Lowering & spacers advise needed!!

[OllieBB]

Hi guys, I need a bit of advice! Going to put these rotors on my A3 next week. What I need advice on is lowering it and spacers.
I want them to come out flush with the wheel arch, maybe the back wheels a little more..
Also I'm on a budget for coil overs, maybe £200 - £300! Don't want it too low as I don't want rubbing, the ride is so smooth at the minute

If someone who's a bit of an expert in this could help a novice out it would be massively appreciated, thanks

 

[DPM]

What offset and width are the wheels?

Damian @ DPM Performance

 

[OllieBB]

Offset is 45
Width is 8J
Diameter is 18"

 

[leeds2592]

With regards to the coilovers, do a search, this subject has been discussed thousands of times.

Are the rotors OEM or reps?

 

[DPM]

Offset is 45
Width is 8J
Diameter is 18"

I'd say 8mm/10mm front and 10mm/12mm rear.

As for coilovers, within your budget you'll be looking at something like the JOM or Prosport.

If I can be any help with info or prices please let me know.

Damian @ DPM Performance

 

[OllieBB]

With regards to the coilovers, do a search, this subject has been discussed thousands of times.

Are the rotors OEM or reps?

I know i've been doing a crazy amount of read up was just looking someones views on mine, sorry!

They're reps, very happy with the quality!

 

[smurfworth]

Et45 will sit flush, check my thread for pics.. My fat fives are et45 and sit almost flush with the arch

As for coilovers, don't buy crap, save for another month to at least get something half decent. Cheap suspension can make you hate a car.

 

[OllieBB]

I'd say 8mm/10mm front and 10mm/12mm rear.

As for coilovers, within your budget you'll be looking at something like the JOM or Prosport.

If I can be any help with info or prices please let me know.

Damian @ DPM Performance

whats the price for the coil overs? do you stock the spacers or can you recommend a brand?

 

[OllieBB]

Et45 will sit flush, check my thread for pics.. My fat fives are et45 and sit almost flush with the arch

As for coilovers, don't buy ****, save for another month to at least get something half decent. Cheap suspension can make you hate a car.

Can you recommend a brand? If I was to wait and say my budget was around the £500 mark..

 

[smurfworth]

AP's all day long, as long as your not looking to track the car they'll be great.

I have had JOM's, had AP's and had H&R coilovers and I can say the AP's is the best bang for your buck.

The h&r is an awesome ride quality but I wouldn't say it's worth the extra £600 you'd pay on top of the AP's.

 

[DPM]

whats the price for the coil overs? do you stock the spacers or can you recommend a brand?

The JOM kit is £185.00 inc. VAT and delivery and the Prosport kit is £219.00 inc. VAT and delivery.

Yes we have FK and H&R spacers available, personally I'd go for the H&Rs.

Damian @ DPM Performance

 

[DPM]

Can you recommend a brand? If I was to wait and say my budget was around the £500 mark..

If you up your budget then something like the AP kit at £433.00 inc. VAT and delivery would be a good option, the Vogtland kit at £489.00 inc. VAT is also worth while considering at the higher end of your budget.

Damian @ DPM Performance

 

[OllieBB]

AP's all day long, as long as your not looking to track the car they'll be great.

I have had JOM's, had AP's and had H&R coilovers and I can say the AP's is the best bang for your buck.

The h&r is an awesome ride quality but I wouldn't say it's worth the extra £600 you'd pay on top of the AP's.

This is the kind of advice I was after, think i'll be saving for AP's then!

Are these what I should be looking at?
http://www.dpmperformance.co.uk/car...3-8p-sportback-18t-fsi-20t-fsi-20tdi-fwd-0503

Did you fit these yourself?

 

[DPM]

That's the correct kit yes.

No we now only supply.

Damian @ DPM Performance

 

[OllieBB]

That's the correct kit yes.

No we now only supply.

Damian @ DPM Performance

I'll be buying these then when I get the funds!

Sorry was asking smurfworth did he fit these himself or did he get a mechanic

 

[smurfworth]

This is the kind of advice I was after, think i'll be saving for AP's then!

Are these what I should be looking at?
http://www.dpmperformance.co.uk/car...3-8p-sportback-18t-fsi-20t-fsi-20tdi-fwd-0503

Did you fit these yourself?

I'll be buying these then when I get the funds!

Sorry was asking smurfworth did he fit these himself or did he get a mechanic

Yeah thats the ones mate, and yes fitted by me

 

[S3 AEX]

Ollie there's some coil overs in the classified thread mate not sure how good they are?!

 

[Compkiler]

If you have the AP coilovers set really high instead of low, would the car look stock? or a bit higher which would look stupid? Reason i ask is because id prefer my handling to be better rather than the car to look lower, and apparently, the higher you go, the stiffer the handling?

 

[smurfworth]

If you have the AP coilovers set really high instead of low, would the car look stock? or a bit higher which would look stupid? Reason i ask is because id prefer my handling to be better rather than the car to look lower, and apparently, the higher you go, the stiffer the handling?

It would look stock yes, however, coilovers work by getting stiffer the lower they go.

As I've said to you before, you need different coilovers for what you want out of them.

 

[Compkiler]

Ye but Smurf, i was quite low, and they were very soft, and my mate raised them about an inch and the rides definately stiffer now.

 

[OllieBB]

Don't want it crazy low, just enough to set the wheels off really! The driving quality is paramount here.
Would lowering springs be an option or is coil overs the best?

 

[S3 AEX]

To be honest I wouldn't have coil overs again, had them on my 8l an they all collapsed. Was a good brand not cheap, if I was going to lower my 8p id prob go springs and a good set of shocks. But every one can give you ideas it's really your preference mate.

 

[OllieBB]

To be honest I wouldn't have coil overs again, had them on my 8l an they all collapsed. Was a good brand not cheap, if I was going to lower my 8p id prob go springs and a good set of shocks. But every one can give you ideas it's really your preference mate.

So would a set like these big a good set to go for?
http://www.dpmperformance.co.uk/car...ck-16tdi-18t-fsi-19tdi-20t-fsi-20tdi-fwd-0503

I thought coil overs where better, so whats the pro's and con's of both?

This is a massive help by the way so thanks!

 

[S3 AEX]

Yep I'd say they'd be spot on, koni's are a good brand so H&R springs. The springs in my view from what I've seen lower the 8p just enough to how it should be and the dampers would cut out the wishy washy feel of the standards. Coil overs I felt I was always trying to perfect the ride height and dampness of them always to hard or to soft either way. For me when I get round to it I'll go shocks n springs and spacers.

 

[omblad0n]

Sorry to jack the thread, but was looking at very similar options, and thought It could be resolved here rather than start a new thread. I was looking at 18" a4 DTM alloys 8J with 43 offset IIRC, and some spacers. Have a couple of questions tho, and would appreciate answers:

1. My car is a Quattro (3.2) and always heard that AWD cars eat driveshafts for breakfast when you lower them + that lowering can mess up the Haldex. Any info on this please?

2. Spacers on the front: Since its a McPherson setup, you increase the scrub radius of the front wheel by using spacers, and theoretically this has detrimental effects to handling and increases torque steering. Again, any informed views on this?

Thanks in advance

 

[S3 AEX]

Sorry to jack the thread, but was looking at very similar options, and thought It could be resolved here rather than start a new thread. I was looking at 18" a4 DTM alloys 8J with 43 offset IIRC, and some spacers. Have a couple of questions tho, and would appreciate answers:

1. My car is a Quattro (3.2) and always heard that AWD cars eat driveshafts for breakfast when you lower them + that lowering can mess up the Haldex. Any info on this please?

2. Spacers on the front: Since its a McPherson setup, you increase the scrub radius of the front wheel by using spacers, and theoretically this has detrimental effects to handling and increases torque steering. Again, any informed views on this?

Thanks in advance

1. I've never heard of this myself, sure someone with more knowledge can inform better. You could say why mess with the cars set up at all as Audi spend £££££'s on perfecting these cars. (But do they)?

2. A good 4 wheel alignment would sort that out.

 

[leeds2592]

Sorry to jack the thread, but was looking at very similar options, and thought It could be resolved here rather than start a new thread. I was looking at 18" a4 DTM alloys 8J with 43 offset IIRC, and some spacers. Have a couple of questions tho, and would appreciate answers:

1. My car is a Quattro (3.2) and always heard that AWD cars eat driveshafts for breakfast when you lower them + that lowering can mess up the Haldex. Any info on this please?

2. Spacers on the front: Since its a McPherson setup, you increase the scrub radius of the front wheel by using spacers, and theoretically this has detrimental effects to handling and increases torque steering. Again, any informed views on this?

Thanks in advance

8J alloys with an offset of 43 should be pretty much level on the arch so unless you're going down the 'scene' route with stretched tyres and silly amounts of camber, you won't need spacers really.

Not sure about the driveshafts but lowering will have no affect on the Haldex.

 

[leeds2592]

Don't want it crazy low, just enough to set the wheels off really! The driving quality is paramount here.
Would lowering springs be an option or is coil overs the best?

I'm going to repeat exactly what I say in every 'Springs vs Coilovers' thread. A lot of people buy springs as it's the cheaper option initially, get them on and then aren't happy with the ride height. They then end up getting them taken off the car, selling them, then buying coilovers and get them fitted which is the longer, more expensive way round. By getting coilovers, you can get the ride height exactly how you want it.

And if you lump up a bit more money, you'll be able to adjust the damping so you can set it at how hard or soft you want.

To be honest I wouldn't have coil overs again, had them on my 8l an they all collapsed. Was a good brand not cheap, if I was going to lower my 8p id prob go springs and a good set of shocks. But every one can give you ideas it's really your preference mate.

If they're a decent brand and are looked after, coilovers don't just collapse.

 

[S3 AEX]

I'm going to repeat exactly what I say in every 'Springs vs Coilovers' thread. A lot of people buy springs as it's the cheaper option initially, get them on and then aren't happy with the ride height. They then end up getting them taken off the car, selling them, then buying coilovers and get them fitted which is the longer, more expensive way round. By getting coilovers, you can get the ride height exactly how you want it.

And if you lump up a bit more money, you'll be able to adjust the damping so you can set it at how hard or soft you want.



If they're a decent brand and are looked after, coilovers don't just collapse.

They was a good brand, prob could have looked after them a bit better but yes they did just collapse. Well 3 of them, that's another ball ache with coilovers the maintenance of them but if you like doing that then hey.

 

[smurfworth]

They was a good brand, prob could have looked after them a bit better but yes they did just collapse. Well 3 of them, that's another ball ache with coilovers the maintenance of them but if you like doing that then hey.

what brand were they?

its a load of rubbish that you go on about having to maintain them, put the correct grease on the threads and its fine, I've had my ap's for well over a year well greased with copper grease run through all weathers and they spin just as free now as they did when they were new

 

[omblad0n]

1. I've never heard of this myself, sure someone with more knowledge can inform better. You could say why mess with the cars set up at all as Audi spend £££££'s on perfecting these cars. (But do they)?

2. A good 4 wheel alignment would sort that out.

1. You have a point mate, but then they take a lot of things into account (cost being one of the biggest things in modern engineering, you can thank modern corporation mentality for it), I'm sure that making the car lower isn't a big priority in a hatch (or hot hatch).

2. A wheel alignment would not modify scrub radius which is a physical non-adjustable dimension. Its the distance between the tire middle axis and the steering axis of the wheel given mainly by the strut angle.

8J alloys with an offset of 43 should be pretty much level on the arch so unless you're going down the 'scene' route with stretched tyres and silly amounts of camber, you won't need spacers really.

Not sure about the driveshafts but lowering will have no affect on the Haldex.

Thanks for the flush fitting info, was unsure about that. No stupid stance in mind, drivability being very important to me.

I didn't mean to say driveshaft, but CV joints. It creates more lateral force in them due to different angle, which shortens their life.

BTW all I say is theoretical, so I guess I'm trying to get some views of ppl who went down this route. Minus the spacers since you say it would be flush without.

 

[S3 AEX]

1. You have a point mate, but then they take a lot of things into account (cost being one of the biggest things in modern engineering, you can thank modern corporation mentality for it), I'm sure that making the car lower isn't a big priority in a hatch (or hot hatch).

2. A wheel alignment would not modify scrub radius which is a physical non-adjustable dimension. Its the distance between the tire middle axis and the steering axis of the wheel given mainly by the strut angle.



Thanks for the flush fitting info, was unsure about that. No stupid stance in mind, drivability being very important to me.

I didn't mean to say driveshaft, but CV joints. It creates more lateral force in them due to different angle, which shortens their life.

BTW all I say is theoretical, so I guess I'm trying to get some views of ppl who went down this route. Minus the spacers since you say it would be flush without.

Thanks Om was hoping someone with more knowledge would come in.

 

[S3 AEX]

what brand were they?

its a load of rubbish that you go on about having to maintain them, put the correct grease on the threads and its fine, I've had my ap's for well over a year well greased with copper grease run through all weathers and they spin just as free now as they did when they were new

Smurf to be honest I can't remember pal, I bought the car with them on greased them once an they did collapse on me mate. They was yellow with blue springs was told billistein or konis can't remember cos it was 3yr ago pal. I ended putting some cheap ones on it an sold it on as I got banned.

 

[smurfworth]

Smurf to be honest I can't remember pal, I bought the car with them on greased them once an they did collapse on me mate. They was yellow with blue springs was told billistein or konis can't remember cos it was 3yr ago pal. I ended putting some cheap ones on it an sold it on as I got banned.

Fair enough mate, my guess would be koni's. Fk use Koni dampers in some of their more expensive kits and people are always claiming the dampers collapse.

Mind you, most people remove the helper springs which puts the suspension out of its normal operating range thus putting more stress on the components. If that was the case then it's no surprise they collapsed.