Coil over question.... For SCCA racing and slammed Daily

[keepitlow]

I have an 83 Rabbit GTI with a 16v that I race every month in SCCA solo. I have been looking for a set of coilovers with adjustable dampening and will also go pretty low on 15" wheels when im not racing. I was thinking about KW variant 2, but don't want to spend that kind of money without hearing some input.

The plan is to race it once a month and then lower it when im not racing on 15" BBS RSs. Pretty much want the lip of the wheel real close to the fender, but thats not necessary. Just don't want to buy awesome coilovers for racing that don't adjust low enough to emilinate wheel gap. I plan to spend over a grand so let me know what you think. Thanks

[Vegeta Gti]

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[keepitlow]

Haha I knew this would happen. I search and searched trust me. Could find what I wanted to hear and only really found people talking about race lands and other similar cheap brands.

[brad131a4]

Well about the only ones I know of would be Bilstein or Koni or the KW. There are a few real big $$ that can be had from Ohlins or Penske. Those would have remote reservours and rebound and dampening. The only other way would be to build your own with sleaves and shock inserts.

[Cushy]

Perhaps this exceeds your over 1k budget, but the best way I've seen to address both issues is to alter the tower. That way you keep your travel for racing (with help from dropped ball joints to correct geometry) and get your low for daily use. Just a thought however. Might also want to look into adjustable upper plates, though in some states its illegal to alter the mounting points of the suspension so cutting for plates\ cutting the tower may be illegal.

Then, you can run virtually any kind of coil and it will still ride at least better then most who just wind them all the way down.

[2.OhhhGTI]

I have an 83 Rabbit GTI with a 16v that I race every month in SCCA solo. I have been looking for a set of coilovers with adjustable dampening and will also go pretty low on 15" wheels when im not racing. I was thinking about KW variant 2, but don't want to spend that kind of money without hearing some input.

The plan is to race it once a month and then lower it when im not racing on 15" BBS RSs. Pretty much want the lip of the wheel real close to the fender, but thats not necessary. Just don't want to buy awesome coilovers for racing that don't adjust low enough to emilinate wheel gap. I plan to spend over a grand so let me know what you think. Thanks

Unfortunately, the race quality coilovers won't go nearly low enough....I have a set of SPAX that I really like, but you'll only get about 2-2.5" total drop. If you get the ultra lows, they won't go nearly high enough for the autocross....

Sounds like time to go shopping for a 2nd car....

[Lando_Calrissian]

Sounds like time to go shopping for a 2nd car....

Or just not worry about how it looks. Most people on the road think any thing older than 10 years is a piece of ****, so lowering wont help your status.

[Vegeta Gti]

fuk ride height for looks. function> form

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[GLIguy85]

low is good. but with that said, you are going to want to correct the suspension geometry for the ride height.

and that is not happening within your budget.

a nice quality set of coilovers and the correct geometry up front goes a long way in handling and feedback.

[danderso]

low is good. but with that said, you are going to want to correct the suspension geometry for the ride height.

.

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[keepitlow]

I have looked into modifying the strut towers to get a little lower, but I don't think I want to get into that right now. I also have looked into ball joint extenders and tie rod extenders to keep the control arm and tie rod parallel to each other and parallel to the ground. I don't plan to SCCA it slammed out, I want to raise it to a proper height for racing and then drop it down whenever I'm not racing. I guess what im trying to ask is what are you guys that SCCA your car running coilover wise and do you daily drive it? I think I talked my self into the KW variant 2 and would eventually do the tie rod and ball joint extenders.

[the mad conductor]

Kw v2s will be a good coil to scca race with. And they will go low enough on 15s


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[-RalleyTuned-]

What size tires are you planning on running with the 15's? What is your race wheel/tire combination?

What I would suggest doing is buying 2 sets of coilovers. Running coils "slammed" will wear them out very fast and you will end up blowing your shocks in a matter of months. ALL true race coilovers will slam the car, as they are meant for very low ride heights. You can spend 300 on a set of racelands to slam, and then get a set of bilstein sports with Ground Control sleeves for autox. I would suggest 400f/300r rates, no front bar and a huge rear sway bar. The KW's are the best option IMO for a dampening adjustable setup.

I think you will find it entirely too much work and such a waste of time to change your setup and re-align the car before ever event. Just set the car at a reasonable height between slammed and parrallel control arms and just drive the car. Being familiar with it at a given height that you drive all the time will be beneficial as well as much easier in the long run. The biggest issue with a lower ride height is the increase in wear on the ball joints and cv joints and bump steer. You can learn to drive fast with bump steer, and the joints are fairly cheap. Just set the height, corner balance, align it and forget it.

[-RalleyTuned-]

Also, just food for thought, if you run the BBS in a 15" size and race on a low profile 13" wheel, you can just leave the ride height low on the 15's. The 13's will clear just fine. I think you will find that you can't really got that low on 15's and still daily drive it...

[keepitlow]

I'm unsure of the tire size I'm going to run on the 15's since I just bought the wheels but my race wheels are 14" modern lines with 185/55-14 tires. I don't really want to swap coilovers every month, but doing an alignment every month won't be hard or costly because I have access to a machine for free. I get what you saying about everything wearing more when it's slammed but I don't plan on being on the ground low, just no wheel gap or tuck the very top of the tire. I was also looking into the FKs with Konig adjustable coilovers, but I don't know if they will be any good.

[Vegeta Gti]

FK's are fukn junk, they blow in a year to a year and a half. sold them for years, they suck ass.

gaz makes great stop, then you have hotbits, you can run H&R setup...or do a bilsteing sport with shine racing coil over sleeves and a spring rate fo your preference.


essentially, you aren't going to get a "slammed" car with a "race" quality setup. pick one.

[the mad conductor]

Dat ***** speaks da truf ^^^

Function > looks

[WackyWabbitRacer]

Although there may be other shock/spring options, the shorter Koni double adjustable race shocks in shorten MK2 strut tubes provide both excellent handling qualities and a lower ride height.

However the cost is not cheap as a typical Koni setup about 10 years ago was in the neighborhood of $1800 to $2000. If you want to go fast in the corners, then you have to pay for the performance.







Cheer, WWR.

[Vegeta Gti]

i run h&r ikea loss now, but i have a full remote reservoir gaz setup test for when we get off island and move choose to a track.

i also have the spherical setup like that, but from scch, i need to install my flipped tire rod and spherical conversion there.

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[aeffertz]

Or just not worry about how it looks. Most people on the road think any thing older than 10 years is a piece of ****, so lowering wont help your status.

Listen to you and your "status". Anyone who builds their own car to impress someone else is a D-bag.