What to go for?

[Azman]

Hi guys

After a bit of advice. I want to stiffen and lower (slightly) my coupe. It is the 1990 CQ20v.

What do you think the best setup would be. You all talk about bilsteins alot but I have not been able to find a place that sells em near me (for my car anyway). Also what springs to go for, Top mounts and where from (mine are shot).

Also strut mounts, I know they go under the bonnet BUT - can you also stick them over the rear

The car is slowly becoming a play thing and when the cruiser is back up and running (see Oh Dear, Dear me) I will be using it less and less as I am doing a fair few miles at the mo.

Point me in the right direction as the credit card is on standby for a complete ear bashing (then I'm in line from the wife)

[ThatGUY]

Also strut mounts, I know they go under the bonnet BUT - can you also stick them over the rear

top mounts and strut mounts are the same thing.

They are both up front and in the back.

[S2 Ant]

I just bought my Bilsteins and H&R springs from AmD for a very good price (well i think so anyway, ive never found anywhere else cheaper)

[Azman]

sorry getting brain muddled up, must be all the venicen I am eating.

Where it says strut mounts please read strut brace.

Cheers

DOH

[dan_b]

The S2 has a front strut brace as standard, there are also plenty of aftermarket strut braces available, I'm sure you could fit one to your Coupe.

I saw someone on this forum posting a thread about an aftermarket rear strut brace that he had fitted too? ...

[WabTheKing]

azman has a 7a coupe quattro which dosent have a strut brace

[mcandmar]

Azman,

Two choices on the springs, you can use stock S2 springs (a lot firmer than CQ20v springs) or fit the H&R's. I used S2 ABY springs for a year or so until i changed to H&R, the only thing i dont like about the K&R's is the lower ride height, you loose a lot of suspension travel which can be a problem on B roads.

Note front shocks are different part numbers on a CQ20v, rear is the same as an S2. I'm using Koni top adjustables in mine, never tried the bilsteins.

Strut brace was standard on S2's, for the CQ you would have to find the S2 brace mounts and weld them on, BUT Audi dont have any left so there NLA. I have a drivers side mount and bar and no passenger side mount so i never got to fit it

There are aftermarket ones in the US but they only fit LHD cars as the battery is on the other side.

OMP make a universal brace that fits the back,

http://www.s2forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4664&highlight=strut+brace

Mark.

[Azman]

I have been told that I can get a full koni set of adjustables and springs. I have read before though that they have stopped making them??????

Although halfords did say they could get them in about 3wks.

Does anyone know if there is anyone who makes a front brace for it?
(i.e. sparco,momo,etc)

[HPmuirt]

If the strut braces are no longer available from Audi, then you might be interested to know that they were also fitted on the V6 Coupes (my MY93 2.8 Coupe had one) so that might be a good source for you.

Cheers n

Si

[volcano rs]

its only a straight square tube with 2 holes on each end probably cost you £5 all in to make .

[mcandmar]

Azman, the S2 has a larger diameter strut and a bigger shock. I wish i had changed mine to S2 struts before i bought the shocks but you live and learn. If you can get your hands on them i would advise you go for the S2 version, i assume bigger = better

S2 springs fit BUT they are a few MM wider and have a different top perch. I ran the S2 springs fine in my CQ but the H&R's moved about a little and were noisy until i fitted S2 top perches. What is really curious is the S2 versions are the same as the rear ones on the CQ and S2

Didn’t know v6 models had strut braces too, interesting that, only problem is you would have to grind the mounts off. I also wouldn’t mind fitting the bracing bits from the strut to firewall that the S2 has. Anybody have a scrapper they could cut them from?

@volcano: The bar is the easy bit, it’s the mounts that are welded onto the struts that are NLA.

Mark.

[volcano rs]

how hard can it be to make 2 brackets and drill holes in them and weld them to the car any metal fabrication company can make those .

[Azman]

On the subject of springs I have searched the net for a bit and can find loads of different companies (apex, Koni, etc) that have them for the coupe, cool yes, NO they all seem to list evry model except the 2.3 5cyl/Quattro. POO!!!

Larkspeed say they can get a full Koni Kit for approx £360 (adjustables and springs) but others have told me they cannot????????

What makes larkspeed special that they can get them and noone else can? Are they telling porkies?

This is dooing my suede in!

[Azman]

Oh yes anyone got a price for that universal OMP rear strut brace. Been on the site but cannot find it for some reason.

[iain1067]

Try proven products for bilstein that's where i bought mine for my old 9020vq, bilstein gives quite a hard ride, i didn't want to go for the lowered spring look i saw no point in altering the role centre of the car and ending up with not being able to get it 4 wheel aligned properly. What i would advise is that you look at replacing the wishbone bushes some have gone for poly i prefer the genuine audi ones, by far one of the best mods i did was to replace the subframe bushes with alloy ones from dialynx that just made the car almost telepathic in it's direction change with no undue harshness coming into the car either.


iain