Rick Pardo

I can recall back in the mid & late 80's when I owned a 535is and then an M5, the oem sport springs were "Progressive Rate" meaning as I recall, the faster you went the more the springs compressed to enable better road feel and handling.

So does any manufacturer currently offer that for Audi today as a replacement for our oem sport suspensions, or was that just a marketing pitch designed to fuel our sporting aspirations at the time?

Rick Pardo
01 2.7QTipS, Cashmere/Melange, Cosmetics, Wheels & Tires;
99.5 A42.8QTipS, Laser/Opal, Cosmetics, Wheels & Tires;
98 Grand Cherokee Ltd., Black/Tan Leather, Running Boards & Flaps

no.radar

"other knowledgeable posters...???" Boy, that's kinda limiting.

Dan_L

to keep it short, linear springs are the same rate no matter how far they are compressed. if they are stiff they are always stiff and will be stiff until they are binding. if they are soft they will be soft until they bind.

Progressive on the other hand means that they have a soft inital rate, then turn hard as they are compressed more. This is nice for a smooth ride, as they will not keep the car rigid over small bumps and deviations in the road, but when you start to corner the weight is applied to the spring and they get into the stiff section that will give the effect you expect with spirited driving.

So to sum it up progressive springs are a way of giving you a sport suspension without the sacrifice of a constantly stiff ride.

Manufacturers that are progressive: Eibach, H&R, B&G, K&W. linear springs: Intrax, Apex. There are a lot more than that but thats about all I can think of now.

Chuck540MZ

Ya, what Dan said. (I know squat about springs- and most everything else).

quattro007

*zipping mouth shut*

carbonLORD

Progressive spring rate is a measure of how tight the coil of a spring is wrapped. An evenly distributed coil (distance between each segment of a springs coil) will provide a stock feel in the suspension as opposed to a coil that is tight on one end and then spaces out to a longer side on the other.

Hope this makes sense.

cL

Rick Pardo

On the contrary, I was putting myself in the "non" grouping!!

Rick Pardo

Thanks Dan, so, what kind are provided as part of our oem option?

Dan_L

just softer spring rates and slightly (~25mm) taller. I took my 99 through a corner at much to high a speed once and it was soft to a point and then the car just stopped rolling and pulled me through. It was a blind corner on an unfamiliar road right after I passed a taurus.

Pete RD

Eibach pro-kit sport-springs are linear. ABT sport-suspension springs are linear. H&R coil-overs are progressive, as are KW coil-over springs. I don't know about anyone else's spring-sets.

The OEM springs (stock) are linear...don't know about the factory sport-springs.

HTH