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Audi A4 B7: Suspension Modifications

From economical mods to autocross ready upgrades, read on to see how you can lower your A4 with correct camber and good wheel fitment, using common tools, in your own garage.

By Scott Phillips - June 20, 2016

This article applies to the Audi A4 B7 (2005-2008).

The A4 is an excellent platform with plenty of sporting potential, but the suspension compliance is tuned for the rising executive vying for the corner office. Fortunately, for the gutsy entrepreneur and weekend autocrosser, suspension mods are plentiful and effective. All of these mods require a spring compressor and swapping the Audi front upper mounting brackets over to the new components. If you are not comfortable using a spring compressor, you can do most of the work yourself, but let an independent shops swap the mounting bracket for a small fee.

Important Note

Suspension bolts must always be torqued with the suspension compressed and the weight of the car on the wheels. You can compress the suspension by lowering the car onto four ramps, or by individually raising each suspension corner with a floor jack while the A4 is on jack stands. Tightening suspension bolts with the wheel drooping will cause binding and early bushing failure.

The three following sections will review Entry Level, Intermediate Level and Advanced Level mods. Each section is priced accordingly and has effective performance mods that work together. But first take a look at your A4's suspension components and the wheel gap we're going for:

Figure 1. Suspension mods.

Entry Level Mods

These entry level components are an economical starting point for A4 suspension modifications. These parts will lower the car by 1" to 1.5" to reduce your wheel gap, and improve handling.

  • Moderate lowering can be accomplished with Neuspeed Sport springs on OEM Audi shocks or OEM type aftermarket replacements.
  • Installing the ST SportTech shocks and springs accomplish the same lowering, but will improve the service life of the shocks, with components tuned to function together.
  • Because lowering causes negative wheel camber, the Whiteline eccentric control arm bushings are a cost effective way to bring your wheel camber back to proper spec.

Neuspeed Sport Springs

DIY Cost – $430
Professional Cost – $650
Skill Level – Moderate; involves jacking the A4 and disassembling suspension. Requires a spring compressor.

Neuspeed lowering springs replace the stock springs, stiffening the ride and lowering the A4 as much as 1.5". The front struts must be removed and a spring compressor is used to swap the Neuspeed springs onto the shocks. The affordable Harbor Freight spring compressor is faster and safer than many standard compressors because it uses a single jack-screw drive that will not kink the spring. The rear springs are independent of the rear shocks, but the rear subframe must be loosened and lowered a bit to remove and install the springs.

Recommended for those looking for economical springs that set a fixed lowered ride height.

ST SportTech Shocks and Springs

DIY Cost – $880
Professional Cost – $1,200
Skill Level – Moderate; involves jacking the A4 and disassembling suspension. Requires a spring compressor.

SportTech shocks are valved for the spring rate of the SportTech springs, which lowers the A4 by 1". The shock damping is optimized for the higher spring rate; providing responsive handling, a balanced chassis and longer service life. The Audi front shock upper mount brackets must be swapped to the SportTech shocks, using a spring compressor. If the upper mounts or brackets are worn, this is a good opportunity to replace them.

Recommended for those looking for affordable, matched shocks and springs that set a fixed lowered ride height.

Whiteline Camber Correcting Control Arm Bushings

DIY Cost – $250
Professional Cost – $400
Skill Level – Moderate to Difficult; involves jacking the A4 and removing the control arms. Requires a bushing press.

Lowering the A4 induces a negative camber to the wheels. For 1" to 2" of lowering, the upper control arms must be lengthened by 0.1-0.2" to restore normal camber and reduce tire wear. The Whiteline eccentric bushings replace the stock bushings and offset the bolt hole to lengthen the control arms. The Whiteline bushings must be pressed into the control arms in the correct position and have a corrective range of -0.5° to +0.5° of camber. If you plan on doing a lot of track or autocross driving with your car, you may like the extra camber you get with a lowering spring, or even install these reversed for even more negative camber. Your turn in will improve and your have more grip in the corners, but your tire wear will suffer.

Recommended for those looking to correct the camber for a lowered ride that was set by non-adjustable shocks and springs.

Intermediate Level Components

Wheels and tires are critical to maintaining grip in a lowered A4.

  • The VMR 19" wheel with a lower profile tire takes away some of the flexible tire sidewall and replaces it with the rigid rim, giving quicker response to direction changes.
  • For a secure contact patch, add Ultra High Performance tires like Continental Extreme Contacts for year round use or Firestone Firehawks for summer only.
  • The ECS Tuning WheelRite tool takes the fitment guesswork out of choosing wheels and tires.
  • Koni FSD (Frequency Selective Damping) shocks automatically adjust to your spirited driving, while matched Eibach Pro springs are engineered for them.

VMR V718 19" Wheels

DIY Cost – $1,150
Professional Cost – $1,500
Skill Level – Easy; similar to changing a flat.

Upgrading to VMR, or any other reputable brand 19" wheels and lower profile tires, reduces sidewall flex while maintaining the same outer tire diameter. The greater sidewall stiffness improves steering response and handling sharpness and the V718 wheels bolt directly to the Audi hubs without hub rings. VMR wheels reduce unsprung weight and meet the strength requirements of the German TUV.

Recommended for those seeking good looks and sharper handling at moderate cost.

Ultra High Performance Tires for 19" Wheels

DIY Cost – $900
Professional Cost – $1,150
Skill Level – Easy; get a tire shop to do the hard part; mount the tires to the wheels.

Continental Extreme Contact DWS06: Developed from the IMSA Continental SportsCar Challenge races, the DWS (Dry-Wet-Snow) is optimized for grip, but with impressive all season performance. Quick View wear indicators are built into the tread design, which combines high grip and long life features into an asymmetric pattern.

Firestone Firehawk Indy 500: The Firehawk's wide shoulder blocks and water grooves provide outstanding traction on dry and wet roads in Summer heat. The rubber compound is tuned for cornering grip and the asymmetric tread makes tire rotation simple. The Firehawk is superb in the summer, but not meant for cold temperatures or all season use.

Percy WheelRite tool: The WheelRite from ECS Tuning costs less than $100 and allows you to check all manner of tire measurements on the car before. This tool bolts to your wheel hub and adjusts in multiple ways to simulate wheel and tire combinations up to 11" wide and 30" high. You can check clearance, backspacing and possible tire rubbing to ensure your wheel and tire purchase will fit without issue.

Recommended for those seeking race-inspired traction in street tires at moderate prices.

Eibach Pro Springs with Koni FSD Shocks

DIY Cost – $1,050
Professional Cost – $1,400
Skill Level – Moderate; involves jacking the A4 and disassembling suspension. Requires a spring compressor.

Koni's Frequency Selective Damping shocks employs a speed sensitive control valve to reduce damping force and absorb bumps (high frequency compression) but becomes firm for stability in corners (low frequency compression). The FSD control valve is integral to the shock, maintenance free, and requires no additional sensors or electronics. The Koni shocks will provide ride comfort equal to or smoother than OEM, while handling corners nearly as firmly as dedicated sport shocks. The Eibach Pro springs provide a stiffer ride perfectly matched to the Koni shocks, and lower the A4 1" to 1.5". As with the other suspension kits, a spring compressor must be used to swap the Audi upper brackets onto the new shocks.

Recommended for those looking for matched shocks and springs that set a fixed ride height, with automatic response to comfort and sport driving.

Advanced Level Components

For high quality suspension tuning, from the street to the track, the components must be adjustable on-the-car and they must work together.

  • Bilstein PSS9 coilovers can be quickly adjusted through 20mm height range and nine stages of shock damping.
  • SPC Performance control arms adjust camber from -1.5° to +1.5° to correct for ride height changes.
  • H&R adjustable sway bars are stiffer than stock and provide two settings to adjust handling balance.

Bilstein PSS9 Coilovers

DIY Cost – $2,250
Professional Cost – $2,650
Skill Level – Difficult; installation is the easy part, adjusting it all and dialing the handling is the hard part.

PSS9 coilovers have a 20mm height adjustment range and lower the A4 from 30 to 50mm (1" to 2"). The gas pressurized Monotube shocks have nine stages of compression and rebound damping: from comfortable to aggressive. Both the ride height and shock damping are on-car adjustable. Bilstein Triple C Technology coating provides long-term corrosion protection, and gives them a reputation of lasting the lifetime of the car. As with the other suspension kits, a spring compressor must be used to swap the Audi upper brackets onto the Bilstein coilovers.

Recommended for those who want high quality suspension that is both height and damping adjustable for performance driving versatility.

SPC Performance Adjustable Control Arms

DIY Cost – $800
Professional Cost – $1,200
Skill Level – Difficult; installation is the easy part, adjusting it all and dialing the handling is the hard part.

Lowering the A4 induces a negative camber to the wheels, which gives you better grip in the corners, but accelerates tire wear. SPC control arms provide more precise camber adjustment than the Whiteline offset bushings. They adjust both camber and caster from -1.5° to +1.5° and are on-car adjustable. The installation may require grinding some metal off the upper mounting plate to allow for full range of motion. If you do install these, you most likely will also need to buy camber/caster measuring tools and learn to align your front end for the best handling.

Recommended for those who want precise control over their suspension adjustments.

H&R Adjustable Sway Bars

DIY Cost – $600
Professional Cost – $750
Skill Level – Moderate; involves jacking the A4 and minimal disassembly.

With the stiffer coil over springs, lowered suspension, better damping, and camber corrected, the addition of H&R sway bars is the last step. Sway bars minimizes body roll to increase cornering grip. H&R bars are made in Germany from 50CrV4 spring steel. Forged ends provide strength for the 2-position mounts and urethane/Teflon bushings provide squeak-free performance The two mount holes allow for on-car adjustable stiffness, with the inner being stiffer and the outer more compliant. The bars mount to the subframes at the factory bushing points and connect to the OEM Audi end links.

Recommended for those seeking maximum suspension performance, and component compatibility.

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