Roland

Is it simply the springs and wheels, or is there sway bar, other factors?
I'm looking to upgrade suspension and wheels from non-sport '99 1.8T Avant, but I don't want it too stiff. I commute 100 miles a day, and want the comfort(i will get the SP9000's, for sure), but i want a spring/strut combination that give some smooth riding, but cheap thrills in the city and cornering. Should i keeps the struts/shocks i have, and just upgrade the springs? What about the sway bar, and other factors? Suggestions are welcome and appreciated....

CraigB

Have them installed and keep the non-sport sways for now. If you decide you want a little less body roll, then order the factory sport sways from Clair (or find them used too).

I have H&R Sport/Koni (Bilsteins go on this Friday). A few weeks ago, I upgraded the sways to the factory sport bars. It made a huge difference...it felt more stable, even driving straight down the road. The factory sport bars from Clair are about $320.

CraigB

JT

I just posted about this below. Click the link for more info.

Jeff<ul><li><a href="https://www.audiworld.com/forum/m/a4/226603.phtml">https://www.audiworld.com/forum/m/a4/226603.phtml</a</li></ul>

Roland

JT...selling...how many miles on them currently?

Rodney

In my opinion the factory sport setup achieves the optimum balance between performance and ride comfort. It was one of the key elements that sold me on the car. Many cars give great handling OR great ride, the A4 with sport suspension gives both. It includes springs, shocks, sways, wheels, and high performance tires. There's probably a pretty good chance you can find a used setup in the archives. Also, as for the tires, if you're going with summer tires I would strongly recomend that you give the SP8000's a long look. They're about half the price of the SP9000's, give dry performance that is as good as or better than the SP9000's (based on reports in the Tire Forum here and Tirerack.com's testing), and are pretty good in the rain (this is where the SP9000's have an advantage). So if money is a consideration and you don't live somewhere that gets an unusually high amount of rain the SP8000's are the better choice. As for long commutes, I've driven my A4 in Boston (plenty of potholes), and on several long trips (12-16 hours stopping only for gas) and always find it comfortable.

Regards,
Rodney

'99 A4 1.8tqms

krionic

If you are commuting 100 miles a day, then if I was YOU, I'd keep my stock suspension. I've got the factory sport suspension but I am not driving 100 miles a day, not even close. However, when I do drive long distances where I'm in the car for a couple of hours I wish I had standard suspension. Yeah, the ride is not as rough as some setups but potholes,bumps,grooves etc. get old after awhile.

I'm not telling you what to do, but 100 miles a day would get old for me. I think more than just the performance factor should be considered for someone like you. I'm sure others will come out and say "blah blah blah... I drive 150 miles a day on my Neuspeed susp." I'm sure they do, but personally I couldn't take it.

JT

26K

Roland

All things considered, I love driving the car no matter how short or long. I love the feel of the road, the grip in the turn, and the sounds of the road and turbo!! I plan on upgrading over time (Stage 1 TAP chip already in there), and little tweaks here and there are part of the joy of this car.
Thanks all for the advice.