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Coilovers + wide tires?

thatspsychotic

Ready to race!
I'm running 245/35R18 PSS tires on 18x8 et45 wheels, and of course no rubbing issues whatsoever at stock height with fender screw mod, but I'm considering coilovers due to OEM struts feeling pretty worn after 145k miles.

Question is about the maximum ride height on different coilovers. I'm drawn to the ST X coilovers as an entry level option, but I've seen some mixed info about how high you can set them for minimum lowering for max tire clearance. Tire rack suggests min drop is like 0.5" which should be fine, but I've seen other sources showing a min drop of closer to 1.5" which according to the old golfmkv.com fitment chart would cause issues at 245 section width.

I know this may sound foreign to a lot of guys leaning towards more stance, but I do occasionally autocross so I'm looking for more functional information.

Can the ST X coilovers be set high enough to avoid rubbing with my wheel/tire combo without pulling/rolling? What are some other coilover options that aren't too low to cause issues?
 

Roctre

Ready to race!
I'm running 245/35R18 PSS tires on 18x8 et45 wheels, and of course no rubbing issues whatsoever at stock height with fender screw mod, but I'm considering coilovers due to OEM struts feeling pretty worn after 145k miles.

Question is about the maximum ride height on different coilovers. I'm drawn to the ST X coilovers as an entry level option, but I've seen some mixed info about how high you can set them for minimum lowering for max tire clearance. Tire rack suggests min drop is like 0.5" which should be fine, but I've seen other sources showing a min drop of closer to 1.5" which according to the old golfmkv.com fitment chart would cause issues at 245 section width.

I know this may sound foreign to a lot of guys leaning towards more stance, but I do occasionally autocross so I'm looking for more functional information.

Can the ST X coilovers be set high enough to avoid rubbing with my wheel/tire combo without pulling/rolling? What are some other coilover options that aren't too low to cause issues?

The higher number that you see people posting are non GTI owners. If you want to be safe and call it a day some koni yellows and VWR spring give you a good stance while being very DD friendly and firming the ride up a bit.
 

thatspsychotic

Ready to race!
The higher number that you see people posting are non GTI owners. If you want to be safe and call it a day some koni yellows and VWR spring give you a good stance while being very DD friendly and firming the ride up a bit.

Yeah that's an option as well, and a little cheaper than ST X coilovers. However I do like the ability to balance the front/rear ride height as well as potentially corner balancing with coilovers.

I did read what you mentioned about the drop difference between base Golf and GTI, taking credit for the fact that the GTI is a good bit lower than the base Golf from the factory. Looks like I should be able to keep the drop to under 1" to make sure the tires still fit and not muck up the ride dynamics too much.
 

sterkrazzy

Autocross Champion
I may sell my eibach pro street coilovers. mono tube SS bodies, a step above most.

Don't see a lot of people with those lol, I like mine
 
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