Suspension mods.

I'm loathed to do too much to the Passat suspension when it's changed in the near future, but polybushes combined with maybe slightly stiffer shocks than standard should make it that bit better than standard without ruining the ride.

It looks low enough to me as standard anyway, being a Sport model.

I just find it a bit twangy over the bumps at the mo - for a nose heavy barge it's actually quite agile in the handling stakes as standard.

-- JackH

I'm loathed to do too much to the Passat suspension when it's changed in the near future, but polybushes combined with maybe slightly stiffer shocks than standard should make it that bit better than standard without ruining the ride.

It looks low enough to me as standard anyway, being a Sport model.

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But it's the Sport model, of a Passat :-)

It could *always* do to be lower, nevermind if it's a Sport model, and especially if it's the Sport model of a Passat!

If you value your teeth and spine, you don't lower a Passat Sport.

Why? With a decent matched setup it needent be much harsher than standard. I grant you it will be a bit harsher, but how bad can they be from the factory?

Well... I would do it if I knew I was going to get a favourable result in the end - i.e: reasonable comfy ride, a loss of the current 'wobbles' I can feel at the arse end when it hits potholes, and no bottoming out over standard.

Don't want much really, do I?

The thing is, I've been in too many lowered cars in the past where the ride has been fecked up by mods like this - I'd even go for a set of

18s as well if I thought I could do all that and still achieve the above aims.

-- JackH

Well... I would do it if I knew I was going to get a favourable result in the end - i.e: reasonable comfy ride, a loss of the current 'wobbles' I can feel at the arse end when it hits potholes, and no bottoming out over standard.

Don't want much really, do I?

The thing is, I've been in too many lowered cars in the past where the ride has been fecked up by mods like this - I'd even go for a set of

18s as well if I thought I could do all that and still achieve the above aims. *****

Have you check and played with the tyre pressure?

Dad's 1.9 TDI B5.5 automatic (what a mouthful but I think I've described it correctly) is a collection of unhappy compromises. Tyre pressures at standard, economy is okay, ride is fussy from the back. Reduce the pressures, economy drops noticeably, ride better at the back, but it starts to wallow. This is the Highline model with the slightly-too-small-looking

15s.

Hard to describe. Feels a bit overdamped.

Still, the engine / transmission compromise is a much bigger one. It's not right after VW have tried to fix it umpteen times.

Well... I would do it if I knew I was going to get a favourable result in the end - i.e: reasonable comfy ride, a loss of the current 'wobbles' I can feel at the arse end when it hits potholes, and no bottoming out over standard.

Don't want much really, do I?

The thing is, I've been in too many lowered cars in the past where the ride has been fecked up by mods like this - I'd even go for a set of

18s as well if I thought I could do all that and still achieve the above aims. **************************************************

Well, you can uprate it without lowering it as well :-) If you're younger days modded cars experience was like mine, slammed Novas etc, then we're really in a different kettle of fish, as they were usually s**te cars, on standard dampers (which were old) with cheapo lowering springs heh. That combo does usually give an appauling ride. Also heavily modded stuff track is also used on track tends to be way too stiff, and Jap cars modded with their home land mods from company like Tein are always way too stiff cos those parts are setup for Jap roads. Cars with Tein suspension are always uncomfortable, I don't really have much other decent, modded, jap car experience though, every one seems to use Tein heh!

What are the biggest factory wheels Passats came with? Are they on the W8? Didn't that have some awesome interior lighting that the others didn't get?

Aye... still jostles around at the back, so maybe it's in need of bushes asap.

Suppose I ought to get it up on the ramps sometime and have a proper look before I carry on looking into the various options available shock / bush wise.

The Sport comes with 16s... I've had it parked next to SE models before, and even taking into account the smaller rims on those, you can see that the Sport is noticably lower.

This just feels a bit too eager to bounce on uneven surfaces... I'm actually keen to see what I can do to improve the ride to silence all the VAG ride critics in here, as well. ;-)

I'm not just saying it... bar the usual clogging of the drains under the windscreen leading to the 'Body Computer' under the passenger seat playing up (1) and some issues caused by the c*ck in the workshop in the supplying dealers breaking things when he fixed the dodgy speaker connections in one of the rear doors just after I first had it, mine's been utterly reliable.

78k on the clock so far.

-- JackH

(1) Alarm going off for no reason, central locking unlocking when it felt like it, temp gauge failing...

It depends on the suspension you're putting on the car (doh) - the MX5 is running Gaz coilcovers, which amazingly enough are amongst the cheapest coilovers available for that car and it doesn't feel that harsh. I mean, it's obvious that the car is lowered slightly and that the suspension is a tad stiffer but it's not crashy and annoying the way the Skyline was.

The M3 I've mentioned before has Leda suspension on it which cost, erm, a little more and that is fine, despite being lowered noticeably. More than the MX5, I think. But the bill for that kind of fell into the "who put the comma in the wrong place" category.

In days gone by a good few people reckoned standard springs and some decent dampers was the way to go on most VAG cars.

I'll never understand the obsession with lowering: dropping a bit seems reasonable, but I really don't like 'slammed' cars.

The last time I had a pint with a VAG fan, this hadn't changed too much; it was just over a year ago.

Me neither, but that's discoloured because too many slammed machines also ride like they have no suspension whatsoever. On an even slightly rough track or shoot road, they're all over the place.

I did lower the Ka by ~20mm, but this lowering was a side effect of the Ford Racing springs and matching dampers we fitted. Lots of people reckoned that Kermy wasn't low enough because with the right coilover, you could lower the Ka by ~50mm. Same people pointed and laughed at the 13" sized wheels wearing 185/60s. Meh; none of the above took their Ka around Silverstone at Ford Fair when they had the chance (and you bet I was taking mine...).

Anyway my theory as to why I don't care for the looks of the ride height stem from the fact that I don't like looking at my reflection in the mirror... ;-)

Must be a cheapskate, KW V3s are the way to go across the VAG range. Not cheep though.

Ok I may have to spell this out slowly but if you lower the car the mirrors and you are lowered together, you are not any more likely to look at yourself in them after lowering. ;)

Lowering slightly can help a lot, lowering by a lot pretty much never helps on a road car.

Problem is the Max Power wankers, they think that the lower a car is, the better it is. Luckily the first pothole they meet at speed soon writes off that idea...

Could be. As you know I'm not a fan of the whole VAG thing. I took it that keeping the standard springs and replacing the shockers was what he meant.

Exactly!

Or the first speed bump rips out the sump.

While we're on the subject: Coilovers. Whay are they the holy grail?

Are they any better than simply uprating the springs and dampers in the standard location (assuming the original spring/damper isn't a combined assembly), and if so, why?

Max Mower Moppets will tell you it's because they can be wound down to be low as having three phat mates in the car. Or something of this nature. ;-)

Just means there's a wider range of spring rates and lengths easily available and that you can adjust the ride height without faffing about as much.

I can understand someone wanting them on a road car that does the odd track day, but they're pretty pointless on a standard road car.

Handy if you drop a silly engine into something and want to get the corner weights right and / or can't get the right spring rates otherwise.

I'm only really looking into this an opportunity to change for something a bit lower as I'm mindful of the fact it feels like it needs new shocks and maybe some bushes on the rear, if nowhere else, so rude not to look into improving it a bit at this time.

It does seem to bottom out if you're a bit quick over speed humps etc, hence why I wondered if it was worth getting slightly shorter, firmer springs as well.

I definitely don't want it slammed to the floor... just think it would look quite nice if slightly lowered onto a decent set of 18s - but I'm not going to do this if it'll ruin the ride.

The wondering whether or not to get a set of 18s as well... is pure vanity. ;-)

-- JackH

If you get decent ones you can fine tune the ride to be the way you like, set the height, adjust the bump and rebound damping rates, swap the spring rates for something just right.