Jamex Springs

[Neil Swanson <75377.3445@compuserve.com>]

My thoughts,

$99 for springs?  Great price.  Hell twice that is a great price. 
But........

With no audi experience with these or others I'll add my two cents based on
my experience with several springs for the Merkur Xr4.  And it is alot.

A 10% increase for a 1.5" drop is no way gonna do it...NO WAY.  Consider
that you just removed 1.5"s of travel from your suspension.  How much
travel do you think you had to begin with?  Did you just remove 30% of it. 
Or more?  Maybe we can guestimate the front travel by looking up into the
dust boot and seeing the distance to the snubber.

 To increase only 10% may keep the ride intact but I can't believe that
you'll keep the car off the bump stops.  I'd say these are more of an
"appearence" spring than a true sport spring.  And that may be what you are
looking for but consider amny things first.  among them, can you ever get
rid of all that front camber you just got?

If this were an Xr........   I had Eibachs first.  For as much as they
lower a car they were too soft.  So they need to be taller for the soft
rate, or firmer for the low stance.

I've seen and driven Spax springs to.  Too low for as soft as they are and
they are more than 10% stiffer than stock.  Same for HR.  And those too
soft springs tend to hammer Konis to their death as they bottom out
internally.  Nearly everybody who has warranteed Konis through me or other
sources and generally bad mouth Konis has lowered their car 1.5 inches or
so.

There are replacement standard ride height springs for the Xr that are
about 10% firmer.  Just not worth it and nowhere near a really good
handling upgrade.  They feel as stock as stock but they do get a sagged car
off the ground.

The springs I run and sell to other Xr owners lower the car less than any
spring out there. Cars need travel.  It is a good thing.   On an absolutely
stock ride height car, tough to find these days, they will drop 3/4".  Most
cars drop by 1/2-5/8 inch. Some are so sagged they get raised. Hardley
anything drop wise but it does improve the appearence which is afterall
what most owners are looking for. .  But my rates are more like 30-40% over
stock. That is far higher than any other off the shelf spring for these
cars.  And compared to a softer appearence spring they ride better.  I
don't hit the bump stops 'cause I have travel and the body isn't always
moving/wallowing over every single dip/drop in the road 'cause I have
enough rate.  And the Konis have an easy time keeping the spring in
control. The very unadjustable Xr front and rear suspension are very close
to, sometimes closer to stock specs than all the other lower springs. 
These cars run neg camber all around from day one.  We really don't need 3
degrees of neg camber and yet maybe tolerate it.


 These aren't race springs but a good street sport spring.  They are good
auto-X springs where the Eibachs are on the snubbers, bouncing off rubber
and that rubbers infinite spring rate.  And they don't cost $99 either.

How did I arrive at these rates?   I bought springs from the top Cosworth
Sierra tuner in the UK.  Then after tweeking several sets to allow for US
weights/heights etc I have a very good set.  I've had six sets of springs
in my Xr including the Eibachs.  Absurd but true.


So what I'd like for a 44 car is maybe a stock height spring with a 10%
increase.  Or a 1/2" lowering spring with more than 10% rate increase. 
Nobody offers such a spring.  Something to better support the weight of the
car, to keep it from always moving around on the soft springs that we then
try to control with tight Konis or whatever. Konis ain't springs.

So just consider the drop vs rate increase.  Me, I don't think it near
enough.  

Anybody know how much firmer the sport springs in the new 30V A4 are than
the standard springs?  And what is it, 20mm lower?   I'd be curious to
know.  My guess, and it IS a guess is that they are more than 10% firmer. 
And about 1/2 the drop of the Jamex.

Just my thoughts and they based on 10 years of tweeking the Xr and selling
springs for them.  And only based on what I've read here about the H&Rs and
Eibach cars.  Some of you have been happy, some not.

Opinons?

Neil
NSPS