Will_thinkofsomething

Hey What's up guys! Long time reader, first time poster. Hope everyone enjoys the style I went with my 2006 Audi A8L
This here is my second vehicle, as my first was a 2005 subaru wrx sport wagon(ill post a picture for memory). I got the mod bug from my old subaru and haven't looked back. I was originally living in Lake Arrowhead, Ca where I enjoyed the canyon driving in my AWD. Later I moved to Riverside, Ca to attend college and work and got more interested with fitment and lowered cars in general. After I sold the Subaru as it was getting up in the miles, I had an opportunity I couldn't refuse to get into this 2006 Audi A8L. This car was originally owned by an older gentlemen (family friend) who sold it to my father for the buying price which was offered to carmax. We bought the car and it sat in my garage for 3 years. Last year I negotiated with my dad to sell my subaru and give him the earnings to jump into the Audi. It took me 2 months, and when I finally let the subaru go for the right price, I had attachment issues to say the least as everyone knows once you make a car your own its hard to let it go, especially when it was your first car. It's what got me started in the automotive hobby and I regret selling it everyday.
But since the first time I drove the Audi (which was for Prom in High School back in the day lol), it just felt so luxurious and comfy and I wanted to transition to the VIP style.

Will_thinkofsomething

After I was completely committed to the Audi, I started doing research on the suspension options. I was in close contact with Kieth Ozzimo from Accuair via email, to see what options I really had for struts, management, and a proper place to get it intalled. As the Audi A8 is not a car that is often modified, it was difficult to find a suitable setup. After talking with Kieth we found out that the only strut we could use were from a Strutmasters conversion kit. This kit replaced the stock air ride system with a spring strut combo, that they build with Bilstein struts. To go along with the Bilstein struts I wanted to have a good management setup as well as enough power in the compressors to lift the car at a relatively quick pace. I decided to go with the Accuair Stage 2 management with the E-Level, and I-Level Wifi capability for control of the bags from an iPhone App. For Compressors I decided to go with the best bang for your buck with a dual VIAIR 444 model compressor setup and a Chrome Tank. Keith was able to refer me to a couple of nearby shops, as well I had asked around to local friends, and checked the forums to figure out where to go. After getting some quotes from around the Area, I decided to go to Universal Air Suspension in San Bernardino, Ca. I was in contact with Zack from Universal Air to help get the setup I wanted, and he and his crew did an amazing job on the Install for a great price. He was able to design great top hats to fit the Bilstein Struts and Universal Air Suspension bags.

Before:
After:

I was in love with my new setup and it rode just as well as the stock air suspension. It had a slight amount more stiffness, but no substantial difference.

Will_thinkofsomething

The car was starting to come together well, I loved the car but of course I still had a few plans and as I was searching around the internet I had an email pop up for AutoAnthing.com and a sale on Audi A8 Parts. I decided to take a look and found a nice Magnaflow catback exhaust with a 4 inch dual exhaust tips. I got such a good deal after talking directly to a service people that I couldn't refuse getting 1 along with a K/N drop in filter. I wanted to get a little more performance out of that massive 4.2 V8 but I didn't want to have an obnoxious drone, it just didn't fit the car. After looking at reviews from buyers I decided to go with it and wanted to see about a performance tune. My Subaru had a Stage 2 Cobb tune, with a 3 inch catless bell mouth exhaust with a resonator, so It sparked my curiosity if there were any options out there for an A8. From looking at the forums I decided to go with a company called Unitronic for the tune, which increased horsepower, torque, and took the U.S. speed limiter of 130 Mph. The result was a more responsive in the low end, subtle aggressive sound, 4 inch exhaust tips with a great design and a fun ride for me.

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Will_thinkofsomething

After this I was very satisfied with the way the car was changing, and I knew that the last major thing it was missing was rims. Additionally I was as wanting to do minor things to the interior, after looking around on the junction produce cite, I realized that there products are very pricy and didn't have the leather which my cars interior was. I decided I wanted to put a little subtle touch to the long wheel base rear seats, and get a pair of throw pillows. My sister knew a local upholstery place called the Pink house which gave me a great price on my setup. She was able to help me find a similar fabric which was close in shade and the result left me very happy. I decide to get a junction produce knot as well at the black friday sale online.

Will_thinkofsomething

The final Piece of the build so far besides just fixing issues here are there, was rims. I had a tight budget for the build that I had saved from airbag setup, and started researching my options. The stock rims were 19X9 +45 on a 255/45/19. I wanted to go with a 20 inch rim but It took a long time to decide how wide I wanted to go and if I wanted to mess with the fender/ fenderliner or not. The A8 has carpet all along the inside of the rear wheel wells to keep ground noise to a minimum, and has a bolt perturbing toward the wheel welded to the top of the wheel well to keep the liner secured. I really didner want to mess with that if I could and it ended up being a deal breaker. After I was looking online, I decided to go with a set of MRR HR3 in 20X9.5 with a +38 off set in chrome. I got a great deal thru CaliStreetTires for a set of rims and tires. I went with a lop profile tire 245/30/20 and it fit perfectly. Once I had them Mounted I aired out and had no issues at all, I was so happy I didn't have to do any fender work to completely air out. I love the setup and have had no issues with any of the work. Hope you guys all enjoy the build.

MikeFoxx

I like where you are going with this... although I think JP is a lil played out you can find better options for the lil stuff. Don't really need to do much with the interior.

Try this for your next mod...http://futurabrakes.com

Fellow VIP enthusiast here. You may not get the props you'd think here for this style but i'm a fan. Take into consideration fender work when selecting your rims and the offsets for the brake setup if you plan on hitting those. Any pics of the tank setup?

MikeFoxx

Ahhh i can't edit my posts yet but you posted some of the stuff i touched on. Looks good. Are you going to run spacers in the rear for the flush look or keep it like this to tuck at meets? Don't run the car through any carwash with those rims... mine on the GS started to peal near the bolt holes so I sand blasted them and powder coated instead.

Looks nice... please don't but the window visors on this though... its clean as is.

Will_thinkofsomething

thanks for the support man, I agree that not much is needed for interior, i had curtains cross my mind for a second, then I realized they are double sided taped to your car and I didn't want to do that and have tape when I already have rear sunguards. In consideration to fitment and breaks, I talked with MRR to get the offset right so it wouldn't have issues but still sit flush, I ended up needing 5mm spacers to clear the brakes up front, but i thought about the offset for a while

Will_thinkofsomething

I'll push out the rear eventually but for now I have no rubbing issues at all just subframe issues, I can roll slowly as long as I'm not sitting directly on the subframe

Will_thinkofsomething

Brakes*