In a about 9 months my RS will get a LS1 w/heads and cam & A4 swap. 3,200 stall & 3.73 rear. Based on my experience doing other LS1 set ups, engine set up is capable of 400+ at the wheels. The car will be street driven and go to the track once in a while. I think with the LS1 swap about 300 pounds will be coming out of the car. Around 200 for the engine swap, 50 for the A/C and another 50 in losing the steel drive shaft for aluminum, back set, spare tire, jack & new light weight battery etc. The subframes, wonderbar, tranny cooler will add a few pounds back. I think the car will be about 3150 after the swap with most of the weight reduction coming out of the front of the car.

Currently, I'm doing the basic ground work to get the car ready. Phase 1 is getting the suspension stuff taken car of for the swap.

The car had the front suspension rebuilt at 220,000 miles. Currently, it has 285,6xx miles on it. The front struts are due for replacement. The springs I selected for the front when the suspension was rebuilt are stiff and raised the nose of the car about 1 inch. I don't care about the stiff part but the raised nose bothers me. So it's a good time to replace front & rear springs while doing the struts and shocks.

The stock ride height or slightly lower is fine.

The car is an A4, but I'd like for the it to handle well.

I'll be doing weld in subframes, and wonder bar when doing the springs & stuff. The rear already has the SLP LCA's, Panhard, etc

I can do the Bilsteins but are they really worth doing for an A4 car? I'm not going to be autocrossing. I have Bilsteins & Eibachs on the 99 T/A they are nice and I would do again but that car is an M6 not an A4.

In the past the car has had various struts, Stock, Koni's, KYB's, Monroes all seemed ok when new and all of them were trash after about 60,000 to 70,000miles.

I also open to suggestions for springs.

Thank You & Best Regards

 

I don't know why you think Bilsteins wouldn't be good for an A4. Bilstein offers great shocks and struts, I have to swap my fronts because they will not work with my Spohn strut tops, So I'm going for Koni struts. Both are great absorbers so I'd go for either of the two if I were you.

 

Sure Bilsteins would be nice but my issue with them is are they worth the money for the difference?

A4's can't quiet carve up the corners with the ease an M5/M6 can with the typical driver. I've always been pretty happy with the stock handling of the car. I'm not sure if I'll get enough benefit out of the Bilsteins to make them worth the expense.

 

I am currently rebuilding my frontend on my 85 as we speak. I am using Moog 5662 springs. They are the Iroc OEM style replacement. As for struts, I am using Bilstien VE3-C522-HO. They are the only replacemnt strut they carry for the front. I rebuilt my 86 with these parts, and was very sastified with the ride and performance. It retains the stock height, which some may not like, as lowered cars seem to be the trend. The Bilsteins are currently out of stock at most retailers and the Bilstein warehouse is also out. I got the last set from Shox.com., others may have them, but you will have to search. Badman

 

I am currently redoing the suspension on my 83 Trans Am. I went with Canuck Motorsports springs($180), which are an advertised 2 inch drop. These springs will do wonders for handling. I went with KYB GR2 struts and shocks, and KYB strut mounts. I am also converting to Energy Suspension bushings on everything. And as for struts and shocks, unless your going to be racing all the time then dont waste your money on the high dollar struts and shocks, I could replace my KYB GR2's 3 or 4 times before I match the price of some of the other rediculous brands. So lets say 50K miles times 3 or 4 replacements, hmmm, at least 150K miles. And its not like the car will last that long anyways in most cases.

I dont understand why people have such unreasonable expectations from wearable auto parts. IF a strut or shock lasts you more than 50 thousand miles, then you should be happy. They deteriorate over time, ALL OF THEM, and at 50 thousand miles NO strut or shock is going to be as good as new, unless you drive like a grandma on roads smooth as glass, which we all know is bs since this is America. Sounds like your a fairly spirited driver, what is it you want from your suspension? If you want suspension that lasts forever then buy stock crap and park the car in your garage and dont drive it, thats the only sure way.

And the fact the car is an auto should have little to do with its cornering ability.

 

I like Bilsteins because they will complety rebuild them for about $75.00. Also as I did last time on my 86, I talked them in to doing for shipping costs only. They have a very good manufacturer-customer policy.

 

I apprecaite the input.

The Bilsteins seem to be getting a lot of good comments. I may end up going with them.

Two inch drop? I sure don't won't that. Ground clearace is important as the car will have to be able to cross speed bumps with the 1 3/4 LS1 headers & exhaust. This stuff tends to cost a good bit of ground clearance.

I'd like to stay around stock ride height, but with about 375 pounds coming out of the nose of the car, I don't want the car riding an inch higher than it does now.

hgffrank,

Won't last long? The RS has 285,xxx miles on it and still going...It's been thru four sets of struts. This **** gets old after a while if you keep the car long enough.

Manuals tend to do better in handling for a lot of reasons. If you ever notice at autocrossing etc manuals tend to do better than auto's all things being equal.

10/10's there is a difference in what one can do with a manual and an auto.

 

The 285,000 miles is the point I was making. If the car was at 100K or even 150K then I'd say sure go ahead and find the best and longest lasting package you can, but with 285K miles on that car, do you really think its going to make another 100k or 200K? Dont take this wrong cause I dont know where you live at, but I am in Michigan, and its a very rare occurance to have a car make it to even 300K. My 90 bird has about 212K on it and I've had to weld a frame onto it because it literally busted/rusted in half several times. But its always been in Michigan with the salt on the roads in winter.
I do know that cars last much longer in non winter salt area's, but how much longer is the norm, I just dont know that, so if you happen to be in an area where the car never gets road salt on it, then I suppose the 285K is nothing ot worry about and may be worth the money to get a nice setup. I have heard good things about Bilteins too, so perhaps you should get em' a shot and see.

 

Getting hit and totaled to the point fixing the car is beyond my ability to afford is probably the sole limiting factor for how long this RS will be around. Almost lost the car six years ago when the wife totaled the RS and had to go into pocket above the total insurance pay out of get the RS fixed.

Rust isn't a big issue in determing the life of my car.

Very little salt down here in Nawf Carolina. Car's getting an LS1 swap in the future, most of the parts are in hand. Another 100k miles to 150k miles is very reasonable.

Considering a coil over set up with the Spohn K-member so the Bilsteins might be out. Have to do more research to decide if the coil over set up is worth it.