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After 3-4 weeks of the car sitting idle, I finally fixed my leaking power
steering resovoir due to the leaking battery and finally got the ABT's on
the car. The ABT's are made by Bilstein like the H&R's and Neuspeed. It
has dust boot and bump stops. The front coilover piston is huge. Probably
1" - 1 1/4" in diameter. The finish is excellent. The rears has two
springs, one main and a tender spring. After numerous test drives from
Brad @ VW Sport, I finally took the plunge.
I have 17" wheels and F&R Neuspeed sways. The car is pretty much to the
ground now. I can get just one finger between the fender and tire. The
ride is just smoooooth, like butter. The spring rates and the valving is
just perfect. Some may say it's a little on the softside, but who want to
get jarred from every road imperfection? It soaks up the bumps like a set
of 15" wheels. With the sways, it corners like a champ, with no nasty
weight transfer.
This is the BEST suspension for me up to date. My personal hands on
history ( 16" BBS RX w/ F&R sways) with suspension is: stock shocks w/
Neuspeed springs, Neuspeed HD's w/ Neuspeed springs, Spax adjustable w/
Spax springs (strut blowout after 5k miles), Spax w/ Neuspeed springs, Koni
w/ Neuspeed springs, and AVO Coilovers. The HD Neuspeed Bilsteins & Konis
rode like a rock in the city. I had to soften the Konis but that'll make
it undervalved and it wallows. The rear of the car with these setup was
rock solid (no give-THUNK!). The AVO's were pretty good, but I had 350#
springs F, and 250# in the rear. I needed a set of 400# in the fronts and
then they would be pretty good for the money. Behind the ABT's, the AVO's
were pretty good riding/handling.
The car now with the ABT's is just a pleasure to drive. The ride is so
comfortable (with 17" and sways!) and corners oh so sweet... I can only
imagine the H&R may be a bit stiffer. If you got the cash, do it right the
first time and don't bother with the other setup. I know, I've done it and
been there.
Jim
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Sat Nov 14 23:13 CST 1998
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