Airmatic Evolution Lowering Links (install)

[highPSI-S4]

So I did a bit of my own research and decided to go with the lowering solution over the module. Since there's not many detailed threads about I figured I'd try to document as much as I could and provide that to the community! At best this will hopefully give a better understanding of the install and if any folks want to go this route.


Car: 2016 S6, with 17mm VAGCOM drop


Put the car in wheel change mode and put your keys away from the car so you don't activate anything.

Instructions are pretty detailed, but could use more pictures.






Stock link and Airmatic link. The Airmatic link come adjusted to the lowestest setting. I lengthen them to the same as stock and then shortened them by 5-7mm.

As noted the front links are the shorter pair.




Here a picture of the dust boots and locking pin.






I didn't get a picture but, to remove the ball joint I started with the bottom one first it's metal, rotate the link to one side and with a screw driver pry the ball joint off from the top.

Once it's off, the other ballpoint is the green arm that attaches to the sensor. All I did was hold the green arm firm as not to bend it and rotate the link backwards and it popped off, very easy.







Install dust caps.




Once the old link is off, adjust the new Airmatic link.






Once adjusted pop the new link in place. Don't forget the locking pin needs to be removed prior on installing and then reinstalled once the links and balls joints are married.






Now once I did the first one I wanted to confirm it worked. Once everything was buttoned up, I but the car in Custom mode, drove down the street and while driving selected dynamic mode and then shortly pulled over. Boom perfect the first try!

However it appears that photo went missing lol!


Repeat this steps for every wheel from and rear.
Due to space the tears were a bit tougher to do,
Just took more patience.




Rear link off



Adjusted



Installed




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[highPSI-S4]

Here is the finished product






Not the best photos but more to come.


Also after driving I heard a hiss coming from the rear like air decompressing. So I did a full scan and have a ABS code, so I'll take a look today.

Other than that the car drives nice and handles great!!


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[Bassler]

Looks great! Good to hear you didn't run into issues. I'll tackle this in the spring with new wheels/rubber to dial in the fit. For now my snows went on this week...

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[saxon]

Looks great, I have the vagcom mod done for now but plan on doing a module or links in the spring

[highPSI-S4]

Looks great! Good to hear you didn't run into issues. I'll tackle this in the spring with new wheels/rubber to dial in the fit. For now my snows went on this week...

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Looks great, I have the vagcom mod done for now but plan on doing a module or links in the spring

Thanks Guys!


The Vagcom mod was good but I couldn't deal with it being 1/2 in off. The lowest side (Passenger) was right where I wanted it but couldn't get the Driver side lower. The links helped that, might go a 1/4 lower in the front as I still can get a finger in there haha!

[S5_newbie]

I see on the airmatic site there are 2 versions, what's the difference between the standard and the evolution you have here??? Any ideas???


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[Barritia]

If I remember correctly the cheaper ones have to be removed to adjust them and are a little more basic looking. Better of with just getting the more expensive ones as they cheap anyway.

[MikeDwerks]

I have the links and VAGCOM lowering together, its a good combo.

[Ze_Nardo6]

Are there any advantages to the links over the lowering modules other than price?

[lucian_1985]

Heloo to all. I am interested in fitting the same parts, can you please tell me if you kept the 17mm VCDS drop and added the links that are shorter by 5-7mm or you went back to stock with VCDS resetting the suspension in it's original state, and then you added the links?
I am asking this because in the instructions it says that the car will lower 28mm if the link is shortened by 5mm, so you were already lowered 17mm with VCDS and added another 28mm with the links? Or from the 28mm they say you substract the 17mm already dropped, resulting in an additional 10-11mm of drop with these links shortened by 5mm from the stock lenght?
Thank you

[A6sport]

I like them, have them on the A8. No complaints much less expensive than lowering module.

[CanuckRS]

very nice. i've been running those & vcds for a few years now with no issues. a bit of work to install and tweak but once setup works perfectly.

[Welterweight]

Thinking about going this route over the Cete module. What is the Vagcom mod? Also the VCDS? Thanks!


2014 S6 Black on Black
EPL Stage 1 ECU/TCU
20" Avante Garde
Resonator Delete
Magnaflow Sport
35% Tint

[IceyTys]

Thinking about going this route over the Cete module. What is the Vagcom mod? Also the VCDS? Thanks!


2014 S6 Black on Black
EPL Stage 1 ECU/TCU
20" Avante Garde
Resonator Delete
Magnaflow Sport
35% Tint

Vag com and VCDS are basically referring to the same thing. I’ve got the links and they were well worth it compared to other options.

[brad65ford]

Great write and info, working on mine now with an Rs7. From what it seems even doing the lowest setting of these will still not go as low as adding vcds adjustments, correct?

[elptxjc]

I have the links and VAGCOM lowering together, its a good combo.

Seems like with these links, it's unnecessary to have both, no? If instead of 5mm you go with 8 (max is 9, correct?) with the links, it'd drop more than you have it now. But I have a question: What happened with Audi only approving on lowering the car 17mm max from factory? I don't really want any more than that, and already bought the VCDS cable, but which is the more desirable method? I was thinking of doing 15mm via VCDS, but am not sure yet, since I want to know if the shocks adjust accordingly or not. I don't want the car bottoming out easier if it's dropped, but it thinks it's still at the stock height, where it'll bottom out easier, and it won't necessarily handle better, which is my goal. Hopefully somebody can explain exactly what happens when you lower the car 15mm with VCDS vs lowering it the same 15mm (approx) with lowering links (maybe about 3mm difference). By the way, I'm not looking for Porsche handling here, since it's a heavy beast, but just slightly better, and with less body roll if possible. Thanks.

[S4Per]

Seems like with these links, it's unnecessary to have both, no? If instead of 5mm you go with 8 (max is 9, correct?) with the links, it'd drop more than you have it now. But I have a question: What happened with Audi only approving on lowering the car 17mm max from factory? I don't really want any more than that, and already bought the VCDS cable, but which is the more desirable method? I was thinking of doing 15mm via VCDS, but am not sure yet, since I want to know if the shocks adjust accordingly or not. I don't want the car bottoming out easier if it's dropped, but it thinks it's still at the stock height, where it'll bottom out easier, and it won't necessarily handle better, which is my goal. Hopefully somebody can explain exactly what happens when you lower the car 15mm with VCDS vs lowering it the same 15mm (approx) with lowering links (maybe about 3mm difference). By the way, I'm not looking for Porsche handling here, since it's a heavy beast, but just slightly better, and with less body roll if possible. Thanks.

Zero difference AFAIK.. I have both.

If you already have VCDS, and are fine with 17mm max drop, you're set. Just do it.

I wanted more drop, hence got links, too. I left the Vagcom changes I made in place.


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[elptxjc]

Thanks brother. But I cannot find the stupid security code for that module. Do you have it? And is it the same for 7.0 and 7.5 cars? Nobody has replied with the stupid code. The VCDS instructions referred to a stupid Japanese site but there was nothing there. Got tired of dicking around with it. How about the change in handling and ride? What did you notice? How about negative camber increases? Do you think an alignment with less aggressive camber is needed, or you left that alone as well? Thx.

[S4Per]

Thanks brother. But I cannot find the stupid security code for that module. Do you have it? And is it the same for 7.0 and 7.5 cars? Nobody has replied with the stupid code. The VCDS instructions referred to a stupid Japanese site but there was nothing there. Got tired of dicking around with it. How about the change in handling and ride? What did you notice? How about negative camber increases? Do you think an alignment with less aggressive camber is needed, or you left that alone as well? Thx.

Take a look here...I added the code to my version of the instructions. http://s6.thefarnys.com/vagcom-mods.html#Lower

Butt dyno says it thinks she's better planted on the road, but I'll admit I did it mostly for the asthetics. I've been negligent in getting an alignment, but likely will do so now that I've added the links.


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[drdrewusaf]

I asked this in the dumb questions thread but didn't get an answer...

There seems to be no consensus on how the air suspension and the dynamic ride features interact and/or affect ride comfort. As far as I understand it, changing the ADS mode both lowers/raises (air suspension), and stiffens/softens (dynamic ride) the suspension.

So my question is: while on lowering links, can you put the car suspension in Comfort mode, stay low (because the car is being tricked), *and* have a soft ride all at the same time?


Drew

[S4Per]

I asked this in the dumb questions thread but didn't get an answer...

There seems to be no consensus on how the air suspension and the dynamic ride features interact and/or affect ride comfort. As far as I understand it, changing the ADS mode both lowers/raises (air suspension), and stiffens/softens (dynamic ride) the suspension.

So my question is: while on lowering links, can you put the car suspension in Comfort mode, stay low (because the car is being tricked), *and* have a soft ride all at the same time?


Drew

It will be lower than comfort mode without links, but higher than when in dynamic mode. I.e. Every mode is lower now, but the differentiation between modes remains the same.


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[drdrewusaf]

It will be lower than comfort mode without links, but higher than when in dynamic mode. I.e. Every mode is lower now, but the differentiation between modes remains the same.


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Right, agreed that it will be lower (if I buy some, I plan on making my current VAGCOM-lowered height in Dynamic the height of Comfort with links), but is the ride softer in Comfort even though it's low?


Drew

[elptxjc]

Thinking a bit more about this, I think it's better to lower via VCDS, since the computer will know car is lower, and should stiffen things up near bottoming out (like with progressive springs), and also stiffen the shocks accordingly... which is exactly the way it should be, plus car would handle better as a result. With the links, like drdrew said, we'd be 'tricking' the system, meaning the computer might not know the car is lower (those links are what tells the sensors and computer the ride height, right?), and car would feel exactly the same in all modes, but would bottom out easier. Would like to hear the technical explanation if I'm wrong. He he. I'll try via VCDS first, but as I mentioned on the VCDS thread, the rear of my car is higher by 17.5mm than the front, so might even have to raise the front a little if I want a flat stance. Wonder if people are just adding the 17mm without measuring their cars. My car is even at the rear, but RF side is 1/4" lower than driver's side. That's weird, huh? I thought maybe to balance with a driver in place, but rear is the same. Hmmm. Comments welcome.

[rqgunn12]

So today I had a small issue with this. This install was on a 2016 RS7 with 15mm spacers front and rear with 21” OEM wheels with Dunlop sport maxx 275/30....tech set the links to 6mm dropped the car around an inch, maybe inch +, I did not get any rubbing on the front wheels but got rubbing on the rear wheels when going over some undulations in th road. Sucks cuz the car looked awesome. Brought the car back in and put links to 5. No rub....I think the rub is due to spacers and the tire size. Since 15 mm spacer is actually smaller than “flush” with the fender. The flush kit on ECS has the rears at 17mm...so it makes me think it’s the tires. Should I switch my tires to a 35 side wall? Maybe go up to 285? Any thoughts would help. (I’m in need of new two rear tires anyway since dealer replaced fronts)


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[Horti Kris]

A 35 sidewall will be taller and wider than a 30, as will a 285 vs 275. Both will give you less clearance. Your best bet is stepping the spacer size down a few MM, depending on how bad the rub is. Maybe try 12-13 mm spacers (if they make them) or even a 10mm spacer and some of those 2-3 mm spacer rings stacked if you like living the stances life lol

[Garyn06]

I know this is a little bit older thread, but it's a topic that's pretty current for me. I have a 2018 S7 on factory air suspension. I'm debating between the 034Motorsport Billet Lowering Links and the Airmatic Lowering Links. Is one a better build quality than the other or am I over thinking this? Has anyone had this void their extended warranty if they've purchased one through Audi? Also, if I lower the car via the links and VCDS are there any alignment/camber issues as a result or does the car help keep alignment and camber correct because of the air suspension despite the increased angle of upper/lower arms? Any help is much appreciated.

[09S5]

I lowered mines with VCDS the other day.
I'm about to get a alignment plus I just put new shoes on the Champ.

Get a alignment just to be safe.

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[Audisthesia]

I'd highly recommended using locktite on the lowering links once you've got them to the length you want to keep. That single adjustment nut on each sit I'd expect to loosen over time unless they used lock nuts with nylon inserts.

[Garyn06]

I'd highly recommended using locktite on the lowering links once you've got them to the length you want to keep. That single adjustment nut on each sit I'd expect to loosen over time unless they used lock nuts with nylon inserts.

Thanks Audisthesia, that's a great suggestion. Do you have any insight as to a brand being better than the others and/or if this would impact my Audi Extended Warranty I purchased?

[DarthVader711]

great instructions. A quick question. Did you have to remove the wheels in order to do this installation? thanks!

[THCarpenter]

You don't....have..... to.

But it makes it easier

This can all be done in a driveway work a jack, but is much easier on a lift

[DarthVader711]

awesome! thanks for the response. Appreciate it!