S8 Springs & things
 

Well as my 2001 S8 weekend car of 3 years has now turned in to my daily drive, nay 30K business mile car (Hurragh for fuel cards) & I need to get the suspension up to scratch.

It's covered 188K and the front suspension is original appart from 4 lemforder top arms at 145K (previous owner). The track rods are clunking and there is movement in the n/s bottom arms. ABS lights up early on bumps. Time to invest.

I plan for a Meyle HD suspension kit for £430 from german car parts in Leeds. New outer and inner track rod ends (lemforder) and front anti roll bar bushes from Audi. I will also invest in new top mounts for the dampers.

I plan to use Audi OEM front dampers, not sure which of the multiples it will get dependant on chassis number. I bought rears and they turned out to be sachs and red in colour, the fronts are red so expect Sach too. I'd be happy to hear of a better recomendation, bearing in mind I want to retain the ride quality and my filings in my teeth. Prime use is on the M-way. Bilstein B6 get a recommend in Norway but I'm sure the roads are very different there or how they would respond in the UK.

The one I'm scrathing my head over is the springs. Has anybody swapped old standard springs for new and found an improvement? My springs are not sagging cracked rusty or broken. My independant garage says they are high quality and should not go 'off'. I'm inclined to retain them if that is the case, but as the front's coming apart if there is an advantage to change them I'd consider it. They have boinged for 188k!

Last question: Has anyone changed the rear anti roll bar bushes and 4 links found an improvement? They look fine but I did this on a 95 saab aero front and back and it transformed both the handlind and ride. Just wondered if it would do the same on the S8?

Hope to hear from those sitting more comfortably now.

Hi,

Being new to 8's I cannot profess to be an expert on the 8 suspension setup but seeing as I have previously made a set of 40mm Inverted Bilstein coilovers with Swift springs for my old car I do know a thing or two!

Bilstein and Sachs are both high quality dampers. You won't go wrong there! You'll find these, admittedly in 5k a corner!, variants on lots of serious rally cars. I'd be wary of fitting FK coilovers and the suchlike. To me they look very cheaply made for the prices they charge. For folk who want to lower their 8 there are plenty of sprng manufacturers in the UK who will do you a custom set for surprisingly little money. To be honest though I doubt many fitting FK's and the like are doing it for performance reasons!! Cannot say they are bad though as not tried them just an engineers eye tells me I could make some similar using bilstein inserts for about the same price.....I know what I'd go with.

All springs "go off" eventually no matter what some may say. On the swift springs, mentioned above, they claim to last a lot longer than most.....and should be at around £80 per corner!! If you have the extra you will really make the most out of your new shocks. If the rate of the old springs has dropped, and it should have by 188k, you can actually start making the new dampers work harder than they should therby effecting longevity. They are valved to match the springs fresh from the factory. If it's time for the shocks I always do the springs at the same time.

Just my 2 penneth.

John

Thanks JohnD for your wise words of experience. Audi OEM come in at £125 each inc vat so swift look a cheaper option. Let me know if you know of a UK source for them. Thanks.

Regarding Bilstein B6 and the roads in Norway i would say they would be perfectt in the UK since your roads are actually roads and not something that was a road in 1960 and has then been fixed half-harted ever since..

I have still only mounted the rears on mine and after 3.5 weeks i still love them. Ride quality is perfect and not harsh in anyway but not soft like A8 without sport suspension. Perfect for a family car:)

.
 

Hi,

These are two companies in the UK that will custom make you springs but you need to give them the full info regarding the OEM spec so that may be an issue.

http://www.springcoil.co.uk/suspension.html

http://www.coilsprings.co.uk/


Unfortunately the Swift springs I have previously used were 2.5" coilover springs so not a direct fit.

Regs

John

Springs and things
 

Well following a a visit from gruvenparts I now have maximum power on the S8. But this extra performance now shows up more the knocks clunks bangs wobbles and slop after just 190K miles in the suspension and steering department. Fortunately the Meyle HD link arms arrived the next day along with inner track rods and rear ARB links. Then Mr Bilstein's B6's arrived for the front. That just left arb bushes front and rear and shocker mounts for the front, sorted by Audi parts. Well that's now £850 in parts sat in my boot.

The budget for springs ran out as there is just enough left in the kitty for fitting. Speaking of which, the ARB links and bushes are to be done first. I'm interested to see the effect of just these components. They transformed my late Saab 9-5 aero.

The major work of the control arms and shocks are being done elswhere where they are more experienced and hopefully able to coax out the pinch bolts. They are spot on for alignment too. Watch this space for posts on progress, expenditure, bankruptcy & Joy.

Where have you parked:)

Springs & things
 

Well just had front & rear anti roll bar bushes and links fitted for £60.....what a difference they have made. Steering, crisper and needing less correction at speed and over bumps. Much more alert in turn in. The ride is more composed and body control is improved both on cornering and straight ahead. Despite the wear and tear in the rest of the suspension arms and dampers this small change has really made a big difference & has been well worth it. I would recommend the small outlay of £160 being invested in sharpening up your ride. Next week the Bilsteins and control arms go on. Total control here we come. Things can only get better.

+++

S8 Springs & things
 

Well, bugger & quelle suprieez. Despite 2 days of penatration oil spraying the pinchbolt nuts have come off but the bolts are stuck fast. It's with Roger Holmes in York. More soaking on the go while it sit's there with the bolts more exposed. The next plan involves removal of the hub then heat. Not too much to melt the alloy but enough to hopefully cause a parting. Then start tapping. Which is probably not a violent enough word to cover the kind of tap it needs. Speaking of violence, the 'steering commitee' (wife) enquired could I not just buy some new hubs.....I could for £720 from Audi if she gave up her holiday plane ticket, but probably best not to mention that just yet.

Use heat.. gets them easily :)

S8 Springs & things
 

Double bugger. Despite 4 days of penetrating fluid and applying the blow torch I now have the remains of 2 sheard bolts wedge in the uprights. It's official they are stuck fast and not coming out. I now have to firk out £720 to Audi purely for there design flaw and buy 2 new uprights. I don't mind spending money to see an improvement or upgade but this takes the biscuit.:(:(

Have you checked with A8parts to see if they have any in?

We have most parts available however we don't currently have the uprights in stock.

As with the age of your car being a 2001 S8, you will have the larger 360mm Brembo brakes so unfortunately the hubs carriers are different.

If there is anything else you need for your car please give us a call on 01642 783537 and one of our team will be happy to help you.

S8 Springs & things
 

Well after major wallet surgery I go the old girl back. All clunks bangs & wonderings have gone....along with about £2k! Thank you Audi for your £700 design fault! So Steering, goes where its pointed and is no longer restless or wondering. I had got used to almost constant correction at the steering wheel and now it's gone it's so much more relaxing to drive. The feel is linear and positive and any hint of tramlining has gone. The front bilstein B6's are excellent. On the motorway they have the same level of comfort as you would expect OE. On A & B roads they are supple but controling. Only on badly pockmarked bitumin is there any any hint of harshness but control is total. There is a B road near me that at 100 (Can't recall MPH of KPH) would see it jump 6" offline on the straight at one point. Now it sails over it with millimetric precesion and a controlled ride. Body roll has gone and the occasional ABS light on hard braking on bad bumps has gone. I tried by hand the old 192K oe shocks and was impressed they still damped both up and down but no where near the virtually unmoveable B6's. I have to say I occasionally note that the recent OE rear shocks I had fitted not so long back can be felt moving about at high speed on bad undulations. Not much but enough to make me wish had gone with B6's at the rear for the same cost. I've already done nearly 800 miles on the new set up and well impressed. Next stop new springs, then maybe subframe mounts in the distant future. I had a new sub-frame fitted to a 110k D2 4.2 sport 6 years ago on insurance as the previous owner had decked it and it would not align up. The NVH reduction was amazing. She needs to earn her keep until then, here's hoping.

Any updates on the new shocks?

Part numbers for the B6 front shocks would be great too, as in the USA, they only list the B6 shocks for the rear, and two HD ones for the front.

Thanks in advance. :)

PS: I'm looking to see if some polyurethane ARB bushings are possible for the S8. This would be a nice upgrade for most as it firms up the ARB response, but does not make the ride harsher.

They do squeek however, so a good marine grade grease up when you install them is the only way to go. (Many come here with a little pouch of grease they reccomend, Suspension Techniques does this for example.)

Mike and myself talked to Polybush at GTI international last year http://www.polybush.co.uk/ to see if they could put together a kit for A/S8's - not sure where that's at but I'll ask if he had any more contact with them. We are there again in a couple of weeks so might be an opportunity to see what they can do. I have a complete set of spare arms for my 8 from when I changed all the bushes not long ago so might be good to give them that set cleaned up to see what they can put together and use it as a "stock set" to save people taking theirs off and waiting etc. +++