# RACELAND COILOVERS



## ILLA NOIZ (Jul 2, 2007)

So - I've been reading a lot of threads about Raceland Coilovers and thought I would inquire about applications for the MK1 Audi TT. Below is the email response I received via email from the company. 
In short - If you are interested, you may want to flood them with emails. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
"Mr. Andrew Salerno, 
Thank you for your interest in Raceland US. 
At this time we do not have any plans on producing any products for the Mk1 Audi TT Quattro. 
But we will bring it to upper managements attention so that they can look into producing them. 
If you could please have everyone that wants them send us an email to http://[email protected]
And if you have any other questions or concerns please let us know. 
Thank you, 

RacelandUS"

*UPDATE* 
I just received another email and if the response is good they will look into developing products for the TT. They confirmed that VMaxx is a competitor of theirs and they are not affiliated in anyway. The company has been around in Europe for about 13 years and the owner decided to venture into the US Market. 



_Modified by ILLA NOIZ at 4:38 PM 11-4-2009_


----------



## 00_Bora (Oct 15, 2005)

*FV-QR*

damn those are cheap coils! looks like the only vw's they carry are mk1's and mk2's...


----------



## ILLA NOIZ (Jul 2, 2007)

there's rumors that they are rebranded vmaxx.
Overall it looks like they are getting decent reviews. My PSS9's are shot... and I need a thrifty option. I was going to go vmaxx until a fellow Dubber told me to look into these.


----------



## ECS Tuning - Audi (Oct 12, 2009)

We carry a good selection of coil overs under 1000 but how much is thrifty?


----------



## kclax44 (Aug 4, 2008)

*Re: ([email protected])*

VMaxxs are $700 shipped.


----------



## ILLA NOIZ (Jul 2, 2007)

vmaxx has been the best available option until I saw the possibility of the racelands. Of course, there's no application....
Vmaxx lowered the price and they are about $600 shipped now. 
I also need to look into the defcons because with alignment/control arms in the rear/etc... I'm still eating tires up front. (quite annoying)


----------



## kclax44 (Aug 4, 2008)

*Re: (ILLA NOIZ)*

Check out G&G Motorsport Rear Adj Control Arms, great price and great quality.


----------



## Doooglasss (Aug 28, 2009)

*Re: (kclax44)*

Okay a few things...
*On the alignment:*
Defcons are AWESOME! But they aren't going to change the alignment of your front wheels at all. The front actually has camber adjustment built in at the balljoint to control arm bolts which can net you a pretty good amount depending on how lowered you are. Defcons will make your car feel better around turns, less vague feeling and more control. It all depends on how you are wearing through front tires. Are you an agressive driver and they are wearing evenly? Is the inside or outside wearing. The TT is a primarily FWD car and think about it, it's usually your front wheels plowing through turns so of course they will be worn down. For me I was running -1.8 camber up front and I found that I would wear the tire pretty evenly with the exception of the inside tread would wear first but not even 1-2k later the whole tire would be shot. I also run even tire sizes all around so I rotate my tires every 3-5k and notice the wear patern. However, even with -2.4 rear camber I never wear the inside of the rear tires first, they always wear evenly!
*on the racelands and other cheap coilovers*
I'm not going to bash racelands and tell you not to buy them, I just want to tell you a little bit about what I understand of them. I personally just bought a set for my mk3 daily driver, because it's a daily driver with 115hp - it doesn't go fast and I don't want it to go fast.
What I've found with cheap coilovers is that they are just a poor design. The mk3 coilovers I bought have spring rates that are 100-200 lbs. less than a quality coilover for that car. Besides that they seem to allow the user to lower the car past the operating zone of the strut. This will give you a horribly stiff and bouncy ride (depending on what you did with your bump stops). This is also dangerous and will lead the the strut failing rather quickly (imagine yourself shoved in a sardine can, then every few minutes when the car hits a bump it compresses you even more... yea). 
I'm sure purchasing these coilovers for $360 shipped to my doorstep is a wise choice for a DD that I'm not looking to drive agressivly or lower outside of the struts operating range, however, I frown on the use of cheap coilovers for a performance car. I like to think of the TT as a performance car & for those of you who do not come take a ride in my Jetta : )
I will add to this thread either this weekend or next when I get them in and install them. I'll do my best to review them and explain the ride, maybe even take a video.
I have read by a forum moderator who bought them for his MK3 in the beginning of 2009 that they are DEFINITELY NOT Vmaxx re-branded units. I've also read the ridiculous threads where people are saying how good these coilovers are and how they are as good as H&R/KW/Billstein, then the higher quality coilover kids crapping on the Vmaxx/Raceland kids. 
The only TT I know personally that has Vmaxx's is Amanda, Minibabe. She told me that by having the car lowered in the rear to where there was a no finger gap on 18" wheels the car would rub when her boyfriend was in it. I've ran my TT with OLD H&R coilvers on it without adjustment plates in the rear on an 18" wheel (tucking tire just a pinch w/ spacers) with my girlfriend in the front seat and my drunk friend laying in the trunk many a time and never bottomed out or rubbed. This is the only comparison I can make thus far, but as I said I will check back when I have them installed and give an honest review coming from someone who has done many coilover installs of all different types, in a bunch of different VW's and beats the hell out of all of them : )


----------



## ILLA NOIZ (Jul 2, 2007)

*Re: (kclax44)*


_Quote, originally posted by *kclax44* »_Check out G&G Motorsport Rear Adj Control Arms, great price and great quality.

As mentioned - I already have rear lower control arms. 
Thanks


----------



## ILLA NOIZ (Jul 2, 2007)

Doug - Thanks for the great info and feedback. It's greatly appreciated. 
I am by no means trying to be an advocate for Racelands... only wanted to share what the company said. This is exactly what forums are for. If we demand a product, a company may be willing oblige. 
VMaxx has gotten some decent reviews and it's the best option at the moment as I started a business in May and can't justify spending the money on high end suspension components at the moment. 
My PSS9's seem to be done. Over the past few months the ride has become increasingly sloppy. I know that I could have them rebuilt - but I also can't afford to have the car down as the TT is my daily driver. 
As far as wear goes... I am getting wear on the inside. It's cupping and causing for a terribly noisy ride. The fronts and rears were cupping until I installed the LCA in the rear. I also replaced the front strut mount bushings as they were worn and I thought this would correct the front. The car was aligned recently and according to Goodyear ( it was close to work) they fall into spec.


----------



## Doooglasss (Aug 28, 2009)

*Re: (ILLA NOIZ)*

Alright so a mini review time!!!
I ordered a set of raceland coilovers for my mk3 beater. Prior to it had Drop Zone struts and H&R Sport springs. I have always found spring & strut combos to be bouncy and with these crappy struts it also gave for a bad ride where there was a lot of jolts and hard bumps from the road.
So the coilovers came in last Thursday the 12th and I took about five hours to install them correctly and lubricate every thread with ARP installation lubricant - well worth it later : ) The coilovers came with bumpstops & I used my stock ones up front since the PO had cut them already to be about 1" and in the rear I used the Raceland's and cut them in half with a knife.
The build of the coilovers appears to be nice. They are made of a cheaper aluminum than the stainless steel bodies that my H&R's are made of. I'm not sure how this will hold up to the road salt come this winter but we will sure find out! The springs are coated and I dropped them a few times without them chipping. My main complaint about the build of the strut is the threading of the spring seat adjustment plates- they are way too fine & it takes a lot of spins to move the seats not that far. This doesn't effect the overall product or performance, just something I wanted to point out.
I have a lot of photos I need to post up that are on my apple @ home (I'm @ work now). I'll get to that later!
At first I set them to a stock-like ride height to not only see what they felt like but just in case they were going to settle say on my way to pick my sister up from JFK! The last thing I needed was to be bottoming out in that place!
So last night (Thursday 19th) I finally cranked them down. I have less than a 1 finger gap all around running 205/40/17 tires. I still have 2.75" to go down in the front and 2.875" to go down in the rear.
I've read a lot of people commenting that these coilovers are bouncy or some say they are stiff. I think one of the coilovers main downfalls is it allows the owner to lower the spring seat so much that the strut is outside of it's range of motion. I haven't put the car on ramps and measured the strut yet (but I will when I get aligned on the lift) but my estimate is those 3" I have to go down, well really I don't have more than 1" before the strut is outside of that safe operating range.
I suspect people who are saying the ride is bouncy have the car so low that the strut is bottomed out and the spring is the only thing supporting the car. The people who say the ride is stiff and crappy probably didn't cut their bumpstops and have the strut at a height where it can move maybe 1/2" or something then bottoms out which would give that jolt feeling from bumps in the road.
To describe the performance / ride I'll explain a little about the coilovers I've owned, installed & driven on.
My H&R coilovers on the TT are rough and you feel every part of the road, every grain of sand, bumps are very sharp and the jolt gets feed directly to the driver. In turn these provide excellent handling. I like a very stiff ride and no body roll and these coilovers definetly helpped with that. I've also installed and driven these on a friends SVT Focus and it was the same stiff ride but the performance cannot be beat in this price range. *H&R's are mid-range performance oriented coilover at the sacrifice of comfort.* I say mid-range because I know when I have a set of custom Koni's or KW Clubsports in the near future they will be better, or I hope : ) - H&R also makes the RSS's but I have never got to drive/own them, yet...
Before I had H&R's I had KW V1's (HPA SHS). The KW's were way too soft, too much body roll and not much road feedback. They were a huge upgrade from my stock setup and functioned well with a rear sway bar, but, after I added the front sway bar I found that the car just didn't feel right anymore. I replaced these with the H&R coilovers and god damn I will never go back! Not to bad mouth KW because I'm sure when you spend a good amount on their V2/V3 setup you will get something more solid and performance oriented, but with *the V1's lets call these the comfort coilover with better than stock handling but I wouldn't use the word performance.*
My Friend Greg's Billstein PSS's on his Corrado provide a much nicer ride, they give you feedback but it's smooth- more luxurious. We will be driving and I'll see a bump in the road and literally cringe because I know what it would do to my car - he just flys right over it - no problems, no bad feedback at all. Driving the car it's a good handler too, I'm not sure how they mixed the two together so well but they did it! Both Greg & I have flogged this car up and down our neighborhood "racetrack" and it's an effin' blast! It's a fun car to begin with but these coilovers really transformed it! I'd say *PSS's are mid-level performance with comfort, *probably the best coilover for a daily driver who wants to have some fun.
I've only had these for a week so I cannot attest to much but so far the racelands are a better handler than the V1's and a better ride than the H&R's, but don't quite have the comfort of the PSS's. I'd say the ride is very nice and most bumps aren't felt as a jolt to the chassis. Before with the struts/springs I had a very crappy ride.
Okay so continuation (I took a break from work to home) I got the photos online too. I lowered the car when I did my front wheel bearings & hubs. It has 3" to go down now. Its a MUCH rougher ride & I'm going in for an alignment after I type this! The ride is still short of the H&R coilovers stiffness but it's stiff and rough - I kind of liked it how it was before! It's the front that's worse than the rear but i would say it's a normal suspension roughness because it's aftermarket "performance" oriented products of course it's not going to feel stock-like. The cars a daily driver and after the alignment I'm going to figure out what to do. I can tolerate it but winter is coming soon so it might go back up. In the past two months I've put about 2k into this car I think, I know it's never going to be fast but I have that addiction where I need to make it mine and enjoy what I daily drive a little!
Here are A LOT of photos! A LOT, there are a few of the inside and stupid crap. Some of the installation ect. I just take random shots as I'm going. The photos that I just took today in the driveway are of the ride height I have it at now. I have a photo in here somewhere of the BBS RC's that are going on this car ASAP. I just need to get spacers for the rear and I could use a set of centering rings because their centerbore isn't VW hubcentric fitment. Anyone know where to get centering rings? Not that anybody would read this far into the post, I just figure somebody will appreciate these photos and a little honest information that isn't just "these are crap" or "these are great" or "don't buy them"
I'm really proud of my RCA's for my amp lol. I did that soldering upside down. If you look the ground actually wraps around the RCA's and then the signal wire goes in the center. I love electrical work and I just wanted to be dumb for fun! I have my TT floor mats in there too lol. That sub box I built on a whim at my job, all the audio stuff was just around so it went in. The car has some kind of exhaust and I just did the fender flares. Bought the seats in CT which are heated and did the full wiring harness ect. did a black headliner and pillars.... IDK why I'm typing this or have that many photos of this POS, I just think photos explain everything and I'm very hung over and confused!

































































































































































































































































































































































































_Modified by DougLoBue at 12:35 PM 11-22-2009_


_Modified by DougLoBue at 1:33 PM 11-22-2009_


----------

