Dropping the whip - need some advice

[tbmaciii]

I have a completly stock 04 B6 1.8t quattro. I want to put 18 or 19 inch OEM s4 rims on it. I want a clean look not the car sitting on the ground. What do I need? springs? coilovers? I want cheapest price possible while having good quality

[mullardel34]

I have a completly stock 04 B6 1.8t quattro. I want to put 18 or 19 inch OEM s4 rims on it. I want a clean look not the car sitting on the ground. What do I need? springs? coilovers? I want cheapest price possible while having good quality

tbmaciii,

You're talking about a fairly major change to your car's suspension system, so you need to make a number of informed decisions about your project objectives. Are you looking to improve your car's handling with the plus-size (18" or 19") wheels/tires and lowering springs or is the main aim to improve the looks/aethestics of the car? Is the vehicle going to be a "track" car (heavily optimized for low lap-times on a glass-smooth track surface) or are you building up a high-performance daily-driver? You need to have a clear vision of where you're taking the car, then you can gather the relevant information to make informed decisions.

Be aware that, in most cases, the labor costs to replace the springs/shocks will be one of the dominant project costs; it takes quite a few man-hours to disassemble your suspension, install the new parts and reassemble the suspension. Keep in mind that the labor costs are essentially the same, whether you only replace the springs or you replace the springs and the shocks. If your shocks are near their end of service life, go ahead and replace the shocks with the springs. Don't forget that you'll also need to have a complete 4-wheel alignment performed after all of the suspension surgery is complete (this is especially important on Quattro's to prevent any unbalanced stresses in the drive-train).

If your goal is to have a high-performance daily-driver, stay away from "race" springs and shocks/coilovers; the uber-performance "race" parts are optimized for on-track performance and will be pretty harsh-riding on the street. It's usually best to install a matched set of springs/shocks to achieve the best balance between handling prowess and ride quality. If you're only going to slightly lower the car's ride height (i.e., drop the car less than 1.2") and you really need to keep the project costs low, you might be able to get away with just replacing the springs; in many cases the stock shock-absorbers won't represent a horrible mis-match with the lowering springs in regards to handling characteristics and ride quality.

A really good, low-cost suspension upgrade is to install the Audi RS4 OEM rear sway-bar; this change really increases cornering agility of the car by seriously reducing the understeer handling characteristic at the cornering limits. The OEM RS4 22mm rear sway-bar is only about $140 and can re-use the same mounting hardware as the original rear sway-bar. The resulting handling improvement is quite impressive.

So, once you've determined where you want to take your Audi (the track or the street) and whether your goal is asethestics (how the car looks) or handling (they don't have to be mutually-exclusive goals...), you can then gather the necessary information to make your project decisions. The StaSIS folks who sponsor this forum have an excellent reputation within the A4 community and they could certainly provide you with guidance and pricing information on your project options.

Good luck and enjoy driving your Audi machine!

[koolade9]

I have a completly stock 04 B6 1.8t quattro. I want to put 18 or 19 inch OEM s4 rims on it. I want a clean look not the car sitting on the ground. What do I need? springs? coilovers? I want cheapest price possible while having good quality

get something proven...don't take shortcuts with your suspension!

start with the stasis street-sports. [up]

[bob12312357]

Just remember, your car has suspension travel for a reason. Even the 4k Ohlins set up for the track doesnt drop the car more then like an inch from stock sport height for a reason. Just remember, when dropping a car and retaining the stock shocks your taking the cars suspension out of the place it was designed to start from to deal with surface adulterations. The car may feel better and more tight, but its not gonna be setting faster lap times then stock. Best bet is coil overs, or a proven spring,shock set up.
Edit- Also it can bring out some rather nasty handling traits at the limit under certain conditions that you may never be able to cause to happen intentionally, then when u hit that off camber bump mid corner while flying on your favorite road that wasn't there b4 that bottoms out your suspension you will find out just how well a 60% F weight Audi can oversteer around on you.

[koolade9]

Just remember, your car has suspension travel for a reason. Even the 4k Ohlins set up for the track doesnt drop the car more then like an inch from stock sport height for a reason. Just remember, when dropping a car and retaining the stock shocks your taking the cars suspension out of the place it was designed to start from to deal with surface adulterations. The car may feel better and more tight, but its not gonna be setting faster lap times then stock. Best bet is coil overs, or a proven spring,shock set up.

well said, many don't bring up this point... [up]

[bob12312357]

http://www.stasisengineering.com/Category_Detail.aspx?id=4&VID=100&PID=88
I take that back saying the ohlins drops an inch off ride height. It drops min a 1/4" and max 3/4" a much narrower range then any other coil overs are adjustable. Most C/O's have 1.5- 2.5"'s of adjustment. It's only got half an inch of play for a reason on the 4 grand Ohlins track set up...

[koolade9]

http://www.stasisengineering.com/Category_Detail.aspx?id=4&VID=100&PID=88
I take that back saying the ohlins drops an inch off ride height. It drops min a 1/4" and max 3/4" a much narrower range then any other coil overs are adjustable. Most C/O's have 1.5- 2.5"'s of adjustment. It's only got half an inch of play for a reason on the 4 grand Ohlins track set up...

negative on the ohlins...just to be clear, they will lower a minimum of 1/4" - 3/4" (depending on the weight of the car), the max drop is only limited by the uca's hitting the fender... Right now mine's at 25.5", and I can probably go as high as 26"... buuuut, stasis doesn't reccomend going any lower then 25" without running a different spring setup (and potentially a re-valve IIRC)... this is for reasons you mentioned earlier.

[bob12312357]

Ot Koolade. Whats a good C/O set up in the sub 13000 range for a DD twice a month in the spring and summer track whore? All these people posting up on how big a drop the C/o gives em, manufacturers don't post bother posting spring rates or dampening data. I want something to nearly ELIMINATE body roll and brake dive. Both of which are also needed for a car 2 properly handle, just a hell of a lot less then the stock sport suspension allows.lol

[koolade9]

Ot Koolade. Whats a good C/O set up in the sub 13000 range for a DD twice a month in the spring and summer track whore? All these people posting up on how big a drop the C/o gives em, manufacturers don't post bother posting spring rates or dampening data. I want something to nearly ELIMINATE body roll and brake dive. Both of which are also needed for a car 2 properly handle, just a hell of a lot less then the stock sport suspension allows.lol

I'm assuming you mean under $1300? There's a couple threads with detailed spring-rates for each c/o setup...although spring rates alone can be misleading, as the damper really needs to be matched to that setup...pretty much what you eluded to earlier. If there's any way to hold out for a little more $...you won't be dissappointed with the stasis motorsports. or at least the SL's. If budget's the main concern, I think you're close to bilstein pss9 territory as well... If you're going to track the car quite a bit, I think you'll find yourself wanting more then the streetsports. And keep in mind, that with anything other then the ohlins/hyperco setup (or motons), you'll need to look into thicker sways to minimize body roll, as the other setups run relatively lower spring rates...you'll still have a bit of pitch/dive from acceleration and braking though... Using just the motorsports nearly eliminates all of this. [up]