[A4] Sport Spring on a Stock B5 quattro?

[thejimrose]

>
>
> ive used lowering springs on a couple cars with oem struts without any
> probs,


well sure it would 'work' aka no 'problems' - but it won't be very good.
the spring rate and dampening characteristics of the strut are [should be]
very closely matched - as it will be with stock suspensions.  mixing and
matching stuff that was designed to go together just isn't a good idea,
IMO/IME.

which is exactly why using aftermarket [unmatched] shock + spring combos [
i.e. hr/bilstein] is such a crapshoot and coilovers [matched shock + spring
rates] always ride so nicely.

a friend just put koni sports on his b5s4 with stock springs and it's not
bad - it "feels" sportier, but it's just stiffer and harsher not any better.
it still dives and rolls as much as before [since that's controlled by the
spring] but the shock is less compliant which makes the ride harsh.

theres a TON of information out there on this - i bet stasis has whitepapers
on their site that go into all kinds of detail.


> Wouldn't the dampers tend to last a tiny bit longer with stiff springs,
> because they are not being going through as much of their travel when
> coupled with the stiffer springs?  :-)~ Doug


well, from what little i know, i don't think it works that way. the shock /
strut / dampener is always dampening the motion of the spring, regardless of
where it's at in it's stroke. it doesn't work 'more' or 'less' at either
end.

it's true that the shock wouldn't use as much of it's stroke since the
spring is stiffer, but it's working harder since it's controlling a spring
that's stiffer than it was designed to control and will thus wear out
faster.