Avant owners-What suspension set-up do you have?

[bertman]

Thought I would ask the general population of avant owners what they have or would recommend on their car.The general rule of thumb is the more of the same set-up must mean it can't be all that bad.
I know this has been asked till the cows come home,but I am in the market for something new,so I am weighing up the law of averages.
Pros and cons please if you have them.
The roads round my way are ***** btw,pot holes within pot holes.
soon to be running S8 mk1's

[RustyNut]

If your roads are that bad maybe you should just go with some decent shocks, poly bushes and stay with your standard springs? If you do upgrade then you seriously can't go wrong with the KW V1 set up. For fast road use it's spot on and will look after you on track too.

[A80Avant]

I weighed my options just like you and being the person I am went to the custom route.

I was happy with poly bushes front, Bilstein shocks all around and stock springs with the exception that the car sat a tad too high for.my liking and following the front Mance top mounts it sat higher at the front as well.

Having had my information for H&R or KW coilover setup, neither was an acceptable option for me so Kev(bambridge) made the front and rear custom.coilover conversion for me and I was to decide on off the shelf springs that I'd like.

I will be updating my thread in a few weeks once I'm happy with the front spring setup as currently I settled for the rear suspension to my liking going slightly harder than stock and having a good margin of height between stock ride and lower.

The front were a bit trickier to get right so I'm getting some custom made springs to try. Once I have a go at them I can then release the info to the forum for more people wanting to try out the same solution.

It cost me something extra with all the trial and error of the springs, but overall its a cheaper solution than coilovers off the shelf. Kev's parts are cheap, springs are cheap and Bilstein are serviceable. Can't go wrong there.

[Big Lee M]

I had mine fully poly bushed with pressed arms and they was stitch welded, with H&R springs and it was perfect for the crap English roads.

[bertman]

keep it coming,I am considering all options

[Ian Simmonds]

I've stuck with a rebuilt OEM, mainly because in 2008 I was in Scotland with the pre refurbished set up and absolutely, totally and utterly, ragged the fook1n @r$e off the thing down the B743, several times, and with cars making 100+bhp more.... But, and it's a big but, they all suffered for having big rims and lowered suspension.... The B5RS4 we were with, was easy pickings on mixed B road conditions with mud, pot holes and repeating hard off camber 2nd gear switchbacks....

Suspension is horses for courses, don't under estimate an OEM setup for mixed use.

[Error404]

if its daily drive and your roads are **** I would run stiffer ARBs and stock springs. Poly / alloy bushes to sharpen things up.
You really need to have a ride in a few cars with various setups as what is good for me wouldn't suit the next man

[Ian Simmonds]

Also, worthy of note, the OEM setup goes through a 'zone' around 7.10th's driving where it feels at the limit. Break through that and it just gives, gives, and gives again.... There's so much more beyond that initial level... And left foot braking just balances the old girl up like a go-cart.

[Error404]

I think that 7/10ths limit exists in all our cars, I think its when the chassis gets to the point where it can't flex anymore and then the car feels more planted

[Christophski]

I run h'r's lowered by about. 30mm. I also have front and rear rs2 arb's. It rides fine but I want to poly bush it now. So in effect I have the same as big lee M

That's 2 with similar set up

[A80Avant]

HR springs are the easiest solution as they lower the car and are not stiffer than original. My thoughts were always 30mm lower is way too low for any roads and speed bumbs so that's why I wanted half that lowering distance.

[Avantus]

H&R coilovers, polybushed ARB's and front arms, 19mm neuspeed rear ARB.

Stiff, but good feel and communication.

[madpugger]

I currently have H&R springs all round, with Bilstein front shocks and Koni rears. The rear sits too low, and the front is too harsh. It is furking awesome on a track but on potholed roads its not so nice. I also have RS2 front ARB and RS4 RARB.

On my other avant I believe it has KW V1s, if this is true then they are awful, it bounces and wallows so much that the exhaust has been known to hit the road over a bump or two. I have no idea of the condition of these though...

I intend to get KW V3s for the avant that is on H&Rs for a couple of reasons. One - the front shocks are getting leaky. 2 - I want to be able to setup the suspension in a better manner for daily driving and stiffen it for track use. 3 - I want to be able to raise the car in winter - 4 to 5 inches higher would be nice but unlikely!

[A80Avant]

i may be wrong but i was always told that neither HR or KW can be set to their higher position and be as high as the original setup.

[4WheelDrifter]

I don't have an Avant. But just to echo some of what error418 says for some general advie, as I have tested loads of suspension tweeks and combos on the 8L chassis, to get a good compromise for a winter, Devon lane hack, which is good for rough roads, potholes, gravel sections, ruts, debris, mud, grass, cow sh*t down the middle, and so on.

I would say a good pair or ARBs are a must, uprated springs that don't lower or stiffen the ride too much, a set of stiffer dampers, all polyurethane suspension bushes, even ally subrame bushes, to tighten up any slop or slack anywhere.

Also take care to keep unsprung mass to a minimum. So no big heavy wheels or brakes. Just use the smallest, lightest brake setup you can get away with, then get the smallest, lightest wheels that retain plenty of strength, and that fit over the brakes.

Ok. So you end up with a car that doesn't have 'stance', but one that not many cars can compete with on the rough stuff.

The 7/10 thing is so true on a softer setup. When things are so stiff and planted the limit seems to become so much more like a knife-edge. But still fun when you know where the limit is, and you can easily provoke it into getting out of shape.