GAZ GHA's, Golds Or KW V1's

[Matty!]

Right chaps

My car currently has GAZ GHA's coilovers on the rear and Koni Shocks and springs on the front.


I am wanting to have coilover's all around and would like peoples opinions...

I will be upgrading to the PPP Stage 3 subframe at the same time as putting front coilovers on, so whats peoples opinions/experiences with any of these setups on the PPP Subframe as in quality, ride, spring rates, damping rates ect.

For example, are the Gold's really worth the money over the GHA's? or shall I leave the dampening ect to the professionals and go KW, In which I have an account for and have used on all my cars and trust + they are stainless, there are pro's and cons on them all, GAZ's prices and adjustability are favourable yet KW's I trust and go 10mm lower. 

The car is heading in the fast road direction with the odd sprint/trackday.

Any recommendations

[dub-disaster]

For the record they dont make gaz gold for the polo as the damper wont fit in the front strut housing.They will however  fit the solid induction hardened piston from a gold damper which will be a bit stiffer but non adjustable as there is no whole in the middle for the dampeining adjusting rod
  From my personal experience there customer serivce is pretty crap aswell.

[gaz g40]

Ive just put kw v1s alround on my polo not driven it yet but if they handle aswell as they look an as good as the customer service theyl be awesome!

[z3i]

Gaz did you have gaz coilies on yours before?
Whats up with the gaz customer service? Just gaz blacks for mine and you guys are making me worry

[gaz g40]

I had gaz blacks on my old GT an on e setup which took ages with the rebound an ride height they was comfy an cornered awesome. I only got kw as ive never really heard owt bad about them. Ther customer service was excellent an rang me an told me when an where my suspension was all the time. Cant wait to test them

[z3i]

I had gaz blacks on my old GT an on e setup which took ages with the rebound an ride height they was comfy an cornered awesome. I only got kw as ive never really heard owt bad about them. Ther customer service was excellent an rang me an told me when an where my suspension was all the time. Cant wait to test them

ahh cool thats re asuring thanks mate, sorry to thread hijack

[vee-dub90]

If you get KW's 'Matty' please say if they are good with a stage 3 subby as I want to go down that route when I have cash

[gaz g40]

Ive a stage three aswell mate so wen i pull my finger out an get the gee on the road al let you know

[Matty!]

Cheers lads!

Im not going to skimp on this car so KW's are looking the favourable option!

[Andy]

Having owned both, I'd go for KWs. Gaz don't appear to have had a set on a Mk2/3 Polo in front of them, otherwise they'd realise that shorter main springs and tender springs are required.

As for matching to the Stage 3 frame, the loss of ARB with the subframe means that you've introduced more body roll - so spring rates need stiffening to compensate.

I am running 325lb front and 200lb rear main springs on Gaz coilovers, with a coil-bound helper spring on the front to keep the MOT man happy. There's hardly any body roll at all, so I achieved my objective there! With the adjustable damping tweaked, this is nowhere near as harsh as you'd expect - but too hard for exclusive road use IMO. This is without the springs being massively pre-loaded as I'm only running G40ish ride height. I'm probably going to try 300lb front and 180lb rear though, to see if that's a good compromise between ride/roll stiffness.

From memory the KWs are ~285lb front and ~170lb rear so should be a decent starting point.

[z3i]

Having owned both, I'd go for KWs. Gaz don't appear to have had a set on a Mk2/3 Polo in front of them, otherwise they'd realise that shorter main springs and tender springs are required.

As for matching to the Stage 3 frame, the loss of ARB with the subframe means that you've introduced more body roll - so spring rates need stiffening to compensate.

I am running 325lb front and 200lb rear main springs on Gaz coilovers, with a coil-bound helper spring on the front to keep the MOT man happy. There's hardly any body roll at all, so I achieved my objective there! With the adjustable damping tweaked, this is nowhere near as harsh as you'd expect - but too hard for exclusive road use IMO. This is without the springs being massively pre-loaded as I'm only running G40ish ride height. I'm probably going to try 300lb front and 180lb rear though, to see if that's a good compromise between ride/roll stiffness.

From memory the KWs are ~285lb front and ~170lb rear so should be a decent starting point.

thought Gaz ones did change? you can specify shorter main springs with tender springs now?
apologies if im wrong, but ive got a tender spring on mine and you can get shorter springs
i got 6" on mine 10" on the rear

[Andy]

You can spec owt you want, but they charge extra for tender springs as apparently you don't need them.

I asked for 5.5" or 6" springs on the front, but they'd only do 7" for me - I think because they didn't hold stock of 325lb springs in the shorter lengths.

[Matty!]

Thanks for you inputs lads.


I think what I am going to go for is Stage 2 Subframe and keep the ARB and go KW V1's, I feel this will be a good compromise on the road.

You see suspension to me is a dark art, I don't spend enough time on track to fettle with it so im thinking to leave it to the professionals, thats why im concerned with the PPP3 setup over the PPP2