SHINE IMPRESSIONS

[Mark Klaus Radelow <rpc-prod@windrunner.com>]

Well I finally had my Shine Racing Suspension installed by Ron Wood of
VW Specialties today.  First of all, I want to say Ron (and the guys he
has working for him) are masters at what they do and if you own a VW and
are in the Los Angeles area, he is the man to take it to...  Anyways
more  about the suspension.  I had the Shine Springs, Rear Sway bar,
Bilstein HD shocks, and NoSpeed Front Upper Stress bar installed.  Just
wanted to give you my preliminary impressions...of course everything
stated here is IMHO, so don't frag me.

Quality:
The Springs, Shocks, and Bars are all of high quality and powercoated
before delivery.  The only thing I didn't like was the manner in which
Shine packaged the stuff.  Essentially they found a box big enough and
haphazardly threw everything in it.  The Bilsteins has some scratches on
them but nothing that really matters.

Install:
All that I remember is the guy saying the rear bar is a FRIGGIN BITCH to
install.  If your rear torsion bar is even tweeked a little bit forget
about it.  The Shine rear bar is not gonna fit.  This is the one part I
would leave to the pros.  The rest was pretty straight forward.

Performance:
To be honest I figured the Shine setup would be a little harsh because
of the stiff linear springs it comes with.  I drive a lot and am pretty
damn picky about ride quality so this was a big set for me.  In full
honestly I did not even notice I had a suspension installed until I
accelerated and notice the front end did not lift up.  The car has NO
brake dive or acceleration squat WHATSOEVER.  It is SO SWEET!!!!!  Ride
quality is excellent.  I won't say it's Cadillac smooth but, for me,
it's perfect.  You do notice freeway expansion joints more but it isn't
annoying at all above 65 mph.  Sudden dips or lifts make the car respond
very quickly and this is much different than the stock suspension which
would just wallow around.  I can't begin to describe the feeling this
setup has!  Totally sweet.  The final thing I want to say is that my
whole concern with the fact that car might oversteer has been put to
rest.  What I noticed is that when I came into a turn to fast and
stepped on the brakes, the linear springs and high rate keep the front
nose from diving.  The car just stayed perfectly flat in the turn and
the rear end did not get squirrely at all!

I am keeping this short and sweet.  If you want more impressions or
wanna come take a ride in it (I live in Los Angeles) shoot off an email
to me!  Later!

Mark "Shine Racing Posterboy For LIFE" Radelow