carbonLORD

When I fist had the coil overs installed in late November we went with a ride height of 25.75 in the rear, and 25.50 inches in the front. Over 1,500 miles, after the install of the H-Sports and a period of 3 months, the ride height lowered a tad as things settle in. I ended up at the same height as Dallas2.7T at 25.25 inches all the way around. Never at any time did the car rub but the ride became somewhat stiffer and the H-Sports contributed to this I'm sure.

My mechanic had time to see me last night, Dough Hillman at VFC-Engineering.com. I showed up at 7PM on a rainy cold Chicago evening and what I like most about Doug is, he is thorough and the price for the adjustment and the time using his shop.....free!

Little did I know raising the car a half inch would be a 3+ hour ordeal. Doug said the H&R's are one of the best rides but that they use Cadmium(?) shock bodies which are subject to corrosion on the adjustment threads, unlike some other brands which use stainless steel bodies, he said. No worries, a little spray of WD40 and some torque and everything was in line, ready to adjust....

Up on the lift, wheels off, adjust, wheels on, down, measure, up again.........this went on for 3 hours (again thorough) as we raised, wheels, adjusted, lowered some 5-6 times. The first time, we over did it on he adjustment but this was a plesant surprise as we managed to get the rear up to almost 28 inches (close to non sport stock height) which tells me, the H&R's really have a wide range of adjustability. I initially thought the coilovers were pushing it at the 25.75 inch height but Doug pointed out that even at the close to 28 inch ride height, there was still several threads to go even higher.

We again raised, adjusted, etc and came to a point where the rear was an even 26" and the front 25.75 instead of my original height of 25.75 rear and 25.5 front. This is little less then a two finger gap, where at 25.25 there was room for one and a half fingers at best in the wheel well space. Doug asked "ready to make the final adjustment?" I paused, saying, "No, I think this looks pretty good. I'd like to try it like this for a while and see how it goes". He was cool with it, if I was. Doug keeps working until the customer is %100 which is why I keep on returning as a customer.

The rain stopped and I took it on a ride. It is amazing what a half inch will do. In all honesty, at 25.25 inches where it settled at, it did not fair entirely well over lumpy imperfections where road tar had caused speed bump type of road sections, especially when making hard turns through it (again, somewhat the H-Sports are to blame for this) which would sometimes result in the front bobbing up and down quickly (and perhaps even bottoming out on larger rough road segments). I always felt I needed to be extra cautious over larger bumps and steep ramps as well, including car ports. Well, at the new height, the car has much more compliance over mid size bumps and it seems the compression and rebound have more leeway and again, thanks to the H-Sports, cornering still remains flat and consistant, but now the H&R's really perform better over those same small imperfections when hard cornering.

I also like the height, very much as I had it initially. After it settled I felt a little slammed, a little too pimp, even for yer good pal the carbonLORD. It is still about a half inch lower then an RS 6, but it looks terrific and I am even more confident in the handling characteristics in the city now. So glad I went with adjustable.

Hope my write up was useful, enjoy! It's Friday ya'll, I'll have more to report after a few hundred miles of weekend driving............and now for the fun pic.

<img src="http://www.carbonLORD.com/Audi/DallasJail.jpg">

DoubleB

LOL!!! Some one had to do it, looks like a jailbreak there would be easier than on the forum

A8 L Sport 20

How much were the OEM RS6 Wheels? Is the bolt pattern and offset the same as the standard 17"ers?

dougaross

When you change the height do you need have to alignment

TeddyBGame

nice write up!!

Mitch S6 Avant

so far so good, but I haven't put enough miles on it to give any feedback. I'll put 1000mi on it or so and report back. That right rear measurement has me worried though and I'll go back to get it lowered 1/4" when I return from my trip.

So far so good though! Really a transformation of the wagon! I agree with you though that in order to have flat cornering the sways may need to be installed - but at the expense of some lateral bump comfort. Always tradeoffs!

Thanks for the WD40 tip!

carbonLORD

It tracks under all speeds just the same, does not pull.

carbonLORD

OEM RS 6 wheels with Dunlops (Stock tire for RS 6) would run close to $4,000 from the dealer. I managed an unused set for half that with FedEx COD ground (5 days) from LA to Chicago from an owner which went with 19's at delivery.

They are not the same specs as a 17" wheel, which I had on my former 2.8. The OEM RS4 wheel in 17". I paid $2K from the dealer (no tires either) and they were 17x7.5 with an offset of ET42. Yokohama's were on there 235/45/17

My current wheels are 18x8.5 ET30 with 255/40/18 Dunlops.

Bolt pattern is all the same (unless you had a TT so don't buy TT ALMS wheels, they would not work).

carbonLORD

After mine settled in, the rear was actually 25.25 on the left and 25.5 on the right, still tracked and did not pull, just a little too low at that 25.25 height.

Quick adjustment to the right and youll be set. Don't worry about it though. No uneven tire wear in 1500 miles for me when it was staggered like yours.

monkeypilot

it is a pain in the *** and time consuming. The
fronts were relatively easy, only had to turn the wheels out and jack it up. But the backs suck hard, constant wheel removal and replacement.
Mine also settled a small bit, but I think I'd
like to lower the rear .5 inch more, at the most.
I'm currently at 25.75" front &amp; 26.5" rear.
BTW, for those with DTM RS4 wheels like mine, it would be a good idea to wrap your wrench/socket
with masking tape or duct tape. It helps prevent
scratching the inner recess where the exposed bolts are.