› Forums › Repairs & Technical › Repairs & Technical for Golf & Passat cars › Can I fit Mk2 Coilovers??
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January 31, 2011 at 12:39 pm #1452
Ronal Syncro
MemberI’m puzzled a little, i know the standard suspension won’t fit as there is a hieght difference in the struts of 2 inches…
But would any mk2 coilover kit fit, as i would presumabley be keeping the coilovers at least that 2 inches wound down??
Any help much appreciated
Mark
January 31, 2011 at 5:25 pm #8161Ronal Syncro
MemberThe car is a Mk2 Golf Syncro…as that was not clear in the above post…
January 31, 2011 at 7:05 pm #8162Housey
Participantfront will fit as it would, but the rear shocks are shorter in length then the FWD MK2 golf
February 1, 2011 at 9:24 am #8163Ronal Syncro
MemberCould I replace just the fronts, with stock Mk3 VR6 shocks/springs?
February 1, 2011 at 2:22 pm #8164Housey
Participantvr6 has different spring-rates then MK2. hence it will be stiff to ride

but, in short. yes, you can fit MK3 shocks in the front. and passat 35i, and corradi (53i)
they are all designed the ssame way, and will fit, but as said, spring/damper rate is different because of the weight differencesFebruary 1, 2011 at 6:01 pm #8165Ronal Syncro
MemberWill the mk2 Ride higher?? As the wieght is less?
And stiffer is ok yes, i’m looking for handling rather than comfort?
February 2, 2011 at 11:37 am #8169Ronal Syncro
MemberOk final question
Can I fit normal mk2 rear coilovers??
as they should end up shorter than the standard suspension as i will have them wound down a bit??
Thanks
Mark
07754 845 933February 3, 2011 at 4:17 pm #8177ld50
Memberi think the problem is you’d lose travel.
so your car might sit at stock height but only have half the travel from there so you’d get the disadvantages of a lowered car (i.e. reduced suspension travel, so would have to be harder than standard) without it actually being any lower. I don’t think your ground clearance would be affected, just the travel.
Of course you could perhaps leave the rears normal height and jack up the front to match and have it riding high like a country xD
please note I’ve never tried to fit a set of gti rears to my syncro so that’s speculation but you might be able to compare some sizes from this pic..
As some sort of frame of reference, the springs are 9″ long as far as I recall. You can see the rear damper is actually pretty short, even including the top mount.
February 6, 2011 at 5:07 pm #8182Ronal Syncro
MemberWell i’ve put some mk2 coilovers on the front, and matched the height of the rears, which I’ve kept stock…feels nice and stiff, but might also try some stock mk3 VR6 items, and see which feels best…
I still want to save for better items, but for now, it’s good to get the old stock fronts off as i feel they’re past their best…
April 13, 2011 at 10:06 pm #838286 Syncro
MemberThere are coilovers available for the MKII/III syncro cars. I have a set of Raceland VR6 Syncro coilovers on my MKII. A good place to look is eBay.de.
Also, if you can’t find MKII/III Syncro Coilovers, another option would be to use some for a MKI, since the rear struts are about the same length as the Syncro, IIRC. I can’t say if the fronts will work, but I’m pretty sure the rears will.
Honestly, I don’t know how well a “mix & match” setup would work, it may cause unpredictable handling, due to the difference in spring and damping rates. Just a thought.
Actually, here’s a set of “budget” Syncro coilvers on ebay.de
April 14, 2011 at 5:52 pm #8383Housey
Participanti would not reccomend these TA technix shocks..
fronts are fine, but rears are TOO short.
trust me, i know. i’ve got them. and they are too low even on the highest setting,
i’ve got a few bad pics.. to low for my taste
15inch wheel
this is as high as it will go in the rear
April 14, 2011 at 10:02 pm #8384Chris S
ModeratorPascal & I also tried to fit a similar set (non coilover) to a Rallye Golf they were also to low at the rear, Most people including suppliers (who should know better) think that golf 1 rear shokkers are a straight swap into a Syncro, but unfortunately for a variety of reasons they are not, a quick search on here will show you why.

original syncro rear shok on left,new golf 1 rear shok on right,
note the difference in spring platform hight ,the golf 1 is lower by 1 inch, and this will cause the tyre to foul the lower spring perch as you can see here!

This is with 2wd rear shokkers fitted, & the front jacked up to match
April 15, 2011 at 4:16 am #8385Ronal Syncro
MemberI’ve gone with just coilover fronts, and stock rears, the handling is much better, and no suprises either
May 17, 2011 at 5:15 pm #8458Mikes
MemberIn the last picture you’ve got the Mk2 standard golf shocks in, how did you get them in, I couldn’t manage it when I tried.
The only way I thought I might be able to get them in was to drop the whole suspension arm out. It looked like the drive shaft would catch the trailing arm.
thanks
Mikesquote:
Originally posted by Chris SPascal & I also tried to fit a similar set (non coilover) to a Rallye Golf they were also to low at the rear, Most people including suppliers (who should know better) think that golf 1 rear shokkers are a straight swap into a Syncro, but unfortunately for a variety of reasons they are not, a quick search on here will show you why.

original syncro rear shok on left,new golf 1 rear shok on right,
note the difference in spring platform hight ,the golf 1 is lower by 1 inch, and this will cause the tyre to foul the lower spring perch as you can see here!

This is with 2wd rear shokkers fitted, & the front jacked up to match
May 17, 2011 at 7:32 pm #8459Chris S
ModeratorI used a spring compressor & fitted them with the spring compressed, then I released the spring compressor & it jacked it up to what you see, needless to say I only drove round the block once before I replaced them with normal stuff.
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