H&R springs, supa low

[DeWitt Harrison]

Well technically, yes. The stock arrangement is coil over shock
or damper. In fact, it is an excellently designed system requiring
only alterations in spring rate and or length to suit most purposes.

In the car enthusiast vernacular, however, "coil-over"
seems to imply a small diameter spring mounted coaxially with
the damper, and, in the aftermarket, having an adjustable spring
perch. If, in your priority scheme, it is essential to be able to
tap into the large variety and supply of standard dimension coil
springs, that sort of coil-over makes sense. For example, H&R
may not make a rock hard racing spring to fit the stock perches
in your car. But if your spring rate requirement can be met by those
who make stiffer/shorter replacements for the stock springs, then
going to the aftermarket type of coil-over is a counterproductive
move unless the purpose is for posing.

Look into buying adjustable perches for the rear springs only
(2B or whoever) and setting the basic height of the front by choice
of replacement spring. That way you will save money, gain the
ability to adjust corner weights - that _is_ the goal isn't it? -
and preserve as many of the benefits of the stock front suspension
design as possible.

DeWitt Harrison
Boulder, CO
88 5kcstq

At 05:42 PM 11/28/00 -0500, Ameer Antar wrote:
>OK, don't these cars have coil-overs from the factory? I was told 
>coil-over referred to coil-over-shock, which is different from many other 
>suspension designs like those used in older American cars and vintage 
>European cars.
>[ ... ]
>So I believe the Audi's use a non-adjustable coil-over suspension, right? 
>I think H&R's are one of the best manuf's and it's great that they can 
>custom make springs. My only question is whether adjustable or 
>non-adjustable would be preferred. If I could get the adjustable one for 
>the same price as fixed lowering springs, I'd do it, but is it really 
>worth all that extra cash? I think fixed ones are $250-275, but adjustable 
>is about $1000 for the kit, unless there's a better price than 2Bennett. I 
>think their prices can be a little high, but haven't seen any other 
>source. Thanks for your input.
>
>-ameer
>
>
>At 01:25 PM 11/28/2000 , you wrote:
>>I'm unconvinced that coil-overs in the front makes very much
>>sense in these cars, either, other than having greater choice
>>in spring rates due to the simple spring shape. IMHO,
>>front coil-overs in this situation tend to be cosmetic, pretty
>>much like grapefruit-shooter exhaust tips.
>>
>>Cross weight tweaking can be had by doing adjustable spring
>>perches in the rear only - these are already configured
>>as "coil-over" setups from the factory. In addition to the possible
>>issues raised below, a coil-over spring orientation in the front end
>>points the spring thrust at a spot in the road well inboard of the
>>centers of the tire contact patches thereby placing a side or
>>bending load on the damper shafts. This translates to friction
>>and wear. Ever wonder why the engineers of McPhearson struts
>>cock the spring at an angle to the damper tubes?
>>
>>DeWitt Harrison
>>Boulder, CO
>>88 5kcstq
>>
>>On Tue, 28 Nov 2000 11:23:25 -0500, Ameer Antar wrote:
>>
>> > [ ... ] I've only seen adjustable
>> > coil-overs for the 5k for about a grand from 2Bennett, which includes
>> > everything but the shocks. One thing about coil-overs is I've heard they
>> > can be troublesome if not set exactly right. I heard they can be noisy,
>> > slip, a pain to adjust, and cause other weird problems. Adjustable springs
>> > sounds cool, but I'd rather have a fixed spring, and not have to worry
>> > about problems. Any comments? [ ... ]