Blank Slate

[Allwheel]

I just bought an '04 S4 and would like to do some subtle performance work. What do you all recommend to do first on a limited budget? (approx. 1k) Ideally, I would like to drop it an inch or so. I apologize if this question has already been asked.

[AudiOso]

You can do springs and shocks for about $800 or an inexpensive coil-over kit for a little more than a grand. It really depends on how you plan to drive the car. If you aren't going to track it and don't need to corner balance it then I'd go with springs and new shocks. On the other hand, if you see the car really being driven hard then the coil-overs are the way to go along with upgraded sway bars. The bars will set you back between $350 - $425 depending on what you get.

[Allwheel]

Do you have any recommendations on which manufacturer I should use for springs?

[SuperAvant]

Get H&R coilovers - can be had for $1200 and you can adjust to fit your ride height. With springs you are stuck with one ride height and it makes it difficult to corner balance.

[FastB7S4]

1st off, congrats and welcome.

Keep in mind that install for spring/shocks or coilovers is going to run around $350-400 on top of the price of the equipment.

If you are going spring/shock, you can't go wrong with H&R springs and Bilstein shocks. Most guys here are running coilovers (which on average run about $2k installed), but there's nothing wrong if you just do springs and shocks. You just can't adjust ride height or dampening. What you get is what your stuck with. That being said, I plan on getting springs/shocks cause adjustability is not important to me and it's about $1k less.

[Allwheel]

Thank you. My car has under just 19k miles. I spoke with a performance shop in Boston and they recommended just doing springs and doing the shocks when the OEM shocks wear out. They also recommended H&R. What are your thoughts on this idea?

[FastB7S4]

I would swap them both at the same time. Although you'll be saving money now on cost of the shocks, you'll actually be paying double installation when you have to replace the stock shocks later on. The stock shocks were not made to handle the lowered height and the ride will be a little on the bouncy side. They will also blow faster. When this happens, you end up replacing them with aftermarket and have to pay the same amount for install. You can do both now and pay only once for install. Just swap them out and keep the stock springs and shocks in your garage or basement and then when you sell or trade your car, you can put them back on and then sell the aftermarket parts to recoup some of your money.

[SuperAvant]

I recommend you come to the SPring Bash Tomorrow at Inskip in RI. We are meeting up at Muzi Ford (channel 5 parking lot) in Needham for a cruise down between 9:30 and 10 AM. ITs going to be a great time. We need some more B6's at these events - I am always the only one!!!
http://forums.audiworld.com/newengland/msgs/81998.phtml