bushings.

That will be my start to new suspension and better handling.

[toby lawrence]

Starting this back up since I now have to funds to actually start purchasing...

Anybody know where the TT subframe bushings can be had the cheapest? Everything I'm seeing is like $100 for the two halves. O_O The TyrolSport solid brass bushings are cheaper and seem like they'd be better since they are entirely locked down... I haven't read anything about people using them, though. I know people have used the TT bushings to great effect, though.

Thoughts?

[toby lawrence]

Ended up snagging solid aluminum rear subframe mounts from 034 Motorsports. It's at least $50 saved over going with the TyrolSport brass ones. Figured that in this particular case... there isn't really supposed to be any movement so any lubrication benefits from brass are sort of moot. The PSS kit is on its way as well.

Still debating on whether I want to stick with stock-style strut mounts and just get solid ones or get camber/caster plates a la GroundControl. While I know they're good, even $300 shipped for used ones is a huge chunk of changes to drop that could potentially be used to stiffen or lighten other things. Just have to see how things start shaping up, I suppose.