Re: lowering 5ktq

[AUDIDUDI@delphi.com]

> Does any one have any experience lowering a 5ktq?  In the next week or so
> I am planning on installing a set of sport Koni struts up front and a set
> of H&R progessive springs all around. I have talk with a number of people
> who have said that the ride will be a little harder  but after my  86' MR2
> with eibach springs and tokiko illumina(non adjustable) shocks,I do not
> think this will bother me.

I don't have any experience with lowering a 5ktq per se but I have installed
a set of H&R springs on my '87 5k FWD and am very happy with them.  The ride
isn't excessively firm (if anything, I thought the car was too soft to begin
with!) and the car isn't lowered more than an inch or so ... it doesn't look
like a low-rider, in other words.

> What got me wondering is the the fact that  Ned  Ritchie does not recomend
> lowering the car. He seems to feel that the aligment will be affected in a
> bad way.  I would think that the aligment could be brought back to spec.

In general, lowering a car with a McPherson strut-based suspension isn't a
good idea.  Not so much because you screw up the wheel alignment (this can
be corrected pretty easily) but because you also screw up the camber curve 
and excessively lower the roll center.  The second-generation GM Camaro is
a prime example of a car that SHOULDN'T be lowered more than an inch or so
unless you also redesign the suspension and move the pickup points around.

I haven't modeled the 5000 suspension on the computer (yet...) but I think
the small amount of lowering caused by the H&R springs isn't a problem.  I
installed a set on my car (admittedly, not a quattro) and there's no doubt
they were a noticeable improvement over the OEM springs.

BTW, I've made up some spacers to experiment with increasing the amount of
anti-dive in the front suspension and have a few other ideas I plan to try
as time permits.  If any of this works, I'll let everyone know...


                /| | | |\  |   |\  | | |\  |  AudiDudi@delphi.com
               /-| | | | | | = | | | | | | |  Jeffrey Goggin
              /  | |_| |/  |   |/  |_| |/  |  Scottsdale, Arizona