20V CQ Tidy Up

[Error404]

Its been a while so probably and for the first of a couple updates

Been super busy with work recently and the coupe has been SORN since January.
I'd converted a set of old strut tubes for coilover sleeves as the H&Rs sat too low for me, especially at the back and I wanted to be able to adjust the ride height to be just so. By the time I'd added up all the springs, helpers, sleeves as well as getting the Konis dyno'd to match the springs it had become clear that it was far from the cheap mod I'd originally hoped for. So, I sold my konis and H&Rs and bought some KW V1s



Thanks very much to Yaz for an outstanding service, do not even consider buying KWs from anyone else! From order to delivery from Germany was 4 days and Yaz kept me updated every step of the way - thanks again mate

I order the 950Kg+ ABY set-up which consisted of 70n front springs and 60n rears. I swapped the front and rear springs round to make the rear end stiffer, this would allow me to downsize the rear ARB to increase the independence of the rear suspension which will offer more overall grip and also better ride comfort. So downsizing from the chunky 22mm bar to a more modest 18mm Whiteline, which also gives me the flexibility of being able to change the settings to tune it a little bit and get it just right. Of course I repainted it with POR15



New Meyle HD mounts join the party (the last set I killed pretty quickly, but they did last twice as long as OE greens)
Mmmm shiny!



The obligatory shots of them fitted:





Just waiting on some little stainless bolts to fit the brake hose bracket to the strut and new holders for the rear ABS cables... well I couldn't use rusty old ones now could I?



So here it sits now, ride heigh and stance looks about right to me, might wind it up another couple turns on the rear, but I guess it will settle in a bit over the new couple weeks so I'll tweak it again and see how we go. IMHO nothing beats a coupe with just the right stance, they look the ****ing 5hit!





not driven it yet so can't comment on that, it will likely be July before I will have time to get it aligned now. Most certainly will be a different beast altogether with my new steering rack to boot

More updates tomorrow once I've been to collect a couple bits from the dealer and fitted some more little goodies........ :mischeif:

[Acidburn]

I've been to collect a couple bits from the dealer and fitted some more little goodies........ :mischeif:

Thought you wasn't coming down till tuesday?

btw thought the reason the whiteline got a coating was it was a bit too bright for you

[Error404]

Yeah it was pretty bright but it was rusty under the paint too

[Fat Audi 80]

One word:

Nice.

[Thuppu]

Looks really nice.

[Nuvo]

That's a classy looking chassis you got there. Love the look you've achieved.

[quattrostyle]

looks great

Don't know yet if I will go for the KW set or collect all the parts and build it myself.

[Error404]

Two main reasons why I went with V1s - first off they are cheaper as shock inserts, springs, sleeves and helper springs comes to over £250 a corner, then if you want decent ride comfort you need to get the shocks dyno'd to match the spring rates, another £200 unless you want spend a lifetime doing it by trial and error. In fact you could almost buy a set of V3s for the cost of building a quality set of DIY coilovers from scratch
Secondly as the V1s are stainless, there are no worries about corrosion of the strut sleeves as with plated items like the Compbrake kits. I don't like the alloy sleeve kits, it doesn't sit right with me not having the sleeve welded to the strut tube!

[quattrostyle]

Fair points. On a side note though, how do you know if the dampers in the KW tubes are matched sets?

[Error404]

Its more the matching of the damping to the spring rates that I was concerned about, don't want that horrible bouncy or savage crashy ride you get with badly mismatched springs & dampers.

[TimE-J]

I'll be looking forward to hearing how the KW's perform with the springs swapped round. Also in your opinion was I'm going to try and run an old 24 or 25mm FARB on the rear of my coupe but keeping the standard 26mm up front, do you think it would be worth my time swapping front to rear springs? Thanks in advance.

[quattrostyle]

yes I'm also interested in the ride with swapped springs, sounds like a good idea.

[Rusty]

Rather jealous

[Error404]

Tim I think to be honest it might be too stiff with a 24mm+ bar on the rear, I have a 22mm bar you could borrow to try?

[Rusty]

The good thing with stiffening up the rear with the springs is that you still get the axle articulation; something that's missing with a monster RARB (like my 25mm or Alex's B3 style one) and so it will be better. I'm currently thinking about using some Avant HnR front springs on the rear of mine to stiffen things up but I'd have to have them shortened, so it's starting to get complicated...

These V1s are looking like a better and better option. I'm awaiting a ride in a saloon with them on, so will wait till then before I start to think of replacing the Konis & HnRs on mine... If I did go for the V1s then I'd be looking to do as Alex has done and flip reverse the spring rates.