Suspension Advice

[newsh]

The Koni's on my setup are worse than the bilsteins, i can try changing the adjustment on them, they are about 1 turn from hardest, but at the moment i'm thinking of getting the bilsteins refurbed and fitted.

I really think you've got your konis wound up way too hard, I've been in an S4 with them wound up and it was terrible, I would consider un-driveable on anything but smoothest tarmac and that does not exist round here..

Shame its not quick to do but one turn from soft on front and 1/2 turn from soft on the back with stock springs is really good for the road and for a compromise not too shabby on the track, Rusty's been in the car round Coombe.. If I did more track time I'd try half a turn harder.

[macspring]

Consider this lot just to add to the "confusion"

I drive an S2 Avant everyday in the city as a daily with lots of speed ramps and the roads can be worse than in the UK, bad temp road repairs (proud or a few days later countersunk) and lots of sunken manholes.

I had H&Rs with Konis and 17inch as that's how I bought the car, it looked great low, but was too hard for the speed ramps etc. Can't remember what the settings were on the Konis. I'm sure not fully soft. Standard ARBs. Std subframe bushes. It had nylon bushes in the front pressed steel wishbones. RS2 front brakes and rear brakes, it had been converted to 5 x 130 RS2 wheels and hubs by the previous owner.

What with having a couple of B4 I've tried a good few combinations and without wanting to make this post far longer than it already is I sumarise the current set up and make one or two points I've noticed.

On the second hand nylon bushes I got for forged front wishbones the metal insert was loose and was giving the same effect as a loose rubber bush with none of the absorbing movement of a rubber, so the car was better when this was changed, in this instance for std rubber bushes in the forged front wishbones. I'm sure the newer coloured plastic wouldn't have this problem, but just mentoning it just in case.

On the B4 99 2.6 Cabrio changed the hubs to 5 x 112 and fitted the S8s on 225/40/18 and with the std springs and shocks it drove very well bumps etc, and handled remarkable well on roundabouts neutral, for a std fwd B4. Changed the front wishbones to plastic bushes in the pressed steel wishbones and its turn in appeared better to me

With the Avant above on H&R and Konis 17" inch, I changed to RS2 fARB and Neuspeed rARB and these still make a big noticeable and worthwhile improvement to the cornering, a good with no downside change to make to a B4 IMHO. Never got to try the rARB first by itself, as the two were fitted at the same time. Keen to know would it make the car less prone to understeer type behaviour on big and small roundabouts?

17" inch rims with 225/45/17 are definitely the best combination for an S2, in terms of comfort and looks, performance.

16" inch are too squeejy and don't took as good as 17".
18" inch are very hard, but look fantastic.
17" are the best compromise.

But I love the look of the Mk 1 S8s and so have come up with the following spec on the Avant to facilitate me having the harder ride of the S8s on a city daily driver.

At last, tell us I hear you say !

So it is as follows;

Front.

New standard bushes.
New standard bushes on forged wishbones.
Brakes are 314mm on brackets to allow small reds (work well, but would like 323mm or bigger to work even better and fill the S8s more).
New ball joints on the end of the steering arms, inner arm at the rack is original and std.
Ball joints at the outer end of the forged wishbone is new.
New cheap green std top mounts.

New Konis adjusted to full soft.
Old V6 2.6 B4 Coupe fwd with a/c front Springs.

New std bump stops, and the old accordion dust shrouds.
Front RS2 ARB, bushes are std.
Mk 1 S8 rims with 225/45/18 road legal Yokohama track tyres.
Look nice, wear out quickly, but seem to grip well in the dry, but not well in the wet, but can be fun once you are aware of how they will react.
Tracked and aligned three times at tyre centre with modern up to date kit over a period of a month just to be sure.


Rear. (Currently).

Original subfame / diff bushes.
New rubber lower wishbone bushes.
Forged upper wishbones with newish bushes, (no idea if these make a difference, but I feel better with them fitted)

Konis backed off to fully soft.
Std S2 rear springs. Std bump stops.

Am going to shortly fit B4q 2.8 rear springs to soften and lower the rear of the Avant.

The reasoning is that they will fit being quattro and bring a V6 they will be soft (comfortable) and being a saloon, rather than a load carrying spec Avant will be soft (lower).

Will post what happens when I've done it in few weeks, if anyone's still awake.

Rear wheels and tyres are naturally the same as the front.
Rear brakes are currently standard.

Tried the car as above with new S2 springs and the Konis on fully hard and it was much to stiff, tried it with the old S2 springs and the Konis set at half way and still too stiff, so put in the old V6 springs, mentioned above, with the Konis backed off to fully soft, and I think it's pretty good, the car also sits 20mm lower than standard and is able for the roads over here while still running 40 series 18" inch on daily basis.

So the car looks lowered, and handles well with 18" inch. Interested to see how others get on if they try this spec.

These factory springs from lighter B4s (sourced in the breakers) with new RS2 or S2 shocks could be of use to some people. Konis I think are stiffer even on a soft setting.

Hope some of the above is helpful to someone.



I'd agree with Steve's post above, and while Rusty makes the valid point about the impact of differences in unsprung weight, IMHO the most noticeable difference is the hardness of the spring, the shock and the profile of the tyre.

Light rims cost and smaller brakes don't look as good.

Last unrelated items to do for any new S2 owners are.
Fit HIDs to Ellipsoid headlights.
Change the drivers seat to a RS2 type bucket seat. The std seat does not hold a driver in place well enough even for normal driving in an S2.
Fit fresh wipers blades coming into the winter, they always work much better than old ones.
Fit a boost gauge in the centre vent.
Make sure your front wishbones bushes are as good as new. Don't tighten them when the car is jacked up and the wishbone is hanging down as the bush will "tear" when the car lowered back onto it's wheels.
Fit a fresh 14.5v regulator to your alternator.
Check your rubber/cloth vacuum hoses and replace them because looks can deceive.
Clean out the crud that will have built up in the breather system.
Change the fuel filter.
Change the Lambda probe.
Grease/oil door locks and hinges.
Search on the forum for how to adjust out the drop on the drivers door.
Fit a blind spot drivers mirror from a later model Cabrio. Just like a new car. Expensive if bought new, but could be worth it on the motorway.

Read this forum incessantly to bring your knowledge up to a good level on these cars as you have to take owning these cars seriously if you want to lessen the heartache and expense.

Kind regards to all who got to the end of this cathartic outpouring.

[UR-S4]

stick with the billies.i know the man who can rebuild them.we had s2avants front dampers revalved it made a huge differance,ask ben !! just the rears to sort.....

[diesel des]

What about good dampers for a urs6. I have koni and eibach springs. the car is way too under dampened. at the front I mean. the front bounces over long slow undulating bumps and would make you sea sick. now with the konis fully wound up at the front it is only slightly underdampened, but can be a little crashy at times.

how are billys.

[mouse]

When (and if) I get around to changing springs I would try the Cobra springs which are a 25mm drop rather than the 40 of the H&Rs. I don't think anyone here has tried them so no reviews on how they perform but you would think they would be somewhere between stock & h&r in stiffness which could be a good compromise.

[terrybullwon]

I'm running H&Rs and Konis on mine and really happy with it, find it pretty comfy actually

Same here when i did Alex, if anything on track they were still to soft for the weight of the car