Fixing the Fitment.

Everyone knows that choosing the right wheels and suspension is critical in creating the desired effect. With such a large and unassuming chassis like the GLI, nowhere is it more important to give this commuter car a more substantial appearance. By upgrading the suspension and wheels, not only will our MK7 look noticeably better, but it will perform much better than the soft stock ride which is designed as a compromise by committee for the masses, and certainly not for the discerning driver.

H&R Lowering Springs

Suspension is one of the most important factors in determining your vehicle’s day-to-day drivability. The first step in suspension tuning is to upgrade your vehicle’s stock springs. Upgrading your suspension components will ensure that your vehicle has improved handling and reduced body roll. H&R springs have superb ride comfort and increased driving convenience.

H&R Special Springs are high quality products—they will not set or sag, they are designed and manufactured to be strong, resilient, and more durable than other automotive coil springs. All H&R springs are crafted from a special (hf) 54SiCr6 spring steel to ensure premium quality and performance. H&R Springs are shot-peened to increase their life by more than 200%. All production is completed in-house so product quality is ensured. Each spring is 100% tested before leaving H&R’s ISO9001 certified production facility in Germany.

BBS RX-R 20x8.5

BBS is the gold standard (pun intended) by which all other manufacturers are held to. You'd be hard pressed to look anywhere in the wheel industry and not find someone taking cues from their storied legacy. And while straying off the beaten path can be refreshing, sometimes it's nice to know that your choice is guaranteed to work, and work very well.

This particular set of BBS wheels comes from BBS's "Performance Line" and features one piece counter pressure cast construction- spun inner rim using BBS Flow Forming Process - weight optimized by FEM analysis

Swaybar and Endlink Upgrades

Not only is the factory suspension not intended for real, purposeful driving, but neither are the factory swaybars or endlinks for that matter. We've chosen to upgrade several key components to fully compliment the H&R springs, giving our MK7 GLI a much tighter and predictable feel, while still being very much a daily driver.

ST Suspension Swaybar + Whiteline Endlinks

While the GLI was already equipped with the largest possible OEM swaybar available, the diameter and stiffness of the stock bar still leaves room for improvement in getting the large family hauler to rotate in the corners. We've elected to install the ST Suspensions swaybar which takes the factory diameter of 21.7 and beefs it up to a whopping 25mm. This added stiffness can immediately be felt, and helps to prevent unwanted body roll. While we are not attempting to build an all out race car, this set up would still be ideal for the track, while plenty forgiving on the street.

In addition to the swaybar we have also chosen pair a set of Whiteline Adjustable Endlinks. These links not only allow us to dial in the correct length for a proper fit, but their metal construction gives added strength and rigidity over the factory plastic endlinks. This translates into a more precise feel, as well as added durability

SPC Adjustable Rear Arms

These forged arms from SPC are the toughest in the business. Again, due to their construction increase rigidity and overall predictability in the rear of the car, but more importantly allow easy camber adjustment of up to -3*.

As quoted from Turnology :

"Negative camber is implemented so that when the car is cornering and the wheel is rolling over and gaining positive camber (from body roll, not suspension travel), the static negative camber should correct whatever effect leaning and lateral load have on the wheel and tire; resulting in a near-upright tire and the greatest possible contact patch.

Simply put, negative camber helps counteract the natural tendency for a tire to roll onto its outer shoulder while cornering, keeping the contact patch squarely on the road while cornering allowing for more grip and higher cornering speeds."