A4 suspension question(pt 2)

[Ti Kan]

BRIAN O'NEILL writes:
> but when you buy lowering springs for the car, most
> companys do not ofer 2 different part numbers for the
> 2 cars.and as far as koni and bilstein shocks, i think
> they only have one number also.
>
> Ti Kan wrote:
> > [ Fitting A4 1.8t struts/shocks to an A4 2.8 30V
> > Actually the ride height may become lower as the
> > 1.8t front springs are
> > designed to carry the lighter engine, and when laden
> > with the V6 it
> > will become lower.  The shock valving may be
> > different too, and with
> > the heavier engine may make the car handle worse.

Yeah, that may be the case, but aftermarket springs are typically
shorter and much firmer than stock, making the weight difference less
critical.  You will still likely achieve a different degree of
lowering on a 1.8t than a V6.  The factory fine tunes the spring rates
and shock valving to achieve the what they consider a good compromise
between ride comfort and handling, but when you go aftermarket where
you err on the side of handling in expense of comfort, then that
"fine tuning" goes out the window.  You'll be on the stiff side of stock,
but the 1.8t and V6 may well be on somewhat different points of that side
of the curve.

-Ti
01 S4 2.7 biturbo quattro
84 5000S 2.1 turbo
80 4000 2.0
96 A4 2.8 quattro (sold but not forgotten)
-- 
    ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
   ///   AMB Research Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA. USA
  ///    ti at amb.org
 //////  http://www.ibiblio.org/tkan/
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