# SOLOWERKS Coilover system



## aaronsananikone (Sep 5, 2021)

As the thread title states, wondering if anyone out there has any direct input/feedback on the Solowerks Coilover system for the Atlas platform specifically? I stumbled across them via Youtube and Jamie Orr's Atlas builds that he did. I would say I am mostly curious in regards to the ride quality, install process, any negative feedback along with overall transaction and ownership experience? Considering the H&R/Eibach lowering springs are roughly ~$300, I figure why not spend the extra ~$200 for added height adjustability to dial in the desired fitment. I know I could go air, but this is going to be the wife's DD, she doesn't need all that with her driving capability/skill level LOL.

I tried searching but only came across GTI/Jetta and Passat entries in regards to Solowerks. If I have some how duplicated a post, MODS please delete this thread and link me to the original.

Thanks in advance to anyone out there with info/input/advice and MODS for well, MODDING haha. Cheers all!


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## The Road Warrior (May 23, 2006)

It’s not on our Atlas but I do have their kit on my Sportwagen. 

It’s decent quality for the price. Basically half the price of some of the other kits out there. Ride quality is good. 

My only complaint is that, for some reason, to get the ride height even on all corners I had to crank up the front driver side pretty high. I was nervous about setting the car too low (local roads are **** around here, especially in winter) so I just wanted to get rid of the wheel gap without it looking slammed. I dialed in the look I wanted but the front drivers side corner rides kind of harsh where the other corners seem fine. Like I said, I think it’s because it’s set taller to make them all even and maybe not within spec for the kit or something. My car has the 6 speed auto and I think the trans sits more on that corner and maybe causes it to be the heaviest? 

I didn’t even know they made a kit for the Atlas. 


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## aaronsananikone (Sep 5, 2021)

The Road Warrior said:


> It’s not on our Atlas but I do have their kit on my Sportwagen.
> 
> It’s decent quality for the price. Basically half the price of some of the other kits out there. Ride quality is good.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the input and information! I've contacted them direct, but have still yet to hear from them Long weekend (Holiday weekend*) I am assuming...But yeah, I was browsing Youtube before making the decision to get the wife the car and saw some of Jamie Orr's videos on the fullsize Atlas and also CrossSport. Turns out he ran the same Solowerks coilover system on both builds (first the Fullsize, then onto to CS*). 

It sounds like your setup is pretty much what I am going for, which is to eliminate fender gap/sit just above the tire. Did you have to leave the driver side up a little higher to compensate for the weight of the driver/trans? As for the harsher ride, is it possible the dampening somehow got adjusted and made more stiff during inspection/install? I think the main selling point for me is the cost, sounds like they're decent quality and ride quality is good and again can't really complain for the price according to your input. The delta between just springs and their system is only like ~$220.00, but adjustability is a HUGE thing for me. Will probably just order some tomorrow considering your shared thoughts granted I can get them on the phone. Thanks again, I really appreciate it, Cheers!


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## The Road Warrior (May 23, 2006)

Yeah, I think that corner may be heavier than the others. The higher you go in the front, you end up compressing the spring so there’s less spring travel I believe. I installed it myself so I may have messed something up, lol. Seems correct though. Lots of good install vids on YouTube for this kit.

I do most of my own maintenance so I wanted to be able to get a standard size floor jack under it, or be able to pull it up on my Rhino ramps without having to do anything special like use wood blocks. It sits pretty low. I can barely get my jack under the pinch welds as-is. Also the oil pan on the Golf sits pretty low and is exposed so I worry about that with anything lower. 

Probably not an issue with the Atlas though. We have a 2020 Cross Sport SEL-P with the 20 in wheels and it sits pretty tall stock. My wife would kill me if I messed with the suspension on that one though, lol. 


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## aaronsananikone (Sep 5, 2021)

The Road Warrior said:


> Yeah, I think that corner may be heavier than the others. The higher you go in the front, you end up compressing the spring so there’s less spring travel I believe. I installed it myself so I may have messed something up, lol. Seems correct though. Lots of good install vids on YouTube for this kit.
> 
> I do most of my own maintenance so I wanted to be able to get a standard size floor jack under it, or be able to pull it up on my Rhino ramps without having to do anything special like use wood blocks. It sits pretty low. I can barely get my jack under the pinch welds as-is. Also the oil pan on the Golf sits pretty low and is exposed so I worry about that with anything lower.
> 
> ...


Thanks again for the great info, I appreciate you! I wonder if the Atlas has any weird quirks with its engine/drivetrain and weight distribution that will need compensation through the suspension settings like you mention on your Sportwagen...Still haven't heard back directly from Solowerks, but I did get in touch with my shop (Kormodiv in SoCal), and they told me Solowerks is still in the development phase for this kit which is why the kit isn't listed on the website. I trust their intel as they're straight forward guys and they do a ton of euro's and work with Solowerks frequently and the head mechanic (previous VW master mechanic) actually has owned 2 Atlas' already, and knowing him he would have had them on his car if they were out.... Alas I just got to play the waiting game so I ended up just ordering H&R lowering springs, maybe ill sell them once the Solowerks are officially released.

As for the wife thing, I'm somewhat in the same boat, my wife just thinks I'm putting on wheels and tires...Little does she know....hahahaha. I figure what she doesn't know wont hurt her, plus I know she'll love the look after all is said and done anyways ....Thanks again and cheers!


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## RAD_TDI (Sep 14, 2021)

I actually ran a prototype kit on my Atlas! 

They rode really nice for the price as well as got me pretty low on the 18s and later on 20s. It eliminated most of the body roll and the car felt much tighter. 

I did a few road trips from Texas to Georgia with the family and dogs with no issues.

Atlas on some Cross Sport wheels.


























This was on Arteon wheels. Tires look small since i threw the wheels with tires straight over. I later got some more sidewall.


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## RAD_TDI (Sep 14, 2021)

I later went to air ride since we do a few long distant road tips. I have a roof box and plan on doing a tow hitch with a tow hitch basket. We travel with 4 kids and two dogs so I decided to go with Airlift 3H. 

Air'd out with more sidewall.


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## aaronsananikone (Sep 5, 2021)

RAD_TDI said:


> I later went to air ride since we do a few long distant road tips. I have a roof box and plan on doing a tow hitch with a tow hitch basket. We travel with 4 kids and two dogs so I decided to go with Airlift 3H.
> 
> Air'd out with more sidewall.
> View attachment 118240
> View attachment 118241


Oh Baby! Now that is what I need! But unfortunately Air ride is a little out of the budget at the moment. Would you be willing to sell your prototype Solowerks kit??? I just got my H&R springs in and have an appointment to install them this Saturday with the fellas at Kormodiv, but if I can get on coils I'd much rather prefer that! Hopefully you can help a brother out, it would be AMAZING!

Already got the wheels and tires on, full LED kit inside and out, got roof rack and cargo box going on today, body kit and ton of other small parts otw, hopefully you can help this be EPIC.


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## RAD_TDI (Sep 14, 2021)

aaronsananikone said:


> Oh Baby! Now that is what I need! But unfortunately Air ride is a little out of the budget at the moment. Would you be willing to sell your prototype Solowerks kit??? I just got my H&R springs in and have an appointment to install them this Saturday with the fellas at Kormodiv, but if I can get on coils I'd much rather prefer that! Hopefully you can help a brother out, it would be AMAZING!
> 
> Already got the wheels and tires on, full LED kit inside and out, got roof rack and cargo box going on today, body kit and ton of other small parts otw, hopefully you can help this be EPIC.



I actually no longer have the prototype kit 

Let me see what the eta is for them to release it.

To be honest you may be disappointed with the h&r kit. The front sits lower than the rear so you have rake. Ride is okay but a litttle harsh. If you want a decent lowering spring from my experience the eibach kit is the way to go for a lowering spring on the atlas.


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## aaronsananikone (Sep 5, 2021)

Dang, shattered my hopes and dreams! But yeah if you have a personal line with them, maybe you could help me get in touch with them/get setup with a kit. Or any info for when the kit will be ready would be helpful as well....Now I'm debating putting on the H&R until I hear something back from you...

As for the H&R, I guess I'm kind of stuck with it until I hear any type of news from You or Solowerks. The Eibach's were actually sold out/out of stock everywhere I looked online which is why I went with H&R...Darn, shooting myself in the foot for being impatient


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## RAD_TDI (Sep 14, 2021)

aaronsananikone said:


> Dang, shattered my hopes and dreams! But yeah if you have a personal line with them, maybe you could help me get in touch with them/get setup with a kit. Or any info for when the kit will be ready would be helpful as well....Now I'm debating putting on the H&R until I hear something back from you...
> 
> As for the H&R, I guess I'm kind of stuck with it until I hear any type of news from You or Solowerks. The Eibach's were actually sold out/out of stock everywhere I looked online which is why I went with H&R...Darn, shooting myself in the foot for being impatient



From the looks of it seems like you want a pretty low atlas and to be honest the H&R kit is not gonna achieve what you are aiming to do. The H&R kit does level the atlas but from a distance you can see how the rear visually appears to be higher.

I just know that if you spend the money on installing the kit and not getting what you actually wanted will be more devastating due to the waste of money. Since install isn't cheap and then a alignment. 

Atlas from a different thread with H&R and 20s.


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## aaronsananikone (Sep 5, 2021)

RAD_TDI said:


> From the looks of it seems like you want a pretty low atlas and to be honest the H&R kit is not gonna achieve what you are aiming to do. The H&R kit does level the atlas but from a distance you can see how the rear visually appears to be higher.
> 
> I just know that if you spend the money on installing the kit and not getting what you actually wanted will be more devastating due to the waste of money. Since install isn't cheap and then a alignment.
> 
> ...


I wouldn't say I want to be slammed, but my goal is to definitely close up the tire to fender gap. Slammed definition to me is tucking tire/about and is what your ride height was at with the Solowerks coils. I would ideally just like the top of tire to be around a half inch/inch or so give or take from the fender since I'm running about 2" of poke with fender flares. You could say I'm kind of going for the look of the lowered Touraeg from the movie Repomen, except with street tires and 21's since this is the wife's daily/baby hauler...

Do you have a point of contact at Solowerks I can reach out to, or you would be willing to help me get in touch with? I tried emailing them through their website but have had no luck... I appreciate all your help/input and advice and any help in the future!

Here's the Repomen Touraeg look that I mentioned I'm going for...I really wouldn't mind running M/T or even A/T tires but I cant find a manufacturer that makes 21" M/T or A/T for the life of me...


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## skydaman (Dec 16, 2005)

Why not get the scale coilovers? Mine is lowered about 3" with them, aligned perfectly, rides great.


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## aaronsananikone (Sep 5, 2021)

skydaman said:


> Why not get the scale coilovers? Mine is lowered about 3" with them, aligned perfectly, rides great.


Considering Solowerks sells their kits for ~$500 it is a substantial savings over the Scale's offering @ ~$1,145. If Scale was more competitive in pricing I would definitely consider them. I'd say I'm more budget geared on this project because as mentioned it's really the Wife's daily to go to and from work about 5 miles away and also haul the baby around on the weekend. Price conscious but effective products are the goal on this one so I can still have money for the other cars  ...Thanks for the input though...it may be a longshot but if I really hate the H&R's and Solowerks doesnt plan to release something for a few years, then maaaaybe at that point I'll reconsider them.


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## RAD_TDI (Sep 14, 2021)

aaronsananikone said:


> I wouldn't say I want to be slammed, but my goal is to definitely close up the tire to fender gap. Slammed definition to me is tucking tire/about and is what your ride height was at with the Solowerks coils. I would ideally just like the top of tire to be around a half inch/inch or so give or take from the fender since I'm running about 2" of poke with fender flares. You could say I'm kind of going for the look of the lowered Touraeg from the movie Repomen, except with street tires and 21's since this is the wife's daily/baby hauler...
> 
> Do you have a point of contact at Solowerks I can reach out to, or you would be willing to help me get in touch with? I tried emailing them through their website but have had no luck... I appreciate all your help/input and advice and any help in the future!
> 
> ...


Yea I had the solowerks maxed out due to how i wanted the ride height. 

I would say wait for the solowerks (eta is end of this year). If you need to talk to someone I would call and ask for Jeremy!

Lol that was the look i was initially going for!!! I then got side tracked and went more low stance (coworkers are not helpful.)


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## RAD_TDI (Sep 14, 2021)

aaronsananikone said:


> Considering Solowerks sells their kits for ~$500 it is a substantial savings over the Scale's offering @ ~$1,145. If Scale was more competitive in pricing I would definitely consider them. I'd say I'm more budget geared on this project because as mentioned it's really the Wife's daily to go to and from work about 5 miles away and also haul the baby around on the weekend. Price conscious but effective products are the goal on this one so I can still have money for the other cars  ...Thanks for the input though...it may be a longshot but if I really hate the H&R's and Solowerks doesnt plan to release something for a few years, then maaaaybe at that point I'll reconsider them.


Scale is another nice brand my buddy is actually running their coilovers on his Cross Sport.


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## aaronsananikone (Sep 5, 2021)

RAD_TDI said:


> Scale is another nice brand my buddy is actually running their coilovers on his Cross Sport.
> View attachment 118937
> 
> View attachment 118938


Dang both of your guys' rides are super CLEAN. That is very close to about where I would like the car to end up sitting at height wise. I'd probably raise it maybe an inch or two just because I'm running aggressive poke. I'll try giving Solowerks/Jeremy a call tomorrow if I get a little free-time during the work day, or maybe next week to gather more info. If release date is expected for end of this year, I may just end up with their system an Xmas present for the wife, which she wont be too happy about...LOL. Again, appreciate all the help/advice fellas, I'll keep you posted how things progress! Cheers!


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## skydaman (Dec 16, 2005)

aaronsananikone said:


> Considering Solowerks sells their kits for ~$500 it is a substantial savings over the Scale's offering @ ~$1,145. If Scale was more competitive in pricing I would definitely consider them. I'd say I'm more budget geared on this project because as mentioned it's really the Wife's daily to go to and from work about 5 miles away and also haul the baby around on the weekend. Price conscious but effective products are the goal on this one so I can still have money for the other cars  ...Thanks for the input though...it may be a longshot but if I really hate the H&R's and Solowerks doesnt plan to release something for a few years, then maaaaybe at that point I'll reconsider them.


The stock shocks are so under damped for the stock springs I didn't even think about replacing the springs alone. Yes Scale does cost more but its a small price to pay especially with wife/kids. Looking at the pics the soloworks is a budget setup and doesn't have near the adjustability, in all reality they look like racelands. I think being able to adjust the ride height without impacting the wheel travel and being able to easily adjust the damping are big perks for the price, especially in a daily.


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## aaronsananikone (Sep 5, 2021)

skydaman said:


> The stock shocks are so under damped for the stock springs I didn't even think about replacing the springs alone. Yes Scale does cost more but its a small price to pay especially with wife/kids. Looking at the pics the soloworks is a budget setup and doesn't have near the adjustability, in all reality they look like racelands. I think being able to adjust the ride height without impacting the wheel travel and being able to easily adjust the damping are big perks for the price, especially in a daily.


All VERY solid points to consider that I didn't think about. It's been a while since I've dealt with coilovers (2014 my Aristo 2jz drift build) since most of my cars now are on air or came factory with air...You sir have just made me heavily re-consider the Scale setup... Their site says 1-3 week lead time, I know the auto industry is notorious for going over expected lead times, do you have any real world input with how long it took to get your setup?


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## skydaman (Dec 16, 2005)

aaronsananikone said:


> All VERY solid points to consider that I didn't think about. It's been a while since I've dealt with coilovers (2014 my Aristo 2jz drift build) since most of my cars now are on air or came factory with air...You sir have just made me heavily re-consider the Scale setup... Their site says 1-3 week lead time, I know the auto industry is notorious for going over expected lead times, do you have any real world input with how long it took to get your setup?


Sure thing, I received them faster than expected. Mine shipped 6 days after placing the order and delivered about 3 days later. I got the normal version (I did get the gravitational bearing upgrade) in the default color. The low version must go REALLY low because I am lowered about 3" and have plenty of room to go further. I used a set of ECS spacers to push out the OEM wheels, they tucked too much when lowered to me.


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## aaronsananikone (Sep 5, 2021)

skydaman said:


> Sure thing, I received them faster than expected. Mine shipped 6 days after placing the order and delivered about 3 days later. I got the normal version (I did get the gravitational bearing upgrade) in the default color. The low version must go REALLY low because I am lowered about 3" and have plenty of room to go further. I used a set of ECS spacers to push out the OEM wheels, they tucked too much when lowered to me.


I'd love to see pics of your car if possible...your setup sounds along the lines of what I'm going for. Thanks in advance!


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## skydaman (Dec 16, 2005)

aaronsananikone said:


> I'd love to see pics of your car if possible...your setup sounds along the lines of what I'm going for. Thanks in advance!


Currently how it sits, just a little gap but with the family loaded up and almost 200lbs of dog in the back it just about tucks tire going down the highway.


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## aaronsananikone (Sep 5, 2021)

skydaman said:


> Currently how it sits, just a little gap but with the family loaded up and almost 200lbs of dog in the back it just about tucks tire going down the highway.
> View attachment 119109


Well, you guys have gone n' done it... You both sold me and the wife on coils, so now the H&R's are for sale and weren't even installed lol. She likes the idea of the adjustability to run different tire setups in the future which I have to agree with her on. Have my shop reaching out to Solowerks this coming week to find out status, since they work with them a lot. If nothing comes through via way of Solowerks, I'll probably be going with the Scale's closer towards the end of the year.


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## RAD_TDI (Sep 14, 2021)

aaronsananikone said:


> Well, you guys have gone n' done it... You both sold me and the wife on coils, so now the H&R's are for sale and weren't even installed lol. She likes the idea of the adjustability to run different tire setups in the future which I have to agree with her on. Have my shop reaching out to Solowerks this coming week to find out status, since they work with them a lot. If nothing comes through via way of Solowerks, I'll probably be going with the Scale's closer towards the end of the year.


I'm excited for you! I hope you come back and post some pictures and a review


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## aaronsananikone (Sep 5, 2021)

RAD_TDI said:


> I'm excited for you! I hope you come back and post some pictures and a review


Thank you sir! Here's some pics how it sits now minus new spacers I threw on last night. With the spacers my effective offset is now et2 and tire tread now lines up to the fender flares... I'm not too mad at it/with how it turned out for now...I went a little too aggressive on the sidewall sizing, but I was originally concerned with being too low profile on the 21's...probably go 40 or 35 series and a 285 next time around to box out the tire, which I'll hopefully be on coils by then to go lower as well...Have quite a few parts still trickling in here and there along with some Teramont parts I'm super excited for...Keep you guys posted, cheers to you both!


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