B12 Pro Kit - 46-184115/46-194862
by brian_badonde, on 2021-08-02 17:19:31
For reference, this a review of the B12 Pro kit which isn't technically for GTI's but for all other Mk5's with front/rear axle weights up to 1080/1010 kg respectively. Firstly, a bit about my driving as I find reviews misleading without proper context. My Mk5 is no longer a daily driver and only comes out when the weather's nice and the journey is interesting, so when it gets driven it's done so with a degree of enthusiasm. I mainly drive on B-roads, a handful of A-roads and try to take it to the track at least twice a year. I live in the central belt of Scotland so the roads are a) exceptionally rough, b) tight and c) have a lot of dramatic changes in elevation. The above ruled out anything other than a superficial drop in ride height for me, which is why I went for the Pro kit instead of the Sportline kit. I bought the kit from Damian at DPM performance who was extremely helpful and personally recommended it. We discussed other options such as coilovers, but his opinion was that you'd have to spend a minimum of double the cost of this kit on something like Ohlins R&T to better the performance on offer here, which I wasn't prepared to do. And I don't doubt it. I'm thoroughly impressed with this kit. The drop is very subtle and I'm really happy with it visually. On the road, it deals with harsh square-edged hits (such as potholes) as well if not better than the stock springs/dampers. I haven't noticed any deterioration in secondary ride either and is no less comfortable than my daily driver over chattery/broken surfaces. The only comment I would make is that it will bounce a little over oscillating bumps but neither myself nor my girlfriend find it uncomfortable. It's taught but certainly never crashy. It really rewards the most when you're pushing on with it. It has tightened up the handling extremely nicely and eliminated that split second "dead" feeling at turn-in as the suspension is loaded up that the stock setup often fell victim to. It's not wallowy in the slightest but there's a little body roll which is exactly what I was after. On track it is extremely impressive. Of course you could easily get away with going stiffer, but that was the compromise I knowingly made and I have no regrets about it as it's a road car at the end of the day. It adds a degree of control and responsiveness that wasn't present with the stock setup and I definitely noticed an improvement in grip on exit. I found it plenty sufficient to deal with all the bottom-outs at knockhill and had to dig a bit deeper than before to find the limit. Overall, I'm thoroughly impressed with this kit and can't recommend it enough for predominant road use. There's very little sacrifice in ride comfort but the extra firmness in cornering is beyond worth it and eggs you on - it gives more back the harder you push it. As I mentioned above, it will happily deal with track use (and so much better so than the stock setup) but I would recommend something firmer if that's all you're going to drive as it is always a compromise if you don't want it to be an absolute ball-baster on the road. A big thumbs up from me.