Suspension & handling

[Ruddmeister]

hmmm intereting

my LCR has the neuspeed arbs and no after market suspension and fook me does it handle well with no roll, so your comments add uip for that!

i want to know what it will be like with a decent coilover setup! probably amazing!

The thing I couldn;t get my head around was....

A - The Lack of nose driving and lift under accelration and braking, the car brakes flat
B - The fact that although the car was circa (20mm lower mine on Bilstein PSS Coilovers) that the damping improved, less crashing through pot holes etc and that the front splitter didn;t scrape any more often
C - The composure in the bends was superb and gave great confidence.

On the downside the car did sometimes feel 'choppy' but I could honestly count the number of times it felt uncomfotable on one hand in around 20kmiles of driving on them.

The car also still took 4 adults and luggage with ease.

The ARB's are superb, I tried just the rear first off and TBH the car never felt quite right.....just something untangable but 'wrong'.....when I got the front done as well the difference for me was night and day and then the car came to life. I'd recommend doing the pair rather than one. Also don;t be scared of getting something 'chunky' I went 28mm rear and 25mm front which I thought was superb but it's something you'll have to read up on and make a decision yourself

With the final product the car was neutral handling, Lift off oversteer was easily controlled, bags of grip, flat cornering all very preictable and certainly gave a few CTR's something to think about

Front strut brace improve turn in a little and for the money (£60 part) it was good but remember you get what you pay for

One interesting alternative was driving an LCR with rear ARB and Quaife ATB Diff' the way the diff works makes the car handle completely differently and the mechanical grip is superb.......really pulls the car through the bends in a totally different way

 

[Funkyfin2000]

hmmmm again very interesting dude and comprehensive....

mine are neuspeed front and back arbs's not really sure what size they are tbh.....

not got a strut brace but as its not standard fit and requires drilling im not very happy to do this...........

Interesting stuff tho! better get some coilies!

 

[speedsix]

Fin I reckon you'd be better off spending the money on a Quaife dif.

 

[Ruddmeister]

hmmmm again very interesting dude and comprehensive....

mine are neuspeed front and back arbs's not really sure what size they are tbh.....

not got a strut brace but as its not standard fit and requires drilling im not very happy to do this...........

Interesting stuff tho! better get some coilies!

A cheaper altyernative and a possibly a better alternative for everyday use is Koni FSD's with Eibach lowering springs, you'll loose the height adjustment / rebound adjustment etc etc you have with coilovers (although unless your a track day demon it's possibly over rated anyway)

These are a great compromise IMO and I know people who have been very happy with them on LCR's

Fin I reckon you'd be better off spending the money on a Quaife dif.

It's about as different as solutions to handling get, having driven an LCR with the diff fitted it's a complete re-education, i.e. keep accelerating at the point you would ususally loose grip and let the diff 'bite' and sort out the traction and it pulls you out of the bend. It does work though.

I always imagined an ATB diff would also have the benefits of an LSD diff in aiding grip off the line.....I believe it does help but the ATB diff is a different beast.

If you go for this solution then ARB's are still a must I would suggest otherwise the @rse end of your LCR will be wagging around.

As my OEM suspension was knackered (damper) then I had no choice but to go the other route.........

 

[dainott2105]

ho folks. just been looking on awesome now and the eibach arb's are alot more reasonable than the neuspeed ones, but a bit puzzled as to why one kit is £237 and one is £144, but both have the same number and model list. Anyone got these fitted, if so, whats ur opinion cos id rather end up paying around £250ish instead of £350ish just for the neuspeed name. p.s ive got a cupra not a cupra r

 

[speedsix]

Eibach ones hit the standard LCR exhaust. Only the neuspeed ones fit apparently.

 

[Ruddmeister]

ho folks. just been looking on awesome now and the eibach arb's are alot more reasonable than the neuspeed ones, but a bit puzzled as to why one kit is £237 and one is £144, but both have the same number and model list. Anyone got these fitted, if so, whats ur opinion cos id rather end up paying around £250ish instead of £350ish just for the neuspeed name. p.s ive got a cupra not a cupra r

The Eibach and H&R don;t fit the LCR they hit the rear exhaust Silencer..........unless you change the rear part of the exhaust too.....which kinda racks up the cost

Eibach and H&R should fit an LC but the suspension set up on the front of an LC is completely different to an LCR (LC is more Golf Mk 1V the LCR is more TT / S3 like)

 

[Funkyfin2000]

i recommend the neuspeed

hmmm how much is a quaife dif!!! bet thats expensive!

 

[Ruddmeister]

i recommend the neuspeed

hmmm how much is a quaife dif!!! bet thats expensive!

£1,100 to £1,400 fitted in an LCR

You may decide to do the clutch too

Peloquin do a similar ATB diff which you can import but costs similar including taxes etc from what I understand

 

[Funkyfin2000]

jesus!!! Expensive!

il take the H+R coilies first! hhehe

not much else to do to my LCR its pretty much done, bar the suspension and FMIC's and Stage 2..

 

[Ruddmeister]

jesus!!! Expensive!

il take the H+R coilies first! hhehe

not much else to do to my LCR its pretty much done, bar the suspension and FMIC's and Stage 2..

IF you go Big Turbo sometime in the future then it would be necessary, trying to put down say 350bhp would be scary without one

Depends what your ultimate goal is

 

[Funkyfin2000]

yeah i think personally my goal is probaly to get the best speed and handling out the current turbo....which as i say will take Forge FMIC, Coilies and a Stage 2 map....and that will take a while to sort out...

after that im not really sure where to go...prob bigger turbo etc or new car...

 

[Ruddmeister]

yeah i think personally my goal is probaly to get the best speed and handling out the current turbo....which as i say will take Forge FMIC, Coilies and a Stage 2 map....and that will take a while to sort out...

after that im not really sure where to go...prob bigger turbo etc or new car...

I did the FMIC but the suspension was by far the biggest change to the car.....it will keep you amused for a while

 

[Funkyfin2000]

how much the FMIC set u back?

 

[Cupraloon]

The problem I've found with the stock set up on my 02 Cupra, is; the rebound damping is just too hard, and the compression is not enough, as the car tends to pitch about, & while driving the car over rutts and ridges it crashes badly.

The funny thing is when you push the car hard, it actually tightens up quite well, although the back end gets a bit too lively at times, no doubt down to the fact there isn't rear ARB.

Perhaps just fitting some decent ARB's would cure this tail happyness, and perhaps the crashy ride, would be liveable then.

I think the answer is start with some ARB's and see how you go from there.

 

[Ruddmeister]

The problem I've found with the stock set up on my 02 Cupra, is; the rebound damping is just too hard, and the compression is not enough, as the car tends to pitch about, & while driving the car over rutts and ridges it crashes badly.

The funny thing is when you push the car hard, it actually tightens up quite well, although the back end gets a bit too lively at times, no doubt down to the fact there isn't rear ARB.

Perhaps just fitting some decent ARB's would cure this tail happyness, and perhaps the crashy ride, would be liveable then.

I think the answer is start with some ARB's and see how you go from there.

My old 2001 LC never braked particuarly well and although the damping was reasonable on normal roads it got crashy over through pot holes and the like.

I found the best place to start was to help dial out the tail happiness by fitting new rubber to the rear not the front......maybe that means a marginal amount of additional understeer but it's more controllable IMO.

A chunky set of ARB's is the way to go on an LC and you have more choice with sets from H&R and Eibach as well as Neuspeed.

Also don;t forget the front lower strut brace which you can buy from your SEAT dealer for your LC as it is an OEM LCR part.

 

[Cupraloon]

Thanks for that Ruddmeister,

Thats really interesting tbh, cos' when i got the car it had two different tyre's on the rear both Dunlop but different models and tread patterns, and some 'El cheapo's on the front, which will all be changed for some Falken 452's when funds allow, so maybe it's this causing the tall happyness and not as i suspected the lack of rear ARB,

Now I'm really confused !!!!

My next changes after some decent tyres were going to be some strut braces, to tighten the car up a bit, before going to the expense of buying ARB's or new suspension.