Malore

My eyeballs hurt from reading and reading and reading. If you couldn't guess, it's these forums that have had my attention. After answering a lot of my own questions (First and foremost by reading my manual. Why don't people do this?)by reading past posts, I still have a few. My first question is: what do I do about
suspension? I want to lower the car exactly where I want it, with
minimal (no more than 1") fender gap. So, the logical explanation would be a set of
coilovers, most likely Bilstein. The only problem lies in the fact
that I want to lower the car, but I don't want it to be race track
stiff. From what I hear about coilovers, they are ultra stiff. What is
your opinion? Have you dealt with Bilstein's PSS9 coilover kit? Is
there another coilover kit that has a more forgiving ride? Also, I
want to make sure that the camber is set correctly after lowering it.
Going through tires every few months is not feasible for me. I suppose
the other option would be to do H&R or Eibach sport springs, but I
don't think this option would lower the car to where I want it. If I
went with the race springs I fear that it would be too harsh of a
ride and possibly too low. So, I'm looking for that happy medium, perfect height, perfect
ride. If only it were a perfect world. If you could shed some light on
this subject for me I would genuinely appreciate it. My second
question is: who makes the best short shift kit? I want to do the
suspension and short shift right away. The suspension probably won't
go on until spring, but I want to purchase it now so I don't spend the
dough on something else later. However, I want to purchase and install
the short shift kit ASAP. Is there much of a difference in short
shifters? Last, but not least...forged wheels. I want to make sure to
get forged 19's because, from what I hear, they are lighter and
stronger. Are there any forged wheels out there that DO NOT cost an
arm and a leg? I wanted to get those new Neuspeed RS10 wheels, but
that was before I knew they were $600 per wheel. Ridiculous! So there
you have it, my three questions: best suspension for my taste, best
short shifter, affordable forged wheels. Thank you so much for your
time and I apologize for the lengthy post. I look forward to talking with all of you shortly. Oh yeah, does anyone know how hard it is to take the roof rack rails off of the Avants? THANKS!

Malore

P.S. This car has everything BUT the sport package, so it is not sitting on the factory sport springs, just normal, stock A4 suspension.

Tomasz@Startup

1. You need to look into Koni and Vogtland coilovers. Very streetable, and your height is adjustable. I am partial to Vogtlands.
2. Check out AMS in California for a short shifter. Not sure if it is done, I have heard good things.
3. Instead of forged look into other technologies - SSR or pressure cast. Just go to TireRack.com. I like SSR, OZ, and ASA wheels. You can't go wrong with BBS either. ASA are a wonderfull value.

Good luck.

Malore

Do the Koni and Vogtlands also have adjustable ride settings like the Bilstein PSS9's? Have you heard anything about the Bilstein PSS9's? I guess they have 9 different ride settings. Do you know if you have to buy additional parts to correct the camber after installing coilovers? Thank you so much for the information. I appreciate it.

AlexTTQ

I tried to put some on my car and they would not clear the brakes.

Tomasz@Startup

PSS9s are adjustable, Vogtlands are not. Konis are theoretically adjustable, technically NOT. (They need to be removed to make the adjustement.

Front camber will not need to be modified... and I am pretty sure rear will not either. That is the advantage of multi links. Check with Streetwerke in CA. They modified B7s before.

I am working with Vogtland to test fit their B7 offering. It should be tested in January.