Re: lowering AUDI

[bazooka!ti@altos.Altos.COM (Ti Kan)]

dharma@rpi.edu writes:
>I have been monitoring the discussion on the sport suspension, but
>I haven't found anybody saying about lowering the car height in
>addition to using the sport suspension.

Most sport suspensions lower the ride height around 1" to 1.5".
This is true of the spring sets from Eibach, Suspension Techniques,
Sachs, Neuspeed, etc...

>I'm interested in this since
>my AUDI, which has 998230 miles, needs new suspension badly.
		    ^^^^^^
If you really mean almost a million miles, wow!  Let's see, you
have an '85 5000S, so that averages about 143K miles per year, or
12K miles a month, or 400 miles per day!!!  I am impressed...

>I'd like to replace the standard suspension with the sport package.
>Additionally I'd like to lower the height of the car by several inches
>to lower the center of gravity.

You should lower the car no more than an inch or so if you intend
to drive on the street.  Otherwise you will sorely miss the lost
suspension travel, ground clearance, fender clearance, etc.  This is
especially important if the streets are less than glass smooth.

>I am hoping you guys can give me sugestions on this (where should I
>mail order the springs and struts, type of spring and struts, what I
>should be aware of about the technical terms and dimensions of the
>spring and struts, etc).

For the Audi 5000/100 (84-91), I recommend replacing the stock front
anti-roll bar with a Suspension Techniques 25mm bar, and adding a
Suspension Techniques rear bar.  Other than the tires, the anti-roll
bars will improve handling more than any other component for the buck.
Only after trying this you should decide if this is enough handling for
you.  If not, I recommend going with either the Eibach or Suspension
Techniques spring set, and Koni shocks.  The Eibach springs are
progressive rate, so they provide slightly better ride quality on small
road imperfections.  The S-T springs are linear rate, so the turn-in
response is slightly better.  They are both of excellent quality.

>Another point, when I lower the car, the
>standard figures for the steering alignment will be invalid, won't it?
>Then, what should I reference to to get the new alignment figure?

Whenever you have the suspension worked on, you should have the
alignment done.  If you only lower the car about an inch or so, the
factory alignment specs will still be valid.  The only thing that
should be realigned are your headlights, and possibly the brake
proportioning valve (since it measures suspension droop to proportion
the brake pressure to the rear).

While you have the front suspension apart, it would be a good time to
check the condition of the CV joints and boots, ball joints, tie rod
ends, strut bearings and the suspension bushings.  Replace these if
worn.

Hope this helps...

-Ti
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