Coupe quattro springs

Started by Mike, February 24, 2005, 09:17:34 PM

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Mike

Has anyone got experience of uprated springs for a 1987 (square shape) Coupe quattro with the 'KV' 136bhp 5-cyl engine in it. It's not the turbo version. I've got to do some suspension work soon and thought the springs might be getting a bit past it at 128,000 miles, so why not upgrade at the same time, right?

I would like springs that give a similar feel to the Ur-q factory springs. I don't want anything that is too low or harsh (I drive it on the road, and our rural roads aren't smooth enough for extreme low hard springs) and I don't want a down-side like spring coils hitting each other. My research has told me the following:

Boge springs (which should be good as the same manufacturer makes the OE springs) sometimes have the coils hitting each other on compression - I don't want that.

H&R - I know of a bloke who said it lowered the back more than the front so the car looks a bit funny?

Do Ur-q factory or aftermarket springs fit and would they work properly bearing in mind the non-turbo version is a bit lighter, esp at the front?

Are there any other alternatives - I've already got Koni Sport dampers in the front, and would like to do all four springs when I put Konis in the rear in a couple of months.

Thanks for any advice.




OOOO

I had Koni sport shocks all round in my 88 coupe quattro and it transformed the car.  IMO the standards springs did the job fine given the limited horsepower and anything else would probably give too harsh a ride for most driving.  I don't know if it's possible but a progressive spring giving the standard ride height would be cool....the harder you push the flatter the car stays.
2014 Audi A8 4.2TDI
2013 VW Golf 2.0TDI
2009 Audi A3 quattro

Duncan

I have koni sports on mine, but still waay too wallowy. Maybe rear anti-roll is on the cards and upsize the fronts, but I would like a stiffer spring myself. Bought some B&G springs for just this reason. Lowered it too much so car was bottoming out. Not sure if it was coils binding or suspension parts interfering, but was hopeless. Turned out the springs were lower but pretty much the same stiffness as stock. Obviously a bad idea! Lowered  looked cooler, but was pretty much undrivable. Also made the control arms sit in a lifted position when no load on, so bump steer was accentuated -> also bad. Be interested to hear anyone else's feedback, as I would like stock height, but 15% stiffer springs just to make better use of the konis and stiffen the ride a little.

Anyway B&G --> bad.

Duncan

How much are you looking at for the Ur springs? At a glance they look like they should fit...

Mike

My research indicates that Ur-q springs are almost certain to physically fit in the CQ struts.

but...

The issue is the possibility that the car might sit too high at the front with Ur-q springs installed as the non-turbo engine is quite a bit lighter.

Are the Koni springs made as part of a kit? Are they actually manufactured by Koni or by someone else for Koni?

What is the degree of lowering compared to standard post-84 Ur-q ride height?

Is there any information from users relating to what their characteristics are - e.g. do they suffer from any drawbacks in use?

Please excuse my questions - I ask them as I want to do the job properly first time and avoid pitfalls.

Mike

Thanks very much to all for the information.

To update, I've decided to stay with the stock springs for now. I've just had installed the Koni Sport dampers in the rear to match the ones already in the front. At the same time I had Superpro poly sub-frame mounts installed front and rear(the OE ones were falling to bits).

The car now handles very nicely on the road, which is what I use it for. I've also got Superpro poly wishbone bushes all round. The steering is really direct and has a lot more feel, but it is not twitchy at open road speeds.