GTI6 beam fitted, front end now has more roll

[MY95]

So had a fully refurbed GTI6 beam with solid mounts fitted to my car for a few weeks now, much better, but I now find a lot more roll/sway when cornering at the front, anything I can buy to help it corner much more flatly?

[welshpug]

firmer front springs.

[MY95]

Thanks again Welshpug aha What would you suggest? Currently have standard 2 year old Sachs dampers and springs, b4s too soft still?

[Piggy]

So you have standard front dampers and springs!?!

Wow, no wonder front end feels like a trifle without a bowl!

[MY95]

I do Piggy yes, what would you suggest for standard height then on a budget? Need it pretty comfy still though aha

[Danny Wideboy]

GTi6 shocks and springs? Or ZX DT, slightly lower and stiffer.
Or some cheap eBay crap.

[Toms306]

GTi springs raise it... GTi engine weighs about 5 tonnes.

Xsara VTS shocks and springs are ideal for a slight drop with some extra stiffness and usually cheap too. But if a set pops up you better nab them before I do!

[bashbarnard]

Xsara vts shocks and springs are now my personal choice for my estate. Give a real nice feel and are good budget upgrades.

[Piggy]

I do Piggy yes, what would you suggest for standard height then on a budget? Need it pretty comfy still though aha

Well that be your issue then...moon buggy spec!

As said... ZX volcane or Xsara vts standard stuff if you don't want a drop

[Toms306]

VTS struts give about 25mm drop

[MY95]

I had thought about getting b4s for Xsars VTS with standard VTS springs, although I dont want any lower, ca you still get HDI D Turbo springs and shocks? Probably better as wont drop it that much.
Bash do youhave any photos of how the front end sits?
Cheers

[powerandtorque]

I had thought about getting b4s for Xsars VTS with standard VTS springs, although I dont want any lower

VTS stuff probably isn't ideal for you then as whilst far from slammed, it certainly sits quite a lot lower than standard.

[MY95]

Thats what I was thinking, have clearance issues even as standard around mine aha
What about GTI struts with 30mm lowering springs, shouldnt lower it as much as vts should it?

[Eeyore]

i think it has already been said that vts struts lower 25mm. Its going to be pretty much the same as 30mm springs id imagine

[powerandtorque]

I didn't ever accurately measure it, but certainly subjectively looked more than 25mm compared to Meridian moon-buggy spec springs - I'd guess more like 35-40mm.

Annoyingly I can't seem to find a single decent side-on photo of my old 306 (which ran VTS springs) on either my phone or work PC 

[Piggy]

Why do you have clearance issues!?

[Toms306]

I have clearance issues on the Focus... Doesn't matter how high the car is you'll always scrape somewhere lol!!

All of these are VTS springs.

[MY95]

Looks good Tom
Piggy there are very high curbs round here and the splitter makes it even worse aha

[Toms306]

Why are you driving over high kerbs? Find the dropped kerbs lol...

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I didn't ever accurately measure it, but certainly subjectively looked more than 25mm compared to Meridian moon-buggy spec springs - I'd guess more like 35-40mm.

Annoyingly I can't seem to find a single decent side-on photo of my old 306 (which ran VTS springs) on either my phone or work PC 

True, DTurbo spec is already lower than Meridian/LX spec so will be a bigger drop compared to those. I think Matt's is a DTurbo, could be wrong though!

[welshpug]

dturbo is not lower spec, its sport spec where meridian is not.

[Toms306]

dturbo is not lower spec, its sport spec where meridian is not.

Yes...it is lower, as sports spec cars always are. 20mm lower iirc... Not sure how you can argue while agreeing with me there.

[Eeyore]

welshpug youre saying its a better spec than standard i.e. higher
toms306 youre saying its lower as in the ride height...

youre both right but i think welshpug youve took "lower" the wrong way.

[Toms306]

Well if we're talking spec then I'd say cloth seats, rubber steering wheel, no rear electric windows, no headrests, no dash dimmer, no auto drop, etc etc is lower anyway, hence meridianising my dturbos haha. . Only thing dturbo I kept was the beam!!

But yeah, seeing as this is a suspension and ride height thread that's what I meant!

[MY95]

High curbs everywhere when parking up North, Tesco and the sports centre as they are like my 2nd and 3rd homes
Car is a HDI GLX funnily enough Tom, just a full HDI D Turbo replica now on the outside and in

[Matt]

Coilovers /thread

[Toms306]

High curbs everywhere when parking up North, Tesco and the sports centre as they are like my 2nd and 3rd homes
Car is a HDI GLX funnily enough Tom, just a full HDI D Turbo replica now on the outside and in

Ah fair enough, GLX is the same height as LX and Meridian so Xsara's would drop a bit more than you'd like maybe!

Full external DTurbo replica? You mean you just fitted a splitter and spoiler?

I still don't see why you're mounting high kerbs, down south supermarkets and sports centres have these large flat areas known as car parks... When I do have to mount kerbs though, as I say even in the Focus it scrapes, the bottom of the front bumper and the small undertray are wrecked! And it's not exactly low lol. I usually scrape coming off speedbumps as well.

[MY95]

Scraped it twice going downhill and not on a massively steep downhill either...
I used to be able to park it with clearance for the bumper to sit above the curb, but now after fitting the splitter I cannot, so cant go any lower haha.
GTI Splitter, spoiler, HDI DT seats and doorcards, full inside and out job Tom

These are the current standard height Sachs shocks and springs on my car:

http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/front-sh...0!456.html
http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/coil-spr...7!934.html

[powerandtorque]

Another option is fitting a larger 21mm front ARB from a GTi-6 and other sport spec cars, assuming you're still running the smaller base model item currently. That should solve the roll rate imbalance you've now got since fitting the GTi-6 beam.

Indeed, did DTurbo spec HDi's run these as standard? I'm guessing so if they used a GTi-6 (sport) spec beam with a 24mm ARB.

Generally I'd rather put stiffer springs on than a stiffer ARB on the front all things being equal as that tends to give more traction, but if you're not wanting to go lower you might not have a lot of options without experimenting with springs from other cars.

[MY95]

Apparently fitting the larger GTI ARB gives more understeer... which I don't fancy aha
D Turbo HDI's ran the exact same suspension as GTI's all round as far as im aware.
What are the best springs that aren't that expensive for the front for standard height then? Do bilstein or h&r do standard height ones?

[Piggy]

Tbh...a firmer spring may help...as it will stop the nose dive you get. Thus the scraping?