kevinr

I'm beginning to wonder if the H&R coilovers were the right move for me. The roads here in Iowa are rather bad now and even with WS-50 Bridgestones on, the ride, IMO, is choppy. I can only imagine how the ride will get when I install my Goodyear F1's this spring.

What about installing a S8 spec. suspension on my A8? Can anyone provide some coil spring and strut/shock part numbers for me?

With the S8 suspension I can still get lower but with a less harsh ride?

JimR

I've only driven one once, but found it to be midway between what I have, and stock.

ohbw

I've had mine on for five days and I'm not stoked, either. For the first 10 minutes, I was very happy: "This baby corners nearly FLAT!" After an hour, I was scanning the road for pebbles so I could avoid running over them. It's downright unpleasant, even on my mushy 17" Pirelli P2 Allroads, and this comes from a guy whose other ride is a very modified turbocharged Miata with a near-racing suspension. Worst is the "buckboarding" -- it's so tight that everything I hit causes a perceptible front-to-rear-to-front oscillation in the suspension. The A8 had a beautiful ride and miserable handling before; now it's vice versa.

However, I'm going to give it a few weeks. I emailed skiracer, who responded thus: "I found that the H&Rs did seem to soften up a bit after some break in period. I also think that your butt gets used to the soft stock ride and the H&Rs seem really harsh in comparison. Give it a few weeks and between braking in the shocks and recalibrating your butt, you won't notice the harshness at all except over expansion joints on bridges. My wife still comments on how smooth the A8 rides- she has no idea what I've done to change the suspension since she first rode in it!"

Time will tell. I drove skiracer's car very briefly just after I bought my own and I didn't notice the unpleasant sensitivity I'm experiencing in my car now. I'm going to flog my car in the mountains and let the weight work on the coilovers. If I'm not happy a month from now, there will definitely be a new voice on the board warning people that the H&R's give handling at EXTREME cost to ride. It's downright uncivilized at this point; hopefully the news will be better over time. Either way, I suspect I'm permanently out of the market for 19" wheels!

PaulW

I've had my H&R's on for years now....and the difference in handling is HUGE.....I would never go back to the stock suspension.....ever.

You can't drive the same way you did before.....but if it's now winter, you will notice a difference.

In the summer, it's heaven sent. But it does not absorb every bump in the road, that's for sure.

If I ever complete a supercharger for my car....I don't know if I would give anybody the plans without having a modified suspension because the stock one is just too soft.

However, I appreciate your comments. Maybe H&R is not for you. A S8 suspension is in between.

pw

A8CT

I removed my H&R's yesterday because I too thought that the ride was harsh. I had the experience of using them cross country and as I've told a few people, they're a whole different animal if you're outside the snowbelt. I just got tired of driving around "everything" to avoid the impacts. I was finally runnning the tires @ 30lbs just to try and soften the ride. I'm sure I hold the record on the board because I've now gone from: stock springs with Bilstien shock upgrade, Eibachs with the Bilstiens, H&R's and now I'm back to stock with NEW Boges in the front. So, here's my summary:

1) H&R's - phenominal handling, great on good roads, uncomfortable (for me) in New England. Can be dangerously low..

2) Bileteins with stock springs - waste 'o money

3) Bilsteins with Eibachs - deadly combination of bouncy ride and stiff feel. Remove rear bump stops ! (part of my problem). Great look...

4) NEW Boges with stock springs - nice. Hate the look.. you can drive a truck between top of the wheel and the fender but the ride is very comfortble and the handling is good, far better than just the Bilstein shock upgrade. I don't think it makes much of a difference but I still have the H&R/Bilsteins shocks on the rear. I would have swapped them out for the Boges if I could have gotten them but I'll probably keep the setup as is. I was a little pressed for time.. if someone could figure out how to modify the spring seat to drop the stock springs an 1" or so I'll betcha the ride wouldn't change much and it would look that much better.

I did confirm that the stock springs are the same for years '97 - '01 (at least). There are a couple of other options out there: S8 setup and sport" springs and shocks which a couple of guys in Europe have. I suppose it's just a matter of time before I try those

Bob

ohbw

The stock suspension A8 borders on unsafe for a car with even a 300 hp engine. I nearly peed down my leg the first time I took it a little fast down an offramp to make a left turn under yellow. It felt like a '74 Sedan de Ville with the '53 Soapbox Derby brake mod, and it made me take the Lord's name in vain in novel ways. The amount of body roll is unacceptable. Weight transfer under braking (and onto lousy OEM brakes to boot) is white knuckle inducing. To drive a stock A8 hard is scary, and to add HP to one would be ill-advised.

The H&R's make the car handle more like Audi should have made it handle. All that said, the ride impression in the first few days is startling, and that info should be shared on this board along with the cheerleading about handling, I think. I'll definitely be reporting in after a few weeks to give my impression of whether the H&R's settle in a bit or not. They ought to, they've got a couple of tons resting on them.

A8CT

and the first time I came down an off ramp fast with my A8 I thought I was 17 again. The front end was literally bobbing up and down. With new Boge's it's very controlled and like night and day. I'm also running the stock Conti tourings which are not a handling tire.

skiracer

We can find out- in a few weeks when your suspension has been flogged and broken in a bit, we can meet somewhere and do an on-road comparison between the cars. It is unlikely that H&R would change things, but from your description of the ride quality I suppose it's possible.

ohbw

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/84266/d.jpg"></center><p>
We'll expect a forum members-only deal when you bring your Bogeibachilstein H&amp;R Thermapedadjusters to market!

Life is hard for us picky bastards. I divorced this woman for having messy hair. In retrospect, a mistake -- I could've bought her a nice brush.

A8CT

barely moves. I mean you really have to press down hard to get it to compress at all. It's got to be at least 3x firmer than the stock strut. Maybe they did change it ? That might explain the disparity in our opinions ??