How much to lower a sport tdi

[jbaudi]

Hey all,

I'd like to lower my new a3 sport tdi. I want it to sit roughly 60mm lower than it does now.. but have it in my mind that the sports are already lower by a small amount?? If so, do I still by the full 60mm springs or do I just need to get 40mm if the sport is already say 15-20mm lower than normal?

If I do still need to get 60mm springs, are springs a good way to go or would it need to be coilovers?

Thanks

 

[Ads]

Hey all,

I'd like to lower my new a3 sport tdi. I want it to sit roughly 60mm lower than it does now.. but have it in my mind that the sports are already lower by a small amount?? If so, do I still by the full 60mm springs or do I just need to get 40mm if the sport is already say 15-20mm lower than normal?

If I do still need to get 60mm springs, are springs a good way to go or would it need to be coilovers?

Thanks

I'm a bit confused by what you want.

You say you want your car to sit 60mm lower than it does now, but then you ask if you should get 40mm springs because the sport already sits 20mm lower. That would only lower your car 40mm more than it is now.
If you really want your car to sit 60mm lower than it does now then you'd need to find springs that drop it by 75mm below standard height. Not possible.

But anyway, in a nut shell, the biggest drop you are going to get on springs is 50mm, but as said that is taken from standard height, therefore dropping your car by 35mm (because sports are already 15mm below standard).
If you want to go any lower then you're going to need to go for coilovers.
Also, even if you did find lowering springs that gave you the type of drop you are looking for then you'd need to change your sport shocks too as that kind of drop on OEM shocks is going to cause you problems.

 

[jbaudi]

cool, yea i just meant if I buy 60mm would it actually lower it 60mm from where it is now, or from where standard models sit. But you've answered my question anyway! Coilovers it is! Do you have to do anything with the camber when you drop this much?

 

[jbaudi]

also, how much is your lowered in your signature pic?

 

[GNJ_Motorsport]

If you want it that low then you should go for coilovers. If you do decide to go for springs only I'd go for Eibach Sportlines or H&R's.

Audi - A3 8P (03-) - Lowering Springs - GNJ Motorsport

Coilovers I'd go for AP's or V Maxx.

Audi - A3 8P (03-) - Coilovers - GNJ Motorsport

 

[jbaudi]

ah great thats a good link..cheers

maybe some pics of an a3 sport lowered 50mm and 40mm would help me see how much to aim for!? Maybe 60mm is unecessary for an a3... I'm just going on cars I've had before!

 

[Ads]

also, how much is your lowered in your signature pic?

Mine is lowered on Eibach Sportlines - 50mm front, 40mm rear. So in reality that's about a 35mm/25mm front/drop because mine is a Sport too.
Where I live it would be murder going any lower, my car is just about high enough to get around comfortably and quickly enough over all the speedbumps etc.

 

[jbaudi]

to be fair, yours looks about how I want it anyway so I'd be happy to stick with springs at those heights! I didn't think 40mm especially would look that low at the back to be honest...

 

[Ads]

to be fair, yours looks about how I want it anyway so I'd be happy to stick with springs at those heights! I didn't think 40mm especially would look that low at the back to be honest...

If you wanted it a bit lower at the back then you can go for H&R springs because they lower 50mm at the rear (35mm below Sport).
The downside is.. you end up with reverse rake as the rear arch gap will be less than the front. Still looks ok, but you won't have even arch gaps all around. Some people prefer the lower rear though.
The ride on H&R is a bit firmer than Eibach too.

 

[jbaudi]

ads, just been readin your car thread..where did you manage to get those bumpers that cheap!?

 

[jbaudi]

and yea 50/40 looks better to keep the more sporty stance

 

[Ads]

ads, just been readin your car thread..where did you manage to get those bumpers that cheap!?

The front one I found on ebay. It was part of a job lot but the guy was willing to sell me just the one. He works in a bodyshop and gets loads of bumpers so knocks them out a silly prices. I had to drive a good few miles for it though.

The rear one I got from a guy who deals only in bumpers. He's got a breakers yard full of them, which is local to me. Only thing is he's been low on s-line bumpers for months now. But he also sells them at silly prices just so he can make a small profit per bumper but with a high volume of sales.

 

[jbaudi]

awesome, don't suppose you'd mind pm'ing the name/address of the guy that does the rear bumpers as im after one myself...

 

[Ads]

awesome, don't suppose you'd mind pm'ing the name/address of the guy that does the rear bumpers as im after one myself...

PM sent mate.

 

[Sheikh]

Ad's does this guy happen to do front bumpers iswell?

 

[Ads]

Ad's does this guy happen to do front bumpers iswell?

Yep, he does the lot. He always seemed to have more rears though.

 

[Zak0123]

Mine is lowered on Eibach Sportlines - 50mm front, 40mm rear. So in reality that's about a 35mm/25mm front/drop because mine is a Sport too.
Where I live it would be murder going any lower, my car is just about high enough to get around comfortably and quickly enough over all the speedbumps etc.

Sorry to hijack the post, I'm an absolute noob to lowering! Really like the look of how yours sits Ads, mine is an 61 3dr SE so would like to get it that low. Is the ride still fine and would it be ok with 18 inch rims? And also when a spring has the description (20mm or whatever) does that mean 20mm less or what? and just to confirm I would only need springs, no coilovers? hahaha such a newbie im so sorry

 

[Ads]

Sorry to hijack the post, I'm an absolute noob to lowering! Really like the look of how yours sits Ads, mine is an 61 3dr SE so would like to get it that low. Is the ride still fine and would it be ok with 18 inch rims? And also when a spring has the description (20mm or whatever) does that mean 20mm less or what? and just to confirm I would only need springs, no coilovers? hahaha such a newbie im so sorry

The ride is still fine on mine. Its soft as standard springs over normal and slightly bumpy ground at average speeds, but is firmer over bad ground or when driving hard. My wheels are 18s too.
As yours is an SE then any measurement quoted on springs you buy will be the actual drop that you get... i.e. Eibach Sportline 50/40mm will lower your car by an actual 50mm/40mm front/rear.

The problem that you could have is that your SE shocks are longer than the Sport/S-line ones so you may have to change these also. A 50mm drop may be just too much for them making the ride very poor. I'm not 100% sure on that though.

 

[Zak0123]

Ok mate thanks for your detailed reply. I'd be happy to drop it less than 50/40 if it might flag up some problems. Prefer to drop it by less and be totally satisfied with the results! Do you have any idea on what might roughly be a 'safe' drop?

Am I right in thinking sport would be 15mm springs and s-line 25mm? Just trying to get to grips with it. Is yours lower than the standard s-line?

 

[Qua3ttro]

Am I right in thinking sport would be 15mm springs and s-line 25mm? Just trying to get to grips with it. Is yours lower than the standard s-line?

With a SE as a reference, then yes you're spot on!

Ad's running the 50/40mm springs, which compared to an s-line is a 25/15mm drop...

 

[Ads]

Ok mate thanks for your detailed reply. I'd be happy to drop it less than 50/40 if it might flag up some problems. Prefer to drop it by less and be totally satisfied with the results! Do you have any idea on what might roughly be a 'safe' drop?

Am I right in thinking sport would be 15mm springs and s-line 25mm? Just trying to get to grips with it. Is yours lower than the standard s-line?

Yep, mine has eibach Sportlines fitted, so its 50mm/40mm (front/rear) lower than yours

You should be ok keeping your standard shocks if you drop by about 30mm. The h&r -30mm or eibach pros will do this.
You car won't look "lowered" though. It will look a lot better than SE height and some people prefer the 30mm height than the lowered look, but in my opinion if you want to lower your car then you should go at least 40-50mm down. Even at 50mm it won't look LOW, just looks more planted with hardly any off-key arch gap.

As you've mentioned, your other option would be to pick up some used s-line springs which will give you a drop of 25mm. The s-line springs are quite firm though so it's not really a recommended move, unless you're on a budget.

 

[Ash187]

WOW Ads you did a whole thread without messing about... whats happening to you dude? this thread is all informative and serious!

oops i think i just spoilt that now
but honestly Ads you know your shizzle on the lowering side of things!

 

[Zak0123]

Yep, mine has eibach Sportlines fitted, so its 50mm/40mm (front/rear) lower than yours

You should be ok keeping your standard shocks if you drop by about 30mm. The h&r -30mm or eibach pros will do this.
You car won't look "lowered" though. It will look a lot better than SE height and some people prefer the 30mm height than the lowered look, but in my opinion if you want to lower your car then you should go at least 40-50mm down. Even at 50mm it won't look LOW, just looks more planted with hardly any off-key arch gap.

As you've mentioned, your other option would be to pick up some used s-line springs which will give you a drop of 25mm. The s-line springs are quite firm though so it's not really a recommended move, unless you're on a budget.

Yeah I get what your saying, not sure what to do though. H&R 30mm or eibach sounds good, would love to go 40-50 down but then like you say might start raising issues and have to fork out more for new shocks dilemma!

 

[Ads]

WOW Ads you did a whole thread without messing about... whats happening to you dude? this thread is all informative and serious!

oops i think i just spoilt that now
but honestly Ads you know your shizzle on the lowering side of things!

Its taken 4 months for my 'be more serious, i'm getting old so act my age' new year's resolution to kick in.

And yeah, you've ruined this thread now! Oh well, back to posting stupid images.

 

[Zak0123]

^ amazing

 

[Ads]

Yeah I get what your saying, not sure what to do though. H&R 30mm or eibach sounds good, would love to go 40-50 down but then like you say might start raising issues and have to fork out more for new shocks dilemma!

Your other option would be to try and find some used s-line/sport shocks on ebay or a breakers and have them fitted with the 50mm springs. They shouldn't set you back any more than about £40-£50.

Or you could spend about £500-£700 on a decent set of coilovers, or a similar amount on a good spring/shock kit (Bilstein B12 kit).

Or you could just try your luck by keeping your SE shocks and if it doesn't work out then buy some shortened shocks at a later date. You'll have to pay two lots of fitting/alignment costs though.

 

[Zak0123]

All in all I think I might go for 30mm, I know its not as much as some people might like but don't want to go through the hassle of other stuff for now, haven't got the biggest budget as well!

These look ok?

Eibach 30mm Pro-Kit Lowering Springs A3 8P 1.4T FSi, 1.6, 1.9TDi, 2.0FSi FWD (05/03-) - GNJ Motorsport

Are H&R much better? Could look at lowering more a couple of years down the line but like you say will have to pay double fitting. How will I know if I need to get shorter shocks with the 30mm? Cheers Ads, legend!

 

[Ads]

All in all I think I might go for 30mm, I know its not as much as some people might like but don't want to go through the hassle of other stuff for now, haven't got the biggest budget as well!

These look ok?

Eibach 30mm Pro-Kit Lowering Springs A3 8P 1.4T FSi, 1.6, 1.9TDi, 2.0FSi FWD (05/03-) - GNJ Motorsport

Are H&R much better? Could look at lowering more a couple of years down the line but like you say will have to pay double fitting. How will I know if I need to get shorter shocks with the 30mm? Cheers Ads, legend!

The H&R give a firmer ride, so for me, no, I prefer the eibachs.

You should be able to feel it straight away if your shocks are wrong for the springs. The car will feel all wrong when cornering/braking/etc.
If your shocks are bottoming out (basically, being compressed completely) then it'll feel like you've got no damping when going over bumps etc.

But if you have the springs fitted by a good enough garage or a company who specialise in these sorts of things like AMD then they should advise you at the time of fitting if your shocks are really not suited to the new springs.

 

[Zak0123]

Eibachs it is, awesome thanks for you help Ads!!!! Will let you know how I get on

 

[Zak0123]

Will the S3 sportback alloys fit ok? The 18” x 7.5J parallel ‘5-spoke S’ design alloy wheels with 225/40 R18 Y tyres. Sorry if this is a stupid question not sure if the spacing etc is the same from s3 sportback to a3 SE. Will they be alright i.e. no rubbing with a 30mm drop? Cheers guys