Hey gang, I created an account here just to add to this discussion. I've been eyeing the TC to be a poor man's camper van/bug-out van/stealth camper. And today as I was driving around I was wondering if there were lift kits for the TC, which lead me here.
I had a Mk4 2000 diesel VW Golf, and I put a 2" lift kit on it, something like this:
http://www.metalnerd.com/vwaudi-accessories/lift-kits
Yeah, most folks slam their Dubs down, but us diesel geeks were a little different. Many of us wanted to raise them up a little.
The 1" lift kit shown involves putting a 1" spacer under the rear coil springs (trailing arm/torsion bar rear suspension), and putting a 1" spacer in the front struts. This requires you to pull the struts, compress the springs, and install the spacer between the upper spring perch and the upper bearing/mount. For a 1" lift, no modification was necessary to the rear shocks; there was enough travel in them. The 2" lift kit required spacers that went under the rear shock (sort of hidden in the picture in the hopes that other folks wouldn't make knock-offs). This basically raised the lower mounting point of the shock 2". Getting an alignment afterwards was advisable.
These were home-grown kits that were based on actual VW parts offered elsewhere in the world, where roads are worse. Our poor TDIs had only 4" of ground clearance to the oil pan, so in some parts of the world, the front strut spacers were included as OEM parts. I don't know if there are similar configurations for the TC, but I know the TC comes from Turkey and I've actually been to Turkey and know the roads there aren't stellar.
Also keep in mind that the TC is basically on the Focus platform. So I wonder if there are Focus parts/kits that could be adapted to the TC.
On caveat on the lift kits, however. Modern cars have stability-control systems that may preclude the use of a lift kit. I believe this was the case with the Mk5 VWs (~2007-2014). With the older Mk4's, your lift just raised your damper pistons up a bit, and you were operating on the high side of the travel. But doing that with the Mk5's, I seem to recall that it may have been a problem for the stability system if you took the 'home' position out of the middle of the damper's travel range. I'm not 100% sure on that, though.
Also, on thought on tire load ratings. I have read that if you get in an accident and your tires don't have the proper load rating, your insurance company could deny your claim. I don't know how often this happens, but I can see the argument that they don't know if the under-rated tires contributed to the accident.
I was keeping an eye on the 2020 TC because I'd read that they were coming out with a 1.6L diesel. Then at the last moment they pulled it due to a lack of interest, according to Ford. Given the fleet nature of this vehicle, I understand. All the used ones I've seen have been the 2.5L versions; I've only seen one with the 1.6T gas motor, and it didn't have any rear windows. Looking for one glass in all or most of the doors, ideally. I was sad to see the only current option is the 2.slo non-turbo. That's whimpy for a vehicle that even with an empty back end weighs 600# more than my current 2016 VW GTI. I'm hoping with Trump's ruling regarding fuel efficiency standards that Ford reintroduces the 2.5L.
