Subject: [gti-vr6] SRS suspension impression
Date: Fri, 8 May 98 06:48:00 GMT
From: h.young1@genie.geis.com
To: gti-vr6@dev.tivoli.com

It's about time I got long-winded and posted my impression of the Shine
Racing Service Street Suspension I had installed several weeks ago.  I've
had a chance to ring it out a bit and form more than just a quick opinion.

In the past I've owned both an '83 GTI and an '84 Jetta GLI.  They handled
nearly identically and, for those of you that never had the pleasure of
tossing one around a few curves, they were fantastic.  When I bought my '95
GTI-VR6 I was very dissapointed at how far off the mark the stock suspension
was.  My goal in upgrading the suspension was the mark set by the '83 GTI.
I can say that the SRS suspension makes my '95 GTI-VR6 come damn close.

One of the best things I can say about this suspension is it doesn't make
your car look like Wally's <g>.  The front on my car dropped about 3/4 inch
and the rear rose about the same amount.  What this did was even out the
gaps between tire and fender all around, giving a much more balanced
appearance.  I know Wally thinks this is the 4x4 look, but I've parked the
car next to several sports cars/sports sedans and noticed they all have a
similar sized gap between tire and fender -- so apparently this is more the
"normal" (what ever the hell that means) look.  I think it helps the car
maintain its "sleeper" status.  NO dropped-down Wally-boy look for me!
(Where'd I put that flame suit?)   But, hey, I didn't buy the suspension for
appearance.  (Man, I'm gonna catch it.)

Now for some test driving -- keeping in mind that the tires are the stock
GA's with 35,000 miles (soon to be dead and, thankfully, buried).

The first thing I noticed was that when I turned, the car responded
immediately.  There was no waiting for the suspension to catch up to the
direction I pointed the tires.  Steering is much more precise and
controlled.  The ride is quite firm and there is very little body lean,
virtually no dive on hard braking.

The suspension kit does not add a front sway bar and, with 300lb front
springs, I can not see the need for one.  Accelerating hard from a stop into
a turn (like in making a quick right turn out of a side street into heavy
traffic) used to cause wheel spin.  This is now almost eliminated.  The
suspension really lets the car put its power to the ground.

In test driving, I tried to upset the suspension and see what it would do at
the limits.  On a wide, constant-radius exit ramp that is very smooth, I
stayed wide in the turn and pushed the car to the limits of the tires (GA's,
remember), then cut sharply into the turn to break things loose.

The response was almost neutral, with a slight oversteer bias -- in other
words the rear very slightly, slowly and controllably drifted out.  This was
very "catch-able" by either lifting off throttle slightly or turning out
slightly.  It was not an extreme transition.  I went around this long,
sweeping ramp several times drifting the tail out, catching it at will,
throwing it out, catching, etc.  Yeeeeeee Haaaaaaaa!!!!  I was flat gassed!

I tried full lift-off the throttle to see if that would upset things, but it
did not.  I could not induce any serious trailing throttle oversteer, nor
could I get the car to understeer (in the dry -- see below).  If I got on
the brakes hard in the turn, the tail stepped out -- but, again, only
slightly.

There was a different response in the wet.  We had rain for about 5
consecutive days and several times I tried the same ramp (and others), same
tests, slower speed due to wet conditions.  What I got at the limits in the
wet was understeer -- as I cut sharply into the turn, the front tires lost
traction and started to plow, going wide in the turn.  Lifting off the gas
brought traction gradually back to the fronts and increased turn-in.  The
rear did not swing out at all.  Any fear I had of snap-oversteer with this
suspension has virtually dissapeared, though any car will under the right
combination of conditions.

Now, to the rough pavement.  There is a twisty blacktop road I drive
regularly that has been patched so many times you can't tell were the
original blacktop is.  Between the patches and the potholes that need
patching, there are few smooth spots on it.  Very irregular, sudden changes.
I expected the car to stutter step in the turns.  I really had to push it to
get this to happen.  It was minimal.  This suprized me.  The Bilsteins are
incredible.  You do feel the bumps, but the tires stayed planted.  Same with
going over several railroad crossings.  I think the extra suspension travel
from minimal lowering helps here.

This suspension is quite firm.  The 300/200 lb. front/rear springs are not
very compliant.  You can attempt to push a corner of the car down, but it
doesn't give very much.  What I discovered is that on sudden transitions in
the pavement -- e.g., potholes, expansion strips, resessed manhole covers --
the suspension compresses/dampens well and you don't feel these that much.
It is firm but well dampened and, to my 48 year-old butt, not harsh.

Now, the one minor irritation I've found:  On the more gradual
irregularities in pavement, e.g. shallow rises or dips, gradual undulations,
etc., the suspension doesn't compress.  It rides over the irregularity,
following the contour with much the sensation of being in a small boat on
light swells.  It's a "busy" sensation that could have some folks reaching
for the Dramamine.  I got used to this quickly and can live with this due to
the other superb characteristics previously described.  There are always
tradeoffs.

(My read on this is it's caused by the very firm 300/200 springs.  Those of
you that might find this objectionable had better order up the "Uwe Light"
setup with the 200/120 springs.)

I know this has been really long, but if you're gonna spend $1,000 or more
for a suspension and install, I thought you might appreciate as much info as
possible. Overall I am more than pleased with the SRS setup.  It profoundly
transformed the car and gives handling that is precise, balanced, controlled
and predictable at the limits.  It even makes the GA's feel good and the
butt g-meter says it greatly improved their grip -- and that's saying alot.
I'm sure the transition will be even greater with good tires.

If great handling with an acceptable ride is your ultimate goal, you won't
be dissapointed.  Feel free to stop by for a test drive if ever in St. Louis.

HWY