A6 2.7T Improvements

[Lee M. Levitt]

"Peter M. Clark" <pmclaw at imagine.com> writes:

> 	My 2000 A6 2.7T is currently sporting the stock sport
> wheels with 205/55-16 performance mud and snow tires I put on for the
winter
> months.  Now that Spring is here, I am considering some wheel, tire, and
> suspension upgrades while I switch over to summer tires.  I would like to
receive
> opinions from other owners as to the pros and cons of the following:
> (1) upgrading to a 17" wheel and tire or an 18' wheel and tire;  and
> (2) installing a performance spring and shock package.

> I live in New England and I am concerned about the effect of a lower
> suspension set-up in the  winter when I go back to the winter wheels and
tires.
> Given that I may only get the car on a track once or twice a year, are
> these improvements worth the effort?
>

Peter,

Good set of questions. I ran two similar vehicles (Volvo 740 turbo) a while
back, and on the first one, did springs/bars/shocks, etc and on the second
one did bars/shocks/+1 wheels, but no springs.

The lowered car was unmanageable in the snow. Granted it was rear wheel
drive, but I tended to get high spotted a *lot*. Also, while it did stick
beautifully around certain sweeping entrance ramps, overall I didn't believe
it was worth the effort. The body also seemed to take a beating.

The second car, not lowered, in my estimation handled just as well and
worked far better in the snow (well, again, for a rear wheel drive car). The
+1 wheel set up made up for some of the handling difference, and overall,
the car was much more pleasant and usable...but perhaps not quite as sticky
at the limit.

With my S6, I upgraded shocks (Bilstein Sports) and am pondering +1 wheels
for the summer...but I am absolutely *not* thinking about lowering the car.
It's simply impractical in New England, between the snow and the potholes.

If you spent a lot of time on the track, perhaps my response might be
different...but 99% or more of your driving will be on public roads.

And when I first posted about this on the S-car list, someone commented that
they *had* lowered an S6 in New England and regretted it...

Just my .02

Lee
'95.5 S6 avant
'96 A6 quattro avant