► Volkswagen Racing Suspension Upgrades
As soon as we drove the first pre-production Golf mk5 we knew that the standard suspension hardware provided a very good set up. When we got our hands onto the first GTIs (we still have the first ever Mk5 Golf GTI to come in to the UK), it was clear that the GTI had an exceptional ride/handling compromise.
However, we quickly got to work on developing some enhancements for fast road and track work.
► Sports Springs
Volkswagen Racing Sport Springs are available from £150.10 plus VAT plus fitting.
With the standard-fit dampers being of a much more sophisticated design than previous generation cars, we have found that fitting an upgraded ‘Sport Spring’ delivers a very worthwhile improvement to the standard Golf Mk5 (and A3, Leon, Jetta, Eos, Octavia, TT and so on). Hence the different spring sets that we have developed for the cars using this platform all work with the standard dampers making this a very cost-effective modification to any of these cars.
We have chosen to lower the car by around 15mm in order to preserve the wheel travel needed to keep usability of the standard car, with an increase in spring rate of around 20-25%. The end result is a more responsive feel to the handling and a lower centre of gravity.
We recommend this set up for all applications except for the most demanding track use.
► Volkswagen Racing Competition Suspension Kit
The Volkswagen Racing Competition Suspension Kit is available from £2,195.17 plus VAT plus fitting.
For those who use their car on track, we have developed a truly unique and highly effective coil-over suspension kit for Golf Mk5 and the other VWG cars on this platform. It took over a year of racing and development to perfect this.
A bit of background first. The key to optimising the handling on the Golf Mk5 (and indeed most front wheel drive cars) is to reduce understeer to a minimum through increasing the front tyre grip. Having tried numerous different makes and types of suspension when we first commenced on the racing development for Mk5 Golf, we quickly realised that the front suspension design of the Golf does not allow enough negative camber in its adjustment parameters (this is the angle of the wheel to the ground when the car is viewed from straight ahead).
And so we started developing the Volkswagen Racing
suspension kit with an angle engineering into the damper
body. This transformed the amount of cornering
grip that the front wheels can develop - our test driver
described it as ‘night and day’ difference!
We are now offering this kit for sale. It is absolutely unique in being able to deliver the front negative camber required. We can state with certainty from our development that you will not be able to get the Golf Mk5 platform cars to perform on-track without the Volkswagen Racing Competition dampers.
The kit gives ‘2-way’ adjustment of bump and rebound, and a solid top-mount on the front suspension. Our Volkswagen Racing technicians will set the car up to our recommended settings, set the essential ’corner weights’ with the new suspension and finish with a 4-wheel alignment.
We would recommend strongly that the Volkswagen Racing Suspension Bushes are fitted in conjunction with this kit in order to make the most of the cornering and grip levels that this set up will provide. Our bushes replace the standard rubber mountings in the car’s suspension - the standard ones reduce vibration from the road but allow too much movement when cornering or braking hard. By replacing these with stiff PTFE material, the car’s response to driver inputs is transformed.
Please note that the Volkswagen Racing Suspension Kit is a relatively ’extreme’ set up, optimised for track use. Whilst it is fully usable on road, please be aware that comfort is sacrificed. Please contact us to discuss your requirements and try the kit on one of our demonstrator cars.