by "average user" (avgusr)
Published 10/17/2017 at 10:44
by "average user" (avgusr)
Published 10/17/2017 at 10:44
No Tags
STARS: 0
So in my previous post I said I will get some mods for my Audi, and i have came to a list of things that i will do:
Springs
Wheels
Tint (windows, not lights)
So i looked around and shopped for some. I am sticking to 18x8 or 18x8.5 square set. The OEM tires are still in great condition (225/40/18) so I might put those on instead of new tires.
Question 1: Someone in a owners’ facebook group is selling his springs that has 10K miles on them (H&R supersports) because he is trading it in (?) and returning the car to stock. Should i consider them?
Question 2: Wheels!! Went to Tire Rack to check out some wheels. Took screenshots of a bunch of options. Let me know what you think. HRE or BBS CH-R aside, these are the ones that caught my eye. I know some of the brands are not great, but i am just looking at designs right now. As you can see i mostly like multi-spoke wheels.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
All feedback welcome.
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
10/17/2017 at 10:55, STARS: 2
Springs are cheap, the work to install them is not. I have no issues with used springs since (barring a major trauma) they don’t wear out — only the dampers do. That said, will your stock dampers work well with the H&Rs? If there’s a “matched set” of dampers for those springs, go ahead and take the plunge. You’ll be glad you did, since sport springs and stock dampers can be a little floaty and wear the dampers out prematurely. Doing the same labor repeatedly can get tedious, whereas a matched set should last 100k+ miles.
Spend the money there and leave the wheels alone — I love those five-spokes. Maybe plasti-dip them in gray or black to go with the body and tint.
$0.02 from a lifelong VAG guy :D
"Porsche was my first word" (porschewasmyfirstword)
10/17/2017 at 11:06, STARS: 2
I have no issues with used springs since (barring a major trauma) they don’t wear out
The springs don’t, but the protective coating does. If the coating breaks the (steel) springs will start to rust. But we are talking more than ten years old, more then 100,000 miles on it here.
If you change the travel you should
go ahead and take the plunge, if there’s a “matched set” of dampers.
Ash78 is totally right about that.
If you have money left:
I like this wheelset, but wouldn’t go for gray on gray-ish car. Black or silver color would work better IMHO.
"average user" (avgusr)
10/17/2017 at 11:07, STARS: 0
love the name BTW, Shouldn’t you be pulling the Orange one off the twitter machine thingy?
The S3 is my first VAG product. I have owned MB and BMW, but i was never tempted to mod until now. I might take your advice and leave the wheels alone for now and just lower it by an inch or so with either ED or H&R springs. I live in Florida, so the tint is less of a luxury and more of a necessity.
"Mini Guy- Now has a 4Runner" (gavinharter30)
10/17/2017 at 11:18, STARS: 1
I like the idea of hre rims. Especially the P101. But they are so expensive. Starting at $2,400 and to, that’s a ton
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
10/17/2017 at 11:22, STARS: 1
Yep, can’t have zero tint down there. But OTOH, the roads are all pretty good and flat, so they’re more forgiving of suspension mods (unless you travel in downtown areas a lot, in which case all bets are off).
"average user" (avgusr)
10/17/2017 at 11:30, STARS: 0
I am thinking about this set. Most of the people in the Audi group seem to recommend them, and added bonus it is designed to be used with OEM dampers.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/17/2017 at 11:36, STARS: 2
You’re going down a path that can quickly destroy your ride quality if you’re not careful.
H&R Super Sport springs are their second-stiffest spring. If you’re keeping your stock shocks I’d be inclined to avoid them in favor of something less stiff. You can use lowering springs on stock shocks, but since their valving is set up to match the softer stock springs, they don’t always provide enough damping for stiffer springs, even on a performance car like the S3. Eibach Pro Kit, H&R OE Sport, or H&R Sport would be a better choice.
For wheels, pay attention to how much they weigh. Low-profile high performance tires already are harsh riding, and if you have heavy wheels in the mix, that makes that much more energy the shocks have to damp. I looked at the weight specs for each of the wheels in your gallery (at least the Tire Rack ones):
Andros R9 - 26.0 lbs
KMC KM693 - 26.0
Verde Saga - 26.0
Advanti Fastoso - 25.0
O.Z. Superturismo GT - 25.0
BBS CS5 - 24.0
O.Z. Italia 150 - 24.0
Sport Tuning M1 - 23.9
Enkei PFS - 23.75
Enkei TM7 - 20.05
For a point of reference, I have 19x8.5 and 19x9.5 wheels on my car, and they weigh 21.65 and 21.85 lbs. My wheels are flow-formed, which is basically a fancier cast wheel manufacturing method that gives higher strength plus lower weight.
Here are several options for lighter, flow-formed wheels for you, in the general style ballpark you’re looking at. I don’t feel like screenshotting these because this reply is already too OCD.
Flow One F2 - 20.55 lbs
Enkey TY-5 - 20.5
Enkei Raijin - 20.0
Advanti Hydra - 19.2
O.Z. Leggera HLT - 19.2
Enkei PF01 - 18.2
"DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time" (dc3ls-)
10/17/2017 at 11:38, STARS: 0
After you do those mods, I’m pretty sure this sticker is mandatory at the punishment of being banned from all VAG forums.
As for the springs. I second what Ash and Porsch was my first word said.
"Thomas Donohue" (tomonomics)
10/17/2017 at 11:41, STARS: 1
I kinda like your car the way it is, then again I’m usually a stock guy. Based on the palm trees in your pic, I assume you need the tint no matter what.
(also, I hope you don’t always park like that!) ;)
"average user" (avgusr)
10/17/2017 at 11:47, STARS: 1
Wow. Thanks for your help.
I did some more reading about the H&R supersports and I am pretty sure i dont want them because it would make the ride too harsh. The dude who is selling it have them AND a set of 20 inch rims that he want to sell as a package and I cannot imagine what his ride is like (he did not mention any dampers).
I think i will go with the Emmanuale Design springs that works with the OEM dampers. It would lower the car by just less than an inch.
As for the wheels, thanks for all your hard work. Like i said I am new to modding so I have little knowledge of the matter. Its always nice to have fellow Oppo people for information and advice.
"sony1492" (sony1492)
10/17/2017 at 11:48, STARS: 0
The O.Z supertrismo and the #14 rotiform looked best imo
"average user" (avgusr)
10/17/2017 at 11:48, STARS: 0
That pic was taken 12 hours after i picked the car up and running back. Need to stop by a rest stop to take a urgent leak :)
"AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC" (addictedtom3s)
10/17/2017 at 11:51, STARS: 1
Why not just a set of OEM RS5 wheels?
Or VMR V710? These look miles better than any of the tire rack offerings. A full set can be had for around 1K if you shop around. Maybe EAS or Modbargains.
"merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc" (merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc)
10/17/2017 at 11:52, STARS: 1
Ecstuning has a bunch of wheel options. And you can look on the Audizine forum classifieds to find others, lots of options out there for your bolt pattern. I’d go 9-10” wide wheels if they fit. And no bigger than 19”
Had 19” on my B8 S4 and they were perfect tradeoff between ride and performance. 18”s were a bit squishy and 20” would be too extreme.
"average user" (avgusr)
10/17/2017 at 11:54, STARS: 1
Funny you should say VMR. My E90 had those.
"Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz)" (galileo-humpkins)
10/17/2017 at 12:01, STARS: 0
I am sticking to 18x8 or 18x8.5 square set
Dude, I don’t think square wheels are a good idea.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/17/2017 at 12:05, STARS: 1
So I looked at the Emmanuele Design springs. They have a linear spring rate. This means that they have the same firmness all the time. Progressive rate springs start out soft and firm up as they compress. Sometimes progressive rate springs, especially when you’re lowering/stiffening, can help with your ride quality.
Do you have the base suspension or magnetic ride? If you have the base shocks, I’d probably go with a progressive rate spring like Eibach Pro Kit or H&R Sport. If you have magnetic ride, the linear rate Emmanuele springs would be my choice.
"Porsche was my first word" (porschewasmyfirstword)
10/17/2017 at 12:08, STARS: 0
I can’t recommend a particular set. Im not too familiar with car springs and dampers. But I am in general. Thus I know that travel and damping rate should match. That matters a lot more on a downhill mountainbike (which has usually a lot more settings for springs and dampers than cars) as terrain and rider weight are the important factors.
The car in general has to cover a broader variety. It has to work with only a 16 year old girl (most lightweight driver I can think of) behind the wheel as well as fully loaded with 600 lb of cement in the trunk.
One inch of lowering isn’t too much, so indeed the factory dampers should be able to handle that.
Anyways, if you are serious with modding I would go with full adjustable coilovers.
"Vicente Esteve" (vicente-esteve)
10/17/2017 at 12:56, STARS: 0
JB4
"average user" (avgusr)
10/17/2017 at 16:22, STARS: 0
Cool. I do not have mag-ride. So i am going to have to look around.
"average user" (avgusr)
10/19/2017 at 09:50, STARS: 0
So i made some posts and some polls all over the forums and on the FB group for MQB owners. The vast majority prefers ED Springs and apparently there is a company called APB i should look at.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
10/19/2017 at 10:53, STARS: 0
I’m sure plenty of people are happy with the ED springs, nothing about them is bad. Especially for those with the DCC suspension, the stock springs are linear rate so it makes sense to stick with linear rate springs since the DCC computer is calibrated based on the assumption of linear rate springs.
They’re probably talking about APR , which also look to be linear rate.
The coils are all evenly spaced, so they’re the same stiffness throughout their travel.
Progressive springs like the H&R Sport look like this, where the coils get closer together towards the top.
I definitely wouldn’t run these on DCC but sometimes with regular shocks, you might get a bit more of an improvement in handling by going with a progressive rate spring.
Mild linear rate lowering springs like ED & APR aren’t changing the spring rate over stock very much, because they have to potentially work with stock shocks. You get lower and a little stiffer but it’s not a huge change.
Progressive rate springs start out at a similar stiffness to stock but as they get compressed, you get into the part where the coils are closer together and they’re stiffer. Typically you’re only compressing the spring to this point in fast turns, not over bumps. So you get the smooth ride in the beginning but more roll resistance in turns.
But, this is all just speaking about things in general, since my only experience with an S3 like yours is riding shotgun in a former coworker’s car a few times.