lowering plates, top mounts

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antwan

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Ok,
I have my recently bought a s3 which i love to bits, it came with billy b6's, black eibach spings and H+R anti roll bars, it drives really nice and handles great, but, i feel that it is too high on the front and could do with being dropped 15 -20 mm to improve the stance and look of the car. on my mk1 caddy pickup I bought modified spring platforms that lowered the front end 15mm, is there anything similar available for the s3 or some other method of dropping the front without compromising the ride comfort without changing over to coilovers ( which are out of my budget at the mo)
 
Yeah mate they do the lowering springs caps on ebay... Lower 15mm i think :) then you could get polo 6n2 tops mounts for another 10-12mm.

Should sort it nicely
 
Awesome, this is exactly what i wanted to know........ off to ebay :superman:

Is the 6n2 polo around the 2000my (w to 51plate ) ?
 
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Didn't know the polo top mounts fitted! Let us know how you get on fella! :)
 
jojo said:
I would personally buy 8N TT ones, since they are the same chassis, it lowers by 10mm.
Click to expand...

I'll look into that then, it's already on coilovers but I'd like the option of a bit more lowering!

Cheers, Josh.
 
Dibdub1 said:
I'll look into that then, it's already on coilovers but I'd like the option of a bit more lowering!

Cheers, Josh.
Click to expand...

Just to let you know that it says these are not suitable for cars running coil overs I think.

Also, I enquired with the ebay link about some for these for my 8L S3, I asked them if I should get mk1 TT ones or 8L A3 ones, the reply I got was that they don't list any for my car! lol

So some opinions please, should I try 8L A3 ones or mk1 TT, though I would have thought they are the same??
 
jojo said:
Just to let you know that it says these are not suitable for cars running coil overs I think.

Also, I enquired with the ebay link about some for these for my 8L S3, I asked them if I should get mk1 TT ones or 8L A3 ones, the reply I got was that they don't list any for my car! lol

So some opinions please, should I try 8L A3 ones or mk1 TT, though I would have thought they are the same??
Click to expand...

Jo the polo ones work on a Mk4 Golf, so don't think why it shouldnt work on the 8L...

Need to check on ETKA with the 8L and 8N top mounts...again they should be interchangable!
 
OK. so for those of you patiently waiting for the results.

I ordered, the FK lowering plates, a set of mk3 polo top mounts and bearings, and a pair of polo strut top caps (which took 2 weeks to arrive, hence the delay) .

182.jpg


Anyway, I borrowed a ramp after work, and started to beat the car with a lowering stick....

Before
174.jpg


I decided to cheat a bit, after jacking both sides of the car up, wheels off, disconnect both anti roll bar links,
Remove both strut top caps and allow both struts to drop down a bit.

Now for the cheat, using some small spring compressors, I clamped the spring in place, then removed the top mount, bearing and spring mount.

186.jpg


Old mounts and new mounts.

178.jpg


As they say in all the best repair manuals, repeat for the other side, and reassembly is the reverse of removal.

187.jpg



191.jpg



189.jpg


Final job, after settling the suspension was to check and re-set the wheel alignment ( surprising how many people forget !)

Looks a lot nicer I think, Total time, approx 1.5 hrs ( but I have a lot of air tools and drink loads of tea!)
I was so chuffed, I even fitted the LCR front splitter I bought.
 
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Good work!

So which FK lowering plates did you go for in the end, and do you think using just the plates will give a 10mm drop over standard?
 
FK 10mm Lowering Springs Caps for Audi A3 Mk1 8L | eBayThe plate and mount combo gave a 20mm drop, just the plates, should give 10mm.

I did think of stopping at 10mm, but decided to go the whole way, the front end is now 5mm lower than the back ( measured from the floor to wheel arch), so the car looks right and should look better when I change to 18" rims.

The best thing is the ride hasn't changed, so the car is still just as nice to drive.
 
Are you running coilovers mate? And sorry to be ask a bit of a daft question, but what are the lowering plates then mate in relation to the suspension etc?

I've currently got a set of coilovers fitted but instead of winding them down pretty much fully, I like the idea of being able to lower it a little more with just changing the lowering plates/top mounts.

Car sits really nice now mate by the way :)

Cheers, Josh.
 
thats a nice interesting way of dropping the front.... and like you say the comfort remains stock.... shame the same can't be done at the rear
 
antwan said:
FK 10mm Lowering Springs Caps for Audi A3 Mk1 8L | eBayThe plate and mount combo gave a 20mm drop, just the plates, should give 10mm.

I did think of stopping at 10mm, but decided to go the whole way, the front end is now 5mm lower than the back ( measured from the floor to wheel arch), so the car looks right and should look better when I change to 18" rims.

The best thing is the ride hasn't changed, so the car is still just as nice to drive.
Click to expand...

Very interesting, I'm undecided on what to do now. 10mm seems enough and 20mm seems a bit too much, I'm worried about clearing the local speedbumps! lol
 
Dibdub1 said:
Are you running coilovers mate? And sorry to be ask a bit of a daft question, but what are the lowering plates then mate in relation to the suspension etc?

Cheers, Josh.
Click to expand...

The lowering plates are just modified top spring seats, I doubt they would work on coilovers, but the top mounts should fit ok, I'm on the standard shock/spring setup, but the car came on billy b6's and eibach springs, and rides really well considering it's on 19" rims.

666markyboy said:
thats a nice interesting way of dropping the front.... and like you say the comfort remains stock.... shame the same can't be done at the rear
Click to expand...

I also own a T4 transporter, and one of the ways of fine tuning the rear ride height is by changing the thickness of the rear spring seats or insulators. They are available in several sizes down to 5mm thick , and as they have a similar setup to the 8l's I daresay they could be adapted/ modified to suit. ( although some of the t4 guys have been known to run without any spring seats and run metal on metal, not recommended though).


jojo said:
Very interesting, I'm undecided on what to do now. 10mm seems enough and 20mm seems a bit too much, I'm worried about clearing the local speedbumps! lol
Click to expand...

No issue with speedbumps yet, but after running some seriously low cars in the past I have developed ways to negotiate speedbumps,(I beached a mini on a 5" high sleeping policeman once and had to get help to lift the car off , so most are taken diagonally now ) or just go the scenic route !
 
Hi guys,
This sounds like exactly what I need for my car. Its a97 1.8t lowered 35mm with james springs. The back is fine but front end still sits high.
Can someone please confirm these are the correct parts for this mod before I order them :
eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace
and
eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

Also, I'm planning on letting a garage carry out the work as I don't think I have the right tools for the job. Any idea what sort of price I'd be paying to get these fitted??

Cheers,
 
they look like the right ones, but you will also need the polo strut top caps as well. you will need to get the garage to check clearances as well as things are tight in places.
 
So which top mounts could I use with a set of JOM coilovers for that extra little bit of lowering?
 
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Hey Jerv! Any full on side shots of your car mate? Just because my mate's got a Cupra R in black and loves Twists! That looks spot on mate!

So those bushes and caps just replace the existing caps on your coilovers and the bushes replace obviously the standard top mount bushes?

Cheers, Dibdub1
 
Well i've read that peolpe are fitting LCR top mounts to their S3's so there's no reason why these shouldn't fit. They do list A3 on their site but no mention of the S3. Also if you notice on their site the A3 and the LCR ones are the same part number (SUD L003).
 
Hey Jerv, I'm keeping tabs on this. Didn't you tell me your car scrapes getting on and off your drive?! and you want it lower??!? lol - :respekt:
 
Lol, yeah it does with the standard rims on, I already need a new splitter.
 
SuperSport top mount update:

Well what a PITA replacing these top mounts is turning out to be. Firstly couldn't get the strut out of the hub (should have bought a seperating tool) then after completely dismantling everything underneath i couldn't crack the top nut, took me over an hour just to crack it off. I eventually got it off after snaping an allen key, I soaked it in wd40 and used some mega brute force, could have done with a breaker bar really. Anyway it took that long I only got one side done, can't wait for tomorrow.

Enough of the chat anyway I took a couple of pics and some camparision measurements.

The rubbers: OEM= 4.7cm
SuperSport= 4.2cm

838142c4.jpg


Metal cups: OEM= 2.6cm
SuperSport= 1.2cm

d022342b.jpg
 
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Have anyone compared supersport plates to FK ones?

Just ordered Eibach springs and after reading some topics that the front wont lower enough to get nice stance..
I dont think that the Polo top mounts would be best for much heavier car (S3) so the supersport polyurethane mounts are the way to go.
But just would like to know that is it just waste of money to get the FK plates or are those same thickness as supersport ones?
 
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