B4 coilovers. not as pretty as Mance's, but they get the job done. Bye bye nose dive =D
03-20-2006, 08:49 PM
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B4 coilovers. not as pretty as Mance's, but they get the job done. Bye bye nose dive =D
no pictures of the rears because me & Koupekrazy were so quick on install that I neglected to make any photo documentation. Basically the rear coilovers comprise of the sleeves, collars, and spring perch that you buy from ECS as their "in-house" B5 A4q rear coilover setup. That all will fit onto a Bilstien BE3-2669 shock, and allows for use of a 2.5" ID spring. The bitchass part of this rear coilover fitment is to do with the main compartment/housing that holds the top of the shock and also acts as the upper spring perch. The inside diameter for this area is larger than the coilover springs, so without creative modification the 2.5" ID springs cannot fit onto the perch. What we did was heat (to cherry red) the guides for the spring inner diameter and then index them -evenly- inwards until they were barely under the 2.5" tolerance. At that point the spring perch happily accepted the spring and everything sat level. I'm sure this is very difficult to visualize, so later in the week hopefully I can get pictures to better demonstrate the work.
FYI, the rear springs are 500#. front is 450#
Fronts were pretty straight forward... basically I did the equivalent of what B3 & CQ folks do with the Ground Control 4kq rear sleeves; only I didn't use GC parts. got some hand-me-down sleeves, collars, & spring perches =)
AFAIK with the GC sleeves they are slighly oversized as compared to the strut tube, which necessitates some sort of padding. The sleeves I was given were just a bit small for the B4 strut, so I had to shave off a bit of tube metal and then pressed the sleeve on... needless to say it's never gonna slip/turn and is probably never going to come off either.
Impressions on the road: FVCKING ASTOUNDING!!!!!! I love love love love LOVE 'em! prettymuch perfect for me & what I plan to do. I had two goals in mind when I decided to commit to the coilover project: get rid of nose dive (cause by upgraded brakes), and, promote oversteer. Well the 450's up front have successfuly obliterated the brake-induced dive, and the 500's in the rear have marginally improved the tail happiness (although to be fair I haven't totally run this new suspension through the wringer yet as far as mad twisties are concerned). Ride height is set prettymuch where the Vogtlands put it (which is where I like it). Another bonus to going with the stiffer springs is that now -with the 18x8.5's- I don't rub on the inner fenders at all anymore, w00t!! Another bonus is that the car doesn't porpose during all shifts. The body stays almost perfectly flat, so there's no whiplash action when slamming it through the gears.
All in all I'm super pleased. Completely transforms the way the car handles now. It's very fun to drive, and NO the ride quality is not sh*t. The Bilstien dampers handle the bumps very well, and there is no pain what-so-ever to the passengers.
So if you've read all this I guess you deserve some pictures, though there aren't that many. I'd be happy to answer any questions ya'll may have.
<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/r_turner/images/front_pair.jpg">
<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/r_turner/images/front_pair2.jpg">
<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/r_turner/images/spring_closeup.jpg">
<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/r_turner/images/front_installed.jpg">
FYI, the rear springs are 500#. front is 450#
Fronts were pretty straight forward... basically I did the equivalent of what B3 & CQ folks do with the Ground Control 4kq rear sleeves; only I didn't use GC parts. got some hand-me-down sleeves, collars, & spring perches =)
AFAIK with the GC sleeves they are slighly oversized as compared to the strut tube, which necessitates some sort of padding. The sleeves I was given were just a bit small for the B4 strut, so I had to shave off a bit of tube metal and then pressed the sleeve on... needless to say it's never gonna slip/turn and is probably never going to come off either.
Impressions on the road: FVCKING ASTOUNDING!!!!!! I love love love love LOVE 'em! prettymuch perfect for me & what I plan to do. I had two goals in mind when I decided to commit to the coilover project: get rid of nose dive (cause by upgraded brakes), and, promote oversteer. Well the 450's up front have successfuly obliterated the brake-induced dive, and the 500's in the rear have marginally improved the tail happiness (although to be fair I haven't totally run this new suspension through the wringer yet as far as mad twisties are concerned). Ride height is set prettymuch where the Vogtlands put it (which is where I like it). Another bonus to going with the stiffer springs is that now -with the 18x8.5's- I don't rub on the inner fenders at all anymore, w00t!! Another bonus is that the car doesn't porpose during all shifts. The body stays almost perfectly flat, so there's no whiplash action when slamming it through the gears.
All in all I'm super pleased. Completely transforms the way the car handles now. It's very fun to drive, and NO the ride quality is not sh*t. The Bilstien dampers handle the bumps very well, and there is no pain what-so-ever to the passengers.
So if you've read all this I guess you deserve some pictures, though there aren't that many. I'd be happy to answer any questions ya'll may have.
<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/r_turner/images/front_pair.jpg">
<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/r_turner/images/front_pair2.jpg">
<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/r_turner/images/spring_closeup.jpg">
<img src="http://members.shaw.ca/r_turner/images/front_installed.jpg">
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03-21-2006, 03:41 AM
#10
Want an even bigger/better treat?
Swap your spring rate ratios front-to-rear and lose the rear sway bar altogether. In fact an even smaller diameter front bar helps too. Right now you're gonna pick up the inside rear tire completely off the ground on hard cornering in sharp turns. All cars hate that and Quattro in particular. And no amount of locking diffs or LSDs can prevent it. And if you have pre-loadable front strut bar its worse, rear strut bars worse yet and roll cage, its intolerable.
Best B4Q spring ratios I've found to-date after testing in 25lb increments from 300-650lbs front and rear is 550F/450R with stock diameter front swaybar and no rear. You think you have no brake dive now? You aint seen nuttin yet! And the body will remain flatter in turns than even with an RS2 28mm front/Neuspeed 23mm rear swaybar (now how would you think I could possibly know that? ;-). I only use smaller diameter bars now front and rear and for "balance" only. I let the springs perform the anti-roll function. This keeps more of the "independent" in my independent 4-wheel suspension.
But ya done good kiddo on your first time out. Most wont start anywhere near those spring rates right outta the chutes. Your choice of spring rates is the closest I've seen anyone getting it right in a B4Q on the first try! WTG!!
Heheheh and I'll just bet you're lovin it! Of course ya do! Whats not to love!?! You're dangersouly close to PERFECT!!
Best B4Q spring ratios I've found to-date after testing in 25lb increments from 300-650lbs front and rear is 550F/450R with stock diameter front swaybar and no rear. You think you have no brake dive now? You aint seen nuttin yet! And the body will remain flatter in turns than even with an RS2 28mm front/Neuspeed 23mm rear swaybar (now how would you think I could possibly know that? ;-). I only use smaller diameter bars now front and rear and for "balance" only. I let the springs perform the anti-roll function. This keeps more of the "independent" in my independent 4-wheel suspension.
But ya done good kiddo on your first time out. Most wont start anywhere near those spring rates right outta the chutes. Your choice of spring rates is the closest I've seen anyone getting it right in a B4Q on the first try! WTG!!
Heheheh and I'll just bet you're lovin it! Of course ya do! Whats not to love!?! You're dangersouly close to PERFECT!!