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View Full Version : Labor Day Mods - Lower and Blacker



joshd2012
09-09-2009, 09:14 AM
The car went down to NGP Racing on Friday for some work, and came back looking like this:

http://www.audizine.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=3111&pictureid=8776

Sorry for the bad picture, but its been raining here for days and I couldn't shoot it outside.

The car was dropped two inches (to 25" fender height) when they put the Vogtland coilovers on. Whatever "luxury" the car had is slowly being sucked out of it - the car rides much stiffer and I can feel every bump in the road (not necessarily the best thing when they are doing so much road work around here). On the flip side, it corners like a dream and the car no longer fights me when I ask it to take a hard corner at normal speeds. Its a lot more fun to drive. [drive]

The Xenon headlights have been sitting on my bedroom floor for over a year, and I finally got them installed. I cleared them before installation, and it really cleans up the look of the front. Plus, I had Xenons on my previous vehicle, so I'm glad to have them back on my car.

I had painted the rear reflectors last year some time, but since they had to pull the bumper off to install the Xenons, I had them pop the front ones out as well. I sprayed them over the weekend and it looks pretty good. My spraying isn't the best, but you can't tell from more than a few inches away. [>_>]

The wheels got powder coated black (they were gunmetal) at Extreme Powdercoating and I painted the center caps black to match. I left the brushed aluminum unpainted and cleared over it for some added protection.

Some things did pop up, of course. I have corner of the car that is about a 1/4 inch lower than the rest (a result of settling, no doubt), and it is has some rub marks (I hate speed bumps). Also, now that the car is lowered, the rears need spacers - pronto! I have a shake at 40mph from a bad wheel that I thought I rotated out - I guess not. Now I need to powder my spare and figure out which rear tire is out. The work never ends.

So what do you all think?

bmc333
09-09-2009, 09:17 AM
Did you go to the NGP in Lorton? I've used them before (I live about 2 miles from that shop). PM me with what they charged you for the Xenon install, I might have them do mine when they arrive. They are good peeps at NGP and very knowledgeable.

Looks good - I like it! [up]

NERO Quattro
09-09-2009, 09:39 AM
Looks good[up], just need to post better pics maybe after it stops raining. I guess time for me to follow and paint my reflectors as well.

collins123420
09-09-2009, 10:25 AM
Not seeing the pic(s), I've reloaded the page a bunch of times and nothing, and all other thread's pics are working fine... ?

joshd2012
09-09-2009, 12:55 PM
Hmm... the picture was uploaded to Audizine, so you shouldn't have any issues.

Thanks for the comments. Hopefully I'll get some more shots this weekend.

Glassnpowder98
09-09-2009, 01:08 PM
Looking good! I've taken my car to NGP in the past and they definitely do good work. If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost to get your wheels powdercoated? I've been thinking about having my stock wheels powdercoated black since I hate losing the Red/Black theme during the winter months.

AudiTFSI3o3
09-09-2009, 05:39 PM
Blacker is definitely a word. [up]

Weem
09-09-2009, 06:55 PM
Just went to NGP in MD...awesome place

Quattro
09-09-2009, 07:14 PM
besides the bad pic, I am sure it looks good :D

TheHeggi
09-10-2009, 01:57 PM
Looks good, but a couple suggestions:

-Better picture would be more flattering (lighting, dirty car, etc not flattering)
-Paint the center caps black except the Audi rings, the outer circle stands out too much and just doesn't look right...that's how my USPs are so I can vouch ;)
-Keep the tires armor-all'd at all times or get white walls lol, the fade black tire totally kills it

05.5SilverS4
09-10-2009, 02:26 PM
Looks good, get some pics when its not raining and post em!

FLYINGLEGGS
09-10-2009, 10:12 PM
Looks good.
Also, I vote for blacker as being a word!

joshd2012
09-11-2009, 05:40 AM
Thanks for the comments guys!


Looks good, but a couple suggestions:

-Better picture would be more flattering (lighting, dirty car, etc not flattering)
-Paint the center caps black except the Audi rings, the outer circle stands out too much and just doesn't look right...that's how my USPs are so I can vouch ;)
-Keep the tires armor-all'd at all times or get white walls lol, the fade black tire totally kills it

The original photo was really dark, so I pumped up the exposure and shadows to make things more visible. But yeah, she needs to be detailed soon.

I actually like the way it looks with the outer circle silver. I have seen others with full black, but I'm not trying to murder my ride. Its sort of my theme, at least, that is what I tell myself so I don't paint all the trim and replace the front grill. [:D]