Suspension Choices

[bilko0795]

As per title im going to be changing my suspension in the next few weeks at the moment i have H&R springs with new Sachs shocks and the ride is not very comfortable when going over cattle grids and dips in the road as the car bottoms out and a loud bang occurs. So my question is what would be the best set up to go for Coilovers KW V1s or what seems to be most of the choices on here Bilstein/Koni combinations.

Thanks in advance.

[John.]

Can you tell me what type of H&Rs'.......OE, Sport, Super Sport or Race?

Cheers.

[Rusty]

You'll never get a coupe to ride comfortably. The most comfortable is OE. KW are stiffer than HnRs so they won't change anything. Just put up with it and enjoy the sportier handling...

Bilsteins are rock hard, Konis are adjustable so can be soft to hard.

What diameter wheels do you run?

[bilko0795]

Can you tell me what type of H&Rs'.......OE, Sport, Super Sport or Race?

Cheers.

Don't know that one bought them from Alex Error404 couple years back.

[bilko0795]

You'll never get a coupe to ride comfortably. The most comfortable is OE. KW are stiffer than HnRs so they won't change anything. Just put up with it and enjoy the sportier handling...

Bilsteins are rock hard, Konis are adjustable so can be soft to hard.

What diameter wheels do you run?

Andy im running with 17" at the mo but am going to put the Rs4 18" back on as the car looks a lot nicer with them on but the ride is a bit rougher, iv also got solid sub bushes and poly bushes all round plus a couple of knackered top mounts, waiting on new ones to arrive in the spring hint hint. I have also changed the track rod ends front and back so i need to get the four wheel aligned after all that is done i will make my mind up as i only use the car to go back and fro work.

[Rusty]

18s will make this worse...

Most comfy setup is OE or do DIY coilovers with Konis and some low rate, progressive springs, so you can drop it and keep comfort but protect from bottoming out. Tonks does some balloon springs that are less harsh than KWs.

You know this by now but Poly bushes were not the way to go for comfort, nor were solid mounts... got to build a car for what you're using it for

[Rocco]

Ohlins road and track are probably the best choice

[Colesy]

I ran Bilsteins with HnR springs and the ride was terrible like you describe. So switched the springs back to OE with the Bilsteins and haven't looked back, it's a great compromise. Worth trying stock springs with your Sachs shocks and seeing what you think, it might be ok.

[GazzaG60]

My coupe was very nice on koni springs. Don't think you can get them now though.
If it's 2wd I have a set of hr springs for sale brand new

[damomcgrath]

I ran Bilsteins with HnR springs and the ride was terrible like you describe. So switched the springs back to OE with the Bilsteins and haven't looked back, it's a great compromise. Worth trying stock springs with your Sachs shocks and seeing what you think, it might be ok.

sorry for hijacking this thread but im also refurbishing my suspension starting with the front for now.im going with bilsteins and oe springs all round and changing from 18s to 17s wheels,what sort of bushings, anti roll bar and wishbone arms(forged or cast) should i be thinking of for a sunday car that will be used mainly on secondary roads.im all about comfort but want good handling aswel.thanks

[Rusty]

The only OEM bushes that are really bad are the ones on the pressed wishbones, as they allow too much movement. Cast wishbone bushes are a bit better.

For the use you describe, you want to replace everything with stock, other than aome poly ARB bushes, which will make no difference to the ride but will offer better ARB location and also consider the steering arm and rear tie rod upgraded bushes for better wheel control and steering feel. The wishbone bushes are a matter of trying both I think. Subframe bushes make things harsher and the OE ones are pretty stiff.

Top mounts are personal choice too... I ran some old green OE ones with no issues at all and then swapped to the full-blown trrack spec ones I developed and there was little in the way of change of harshness.

I ran my car on track many times after a full refresh with all OE bushes from Febi or Audi and it was pretty nice, as well as working really well on A and B roads.

The one thing you need to do is to upgrade the rear ARB to improve the road manners. I ran 24mm FARB on the raer but a Whiteline would bea suitable alternative. My only criticism of the FARB on the rear is that rear axle articulation is reduced, so the car doesn't do so well over uneven surfaces but the handling improvements were worth the occasional hop from the rear.

[europeanme]

Ohlins road and track are probably the best choice

just as long as you have lots of spare money!!....nice though

[macspring]

sorry for hijacking this thread but im also refurbishing my suspension starting with the front for now.im going with bilsteins and oe springs all round and changing from 18s to 17s wheels,what sort of bushings, anti roll bar and wishbone arms(forged or cast) should i be thinking of for a sunday car that will be used mainly on secondary roads.im all about comfort but want good handling aswel.thanks

oem bushes - definitely for our roads,

RS2 front arb & rear Neuspeed arb - assuming B4 Avant.

or whiteline rarb if it's a B4 Coupe.

Wouldn't fuss about cast or forged wishbones.

Haven't quite forgotten about the front seats, but haven't taken the photos yet.

[Rusty]

If running OE from wishbo9ne bushes, I'd say that the cast arms offer better wheel location but they are heavier, so will marginally affect the ride quality... swings unt roundabouts.

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

The B3 80 2.3 7A saloon(your coupe being B3 chassis) uses cast wishbones as standard with factory lowered sports springs and sports shocks and that set up is excellent,good handling and yet very comfortable in my opinion.This set up just happened to be one of Audi's best suspension set ups as well as it's superb spread of gears on cars of that period.Thats my opinion having tried lots of these cars and the Journalists of the day. I drove one for 3 months and that was the lasting impression i had not the engine thats how good that set up was.