ChristianRGR

I recently purchased a 98 A8 Quattro, this is the first Audi automobile I have ever owned. I have chosen this car as my daily but just like I do with everything I own, I would like to upgrade it. I am looking to buy coilovers, I do not care about the whole stance thing I want a suspension that will lower the car the proper amount while improving handling, so far I am between ST and H&R I am familiar with H&R but not with ST, any other recommendations, opinions?

Thanks for the time beforehand

90SQ

Congrat's on the new to you A8, i've had my '98 for the last 10 years, very nice car, had i know'n i'd have gone for the facelift instead but hey, these are way cheeper. Mine is no longer stock after all the time i've owned it, here is what i did to it:

int.: center armrest from the facelift(very comfy and storage room a big plus)(i'm going to have a set for sale before long
S-line 3 spoke steering wheel(you can get them from any S-line model, mine is from a B5 A4)
S8 recaro int. is on it's way.

body: front upper euro S8 grill(hard to find but tey're out there
rear S8 bumper
euro clear side markers and blinkers(cheep and realy looks nicer)
S8 Aluminum mirrors(i also added ecs tuning's blind spot lenses, very cool)

susp.: h/r coilovers(mind you they only adjust in the front) i also replaced the coils with eybach drop cause pesonaly the h/r's were way to stiff for my taste
Rear Euro S8(18mm) sway bar(you want this for alot more stability(14mm us works as well and easier to find)(mesured the fronts and they are the same)

brakes: full S8 rear brake conversion(bolt on)
Front they're are alot of options including the S8 fronts(bolt on with the S8 uprights and rear susp.arms). I went with '08 S6 V10 front brakes(15inch rotors, thing stops on a dime, bit more moding needed but i love it)

Also, if you can get your hands on the undecaridge/floor anti flex bars and S8 front subframe that has the extra flex bar they do make a difference.

Only thing left for me is to fit the front upper strut bar from the S8 and an apikol diff. mount. After that it's pretty mutch tapped out on mods for the prefacelift.

I like stance so oe et45 18inch wheels from the s8 with spacers on S8 spec tires 245/45/18 for winter and et35 rotor 20inch's for summer with 275/30/20's

Have fun

Good to know: http://www.audipages.com/upgrades.html

JAA 4.2

FYI, S8 front knuckles are $650 side. Then you need $500 of used Brembo calipers and the 345mm rotors are $150/pair. I don't think this is money well spent

90SQ

Well i did'nt say it was cheep. Best bet is to find a complete used swap, i sold the one i had for 1000$ cad last year.

jfrahm

There is a lot to be said for selling the PFL A8 and getting an S8, if that is closer to what you want. Under $7K these days for a driver D2 S8. Scrounge up another $4K-$5K and get a V10.
I really do not see the point of putting S8 parts on an A8 these days. At least buy an S8 donor/parts car rather than pay for each part plus shipping.

90SQ

Yeah well that's what i did, bouth a smached S8 for peanuts and converted my old A8, other wise it would have cost way to mutch. Had i knowed at the time i definitaly would have gone with S8 D2 instead off pfl A8 but the car was cheep and smached S8 also so.....+ even if i always start off saying i wont mod my cars i cant help myself, really bad habit of mine(little devil inside)

BrianC72gt

The facelift cars (m.y. 2000 - 2003) have an alloy upright/spindle. D3 A8/S8 calipers bolt right up. Cheap, readily available, huge improvement and bigger than even D2 S8 brakes. You've got a pre-facelift car with steel uprights. D3 brakes do not bolt up to yours. To convert to alloy uprights you also need to swap out the lower control arms. If you hit up a pick-a-part or better still Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market, you can get a pair of front spindles. If you haven't discovered it yet, car-part.com is your friend. A quick search shows that Carguts has them for $45 each. Tell them to include the lower control arms and you should be out the door for $200 or so. The alloy spindles have hardened steel inserts in the two bottom control arm mounting holes, not sold separately. They MUST be included with the spindle. Sometimes the hardened inserts stick to the control arm ball joint tapered end. Since you need the arms anyway, order them together. After that you'll need calipers with mounting brackets and rotors from a D3 A8. Here's my thread: quattroworld.com Forums: D2 to D3 brake upgrade notes

I would go one step further on the cheapskate scale and get used calipers as well. Used calipers from like say an 05 or 06 D3 will have the mounting ear to the spindle plus the hard line and little metal bracket that holds the hard line at the back of the caliper. The little bits add up if purchased separately. I made mine. Don't do that. Pain in the ***.

Have fun,

Brian C.

JAA 4.2

That's some solid advice above. D2 S8 has 345x28mm rotors. D3 A8 has 360x31mm rotors. They are considerably bigger. They are also half the price of D2 S8 rotors.