[Mattpaul19]

In your guys opinion, what would effect the handling of my car more, rear and/or front sway bars, lets say 24mm, or the FK High tec 40mm lowering springs. The springs would run me about 150+ tax, sway bars are just under 300. Which do you guys think I should get if I were to only get one of these. Also any ideas how many hours of labour it might take a shop on an install?

 

[knoXville]

Springs first.. They will help out a bit with handling but improve the look of the car.

At 40mm you will probably want to replace the shocks so then there is the, cup kit / coilover / spring only decision.

 

[NoleAnimal]

Depends on how much the coilovers / springs / shocks change is going to affect the ride of your vehicle and how much you are willing to tolerate it changing. That route will change the dynamics of your suspension all the time, while sway bars only change the dynamics of the suspension while cornering. I am pondering what direction to go in, myself, at the moment. I am certainly leaning towards starting with sway bar upgrades. Improving the look of the car is totally subjective.

 

[Vlad_I]

If you want true handling improvements, get an adjustable dampering coil-over kit, rear sway-bar, and polyurethane bushings for both front and rear. A bone-shattering combo
I wouldnt get the springs alone. A cup-kit is only a couple hundred dollars more and will negate an otherwise inevitable strut failure.

 

[SunZhine337]

If you want true handling improvements, get an adjustable dampering coil-over kit, rear sway-bar, and polyurethane bushings for both front and rear. A bone-shattering combo
I wouldnt get the springs alone. A cup-kit is only a couple hundred dollars more and will negate an otherwise inevitable strut failure.

Bada Bing ^

 

[jhonyquest97]

definatly. Don't waste your time with springs alone.

 

[Mattpaul19]

Good to know about the springs. I'm totally new to tuning in general and literally just got my GTI less than 2 months ago.

 

[Vlad_I]

Thats what we are here for

 

[ROH ECHT]

I have H&R super sport springs, 24mm rear SB, and oem dampers on 68k miles...can and do push +90mph through marked 35mph corners no prob. What inevitable failure do you speak of????
Throwing on a set of FK dampers(struts and shocks) when the oem set goes.

Someone should mention to the OP not to waste money on coilovers that do not have a lifetime warranty(So I will).
Those that do not are designed more for aesthetic purposes than true performance value, and therefore
will not stand behind their product. They are more into making a buck off the kid that needs to "have coilovers"
and stance.

 

[SunZhine337]

I have H&R super sport springs, 24mm rear SB, and oem dampers on 68k miles...can and do push +90mph through marked 35mph corners no prob. What inevitable failure do you speak of????
Throwing on a set of FK dampers(struts and shocks) when the oem set goes.

Someone should mention to the OP not to waste money on coilovers that do not have a lifetime warranty(So I will).
Those that do not are designed more for aesthetic purposes than true performance value, and therefore
will not stand behind their product. They are more into making a buck off the kid that needs to "have coilovers"
and stance.

Sport springs are kosher for quite some time before the shocks blow. Race springs are too low and will crush your ride in under, say 20k. The reason it's inevitable failure is because the shocks were not designed to be so low on a regular basis thus pushing more weight on the seals of the piston and deteriorating them faster than your stock setup. One good BUMP with low springs on stock struts may compress them lower than spec and pop out your seal meaning a blown strut and probably damage to the mount/ bushings/ control arm/ rim/ etc. Suspension should be a do-or-die kinda project. Do it right or forget'about'it.

 

[Voyles]

I say springs and just the rear sway. I believe you'll be ok for a while depending on the cars current mileage.