STOCK £24 each
Available from most parts suppliers
hese stock dampers are high-quality German units produced by Boge and are the best option for replacing Original Equipment items. The build quality of the dampers is excellent, given that they only cost around £20 per corner, with a good quality paint fi nish and well protected shafts. The units also come with a full top mounting kit to replace the worn-out originals. If you are running a standard height car and want good ride quality, these are the items for you, however if you have a slammed ride you may want to think again. When fi tted to our test car, which is only mildly lowered on beam adjusters, the units were already nearly halfway through their travel with the suspension at full droop, both front and rear. This is a problem due to the fact that you are halving the available damper travel, and given their soft nature, bottoming out is a real risk. This became very evident out on track, as the testers found.
LB: “These shocks felt incredibly soft, which made for good stability on the
straights and they easily absorbed small bumps. It was in the corners and over the curbs that they really came undone – turn in could best be described as woolly, with the front suddenly biting as the damper bottomed out. In the corners, body roll was very noticeable and the rear end felt very unsettled on the exit, especially over the curbs with the shock regularly bottoming out. The lack of travel available was also noticeable under braking for the fi rst corner, a very bumpy area, with the damper rapidly running out of travel, causing the steering to become jittery.”
RM: “These were great on the straights, with the car handling bumps really well. Under braking and on turn in they were very unpredictable and you could feel them bottoming out. The car rolled a lot through the chicanes and the back end felt very loose under power.”
BUGPACK RED £55-60 pair
Available from VW Heritage, Machine 7, Cool Air etc
hese are the classic BugPack red shocks, the longtime favourite for
those running seriously low rides. Available for both K&L Beetles and BJ-equipped cars, they are available in two different ride heights, either low or very low! These dampers are designed to give a smooth ride on low cars, and to this end rely purely on oil to control the suspension movement. This means that they are considerably softer than both the KYB and Spax units, a fact that proved to be a disadvantage as far as handling was concerned. Sold in pairs, the dampers come in a red fi nish with a plastic dust cover over the damper shaft. Build quality is acceptable, especially given the shocks are less than £60 a pair. Whether these shocks, produced in China/Mexico, will stand the test of time as well as their more expensive counterparts is an unknown, but several staff members have run them on their cars trouble-free for many years.
LB: “These shocks were evidently much softer than the KYB and Spax ones, feeling similar to the Stock
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items. Turn in was vague, with the car feeling rather dicey on the entry to the fast corners and wallowing through the chicanes. When getting on the power the car was also very willing to slide. However they did not exhibit the unpleasant characteristic of the stock shocks of bottoming out, meaning that at least the handling was consistent.”
RM: “I thought they were really wallowy – the car just didn’t feel stable through the corners. It felt OK on the straights, but through the corners I couldn’t push nearly as hard through the fast corners or the chicanes as I could with the KYBs or Spax. The rear of the car especially did not fell secure on the exit of corners. I thought that overall the car just did not feel very stable.”
TEST RESULTS
PERFORMANCE: 2/5 HANDLING: 2/5 RIDE: 4/5 BUILD QUALITY: 3/5 VALUE FOR MONEY: 4/5
THE VERDICT If you are running either a stock
or very mildly lowered Bug and looking for a comfortable ride then these are the shocks for you. Over the bumps these dampers did a fi ne job of protecting your posterior, which if the car had not been lowered would have been even smoother. But in the corners they just couldn’t cut it. The build quality of these Sachs-Boge units was also very good, especially given their price. If you want a sportier ride, or want to run low, look at the other shocks on test, but if standard is your thing, these are the shocks for the job.
Dampers the way VW intended them to be
15/25 TEST RESULTS
PERFORMANCE: 3/5 HANDLING: 3/5 RIDE: 3/5 BUILD QUALITY: 3/5 VALUE FOR MONEY: 4/5
THE VERDICT If you are on a budget and
looking for a smooth ride from your slammed Bug, the BugPack reds are just the ticket. The build quality is acceptable for a unit of this price, although the red fi nish may not be to everyone’s taste. The purely oil-damped nature of the shocks did make for a comfortable ride, however it was also the undoing of the car in the corners. The car simply did not feel very stable round the bends, with BugPack evidently sacrifi cing stiffness for smoothness. So if you want to drive quickly, consider looking elsewhere.
The classic BugPack shock found on many a lowered Bug
16/25
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