Just bought an Avant and done some stuff to it. Coments?

[vwcollector]

Just found an good deal on an Avant 1.8TQM a couple of weeks ago and now I'm working on transforming it into something better looking than it was when I got it...

Here's what it looked like the day I bought it, gold pinstriping, stock wheels, 4x4 ride height, etc...



Installed a boost gauge...



Painted the calipers and installed h&r race springs...



Also had some high temp vynil decal made for the calipers...




Cutted the hell out of the fenders to install the RS4 lights...
Its incredible how much light those HID's put out...Worth every penny IMO... :beer:



One side down, one to go...



This is how much fender had to be removed...



Then I finished it with some B6 wheels that I scored on craigslist and clear side markers...



More pics of the progress to be posted as the boxes of parts I've ordered keep coming...

[Jibberific]

It's looking awesome. You really did that car a favor.

[Stampy]

Avants for the win!

[InTTruder]

Looks great. I recemtly got a silver Avant and did similar things. Need to lower mine though I'l not use race springs. The TT is my "go really fast" car anyway, and the A- is for DD.

Nice work on the HIDs.

[docurley]

Nice work it looks good.

[dougyfresh]

Clean! Good job!

[onemoremile]

Nice looking car.

Did you install the race springs over factory non-sport struts? I don't recognize the black strut housings.

[vwcollector]

Thanks for all the replies.

yes, for now I installed the springs on the stock struts while I decide which struts I'm going to put on this car...Still have to decide if this will be my autocrosser or not and that changes what kind of money I'll be willing to spare to struts...:o)

[onemoremile]

Even with autocrossing you'll be better off with sport springs than race. Flip a coin to decide between Koni and Bilstein. Konis are adjustable although you have to take them off the car to do it. Bilsteins are better suited to all the quick driver inputs of autocross and have a tighter feel to them.

[vwcollector]

Even with autocrossing you'll be better off with sport springs than race. Flip a coin to decide between Koni and Bilstein. Konis are adjustable although you have to take them off the car to do it. Bilsteins are better suited to all the quick driver inputs of autocross and have a tighter feel to them.

We share exactly the same opinions about these struts...
I had the same problem with having to remove the struts from the car in order to adjust them on my 2003 Jetta.
I ended up buying some KYB AGX struts for it because they were externally adjustable from the bottom of the struts and they actually did a pretty good job on my car.

I"ll probably end up going with the Bilsteins, but I'm not in a hurry since I have other cars to play with while this one is not up to par.

Do you know if the struts of the A6 are physically the same of the A4? My other thought was to find some A6 sport suspension struts and use them with my springs...Regardless of the how long they will last, the car just looks soooo good with this ride height...

[vwcollector]

I'm thinking of selling the wheels and tires that are currently on the car and buying some 18" RS6 five spoke wheels to replace them...

[onemoremile]

We share exactly the same opinions about these struts...
I had the same problem with having to remove the struts from the car in order to adjust them on my 2003 Jetta.
I ended up buying some KYB AGX struts for it because they were externally adjustable from the bottom of the struts and they actually did a pretty good job on my car.

I"ll probably end up going with the Bilsteins, but I'm not in a hurry since I have other cars to play with while this one is not up to par.

Do you know if the struts of the A6 are physically the same of the A4? My other thought was to find some A6 sport suspension struts and use them with my springs...Regardless of the how long they will last, the car just looks soooo good with this ride height...

I've been looking at a set of the KYB AGX for our Outback. The tank is getting a minor overhaul.

Bilsteins are very good and seem to last forever. I just installed a set of 400 pound springs on custom valved Bilsteins today. It rides better than stock and handling is on par with the KW coilovers I ran in the past. The main difference is that my springs have a race rate at close to stock sport height which means ride comfort, handling, tire wear, and even gas mileage will be better. I just drove 85 miles at an average of 30.1 mpg and haven't had it aligned yet.

[vwcollector]

I search and I don't think they make KYB AGX for Audis...Bilsteins will probably be the way to go then...

[onemoremile]

For our OUTBACK. The Avant has Shine Racing suspension and so far I loooove it.

[vwcollector]

For our OUTBACK. The Avant has Shine Racing suspension and so far I loooove it.

Yeah, I understood that from the beginning, I was just saying that I was searching that for my Audi, but soon realized they are not available...

I used the Shine Racing linear rate springs on a Golf and loved them, but they are rare to come by this days...They were super stiff and made the car rotate very easily...

[vwcollector]

I ordered a 3 spoke steering wheel for my car but since my car is a mix of pre facelift and post facelift parts, I ordered the pre facelift steering wheel because I think it looks better than the late model one...
After I took mine out I realized my car uses the later model unit...

So if anyone here needs a 98 3 spoke leather steering wheel and airbag, please PM me for price...

[willowtreexx]

looks really good!

i love the lights that you put on. are you planning on adding tints and chaning the rear tail lights at any point?

[Matt@JHM]

Very nice job man. I kinda miss my old 99 a4 cluster. The analog clock is just classic.

Nice headlight conversion too, makes the car look so much cleaner. One of the best cosmetic improvements for pre-facelift cars.

[the_pirate]

wow. i love avants....good job

[vwcollector]

looks really good!

i love the lights that you put on. are you planning on adding tints and chaning the rear tail lights at any point?

Tint, yes. Tail lights, I don't know... what would be the tail light upgrade for this car? Pics?

[willowtreexx]

haha i guess im wrong, i thought for sure they changed tail lights

[vwcollector]

haha i guess im wrong, i thought for sure they changed tail lights

I like the euro smoked tails that some guy is selling here on the forums, but I really have nothing against my stock ones, they are actually quite nice IMO...