Toms Audi A4 Air-road - Not your usual allroad...

[tomhamsyo]

Hey!

Thought I would re-introduce myself and my A4. I previously signed up to Audi-Sport when I had my Audi S3, but decided to PX it against something a little different.

Here is my 64 plate Audi A4 B8 Allroad. I bought the car with the intention of modifying it - I wanted something you don't see many of, let alone modified, and this ticked all the boxes for me.

Here's the car as it stands, alongside a couple of little purchases that are due to be installed soon. A full Airlift Performance setup with 3P Management and 3/8 lines, plus some 20" Audi RS5 super concave rotor wheels:

I've always been into modifying cars and this will be my second car I have put on air suspension - the previous being a heavily modified VW Scirocco.

Lots more progress and mods to come, but thought I'd check in and say hi!

Tom

 

[ToadConsulting]

I do love an allroad when all colour coded like that! What engine ya got? My mate has a rare 2010 with the detune version of my S4

 

[tomhamsyo]

I do love an allroad when all colour coded like that! What engine ya got? My mate has a rare 2010 with the detune version of my S4

Thank you! It's only a 2.0 177 TDI so nothing special - I was torn between the 2.0 and 3.0 TDI - ended up going for the 2.0 as there were no 3.0's about with the right spec at the time, and I don't really need any performance considering the plans for the car!
Tom

 

[scotty76]

There used to be a white Allroad on air near my work. It looked really good.

 

[Tiger-G]

From a fellow allroad owner.......good luck mate, looking forward to seeing it

 

[tomhamsyo]

Thanks everyone!

My wheels arrived yesterday, very happy with them and now even more keen to get the ball rolling with the car. The specs are 20X9 ET25 and I will likely be going for 245/35/20 tyres. The concave looks amazing:

 

[spartacus68]

Looking forward to this build.

It's ironic, I follow a few Allroad forums mostly state-side where the A6 Allroad is constant source of pain and expense, with members considering moving from air to coils after compressor fail or leaking bags. There's an A4 Allroad Facebook forum you should consider joining. You'll be treated like the Messiah once you shown them your pictures and build plan!

Take it you have VCDS? The 2.0TDI isn't so bad, but given the poor economy of the car (40-44mpg) I do wish I'd opted for the 3.0 litre lump.

Best of luck.

 

[pav911]

From a fellow allroad owner.......good luck mate, looking forward to seeing it

+1

 

[Lavis89]

The aftermarket air setups are great providing they're set up properly and maintained well, that's where most people go wrong! Oem air suspension does seem to have a lot of issues but I've never had to experience it.

I have 3p on my S4, no regrets!

 

[UKtom]

Thanks for the comments guys, I am still loving the car even in its current standard form!

@spartacus68 I agree with you on the 3.0 tdi option. I regret not going 3.0 TDi - the 2.0 TDi is great but with the DSG box economy is pretty poor in comparison to what I was expecting.

Update on the car - I bought a single tyre for the wheels to check fitment and stretch etc - from my calculations it would have minimal stretch and the same overall circumference of the existing 18" setup. It turns out my calculations were correct and I'm really happy with the fitment - there is no difference in overall circumference of my standard 18" wheels with tyres compared to these 20" rims with tyres.

Only a week and a bit until the suspension is fitted, the car should be looking completely different in the next couple of weeks... Updates to follow!

 

[Chris AJC]

Nice Car! Having just bought an A4 Avant i'll be following your progress closely.

Chris

 

[pav911]

Hi Tom. Is the air suspension just so that you can adjust the ride height or do they work like adaptive dampers, i.e. you can firm or soften the suspension? thx.

 

[spartacus 68]

@spartacus68 I agree with you on the 3.0 tdi option. I regret not going 3.0 TDi - the 2.0 TDi is great but with the DSG box economy is pretty poor in comparison to what I was expecting.

Economy wise I'll get 45mpg (on a good day) with 2.0 TDI (177bhp). It's quick enough for me, that's 6-speed manual with Drive Select in dynamic mode. Most of the time I drive like Miss Daisy!

 

[tomhamsyo]

Hi Tom. Is the air suspension just so that you can adjust the ride height or do they work like adaptive dampers, i.e. you can firm or soften the suspension? thx.

Hey Pav, it's mainly for height adjustability but I can also adjust the dampers to firm or soften the ride. Height adjustment is done via a controller, but adjusting the dampers is done manually via a allen key on the top of each strut.

Update! Picked the car up on Saturday and I'm over the moon with it, it looks great. I'm yet to fit the wheels as I'm still a tyre short (it's been an expensive month!) but will hopefully get the 20" rotors on by the end of the month.

Here it is:

Oh, and also made my own US-style headlights. (After finding sets for sale around £700 upwards, a piece of orange tint film cost me £2... pretty happy with the result!)
Hope you guys like it, more updates (and some higher quality pics) to follow soon...

 

[pav911]

Looks awesome. What’s the ride height at when you’re driving along?

 

[tomhamsyo]

Thanks pav, ride height is still alot lower than standard. The arches are basically in line with the tops of the tyres. I'll try and get a picture at some point.

Loving it so far!

 

[pav911]

Thanks pav, ride height is still alot lower than standard. The arches are basically in line with the tops of the tyres. I'll try and get a picture at some point.

Loving it so far!

i almost choked when i saw the price of the stuff you've got. I might use springs to lower the ride height, but i would be good to see if it actually suits the car.

 

[tomhamsyo]

Got round to getting the wheels on the car this weekend, it's completely transformed the look again. Here are some pics!

Tom

 

[tomhamsyo]

A couple of small updates for the allroad. I tinted the front windows and fitted a tinted sunstrip, a nice subtle change:

Pretty happy with the outcome! I'm also in talks with a wrapping company - the car may be changing colour soon....... watch this space!

 

[philbell]

This looks savage, fair play to you bud.. Also a yellow wrap would look

 

[CHEZ]

Does look good.
Curious on what colour?
I like 3m Kelly green.
It's like a porsche viper green.
Would look the mutts

 

[pav911]

the current colour is really nice too.

 

[Tamplin]

Saw you at Goodwood today, didn’t get a chance to chat though. Loved the Air Ride. Although it has made me want it for my Dynamik even more now!

 

[pav911]

Saw you at Goodwood today, didn’t get a chance to chat though. Loved the Air Ride. Although it has made me want it for my Dynamik even more now!

Were you guys at Estate Car Sunday? I meant to ask if anyone else was going.

 

[tomhamsyo]

Saw you at Goodwood today, didn’t get a chance to chat though. Loved the Air Ride. Although it has made me want it for my Dynamik even more now!

Thank you! Shame we didn't get chance to catch up but do it, it's one of the best purchases you'll make!

Were you guys at Estate Car Sunday? I meant to ask if anyone else was going.

We were! It was a bit of a spare of the moment thing for me though. The weather was horrible, hopefully it'll be better next year!

Here are a couple of shots of how the car currently stands. I've added a few subtle modifications since the last update:

- Full LED interior upgrade (no pics, everyone knows what it looks like!)
- OEM wheel bolt covers

I'm currently preparing the car for a huge road trip I have planned next month. It's booked in at Audi for a full service and health check, then next month I cover over 2,000 miles driving to the Austrian Alps. I can't wait!

 

[tomhamsyo]

Hello!

I haven't updated here in a while. Not a huge amount has changed with the car appearance wise. I've been busy maintaining the car - it's had a full service at Audi, new air filter, new front brake discs, new front pads and new wiper blades (old ones weren't clearing the screen correctly!).

I also drove the car around Europe - our furthest point being the Austrian Alps. Here are a few pictures along the way!

We completed just over 2,000 miles in 5 days! The weather was pretty good, although when we reached Germany I noticed all my rear lights had cracked. They are all internal cracks - can't feel anything on the outside of the lens. After some research it's apparently fairly common in hotter climates, and is a stress crack from the heat:

I took the car straight to Audi to request it was replaced under warranty, to be told bodywork and lights are not covered! They did however offer me a replacement set of rear lights at a bargain price of £860. I politely declined and I'm currently in dispute with Audi UK who have booked me in at another Audi dealership for a "second opinion" - although the earliest they could fit me in was the 29th May, over 4 weeks away!
Meanwhile, I couldn't stand having defective rear lights, so bought another set on eBay... much better:

Has anyone here had a similar issue before?

Tom

 

[MuPPeT_ON_TouR]

Did they have a tint on them? what do you clean them with?

I have seen posts albeit normally on front lights where a tint film was applied but stretched to much and wrapped around the light rather than cut flush to the edge. this causes stress as it contracts and causes cracks.

The other option is harsh chemicals that break down the plastic again causing cracks to form.

Something happened or every Audi owner in a hot country would be going off their nut and i can't find any big threads on it after a google search.

 

[tomhamsyo]

Did they have a tint on them? what do you clean them with?

I have seen posts albeit normally on front lights where a tint film was applied but stretched to much and wrapped around the light rather than cut flush to the edge. this causes stress as it contracts and causes cracks.

The other option is harsh chemicals that break down the plastic again causing cracks to form.

Something happened or every Audi owner in a hot country would be going off their nut and i can't find any big threads on it after a google search.

Hi MuPPeT_ON_TouR.

They have never been tinted during my ownership. Since purchasing the car at the end of last year, I have only cleaned the car with Auto Finesse products. All products I use are ph neutral and solvent free - I'm actually an affiliate for Auto Finesse so I'm pretty clued up on the products and their ingredients.

As for not finding any threads with the same issue, here are a few I've just found on google -

1. https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6...il-light-covers-lens-cracking-anyone-2761184/
2. https://www.audiworld.com/forums/q5...29/internal-stress-cracks-headlights-2921762/
3. https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a4-b5-platform-discussion-1/stress-crack-99-5-tail-lamp-lens-11911/
4. http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=280202.0
5. https://f10.m5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1195642
6. https://www.ttforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1570361
7. https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1293963
8. http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/148536-Help-Tail-lights-cracking
9. http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showt...ght-quot-Crazing-quot-small-cracks-everywhere
10. https://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-modifications-parts-193/cracked-crazing-tail-lights-1122727/
11. https://www.brickboard.com/AWD/volv...il_light_crazing_small_cracks_everywhere.html
12. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=236&t=1374090

Tom

 

[MuPPeT_ON_TouR]

I stand corrected... I was searching for rear lights on Audi cracking.... I would send them all these links and ask for them to get replaced.