MoroBlueBrit

or is this another thing we can't get over here? Surely suspension options don't have anything to do with DOT requirements like side airbags in seats etc that preclude us getting the Euro spec seats etc?

pyranha

Sports suspension plus
firmer spring and shock absorber settings than standard, approx 10mm lower than standard

have no idea what we get over here. Though 10mm might fix the wheel gap that some are complaining about.

audiboi

A lower car will crash differently than a higher car.

2953

...<font color="003366"> like compliance with bumper strike zones and minimum ground-to-bulb centerline for the headlamps. There are FMVSS requirements for both.

Lower a car, any car, and you may find out one or both of these measures is below the NHTSA requirement<i> <b>OR</b> </i>below the company's internal requirements that take build variation into account. As was the case with the S-Line Sportfahrwerk pack on the first generation TT. <i>Theoretically</i> an S-Line equipped TT would just squeak through the NHTSA bumper beam strike zone but missed on the internal requirement for the same that takes into account unit build variation.

I haven't heard whether or not some permutaion of this is why the decision was made to exclude the Sport Fahrwerk Plus option from the U.S. and Canadian RS4 option list.</font>

MoroBlueBrit

good point, Does 10mm make that much of a difference in a crash test?I am not sure. I understand the requirement of side airbags would mean the euro spec seats were not allowed, but 10mm height ? Who knows, trying to find out any information about this car from audi is like trying to pull hens teeth. I am still trying to work out what its actual WHP is and how different it is from the stated crank HP.

MoroBlueBrit

Ahh. How do super exotics get away with it like lambos and fezzers? surely they have the same minimum requirements for centerline bulb height etc? or is it ok to be maimed by a Lambo and not a honda?

2953

...<font color="003366"> They don't, they comply. EVEN the Veyron is compliant with the bumper and lighting standards. Really.

Last time I checked the NHTSA data (back in March) there was only a single <u>2006MY</u> manufacturer listed as exercising a bumper exemption and just one listed as marketing vehicles under a front lighting exemption. In both cases it was Lotus for the Elise and Exige. And the lighting exemption the guys from Hethel have used isn't for height, it's for non-compliance to the standardized amiming regulation. Last Ferrari to be imported under one of these exemptions was the Enzo. For the front bumper, by the way.

FYI, since the advent of the standards, damned few (if any) cars have needed an exemption for the bulb centerline-to-ground mandate. It's a short 18 inches.</font>

Bob W.

nice having you around here a little more.