On my way to TSC to pick up some 4" grade 8 bolts and nuts for the Energy sway bar endlink bushings, then heading to the garage to put the suspension on :-)

 

updated with during and after shots!

 

Wow - that looks like a pretty big drop. Looks awesome! So, how does it drive? Handling impressions? If they are good, this will be my next mod.

 

looks awesome!

 

Handling so far on my trip to work is good. They are honestly not as stiff as I expected, and to some extent I'm a little disappointed in that...but honestly, it handles great and rides great, I shouldn't be disappointed. Was just expecting it to feel a lttle stiffer. There is a LITTLE bit of bouncing motion over bigger dips and stuff, just once bounce afterwards - not bad. Turn-in is hugely improved, body roll is much better, and most bumps are soaked up with a nice muffled thunk. No squeaking of springs or struts, and in person....the drop is to die for.

 

Well, I'm currently on Tein S-techs and stock shocks, so I'd bet it's stiffer than that. I am looking for something stiffer than my current "setup," if you can call it that.

 

pick up the TRD shocks/struts. my friend has stechs with trd shocks and it rides really nice. i have the shocks sitting in my room and my stechs are on the way also.

 

If you have a solid amount of mileage on your xB, i would replace all the rubber parts in the suspension with new (i.e. all the strut mount parts, and the spring seats in the rear). Mine were actually torn in some places, and the strut bearings don't seem to spin as freely as they should (given what i'm used to in VW's). I will have to take it back apart to redo them at some point.

 

If I keep my S-techs, I'd go with either Koni Yeloos or perhaps the Tokico HPs that are coming uot. However, I like the shortend-and-matched shocks that come with the H&R kit.

 

I'm sitting at work just itching to get out and 1. look at the car and 2. drive it.

But my wife and I carpool...I go to my work, then she continues on to her work. So the car isn't here :-(
and it's gorgeous out today!

 

yea it really is nice. i ate lunch outside and sat in the back seat and watched a few minutes of family guy that i keep in my car at all times just in case.

 

I keep several seasons of Top Gear on my Zen Vision M for the same reason :-)

 

i love that show...why oh why they dont bring it over here i will never know...some one needs to copy them,.

 

Eh, at least you can download all of the shows online, so it essentially IS over here. Yay for the interweb.

 

some new "after" pictures from last night posted in the original thread.

 

nicely done!

 

looks nice. too bad that they don't give out the rates

 

I would have to say, due to the progressive springs, roll and turn-in are controlled nicely without the ride being overly harsh. Compared to the cup kits I've driven on Volkswagens, however, this is definitely a little bit softer than I was expecting. It is firmer than stock, however small road imperfections are actually soaked up better than the stock suspension did. It seems like there is a bit of an extra bounce after the rear suspension goes over large dips, but it may just be my perception. I still have many of my favorite back roads I will be hitting as soon as possible.

In short...the drop is great, we haven't scraped or rubbed anywhere, even on an EXTREMELY rough and rutted pothole-covered dirt road yesterday, the ride on normal roads is quite comfortable, body roll is noticeably reduced. Sporty, but not overbearing.

Would a rate do you any good being a progressive spring?

 

i didn't realize that your set is progressive. i'd rather have linear.
i am currently evaluating gold-line springs on my car right now. the ride seems bouncier or something, but the front end is probably only five pounds stiffer than the progress set that i had before (from partshippers).

my gold-lines are used (like 11k supposedly). a lot of paint is coming off where the spring touched itself and it's all rusty there too. the height is great and the performance seems to be about the same as the progress.

my progress springs have 20k with very little paint chipping and rusting. the coils are much further apart.

ksports were too stiff for me, but now i am thinking that the tein ss might be ok. the dealer who sold me the ksports talked me out of getting the tein (before i bought the gold-lines and konis).

i wish that i knew somebody who actually had tein ss.

 

I don't even know anyone else who has an xB that I can ride in, stock or modified, much less people who have specific setups.

Nearly every cup kit for Volkswagens are progressive springs, so I was used to this. Even H&R Sports, one of the most commonly used springs in some of the best suspension setups i've ever driven/ridden in, are progressive. Only H&R race, of the commonly used springs for VW's, are linear, and by many are considered too high rate to be optimal for the street.

What's your beef with progressive? Seems like it would be the best of both worlds in your situation - relatively comfortable on the street for your passenger(s) who need comfort, and when you start pushing it, they stiffen up nicely.