JSW - Summer Setup

Yesterday I had H&R Sport Springs installed on my JSW along with mounting my newly acquired 18" Karthoum smoked wheels. After much research and price shopping I ended up buying Continental Extreme Contact DWS all-season high performance tires (225-40R18) to mount on my Karthoums. I also got the installer to install the VW suspension limiters as a precaution to having any rubbing.

I have to say the transformation to the ride, handling and feel of the car is just amazing. The car feels so much more "buttoned down" than before and there is little to none body lean in corners. Of course with the sport springs one give up a little on the softer ride but for me it is well worth it. Right now I'm getting about 42 - 43.5 MPG on my drive to work and I've yet to see how this new set up will affect my fuel mileage. I'll report after my commute tomorrow.

I took the day off of work today so I could detail my car and it looks great being so nice and clean. One thing I have to say about the graphite blue is that it is a lot of work to clean. In the past I usually have had light grey or silver cars and I've never had to work so hard to get my car clean. I love the colour but it will be tons of work to keep clean

Here are some pics of the car after a nice wash.

i love the karthums smoked. they look great. was never a fan of them black, but the car looks and sits great

How much ground clearance do you have? I see you're in MA too, and I'm a little concerned to lower mine w/ the snow for the winter. My A4 was very low w/ H&Rs, but quattro and snows never left me stuck.

I drive a lot further now for my commute, and this car was purchased to be practical... but I can't resist.

dpg said:

i love the karthums smoked. they look great. was never a fan of them black, but the car looks and sits great

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Thanks! The outcome has been great and I'm very happy with the setup.

Jeeprage said:

How much ground clearance do you have? I see you're in MA too, and I'm a little concerned to lower mine w/ the snow for the winter. My A4 was very low w/ H&Rs, but quattro and snows never left me stuck.

I drive a lot further now for my commute, and this car was purchased to be practical... but I can't resist.

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I was concerned as well and had some serious discussions with my installer who has been in the business for 17 years so I trusted his judgement. The drop has been about 1.25 inches so it is definitely lower but I cannot imagine it being a problem unless its very deep snow.

I run 16" wheels with snow tires for my winter setup for good traction and handling. If worst came to worst I'd simply get the installer to put my factory spings back. I don't think this will be required though.

looks good...now, watch them potholes!

Where did you get the work done?? I am jealous!!

I have the Conti Extreme DWS for 4600 mi mounted on the stock 16 inch rims went with, 225/50 R16's, not 205's and love them in the wet/dry. Snow wasn't a bad experience, not snows but not bad. Enjoy.

Looks great! Can't wait to get mine. I'm having the dealer install the sport springs before I take delivery.

This will be the third blue car we have and keeping them clean is always a pain the ass, but they look great for that one day before it rains!

Car901 said:

looks good...now, watch them potholes!

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Absolutely, especially after the rains we just had in the Boston area.

PeteVinBoston said:

Where did you get the work done?? I am jealous!!

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Friend that has had work done at Wheel Dynamix in Natick on his Audi and suggested this place.

I found Jeff Orlinksy (owner) to be a straight shooter and really knew his stuff. He has been in the mod/mechanic business on European brands for 17 years. He spent a lot of time chatting with me and showing me many options with regards to configuration of my sport springs alone. He said he could set them up to be more race focused or more tire wear friendly and I told him I won't be racing my JSW. He had the same depth of knowledge on the tire options and he also installed my Clear Bra 7 weeks ago and did a killer job.

Here is their info:
Wheel Dynamix
135 West Central Street
Natick MA 01760
508-647-6999

fleuger99,
Congratulations! Looks good. I've got the H&Rs installed too. The springs do amplify the solid, buttoned down driving experience typical of German engineered cars.

UberVW_TDI said:

fleuger99,
Congratulations! Looks good. I've got the H&Rs installed too. The springs do amplify the solid, buttoned down driving experience typical of German engineered cars.

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Uber, who did your springs? You, or other?

Okay, I have to get the Smoke Karts instead of the 18" Goals.

sportwagen rick said:

Okay, I have to get the Smoke Karts instead of the 18" Goals.

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One thing that is interesting is when they arrived in the box and even when I took them out to inspect them after shipping they looked much darker than they do now on my car. I think they are one of the nicest VW wheels though.

fleuger99 said:

I was concerned as well and had some serious discussions with my installer who has been in the business for 17 years so I trusted his judgement. The drop has been about 1.25 inches so it is definitely lower but I cannot imagine it being a problem unless its very deep snow.

I run 16" wheels with snow tires for my winter setup for good traction and handling. If worst came to worst I'd simply get the installer to put my factory spings back. I don't think this will be required though.

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Thanks. I promised my fiancee I'd keep the car stock, but things arent looking too promising.

How much did install and an alignment cost? I'll probably end up installing myself. I won't be running 18s, so I'm not sure I'll need the limiters.

still on stock shocks and struts? where did you order the springs from?

Jeeprage said:

Thanks. I promised my fiancee I'd keep the car stock, but things arent looking too promising.

How much did install and an alignment cost? I'll probably end up installing myself. I won't be running 18s, so I'm not sure I'll need the limiters.

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Yeah, you only need the limiters for 18" or larger.

The install for the springs was $450 including allignment and taxes. He told me is was around an hour per wheel for the install.

phillypino215 said:

still on stock shocks and struts? where did you order the springs from?

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Yes, still running on stock shocks and struts. I ordered the springs from tirerack.com because they were on sale in Jan and I ended up getting them for $250 including shipping to MA.

This was my first time using H&R as in the past I've used several sets of Eibach but they would not certify their existing products for the MKVI models at that time.

any links to springs on tire rack? i only see the eibach springs on there....

phillypino215 said:

any links to springs on tire rack? i only see the eibach springs on there....

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Look for 2009 TDI. I'm probably going to end up ordering them from TireRack as well. They've always been great, and I'd rather pay a few $'s more from a reputible place than take a chance.

I've only used H&Rs in the past on 3 different Audis and a Nissan and have always love the ride. The only car I rode w/ Eibachs was a Nissan, and it seemed a bit harsher.

Jeeprage said:

I've only used H&Rs in the past on 3 different Audis and a Nissan and have always love the ride. The only car I rode w/ Eibachs was a Nissan, and it seemed a bit harsher.

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That is funny because I felt these were a little harsher than my Eibach's which I had on a 2006 Jetta GLi.

fleuger99 said:

That is funny because I felt these were a little harsher than my Eibach's which I had on a 2006 Jetta GLi.

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Really? Are yours for a wagen? I forgot when I looked, but I thought the part #'s were the same for wagen and sedan.

Jeeprage said:

Really? Are yours for a wagen? I forgot when I looked, but I thought the part #'s were the same for wagen and sedan.

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They were the same part numbers. It could be that my memory of the ride going back to 2006 is off or it could be that the GLI comes with sport shocks as well which might have made a difference versus the shocks on my JSW?

fleuger99 said:

They were the same part numbers. It could be that my memory of the ride going back to 2006 is off or it could be that the GLI comes with sport shocks as well which might have made a difference versus the shocks on my JSW?

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Have you noticed the back sag or sitting any lower than the front? I don't want the rear to drop too much more than a sedan.

Jeeprage said:

Have you noticed the back sag or sitting any lower than the front? I don't want the rear to drop too much more than a sedan.

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fwiw my '09 jsw has a nice stance on eibach springs and oem shocks/struts, no back end sag.

the '10s i've seen here on h&r's have a nice stance as well, no sag in back.

Jeeprage said:

Have you noticed the back sag or sitting any lower than the front? I don't want the rear to drop too much more than a sedan.

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It has only been 48 hours since the springs were installed but I've not seen anything other than a level stance.

fleuger99 said:

Yeah, you only need the limiters for 18" or larger.

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Again, there is no difference in overall size if you are using the factory recommended sizes for 17s and 18s respectively.

However, the suspension limiters are probably a good idea if you are lowering, regardless of rim size; likewise they might be a good idea if you were to increase the overall diameter of the wheel/tire combo.

Well, I've commuted to work for two days with my new setup and my fuel mileage has barely been impacted by the 18" Karthoums and 225-40R18's versus my 16" wheels and snow tires.

I typically get 42MPG going to work on backroads with an average speed of 45Mph with a few stops at traffic lights. The last two commutes I'm getting 40.5. So, considering the new setup and the look and handling/ride improvement I'm very happy with only a 1.5MPG penalty.

Just curious, what are your average rpms at that average speed? Wondering what the DSG is doing at this speed.