[BiturboS4] Re: BiturboS4 digest, Vol 1 #101 - 5 msgs

[Christopher Cieurzo]

Here are some spring rates:

Stock - 348/292
Eibach - 360/270
MTM - 460/400
H&R Street: 450/450
H&R Ultras: 600/625

Track tuning is not the end all be all of suspensions. That which works well
at the track is not necessarily good for the street (which is where the
majority of people on this list will use their cars almost exclusively.)

The H&R Street coilovers are just that. A street setup designed for crappy
roads that can be taken to the track as well. Having had a decent amount of
track time with them, I can say H&R did an outstanding job. There is nothing
subtle about a 100-150lb spring rate increase, and the stability of the car
under cornering, braking and acceleration is head and shoulders above stock.
With the significantly increased rear spring rate, the car was far more
neutral as well.  H&R engineers (Roland Graef is the US suspension guru) are
very proud of the fact that under daily driving conditions, their suspension
setup is as good or better than stock. That was the hard part of developing
a good overall suspension package. Anybody can throw 800# springs on their
car and get flatter cornering, but is it worth the tradeoff in daily driving
comfort?

When you look at the cost of doing a complete spring and shock replacement,
the additional couple of hundred bucks to get a suspension with adjustable
ride height and the ability to corner balance seems worth it (at least to
me).

Chris




> Message: 4
> From: "S Stiles" <stiles_s at hotmail.com>
> To: biturbos4 at audifans.com
> Date: Sat, 07 Sep 2002 23:14:27 -0700
> Subject: [BiturboS4] H&R coilover dampers?
>
> Anybody know who really makes the dampers that the H&R coilover setup uses?
>
> It's great that H&R has a bunch of racing experience. I don't doubt this.
> What I do doubt is that there was much track tuning done w/the H&R coilovers
> available for the S4, or at least the H&R Streets.
>
> I've ridden in an H&R "street" equipped car, and it felt very similar to my
> now "Bilstein'd" S4Avant that's using stock springs. IIRC, the spring rate
> increase on the street setup is pretty subtle.
>
> Scott