The HANDLING is my main concern.

I am planing on getting better springs/shox, replacing bushings and stuff, however I want it to handle as good as a stock A4 at least :-)

Is it possible or not? of course anything is possible, but does the springs/shocks replacement dramatically change the behavior of the car? Will it make it feel neutral, with almost no body roll, and a tiny bit more oversteer than understeer?

I remember when 200tq made a post that type 44 will never be a competitive autoX car and that kinda scared me away. I know he's been autXing his car for quite sometime and he knows his stuff, but I do autoXing for fun so competing against the whole group of cars is more fun to me than being a champion in one of the classes. Also with the mods that I am planing to do the car will be in the "unlimited" class where highly modified CRX's rule, so it won't matter for me.

What I want is the car that I won't have to wrestle with during the corner when the body is leaning at a 75 degree angle :-)

I've noticed some people lowered their cars, so it would be nice to hear how it changed overall handling of the car.


Here is the pic of my old 200t(FWD):

<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/xelander/c.jpg">

With stock suspension and those wheels, when I filled up full tank and had couple passengers in the back, on bumps it would rub in the rear pretty bad, therefore most of the time I drove with less than 1/2 tank full, lol

<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/xelander/c1.jpg">

I don't remember exactly, but the tires were probably a little too big and that's why all that rubbing was going on, so I assume with the right wheel/tire combo in a lowered car, rubbing won't be a problem. Correct?

It's a long post now, so I will try to summarize what my questions are:

1. Is it reasonable to assume that lowered type 44 will handle as well as a stock sport suspension a4 or better?

2. What's the stiffest suspension setup is available there?

3. What setup are u running and what are your impressions after stock?

5. Am I asking too much? :-) What would you suggest?

type 44 is the best deal on the market right now, with it's turbo engine, quattro, and all luxuries, so that's what I am trying to get. If I wanted to get another older 90 and swap a 10vt engine in it, I would no be here asking you questions :-)

Tnx in advance for your opinions guys and gals :-)

<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/xelander/c_low.jpg">

Alex,

If you really want to try to make a fridge fly, I would suggest H&amp;R with Koni yellows. Ned at IA once suggested the V8 H&amp;R - that might warrant some further investigation.

Don't go too low. Going too low will only increase the poor camber curves at the front of the car. This severly reduces your contact patch, and will wear out the outer edge of your front tires.

Then you'll want to add a rear sway bar. I understand rear sway bars are difficult to find. Somebody once told me that you can retrofit a B5 S4 bar, but that custom end links would need to be manufactured.

A chip would also help. This is allowable in FSS here but if you race in the US you'll probably end up in SM or some such class. A wastegate spring would help if its allowed - need to check the rulebook.

I think it would be fun to develop a type 44 for FSP. It won't win, but you might certainly surprise a few people with such a big car.

Crash bolts would help a lot too. Not sure what's available but you could contact Audi Canada.

Here's an ideal setup for FSS:
H&amp;R springs - 3 pts
Koni yellows - allowable
rear sway bar - 1 pt
chip - 2 pts
wastegate spring - IF allowable
pefr exhaust
15x8 wheels with Hoosier or new Kumho V710 235/45/15
TOTAL: 6 pts

Then add a fire extinguisher (mounted in trunk) and you can offset that with removal of the back seat.

Let me know if you are going to proceed - I can help you source parts locally.

the front sway bar. This was suggested for a VW Fox to help rid understeer. I dunno if it is a good thing to do on these cars, but it helped out my bro's Fox. Also, there's a cheap front strut bar you can construct. Look around for a "Benz Bar" I think. It was deveoloped by a guy named Bernie Benz.

There are couple 90's running around with H&amp;R springs/Bilsein shock setups and after a while owners reported that it is not really that stiff. Some of them even switched to Intraxx springs which were stiffer and of course made the car lower. I assume type44s are so undesirable autoX cars that there are no camber kits available when going low. :-)

I will be checking out an '86 5ktq on saturday and see if it suits my needs. I would definitely choose your car over the 5k, but it's a little out of my price range since I am planing to have some money left over for mods. :-)

I will keep everybody updated :-)

H&amp;R springs/ KYB struts for the 200. They lower the car an inch and a half which is perfect, any lower may cause problems.
Other stuff will include
Upgraded brakes and new wheels/tires (although I may just throw some Kuhmos on the stock BBS' for a while)
once I get the car all sound suspension/handling/brake wise the next project will be- MegaSquirt EFI, ECU ugrade and higher boost. Should be good for well over 200HP.
Way in the future would be my own built 20VT (from a 7A head etc), when I am not satisfied with that anymore Twin turbo 4.2L V8 Baby ! ;) hehehe
Fun fun stuff :)

Its a integral part of the front suspension.

Speced for the urS4/S6 and 92-94 V8 but can be used on any type 44 by swiping the upper strut pieces from a 92-94 100.

Added bonus...92-94 100/urS4/V8 upper strut mounts are a major improvement over the junk 5k/200 parts.

KT

sorts. Remove the ARB, and your suspension will fall apart, well sorta, it'll collapse and probably bend/break something in the process. I can see going to a softer bar, or adding a rear bar. Can also see putting stiffer springs out back to help promote weight transfer (get the car more neutral).

A rear ARB from the new B6 A4 may be more desireable, looks similar to the V8/100/A6/S4/S6 piece in how it mounts (trails the suspension, uses a short link to connect the end to the suspension). Factory has 16 and 18mm versions. Doesn't mean that the B5 variant wouldn't work either (comes as a 12.5mm or 15mm).

<center><img src="http://i9.ebayimg.com/02/i/01/2b/e2/47_1.JPG"></center><p>

Eh....it was just an idea...that's why I said I HEARD that and wasn't sure if it would work on these cars. You're welcome for the entertainment tho.