Boge Turbo for ur-quattro...

[Bryan Gunn <bgunn@voicetek.com>]

Mike (and anyone else interested),

The OEM Boge struts are hydraulic. I don't know if Boge Turbo Gas (or
whatever the correct name is) struts are available for these cars, but
if AM Cars says they are, then believe it. From what I have read, Adam
Marsden (AM) and his crew over in England are probably the most knowledgeable
ur-quattro people around.

As far as springs go, I still have the originals in my '85 (struts, too), but
I do personally know of one gentleman who put Koni adjustables and H&R springs
in his '85 and HATED it. He said the springs lowered the car too much and 
were way too stiff. They actually made the car handle worse. He then installed
Eibach progressive rate springs (with the same Koni struts) and said the 
improvement was amazing. The ride was massively improved (over the H&Rs)
and the car handled way better than stock and leagues better than with the
H&Rs. I know that all the UK quattro people always say that H&Rs and Konis 
are the hot setup for these cars, but when you actually talk to someone
who's done it, you start to change your mind...unless he somehow got the
wrong set of H&Rs.

You should seriously look into the Konis. Since there is so little solid info
and so much bs out there as to the best suspension setup for these cars, it
makes sense to give yourself as much control as possible. With Konis, you
can change the damping yourself, so it removes some the uncertainty (if you
do get Konis, spend the extra money to get them made top adjustable). I
don't know of any unhappy people with Konis in their ur-quattros.

And I don't know of anyone that's unhappy with Eibach progressive rate springs
in their ur-quattros. So with the Koni/Eibach setup, you stand the best chance
of getting something that works well.

I guess the best advice is to get a 2nd opinion, and probably a 3rd and 4th
opinion on any suspension package. Try and find someone else that has it and
see what they think. It is so easy to blow a big chunk of change on the 
suspension in these cars and end up with something you aren't happy with.

Good luck and let us know what you find out and decide to do.

Later
-- 
Bryan Gunn                  Email: bgunn@voicetek.com 
Voicetek Corporation          Tel: 508.250.7998
19 Alpha Road                 Fax: 508.250.9378
Chelmsford, MA  01824