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D2 - Axles, Brakes, Suspension and Steering Brakes, Springs, shocks, steering racks, steering columns, suspension arms, wheel hubs etc.

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  #21  
Old 18th January 2019, 01:59 PM
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I’m starting to get weird steering and suspension feelings again.

I’ve just had my MOT and nothing odd was found but similar to before, the steering needs lots of correcting when make quick turns particularly when taking right handers. I’m fighting it at times to straighten the wheel and the car is all over the place.

All suspension arms replaced approx two years ago and full alignment has also been done.

What else can cause odd steering/handling - any of the below?

Inner/outer CV’s
Bent driveshaft
Wheel bearings
Faulty steering rack
Uprights need replacing
Bent chassis?

I feel like I need to drive another A/S8 to see if I’m imagining the symptoms. Anyone local and brave enough to let me drive their baby?
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  #22  
Old 18th January 2019, 02:08 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is offline
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Tyres and tracking would be my first suspicions.
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2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
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  #23  
Old 18th January 2019, 02:16 PM
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Tyres and tracking are ok and drives true...it’s literally whenever I make turns that something doesn’t feel right.

I did notice low tyre pressure exasperated the feeling. Its better with correct pressures but not eliminated.
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  #24  
Old 18th January 2019, 02:17 PM
MikkiJayne MikkiJayne is offline
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What else can cause odd steering/handling - any of the below?

Inner/outer CV’s - no
Bent driveshaft - no
Wheel bearings - no
Faulty steering rack - yes, it would usually be unstable in a straight line where there is play in the rack
Uprights need replacing - plausibly if the top arms are loose again
Bent chassis? - could do, but if it was that bent you'd see it on the alignment rack

Are you using stock alignment specs on lowered suspension? Mine was horrible when set up as standard - very little feel on turn-in, unstable on fast corners. The extra camber at the front coupled with the standard toe-in spec was causing it to ride on the inner edges of the tyres so it had no grip. It was barely noticeable on the 18s with balloon tyres, but as soon as I switched to the 20s it became pretty unpleasant to drive fast. We set the front to parallel and now it's perfect again.

Last edited by MikkiJayne; 18th January 2019 at 02:20 PM.
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  #25  
Old 18th January 2019, 02:51 PM
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Yes, stock alignment on lowered suspension. I hadn’t considered that being an issue but it makes sense when you explain it.

If I go back to a hunter 4 wheel alignment and mention the above MJ will they know what I’m talking about? Would I be better at going back to someone like AMD in Essex who also do modified cars?

Two more points which I didn’t consider before.

1. It’s worse on right hand turns.
2. It’s noticeably worse when cold but improves after 15 minutes or so of driving. I think this due to the air in the tyres being colder and behaving like they’re slightly under inflated.
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  #26  
Old 18th January 2019, 03:07 PM
MikkiJayne MikkiJayne is offline
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If someone can operate a Hunter then they ought to be happy enough with the idea of a custom alignment if you tell them that's what you want. Basically its everything to factory specs except front toe which is parallel +0/-0.1, so effectively a very tiny bit of toe in or none, but not toe out. (nb - don't take these numbers as gospel. I'll scan my alignment sheet this evening)

If you have a different reaction one way to the other the first thing I would look at is where the tie rods are set in the hub. They have vertical adjustment to give some bump-steer control, but no one other than Audi ever knows how to set that. On a lowered car I will set the tie rods to the bottom of their adjustment, so basically loosen the top bolt plenty and then loosen the tie rod pinch bolt so the rod moves. Tap it down until it stops and then tighten the pinch bolt and nip up the top bolt. The idea is to get the tie rods parallel with the ground at normal ride height. You can't get that, but you can at least set them to the correct end of the adjustment.
If you have different settings both sides that means you have different bump steer characteristics side to side as well, so when the car leans in to a corner you'll get a different amount of steering angle change side to side which will feel very odd indeed, especially lowered with stock toe settings.

The other thing to look at on the alignment is whether camber and caster are roughly equal side to side. If the subframe isn't on straight then you can set toe just fine and it'll drive straight, but you'll see camber and caster differences which can also lead to odd handling.

Last edited by MikkiJayne; 18th January 2019 at 03:10 PM.
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  #27  
Old 18th January 2019, 04:41 PM
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Thanks for all of the above MJ. I’m going to print it off and take it with me when I get it looked at.

If this doesn’t fix it I would still like to try another 8 to get a comparison. It’s been 3 years since my last one and I can’t recall it feeling like this when I gave it a bit of beans.
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2003 S4 Avant - Light Silver Mettalic

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  #28  
Old 5th February 2019, 05:25 PM
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I haven’t been driving the 8 much recently but took it for a spin Sunday and it felt brilliant....responsive steering, felt planted and inspired confidence to push on in corners.

Just had a quick spin to get my daughter from school as she loves the Audi and it felt like a different car. The steering was super light and was tram lining terribly but the worst thing was when the car was traversing the undulations in the road. It almost felt as though the wheels were going one way and the body of the car was going another as it struggled with the fast changes in road surfaces. It did this once/twice before I had the coilovers fitted so I assumed the front shocks were past their best. Could bad engine/transmission/subframe mounts cause this weird sensation? I know there is something not right with the handling of the car but it’s so random when it happens it’s hard to pinpoint. I guess I need to get this on the ramp to have it inspected. I feel like replacing EVERYTHING to solve it.
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1988 E30 Coupe - Royalblau Metallic

2003 S4 Avant - Light Silver Mettalic

2016 S5 Coupe Black Edition - Ibis White

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  #29  
Old 5th February 2019, 07:48 PM
MikkiJayne MikkiJayne is offline
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What tyres are on it?
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  #30  
Old 5th February 2019, 07:51 PM
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Michelin Pilot Supersports. They covered about 7k miles and still have loads of tread left.
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1988 E30 Coupe - Royalblau Metallic

2003 S4 Avant - Light Silver Mettalic

2016 S5 Coupe Black Edition - Ibis White

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