Decision made (sort of)

[jdas03]

Hi,

After much thought i have decided to go down the suspension route before the remap, mainly because the OEM suspension has not been changed in 80k miles to my knowledge so i am thinking it is probably essential now. So the remap must wait :-(

Anyway

Looking at bilsteins with HR springs - the upgraded standard set up it seems.
What will i need to buy, obviously the bilstein dampers and the HR lowering springs.
But what else is needed? are there anyother part that i need to replace or add?

Any other thoughts or suggestions welcome

Cheers

 

[tankie2ndrtr]

From enduring the past owners mods to my car, i would say keep it soft and supple... im massively threaders with my HARD sus Which now i cannot change But will rid the S3 of that Stock Boaty Feel

 

[leshkin]

I don't know what car you have - my experience is with S3. I assume you are going with a sensible 25mm drop or less. If so, good on ya! Make sure that you get adjustable tie bars, as they will allow you to set camber correctly at the back. They are quite a cost and many people skip this, but end up with a car that does not handle as well as it can.

To complement the new dampers and springs, an uprated set of anti-roll bars is a very good idea, as these will prevent to roll you are probably sick of by now With a new ARB set, you will need new ARB bushes also. VW R32 ARBs bolt straight on, without any modification and give the same sort of 'understeery' feel to the car as the standard set-up does, but with much less roll.

This might be a good time to change the suspension mounts/bushes as with 80k on the clock, the original items are probably past their prime - replacing with standard bushes is fine if you are after some comfort, or you can go down the poly bushes, which I have no experience of.

 

[jdas03]

Sorry forgot to say I'm an s3 owner facelift 51 plate. I'm not bothered about the drop at all, all I care about it handling and the h and r springs on dpm are the ones everyones on about and norm put with bilstiens? Are the adjustable tie bars necessary? Heard alot of people go without? What's the advantage of having them vs not? And can they be fit later on? They cost a fair whack! As for arbs guessing r32s will set me back a bit too? Do they have major affect on the handling? Can they be fit on later easily? Regarding the mounts and bushes, will probably go standard if they Are good enough! So basically what I'm asking is are the extras and if so which are essential to get done? I'd love to do everything listed but budget probably wouldn't stretch! Thanks in advance

 

[Piester]

Mate, I've just been through EXACTLY the same thing as you. After extensive reading I've gone for...

H&R springs from Orange Tuning - £200 all in, cheapest I could find.

http://www.orange-tuning.de/shop/audi-quattro-sport-springs-25mm-p-1167.html

Bilstien B8's and KW tie bars from Damian at DPM - £500 and £255

Just in the process of organising a group buy for Neuspeed ARBs (22mm front and 19mm rear) - let me know if you're interested as I'm getting the names together - £360ish for both (about £50 off)

Going to get the guys from 4Rings to fit all of it as they do it at your home and are all ex-audi mechanics - roughly £400. They also did my main lower arm bushes a few days ago and were ****** brilliant.

http://www.4rings.co.uk/

Hopefully this should be the balls once it's finished! Can't bleeding wait!

 

[jdas03]

Wow great information thanks very much!
With Orange tuning link, they are German aren;t they? do they deliver to UK for £200?
Still unconvinced how much difference tie bars will make for the price, but something ill have to consider in the future if its possible to fit later on?

I may be interested in the ARBS, but wont be for a few weeks while i gather the funds, thanks for letting me know though Also i was wondering how much R32 arbs would be in comparison?

I am going to try and fit it all with a mechanic i know who works for Mercedes so i should be able to get it done for free
is there a guide anywhere for fitting in case? wouldn't mind doing some pre reading

Great info there fella thanks very much

I guess what i am thinking about now is:

Bilstien b8's - definite
Mounts + Bushes (Definitely replace, stick with standard ones i think though) - Anything else i need to replace with old suspension thats been missed?
H+R springs (which ones)
ARBS (maybe but unsure which and how much)
adjustable Tie Bars - Unsure

Anyone else got any more information?


Cheers

 

[A3Tom]

Change all your bushes and top mounts at the same time as well

 

[emery1990]

Its just if you want to get the best out of your car. Ive read that you need them to lower your car. As the current camber is too much something and will cause too much trye wear, but the tie arms allow you to set the camber low or high enough to combat this. Your car could probally feel ten times better than with just some spirngs and dampers on it. Thatll just make the ride firmer, think lowering the car makes the car more planted round turns. On forza lol. they say to l"ower it as much as possible without botteming out" Itll cost loads though thats the thing. Well over a grand.

 

[MikeA3]

A new dog bone mount is also worth it as they cost under £20

and a 4wd allignment once it's all settled in

 

[Piester]

H&R only do one type of springs for the 8l (25mm drop). Those matched with the Bilsteins are supposed to be the best match out there. That link for Orange Tuning works out at just under £200 delivered to the UK which when I was looking was about £50 less than getting them in Blighty.

With the tie bars, it'll handle a lot better, get less tyre wear and they are pretty easy to fit. Out of all of those mods it's probably going to have the least overall effect and is probably the least important but if you want the complete package, it's got to be done.

As for the ARBs, apparently Neuspeed are as good as they get. They're a bit more expensive than pretty much all the others (at normal price) but are supposed to be well worth the money. I can always stick your name down for the group buy so when you do want to get them in a few weeks, you'll get the discount...

 

[jdas03]

OK thanks for the information.
So i am thinking billies and h+r + updating other little suspension componants mounts etc first followed by arbs then tie bars in order of importance.
Ill guess ill be gathering the money then as it is tempting to get it all at once but doubt i can afford that!
Thanks for the offer of group buy but ill stay out of that for now while i understand what i can do in one hit, may just be the billies and h+r's, im thinking that alone will make a big difference for now?
and i can add the rest later as the money comes in?