Spring Awakening

"Euro ride height" is a term that's bandied about a lot in car enthusiast circles. The thought is that North American cars come riding higher from the factory than cars sold in the rest of the world.

Be that as it may, the fact is that Volkswagen GTIs of the last several generations have had ridiculous stock stance. Never mind two fingers; you could nearly put your whole fist into the gap between the top of the tire and the fender on my previous MKV and my new MKVII GTI.

MKV on stock suspension and 17" wheels

MKV with H&R Sports and 18" wheels

I fixed this issue on the old MKV with a set of excellent H&R sport springs. Apart from some installation issues on the part of the shop (they cut the ABS and traction control wires when they got in the way of the install), the springs were great and performed admirably all the time I had the car. They looked fantastic - like the car should look - and tightened up the handling considerably with no apparent effect on reliability of the stock dampers. 

Anyway, once I got my new '15 GTI I fully intended that it be modified for "better low" as well. After researching the various spring solutions, I settled on the very popular combination of VWR Sport springs and ECS Tuning "flush kit" wheel spacers - 15mm front and 20mm rear.

Earlier this week I had the springs installed by a local shop, Speed Factor Racing (I'd installed the spacers myself when I changed out the winter wheels for summers) and wow, what a difference!

MKVII, spacers only

 

MKVII with ECS "flush kit" and VWR springs

 

Not only is the appearance of the car greatly improved (it now looks like it should), the handling is transformed too. This thing now corners absolutely flat, just the way I like it. Ride quality is always going to be somewhat affected, but it's not bad - firm but not harsh. Plus, the VWR springs are linear rate units that are promoted as safe for stock dampers, and that's important, since I have no intention of changing those parts out.

I love this modification. The next thing I need to do, though, is fit either a skidplate or a steel oilpan. The stock one is plastic composite and I wouldn't trust it on winter ruts. But that mod can wait a bit as I'm planning on enjoying the car to the full this summer! 

Props to Deutsche Auto Parts (springs), golfmk7.com forum user nicholam77 (spacers) and Speed Factor Racing (install).