A3 VW Cabrio Suspension

The wife's 2002 VW Cabrio needs new struts. I'm thinking of using this as an opportunity to upgrade her car.

The car is her daily driver, so I don't want to destroy the ride quality too much, and we can't really lower it a lot.

I remember Neuspeed sold a "SofSport" kit with Bilstein dampers and progressively-wound Eibachs that didn't lower the car much but, supposedly, firmed up the handling a bit.

Seems like a tall order - hmmmm, we want it to handle better, but we can't stiffen it up too much and we can't lower it. What to do?

Neuspeed SofSports were the same as H&R "OEM" springs (I think that's whey they're called). 3/4" drop, same spring rate as the Sports (1.5" drop).

I have them on my 99 CIvic Si (but they're dumped on the lower perches of my Koni Yellows). This is a killer combo, BTW--however, I think the ride quality (w/ the Koni Yellows) might be too stiff for a wife.

I did a KYB GR2/Neuspeed Sport combo on a former EG hatch DD and it was very compliant. I put 80k daily driver miles on that setup.

If I were you I would get bilstien dampers, and the stiffer gti springs (I think they are the ones used on the vr6 gti, but im not sure about that.) Most lowering springs i have had experience with were somewhat less than impressive.

I have the H&R springs -- whatever they're called, the ones with about an inch of drop -- in my A3 Jetta. I like them pretty well. Definitely a good compromise spring.

KYB GR2s are a decent choice, but a little on the soft side. Then again, I have them on my wife's daily driver Fiat spider, and they aren't bad.

Travis_K wrote: If I were you I would get bilstien dampers, and the stiffer gti springs (I think they are the ones used on the vr6 gti, but im not sure about that.) Most lowering springs i have had experience with were somewhat less than impressive.

Winner. You can't go wrong with Bilstein HDs on a DDer.