Lowering your NB- Pros & Cons

[scarabY2k]

Hey,

I'm considering lowering Cup in the not too distant future, and have a question or two for those of you who lowered yours.

How low did you go?

Is your ride now harsh?

Because of your NB being lowered, are you bottoming out?

Are you more 'cautious' while driving i.e. speed bumps, dips, potholes.

My car is a daily driver and all though I know lowering Cup will give her a hot stance, I'd don't want to be in a constant state of driving paranoia.

Thanks for your help.

[Breez]

Some great questions! Im interested as well

[SilverSportNOLA]

I haven't bottomed that I can recall, I do pay close attention to approach and egress from parking lots that have a curb to the street. I am dropped 1", 1.5" to the normal Beetle Stance, mine had the Sport Springs OEM. If you slam it, the ride will be harsh, I have the Neuspeed Sport Springs and Koni Adjustable Dampers adjusted to near the middle setting all the way around. Ride is a little harsher but not unbearable.

I did have to remove my splash gaurds up front for some plastic speedbumps at work when OEM ... had to remove rears after Neuspeed install.

[scarabY2k]

eek. That might pose a problem for my splitters then, huh?
Thanks for the info, especially how low you actually went. I better edit the first post.

[Vdubbugman54]

well I'm set down 2.75 inches and that is from coils...it rides better then my cup kit did and yes i am very cautious of what i drive over.....i have bottomed out several times but nothing too bad...i say do it especally if it is a cup kit you will have no isseus.....i rub the hell out of my fender liners but see my sig.....lower it because it is hot and pimpalicious and anybody who says otherwise is a *blank* (you pick what it says)

good luck

have fun

[bugasm99]

you definately need to be more careful when you drive, but i don't think you need to be paranoid. In reality, you shouldn't be hitting any of those bumps / potholes/ debris anyway whether you are lowered or stock. I personally am willing to give up some of the cushion for the looks, but i wouldn't say the ride is harsh.

p.s. i'm on H&R's at 2.0" front and 1.75" rear.

[gilligan]

Pro's - Looks good.
Con's - too many too list.

[bugasm99]

not to start any fires, but i personally believe it is hard to discuss both sides of the situation until you have actually been on both sides.

[NYBugman]

Here is my take on lowering...

Personally, i like the way a car looks when lowered. It makes the car look more sleek and sporty in my eyes.

Also, the car feels better when you're lowered, but handling is not optimum because when you lower a McPherson strut front end you change the geometry of the front end and you actually take away from then handling of the car. However, this is not evident if you don't frequent a road course or autocross. It is not a big worry if you're daily driving or even if you get to the track once or twice a year. I've tracked my car a few times and the car felt great as-is, but in the future I will be buying H2Sport spindles to correct the geometry.

You have to be more careful of what is on the road, as well as ramps, curbs, etc etc. I will occasionally scrape getting in or out of a steep driveway, but under normal driving I don't have any problems.

I do recommend that if you do lower your car, invest in either a Dieselgeek aluminum skidplate and/or the steel-bottomed oilpan available from ECS Tuning. I know that my skidplate saved my engine on a few occasions where I underestimated an obstacle.

Remember, I daily drive my car in NYC, so the roads are no exactly pristine. Driving a lowered car doesn not require you to constantly be swerving around everything and it will not render you to a jiggling mass of paranoia. Just drive with your head and you'll be fine.

Now as far as ride quality, my Bilstein Sports and Eibach Spring combo rides very comfortably. The ride is firm, but never harsh. I quite like it. Koni shocks are dampening adjustable, so if you want to fine-tune the ride, get a set of those and spend a day riding and making adjustments. I went with Bilsteins because I didn't want or need the adjustability.

Although you can, it is not recommended that you use a lowering spring with a stock strut/shock. Go the extra mile and get sport shocks to match the spring.

If you want to get the perfect stance (in your eyes), then get a set of coilovers and adjust the height, and in some cases, dampening.

Weigh your options and see what you want to do. Time spent now will save time later.

[NYBugman]

Originally Posted by bugasm99

not to start any fires, but i personally believe it is hard to discuss both sides of the situation until you have actually been on both sides.

x10

[Too Cold NB1.8T]

scarabY2k, the questions are:

1. Are you interested mainly in the slammed look?

Or

2. Are you interested primarily in performance?

[scarabY2k]

Originally Posted by Too Cold NB1.8T

scarabY2k, the questions are:

1. Are you interested mainly in the slammed look?

Or

2. Are you interested primarily in performance?

Great questions- thanks. I'm interested in the look. I want it lowered, but not a rail scraper.

Originally Posted by bugasm99

not to start any fires, but i personally believe it is hard to discuss both sides of the situation until you have actually been on both sides.

Hence this thread. Getting the feel from those who have their NB's lowered, will help in my decision.

[Too Cold NB1.8T]

In that case, it would be very difficult to suggest a height because only you will know what height looks most appealing to you.

When dealing with something like this, I personally would never spend the money or the time for looks alone, to me the performance is paramount and the looks are a "secondary" benefit, however, having both is doable with say a good adjustable coilover set and time.

[scarabY2k]

Originally Posted by Too Cold NB1.8T

In that case, it would be very difficult to suggest a height because only you will know what height looks most appealing to you.

When dealing with something like this, I personally would never spend the money or the time for looks alone, to me the performance is paramount and the looks are a "secondary" benefit, however, having both is doable with say a good adjustable coilover set and time.

Thanks.

Yeah, i'm looking for modest lowering- nothing extreme. So you day a good coilover setup will fit the bill?

[SilverSportNOLA]

Take a look at pix .... mine has 1.5" lower than normal GLS Beetle. I spent close to 1K for springs, shocks and rear bar. A good coilover setup is a few dollars more, but being adjustable, you can usually set them for a modest .5 to 1" drop or slam it as far as it will go, about 3". I was going to go that route, but since I really don't track it, no need, just wanted the better handling on the streets ... makes it easy to get a 1/2ton Hemi AH off my tail.

Take a look at my cars pix ... the first ones had the stock sport springs, which are about 1/2" lower than the standard OEM springs and about the same too weak spring rate, the ones of the car by the Mississippi River are with new suspension installed and about 1.5" drop all the way around.

[Color-rado]

well here is slammed on koni coils with 18s

[HaloUmpaLumpa]

I'm lowered 1.5" and i just notice a little more of the bumps in the road but it's not a harsh ride. Still close to the stock smoothness. I spent just over a 1k on an autotech stage 3 kit (springs, struts, 25mm front/28mm rear swaybars and Front lower stress bar. The car still sits just high enough to clear speed bumps without worry, but i slow down just so there is no chance of me bottoming out. I was kinda in the same boat as you, i wanted the better handling on the street but nothing crazy (till it's paid off ) right now since it is my daily driver. I'm very happy with it.

[Too Cold NB1.8T]

For you scarabY2k, I would suggest the Bilstein PSS9 kit and if they cost more than you want to spend then check out the Bilstein PSS kit, on my Beetle I have used the best that Koni and KW had to offer, I feel that the Bilstein PSS9 is absolutely superior in every way.

Many of the street performance coilovers are built into an assembly that is shorter than the stock unit, this alone lowers the car even when the assembly is adjusted to maximum height.

The reason for this design is to allow a lower than normal height adjustment without compromising the amount of available dampener stroke, if a car is set so low that it has little or no available dampener stroke, it is riding on the bump stop or the bump stop is cut down/removed, this creates a bad situation and is considered to be an incorrect installation/abuse, it is not a wise move to do this because it can lead to damage/injury and it will likely -void- the warranty as well.

The bump stops are a very important part of the dampener unit, they are often part of the spring rate equation, they are in place to keep the dampener from bottoming out during extensive suspension movement thereby protecting it from damage, as well they greatly help to minimize shock transmission through the chassis when encountering harsh road conditions.

FYI, it is the stroke (movement) of the dampener that allows all four tires to stay in contact with the road, this allows one to retain vehicle control over different road grades, while maneuvering and at different speeds, by incorrectly dropping a car too lower, the required stroke is remove which which removes the vehicles suspension for the most part and can lead to a number of undesirable results.

I would suggest that you check with the technical department for the suspension brands that you are considering and ask them what the maximum their product can be lowered and adhere to that, for those of you who are lowered 1.75 or more inches from the stock height via spring or coilover, call the manufacturer of your dampener and ask them if that is recommended, also ask them if it voids your warranty, I bet I know what most if not all of them will say...

[noR]

I ride at pretty much stock height. Maybe a small drop. Still have to watch curbs a lil' bit; but nothing dramatic.

So far so good; no major cons to speak of.

[Billsbug]

Originally Posted by bugasm99

not to start any fires, but i personally believe it is hard to discuss both sides of the situation until you have actually been on both sides.

I've had 2 set-ups, 3 if u count stock, 4 if u think the Turbo S is different than a regular 1.8T.

Eibach lowering springs and Bilstein shocks/struts, but any brand is about the same, lowers about 1.5". Great all-round handling with 17" wheels, auto-x'd it too. Not too firm a ride, it's really the perfect balance for a daily driver. Never bottomed out on anything BTW.

Koni coilovers, other brands are about the same, lowers about 2.5". Incredibly sharp handling on nice flat pavement, like a go-kart. Highway seam transitions and man-holes are HELL, u really feel them, but I have 19's and lower profile tires, so it may not be so bad with your wheels. U can also dial them to a softer setting, I have mine set at medium, it's very firm.

It took me a while to understand the suspension geometry thing, but I think I finally got it. It's not that the non-lowered suspension "handles better", it overall handles better for every day driving. If the pavement isn't reasonably flat, the lower u go, the harder it is to keep all 4-wheels on the ground. As u transition a bump, it just takes a lot of man-handling of the steering wheel, u bounce around a bit, it has a kinda seat-of-the pants feel.