jim010

Hi guys,

I have a 2012 GT, that I put Koni orange into in order to improve the back and forth sway on the highway when going over dips. That did improve.

This summer I bought a 2016 Golf GTI. It handles sooo much better than my Mustang, and is more fun. My Mustang I am keeping, but want it to handle more like my Golf GTI.

What can I do to make it feel more connected to the road? I already have the Koni orange. I do NOT want to lower the car, so lowering springs are out.

Someone mentioned replacing all bushings with polyurethane and to replace the sway bars with stiffer ones. Coilovers were mentioned too, but pricey.

Advice?

laserred38

You mentioned the things that would help. Also, changing to wider/lighter wheels and stickier tires should be on the list. I'd throw some LCAs and maybe an UCA/UCA mount to the mix too. Finally, for appearance sake, the "55D springs" are an option that would lower the rear end 1/2" so to level it out with the front. Roush also sells lowering springs that only lower the car 3/4" front and rear, which have a bit higher spring rate. Roush even sells a package that includes almost all of those items together, including the 3/4" springs.

jim010

Long time no see Laser! Been awhile since I have been on here.

What is LCA and UCA?

laserred38

Yeah man! Lower control arms and upper control arm. Our axle is a 3-link setup, LCA on each side and one UCA in the middle up top, that work to center the axle under load, in conjunction with the panhard bar.

jim010

My driving is strictly street, with some spirited driving on the twisty mountain roads. Budget would be no more than a grand or so, I think (Canadian dollar is really crappy right now). CHanging the control arms would be more than I need, I think.

Panhard bar. I have seen adjustable Panhard bars. What can that do for me?

EF1

Springs will probably make the biggest difference in how the car feels. You do not have to slam it down to the ground, but a modest drop and a stiffer spring rate will really improve the feel of the car. May I ask why you are against lowering springs?

tj@steeda

Yeah a mild drop spring will give you a great foundation for handling & stance - here is a video showing the before & after of a Steeda suspension ... which won't jeopardize ride quality:


We can help build you a package that fit your needs ... happy to help!

You can email me at tim@steeda.com.

Best Regards,

TJ

Gabe

I'd highly recommend the Steeda Sport springs.
Along with the Koni Yellow struts/shocks, on my car they eliminated the dive/squat that the factory suspension "offers", and any front/rear bobbing on the highway hasn't been noticed since the spring/strut install either.

It's an inch drop. Not a huge deal, it makes the car look better, and certainly handles/rides better.

Only thing will be that once the car is lowered on factory wheels/tires, the inward-fitting wheels will look odd. You'll want spacers or new wheels that have different offset to fit a little more flush

5.M0NSTER

Definitely springs and sway bars. Plus a panhard. Your Koni's are already valved for stiffer spring rate. I think if you go ~1.0" or so with the drop it will give you a better selection of springs. There are very few brands which make springs with almost no drop, and Lasered already named them.

I would also dial the camber to -1 deg or so to help with cornering grip.

I would recommend at least the front sway. I love my current Steeda/Koni set up. It made the car handle so much better than it did before. It stays flat and I can take corners at ludicrous speeds and not worry about understeer. Car is quite well balanced too. Good luck! You'll be wondering why you didn't do suspension sooner!

5.M0NSTER

Ha, what Gabe said. We must have been typing at the same time.

ElkGroveFordGuy

I agree with what has been said above?
Just add some steeda sports springs and GT500 mounts to the
Orang Koni shocks you have.

14BlackGT

Roush makes springs that lower the car 1/2" front and back. I have them combined with the Koni Orange. The amount of squat and dive has been reduced by a lot. It seems almost a consensus that springs are the way to go.

http://www.roushperformance.com/part...2005-2012.html front

http://www.roushperformance.com/part...2005-2012.html rear

While you're at it, you might consider cc plates because you might be pushing the camber limits.

So I have the least amount amount of lowering and maintaining the rake, which I like. You'll also be within budget I think

The biggest cost is the labor to mount the front springs because they will have to take apart the whole assembly again. That's why I'd recommend cc plates otherwise you'd have to take things apart a 3rd time.

When I bought the car, it bobbed up and down like a Galaxy 500.

Looks like this: (The pic has been posted elsewhere here so sorry to those who have already seen it.)

ps: I don't think anything will approximate the ride of your GTI imo. It handles like a top. I have a Fiesta ST and no way in he11 will my Mustang's ride can come close. Cheers.

jim010

I do have the GT500 mounts for my Koni orange, but this is all that is done so far.

As for not wanting to drop the ride height, it is for clearing the curbs and my driveway incline.

half an inch may not be so bad.

No one mentioned replacing the bushings?

TJ, I will e-mail later today.

laserred38

I'm not sure if anyone sells replacements for the front control arm bushings. For the rear - LCAs are like $95, UCA is like $90. It's not worth pressing out your factory bushings and pressing in new. Just get the whole assembly already installed with poly bushings. I have all BMR on my car but Steeda and Maximum Motorsports are great too. I mainly go with BMR through Lethal Performance because you get points for your purchases and their stuff is less expensive.

I would do the Roush springs, BMR LCAs and UCA (solid, non adjustable parts - you only need adjustable if you were going to drop it more than 1") and MAYbe BMR adjustable panhard bar. The PHB locates the axle left to right. From the factory, the axle is usually shifter over to one side maybe 1/4", which isn't a big deal. Sometimes when you lower, it'll shift to one side more. The new PHB will also have polyurethane bushings, so it could help in making the car feel "tighter" through turns. All of these parts are relatively inexpensive, but when combined they'll greatly add to the surefooted planted feeling of the car.

jim010

Thanks Laser.

I will price it out. If this will get me to Golf GTI handling, then I am happy.

So on the list:

non adjustable fatter antisway bars
non adjustable control arms
non adjustable panhard bar
maybe higher rate springs if ride height is not dropped much

Gabe

The car has a "non adjustable panhard bar" from the factory.
I have my OEM panhard bar available if you're interested, as I'm sure a few other hundred guys on here might.
But you probably meant adjustable bar, so you can center the rear axle ...

EF1

I have the Steeda sport springs which are about a 1" drop front and 1.5" in the rear. I have a really steep driveway and no clearance issues. I did the springs, Koni Oranges, rear LCA's, adj UCA, and the adj pan hard bar all at the same time. It made for a night and day difference in handling. The LCA, UCA, and pan hard bar all have urethane bushings. The adj pan hard bar allows you the center the rear end. The car is more balanced without the brake dive and rear end squat under acceleration. It also eliminated wheel hop under hard acceleration. I didn't plan on doing it all at once, but got a really good price on the parts. The final stage was planned as the sway bar upgrade. I haven't done it yet since I am really happy with the car as is. I recently bought the Steeda competition adj sway bars due to the end link bushings making noise on the rear, but haven't installed them yet.

5.M0NSTER

On '11-14 they drop 1" front and 1.25" rear. It's just enough to get ride of the rake.

I've only scraped on one very steep speed bump since installing a year ago.

EF1

It looks like I missed the 2 key. Thanks for correcting.

Ponywars

i have a 2012 gt brembo with Koni orange, gt500 mounts on stock springs and was thinking about SR lowering springs 1.5 front and rear drop with an adj panhard bar,anyone using these springs? Not looking to go more than 1.5 on the drop,daily driver,just want to get rid of the fender gap with as good or better than stock ride with better handling!Have a Roush uca with a fpp lca that got rid of my wheel hop.