lowering a2

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Mr b

Member
Can anyone help?

I am a new member and I am extremely happy that I have found others like me that like there A2

I have an Audi a2 2004 petrol model. 1.4 Chassis no WHUZZZ8Z13NO20265 The wheels I have on are RS4's 17 Inch 205 x 14. I recently purchased a lowering kit from Jamex. The kit contained coil over spring kit. The kit contains 4 springs and 4 shock absorbers. The front shock absorbers are adjustable on the shocker and the rear adjustable under the spring. I purchased them from racing dynamics after 1 week of trying to fit them; I found that the front simply would not lower. When I fitted the front shock absorbers and springs and took the car off the jacks, the anti roll bar was hitting hard on the drive shafts so therefore it wasn't possible to lower the front. I contacted the Jamex main dealer and was told by the engineer that the coil set would not fit an Audi a2 '04 as the suspension on the Audi a2 was changed. I contacted Stafford Audi as far as they where concerned the suspension is the same on an Audi 2000 right through to 2005. I told the retailer and he said to return the set and he would return the money. I had to refit my audi suspension back. Does anyone know if I can lower an Audi A2 and if so what suspension kit would I need, as my own view is that it can not be done because the anti-roll bar hits the front drive shafts and as far as I can see you need to change the stabilising bars that attach to the anti roll bar and the shock absorber. I would really appreciate if someone has experienced similar problems and what the solution is.
 
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I'm sure that our suspension experts will be along soon, but in the meantime, can I ask when your A2 was registered? If it was on 2004, there is a discrepancy with your VIN number (which should start WAU by the way).

Cheers

Mike

PS my 2005 model year sport has been lowered by 30mm at the front using Weitec springs and Koni dampers
 
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Mr b said:
I recently purchased a lowering kit from Jamex. The kit contained coil over spring kit.
Click to expand...

Hello,

nice to see someone in Britain’s going for coilovers. :) Over here in Germany there are only few A2 owners pursuing this “exotic“ suspension route.

Seems that JAMEX did not adopt their Polo 9N unit properly to the A2’s specifics. Besides other potential inconsistencies such like wrong residual suspension travel and wrong negative spring travel the original A2 drop links seem to be too long in your case.


------

First of all, what would you be willing to pay max for a set of quality coilovers? - I am asking this because the truly recommendable A2 coilovers all do feature Koni yellow (sport) adjustables.

However there’s still plan B left... ;)



Mr b said:
I contacted Stafford Audi as far as they where concerned the suspension is the same on an Audi 2000 right through to 2005.
Click to expand...

That is correct - the physical mounting dimensions on A2 suspension have not changed at all.
 
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Well, In the past I made a list covering the most important A2 suspension upgradings, be it sport springs with well harmonising (comfort- or sport-) shocks or be it coilovers or even airride.

Please take a look:



As you can see I did not list the JAMEX coilovers unit since these products haven't the best reputation over here - mainly in terms of longevity of the components.

Same applies to all "China/Russian"- made products such like SUPERSPORT, TA-Technix, V-MAXX, GTS, H-trac etc. Poor-quality products like these simply are not worth being mounted to any car, not to mention the safety aspects. :eek:
 
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Reply From Mr b

Schnelletrecker said:
Well, In the past I made a list covering the most important A2 suspension upgradings, be it sport springs with well harmonising (comfort- or sport-) shocks or be it coilovers or even airride.

Please take a look:



As you can see I did not list the JAMEX coilovers unit since these products haven't the best reputation over here - mainly in terms of longevity of the components.

Same applies to all "China/Russian"- made products such like SUPERSPORT, TA-Technix, V-MAXX, GTS, H-trac etc. Poor-quality products like these simply are not worth being mounted to any car, not to mention the safety aspects. :eek:
Click to expand...


Dear Sir

First thank you very much for taking the time to respond to my question


Can you please explain how I can lower my a2 if the anti roll bar is hitting hard on the drive shafts when I put new adjustable shocks and new springs on, do you have to change the stabilising rods? As you maybe know I have 17” wheel 205/40 tyres on which leave a much larger space between top of tyre and arch of wing.

What make of lowering kit do I need to get so that I can lower my A2 petrol 1,4 2004 so that there is not a big space between top of tyre and arches

Hop you can help

Mr b
 
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Reply From Mr b

Dear Sir

First thank you very much for taking the time to respond to my question


Can you please explain how I can lower my a2 if the anti roll bar is hitting hard on the drive shafts when I put new adjustable shocks and new springs on, do you have to change the stabilising rods? As you maybe know I have 17” wheel 205/40 tyres on which leave a much larger space between top of tyre and arch of wing.

What make of lowering kit do I need to get so that I can lower my A2 petrol 1,4 2004 so that there is not a big space between top of tyre and arches

Hop you can help

Mr b
 
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Mr b said:
Can you please explain how I can lower my a2 if the anti roll bar is hitting hard on the drive shafts when I put new adjustable shocks and new springs on, do you have to change the stabilising rods?
Click to expand...

Normally you don’t need shorter drop links (connection between strut/damper unit and the ARB) as long as you don’t exceed about minus 50 mm of lowering.

Anyway - as already specified in the above linked large suspension thread (post #4) there are shorter rods available fitting the A2 and made by Febi/Bilstein (# 04585).
 
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Mr b said:
As you maybe know I have 17” wheel 205/40 tyres on which leave a much larger space between top of tyre and arch of wing.
Click to expand...

Below pictured is my A2 equipped with FK Silverline-X coilovers at minus 50 mm at the front and minus 30 mm at he rear. That equals to a vertical distance between wheel center hub and wheel arch of 300 mm at the front and 320 mm at the rear – just for comparison to your actual stock height.

This V-style height setting still allows sufficient ground clearance to handle sleeping policemen etc. without the danger of ripping-off the front skirt. :D
 
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Mr b said:
What make of lowering kit do I need to get so that I can lower my A2 petrol 1,4 2004 so that there is not a big space between top of tyre and arches
Click to expand...

Well the main problem for serious lowering by sport springs is the light-weight front part of the A2 1.4 petrol.

Moreover it is difficult to achieve equal lowering results for the 1.4 petrol, i.e. the rear potentially sits lower than the front. :mad:

In fact no sport springs lowering kit will get a 1.4 petrol lower than 30 mm at the front (ABT #045 front springs in combination with non-pressurised Koni “yellow“ sport shocks provide the best lowering results here).




Sadly the recommendable A2 coilover kits are quite expensive (FK Konigsport, FK Silverline-X and KW Variant 2). :(

So if these high quality coilovers are too steep for you at the moment (£630 to about £830), there’s only one alternative left – a custom tuned lowering spring kit of minus 50/30 mm for instance. :)
 
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The following described custom tuned lowering kit of true minus 50/30 mm will cost you only about £520 in total. It is no coilover unit but it comes with extremely well performing top-end quality components hard to beat:

For the A2 1.4 petrol new ABT-Sportsline sport springs

  • front #045VA
  • rear #046HA

are highly recommended. However to achieve the wanted minus 50/30 mm lowering rate, these linear wound ABT springs have to be modified professionally preferably by this company:

http://www.reuter-motorsport.de/
http://www.federnpressen.de/

Take a look at Mr. Reuter hill-climbing with his BMW E30 monster:



This guy is a professional race car driver and motor mechanic. He customises all kinds of automotive sport springs to the customer’s demand for EUR 39 per spring. He developed a special (secret) method that applies individually calculated compression force plus sensible use of homogeneously distributed heat generated by electricity over calculated period of time.

The result is the wanted amount of lowering WITHOUT changing the spring’s mechanical properties (modulus of elasticity, spring rate, break strength etc). So the sport springs performance remains identical after that compression mod, only the car height changed! The springs paint finish won’t be harmed by this procedure BTW.



Attention: Please never use stock height springs (e.g. original Audi springs including the minus 20 mm Audi sport springs) for such compression modifications because their spring rates are too soft for serious lowering applications already.
 
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The favoured sport dampers for this custom 50/30 lowering unit are BILSTEIN B8 (front) and B6 (rear).

B8 front: part# VE3-5218
B6 rear: part# BE3-6789



Similarities between B6 and B8:

The main similarity is the identical damping characteristics of B6 and B8. Both share

  • identical valves
  • nitrogen gas chamber loaded with 25 bars high pressure
  • the favourable upside-down construction leading to reduced unsprung mass and for that an improved ride comfort (for sport shocks relations, i.e. better than Koni “yellow“ sport or SACHS Performance Sport).
  • mono-tube design

All these design features ensure unbeaten response characteristics (=> better traction, shorter breaking distance) even at very low temperatures.
In other words: With these Bilsteins you cant’t go wrong for any kind of lowering application. :)



Differences between B6 and B8:

The only difference ist the length of the rebound stroke that is limited on Bilstein B8. Therefore these B8 do provide steady spring pre-load being essential for safety reasons in case of very deep ( >40 mm) lowering settings. The shortened version of the yellow Koni sport shock is called KONI sport “Short“ BTW.




So why applying Bilstein B8 at the front and B6 at the rear axle?

Because of the minus 50/30 mm lowering setting the spring pre-load at the front axle can only be assured with the helpful rebound function of the B8. At the rear however the standart shock stroke of the B6 can be maintained. If B8 would be combined with only 30 mm of lowering or less, then potentially too much of spring preload and insufficient negative spring travel would develop leading both to very uncomfortable ride quality and to reduced safety (longer breaking distance, reduced traction).
 
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Conclusion:

A custom 50/30 mm lowering kit consisting of ABT sport springs (modified at the front) plus the superior Bilstein B8/B6 dampers mobilises better ride comfort and overall-performance than a 50/30 mm height adjusted, Koni sport shock equipped and more expensive FK or KW coilover unit. :)

Cheers,

P.S. In case of trouble with the import procedure of the ABT springs from Germany don’t hesitate to contact me (translating, postage, postal insurance etc). But I presume that REUTER-MOTORSPORT have shipped many customised springs abroad in the past. His service only takes about 2 days.
 
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Hopefully my coilovers will be fitted this weekend.

Unfortunately i didn't have spare cash to shell out £500 for a high quality set so i had to make do with £200 TA Techniks but having read numerous threads on other forums all the peeps seem to be raving about them.

We will see anyway i'll get pics posted as soon as there on
 
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Well,

here are some quotes of high quality coilovers (especially the stainless types won’t seize up after one or two salty and rainy winter). These will serve many years without any damper oil leaking as well (= loss of performance and safety).

From Germany:
http://stores.ebay.de/NH-TUNING will ship within EUROPE. Please contact him for a shipping quote to UK. His actual prices are:

FK Silverline-X => stainless steel + Koni yellow adjustable shocks, £671.84
FK Konigsport => identical to Silverline-X but regular steel, £623.86
KW Variant 2 => stainless steel + Koni yellow adjustable shocks, £899.11


Within UK:
www.speedbox.co.uk
www.europerformance.co.uk
www.balancemotorsport.co.uk
FK Konigsport => £623.01
KW Variant 2 => £832.00

I havent’t found the FK Silverline-X in above UK shops but I am sure it can be ordered too. Maybe there are other places in the UK where you can find lower prices... :)
 
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Or you are going for the above introduced custom lowering 50/30 spring set (ABT + Bilstein B8+B6) that provides even better ride characteristics at a lower price than the above listed coilovers. :)

http://www.motorsportworld.co.uk/ respectively http://www.splitfire.co.uk

Bilstein B8 (“Sprint“) front: VE3-5218 £140.42 inc VAT per shock
Bilstein B6 (“Sport“) rear: BE3-6789 £74.39 inc VAT per shock
Total: £430 inc VAT (non-shipped)


Another UK located Bilstein source is www.balancemotorsport.co.uk

VE3-5218 £148.68 inc VAT per shock
BE3-6789 £78.76 inc VAT per shock
Total: £455 inc VAT (non-shipped)


The best BILSTEIN prices in Germany you can find here: http://www.stg-gmbh.com/tuning.html

VE3-5218 : EUR 139.00 per shock
BE3-6789 : EUR 73.09 per shock

They will send all four dampers insured to the UK for only EUR 20,-. That would make a grand total of only £362 :) for the set of BILSTEINS shipped (in case the British customs won’t add import tax - just ask the UK customs for the exact tax-% before ordering from Germany).

Cheers
 
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Hello Mr b,

just for prophylaxis: You should also buy a pair of following shorter drop links than stock:

Febi-Bilstein # 04585

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Stabilizer-Li...284751056QQcmdZViewItem?IMSfp=TL080810098a636

Originally these are intended for BMWs, but German A2 1.4 petrol drivers with very low setups (minus 50 mm at the front or even lower) found them perfectly working. These #04585 drop links do prevent the anti-roll-bar from striking the drivetrain!

Maybe you won’t need them, maybe you will (about minus 50 mm is the lower limit the stock length drop links sometimes can be still used). I personally would definitely mount these #04585 drop links in combination with the 50/30 custom kit in a 1.4 petrol, because

  • it is always advisable to exchange the old und potentially worn drop links in case of a suspension upgrade
  • these #04585 are non-expensive

Cheers
 
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