96 S2 Coupe KW V1 problem

[C5BEL]

Hey guys, new here, had my S2 since February and just got round to fitting some KW’s, everything fitted together as expected but somethings not right.

First thing after dropping it off the ramp there car felt terrible, I noticed the alignment was well out, so I went about setting that up today and it has made a marked improvement.
Took the car out on the road again and it still felt horrible but only in low speed tight corners or just generally whenever the steering was on or close to full lock.

The whole car is skipping as if the alignment is out, but I’ve double checked after setting it, I’ve gone over all the work I’ve carried out so far and everything looks perfect, just to add I’m a mechanic by trade. As much as I would like to spend all day looking for the issue, I was wondering if anyone had a similar issue with their S2 and could shed some light on the situation

TIA

[Lago Blue]

Hi Sir,

Q. re: "felt horrible" - Was that through the steering wheel, the seat or both?

Q. re: "fitting some KW’s" - Was the previous strut's length stock? Does the car now sit any lower than previously? If yes, how much?

Q. re: A-arm bushings - what can you say about yours, OEM or poly, new or age unknown?

Reason I ask is particularly at low speeds with lots of lock, this puts tremendous loads onto the A-arms' bushings and will try to distort them, as one arm is being forced forward, the other towards the rear, highlighting any deficiencies there.

Cheers.

[Monkeymagic]

On Most permanent 4wd cars the steering will feel odd at full lock due to high steering angles and the rear wheels trying to push the fronts forward

[newsh]

There’s a lot of camber adjustment where the struts bolt to the hubs and also where the lower ball joints bolt to the A arms.
Is all this set correctly?

Also worth asking, you haven’t somehow got the diff locked?

[Error404]

As above, how have you set the car up? They are very sensitive to poor alignment, you need to make sure its spot on. You’ll always get some scrub on full lock with a “real” quattro as described above. This normally manifests as a low frequency rumble and should only be apparent on full lock at parking speeds.
From what you’ve described it sounds to me like the geometry isn’t set up right.

Consider as well that by stiffening the springs and damping, you’ll highlight other weaknesses in the chassis, so worn bushes & joints will be more apparent.

[Monkeymagic]

I agree with Alex once I poly bushed the lower arms it highlighted the subframe bushes were shot.
I ended up doing everything on mine full belts and braces approach.
I also have poly top mounts, courtesy of Alex. Once all the work was done and the alignment was done. It took two attempts the car felt solid and tracked perfectly.
I still get the sensation that my front wheels are 50p shaped on full lock though. This is to be expected with real 4wd.