your thoughts on suspensions

[gags100]

I have recently bought a coupe 20v quattro for a snip, it needs some tlc and should be on the road in a month or so. I had a 100 2.3 quattro before that,and i find this in a different league. Now for the question. I was toying with the idea before getting the coupe of getting an A4 but was advised to steer clear of models made between 95 and 2000 because the suspension set up changed and were not as good as the 80,90 and 100 days. The chap i bought the coupe from has an S reg S4 and when i mentioned this,he couldnt agree more and told me all the suspension parts he had replaced.Overall he is more impressed with the coupe, Just wondered what you guys thought and if this seems to be the case with models between these years.
Also classic car show at Tatton park Cheshire this Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd. Always a good Audi turn out and parts for sale
Thanks

 

[atc]

I had my 80 B4 quattro lowered and found that the ride quality got better!?!? Not at all harsh or jarring and less figety than on the standard springs. Probably handled better too but I had never pushed it to the limit before (or after) lowering. The real ****** is that on some speed bumps it does scrape the cat defenders, but then it is quite a long car. P.I. springs.

 

[scotty33]

I have a B5 Passat (1998) and a type 89 (B3) coupe. I find the Passat has a weakness for control arm balljoints failing. There are 8 arms with 8 balljoints in the front suspension. These start to fail at approx 100k. As far as I know, a kit of new arms from Vagparts is £375 for genuine parts. The A4 would use the same parts and suffer the same problems. you can buy much cheaper arms off E bay etc, but in my experience they do not last long at all.
The coupe like all B3 and B4 cars suffers from suspension top mounts failing, also anti roll bar links wear. This is a cheaper job approx £20 per top mount and £20-30 per anti roll bar link, but it can need doing every year!
In my opinion, the B5 cars suspension set up is much a more advanced double wishbone set-up, it handles well with very good ride quality. The older cars can be made to handle better, but the ride suffers for it.