[V6-12v] Understeer - suspension?

[James Whitehouse]

By the way, also noticed that it's had a towbar fitted at some point, which
has been removed. I don't know whether it's been towing a caravan or some
such around for a while, but that could have put a strain on the rear
suspension...

James

> -----Original Message-----
> From: v6-12v-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:v6-12v-bounces at audifans.com] On
> Behalf Of James Whitehouse
> Sent: 29 December 2006 19:30
> To: v6-12v at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: [V6-12v] Understeer - suspension?
> 
> George,
> 
> Thanks for the ideas, I'll try them out! On a more extensive drive on
> mixed
> road surfaces today, it's become clear that the rear end gets pretty upset
> over bumpy road surfaces even when driving in a straight line, it waggles
> and rolls from side to side.
> 
> It's so bad that it's definitely worse handling than my FWD model. Now the
> understeer could be tyre related, since the previous owner has premium
> (Goodyear F1) tyres on the rear, and cheapo (Hankook, or some unknown
> brand)
> on the front. Or it could be related to the other weird handling quirks
> which I'm guessing are suspension related. I looked into the data sticker
> codes today and found that my FWD is actually an Audi Sports Suspension
> model and the 4WD is just the Audi Standard Suspension, but surely the
> standard models don't usually handle this badly? Am I just looking at new
> shocks/ springs, or is there anything else you'd consider? I notice the
> rear
> suspension is quite complex on these models, with lots of bushes and a
> rear
> anti-roll bar, etc. I wonder if they could be causing a problem.
> 
> I also discovered the other day when washing the car for the first time
> that
> it's had the left rear panel replaced at some point. Both Audi and my
> mechanic have had a look and said they can't see anything obvious, or
> structural, but it makes you wonder. I've booked it into Audi to be jigged
> up and check that the geometry is all correct, but they won't be able to
> do
> it until the end of January now.
> 
> Cheers,
> James
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: v6-12v-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:v6-12v-bounces at audifans.com]
> On
> > Behalf Of George Tur
> > Sent: 28 December 2006 23:21
> > To: v6-12v at audifans.com
> > Subject: Re: [V6-12v] Understeer - suspension?
> >
> > On Thursday 28 December 2006 14:32, James Whitehouse wrote:
> > > Now that I've been driving the new 80 Quattro for a bit longer and
> > started
> > > to push it a bit harder, it's become apparent that when putting the
> > power
> > > down in the middle of a corner (to come out of the corner fast, as 4WD
> > > should excel at) I suddenly get massive understeer. The car doesn't
> just
> > > politely lose grip (as did my 2WD) it just suddenly understeers to an
> > > alarming degree.
> > >
> > > Any experience of this? Is it just tired rear shocks/springs, or is
> > there
> > > something more insidious at play like some accident damage that's been
> > > hidden and missed in the pre-sales checks?
> > >
> > *********
> > Try playing with the tire pressure. Set the tire pressure to what Audi
> > recommends on the car and try it out. If it still understeers too much
> try
> > lowering the front tire pressure a bit and increasing the rear tire
> > pressure
> > a bit. In the range of 2 lbs or so. This should give the front more bite
> > and
> > allow the rear to swing out a little faster. You'll have to play with
> the
> > tire pressure to get the turn in that you want which will also vary
> > according
> > to the speed you're running at.
> >
> > Or, it could be as you said very tired shocks and springs, but I doubt
> it.
> > My
> > experience with Audis is that they understeer from the factory and to
> get
> > them to handle better you will probably have to go to higher rate
> springs,
> > probably lowered, and shocks if you want the car to ride on rails. My
> son
> > did
> > the suspension on his 87 5ktq a few years ago and it took lowered,
> higher
> > rate springs and heavy duty struts and shocks plus new bushings all
> around
> > to
> > get the car to handle correctly.
> >
> > HTH
> >
> > George Tur
> > _______________________________________________
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