alexpho

I can't remember when it happened ( Philly roads )but it looks like I got undercarriage damage when the car ran over a pot hole. The rear bracket ( holds side skirt to frame ) broke off, but side skirt is still in tact. It is located in front of the rear driver side wheel. Now the side skirt molding is uneven but hardly noticeable.

Becareful when in the car is in the lowest setting. I can't believe others have dropped their cars even lower.

MP4.2+6.0

Seems hard to damage that rear wheel area without really screwing up the front--bumper, etc. Logically if you took that big a drop (5-6 inches) the front end would likely have hit (HARD) first, and I would expect wheel and tire damage too.

Two other scenarios I have seen damage back in that area (in front of the rear wheel if I read your post correctly):

1. Candidly, someone who made a mistake with a floor jack or lift. If you jack on other than the designated jack point or (carefully) under the rear diff area, body work deformation is likely. Anyone jacked up the car recently involving that wheel (or the whole car)? Also forgetting to remove a back up jackstand can lead to this too--ask me how I know that...(circa C3)

2. A tight turning situation where there is a curb, rock or something similar at ground level and the front end clears it but the rear wheel cuts a tighter radius and then snags the obstruction. Same thing can happen to the rear wheel fender area with metal posts/walls/garage door jambs, etc., but it also arises down close to the ground with the kinds of obstructions I mention.

Typically in damage scenario #1 it's more a straight vertical dent/damage. In scenario #2 almost invariably there will be scrape marks since the car is in motion. If you don't have scrape marks in the area of the damage, it's a pretty strong pointer toward scenario #1.

3. Finally, there are occasional low probability scenarios that are on the road damage and may not involve scrapes or sharply delineated dents--road debris type hits like a chunk of wood, a tree branch, plastics, etc.

Scenarios 1 and 3 aren't that related to running height. Indirectly scenario 2 is, but it can happen at normal ride heights too if a corner is cut too tightly.

Oh yeah, been there, done that, or seen family members do it on several of these "what ifs," so I know it can still happen even if you are pretty careful.

alexpho

Erich,

I don't touch my car when it comes to maintenance, only the dealer. Again, don't know how it happened. I could of swirved a hole but caught the rear. Who knows. The front end appears to be ok. Underneath the rear driver side skirt, verticle to the rear door handle, and in front of the rear wheel is where the damaged area is. There is a black platic triangle locking piece/brace that holds the molding to the frame, that broke off.

MP4.2+6.0

Erich is covert4.2 by the way. Different W12.

One more to add to the list, that I tend forget in warm weather CA. Could happen if the car gets beached on an icy berm too if you have visited any of those by chance, though with Spring presumably it would have been a while ago. Haven't done it w/ a quattro but have beached a Toyota Sienna, leading to the shovel.

Any of the scenarios I can think of involving the car in motion are going to make definite noise you would have heard if you were driving, and probably pretty darn loudly from my experience with undercar occurences w/ various Audi's. 20+ years now and many hundred thousand miles run and repair times, including under car events with the C1, C3 and C5. Absent remembering an impact or a big noise or thud, that leaves the now forgotten incidents, and other driver or dealer scenarios.

Regardless, and to your original points, the cars aren't that high. I tend to stay away from the low setting except for show or the open road, I dropped mine 10mm, but the 275/35-20's w/ that option effectively make the car about 3/10's of an inch higher than standard tire sizes on the 18's and 19's, meaning I'm close to common D3 net stock height. Front end w/ the angular spoiler is definitely chin out looking for a problem. Rear areas mishaps are of course unfortunate too, but seem less likely w/out some intervening problem not encountered as much as parking blocks and curb problems.