[parptarf]

It seems like my car is a tad bit taller at the rear. It's lowered as much as you can without touching the torsion bar according to the <acronym title='previous owner'>PO</acronym>.

I think I get what you're saying now.





Another thing, one of the reasons behind wanting coilovers is the adjustments and how easy this can be done. As I drive the car though the long and harsh Norwegian winter, being able to raise the car up is really, really handy. I had a adjustable coilover setup on my previous car. And A4 Quattro, and man was it nice.

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[flash]

never looked at the setup, and that may work on the audi, but it won't work on the 968.



that is a REALLY bad idea if you care about corner balancing. corner balancing is the key to handling and cornering on these cars. the adjustments can be very small, but make huge changes in how much load is at each wheel. i've seen a half turn on a shock result in a 50lb change. you can't just use a tape measure and say "here for winter", and "here for summer".



another thing to consider is that when you change ride height, you affect camber and toe setting. 12mm difference can easily mean 1/2 degree.



i wish it weren't the case, as every time i make a suspension change it means another alignment and corner balance.



that being said, coilovers are definitely easier to work with when it comes to setting ride height and corner balancing, assuming you remove from the equation the fact that the torsion bar is supporting the weight of the car, and you do that either by deleting them, or reindexing them.



if you choose to keep the torsion bars, even if you reindex, the other road block you will run into is the low spring rate of the tech art springs. all you will be able to add in the rear is about 60#, and those will be hard to find, and probably even harder with a TUV approved spring.



welcome to the slippery slope club. we're having jackets made next week

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[parptarf]

All this just to get a stiffer rear end?



It does seem like a coilover setup and those poly bronze bushings, even with the added maintenance is a "better" option.

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[flash]

well, you could try a treadmill



ba dum bum

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[parptarf]

Well, that seems like even harder work. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.png" class="smilie" alt="" />



But yeah. how does those poly bronze bushings look like and where would I need to put them? I can't seem to find anything out when searching for this.

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[flash]

they go at the outboard end of the torsion bars. you have to remove the end cap/mounting piece (which requires dropping the rear suspension from the car). then you have to torch off the rubber bushing from the trailing arm (i was unable to remove them the way the instructions say). then finally, you can install the polybronze bushings.



here is their install sheet:



http://www.elephantracing.com/documents/...-sprpl.pdf

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[parptarf]

Thanks! So that little bushing hold the weight of the entire rear end?





Anyways, relube around every oil change, I can live with that.

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[flash]

yup - that's why i freaked out when i thought you were saying that somebody was running with just the rubber in there, and nothing to center it.



the polybronze is a bit noisier than the rubber, and it transfers more impacts to the chassis than the rubber. it does make for tighter turn in though, and a little less snap back.

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[parptarf]

Sounds absolutely perfect!

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[parptarf]

Ok, since we're already talking about suspension on my car here.



As you know I'm running yellow Konis all around, but my rear dampers are making some squeaking sounds and have been for a while now.

Seems like I have two options, either rebuild them or change them out. I'm thinking about putting Bilstein B6 damper at the rear instead of the Koni dampers.



Since I have the impression that you've used both, which do you like the best? <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.png" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[flash]

i haven't messed with the B6 yet, but i hate bilstein escorts worse than i hate koni yellows. in my experience, gas just isn't a good thing in the rear. if the valving is similar between the escort and the B6, you can expect a bumpy ride. not a lot of hydraulic choices out there though.



i would definitely select a shock that is individually adjustable on bump and rebound

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[parptarf]

Any tips on what to look at? I'm pretty free to play with dampers.



Yellow Konis are gas right?

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[flash]

yellow konis are gas



i am using modified QA-1 shocks with stacked springs on the rear of my car. final wheel rate is about 300# (final spring rate about 550). i still get an occasional single squeak if i go over a driveway unevenly and slowly, but it's tolerable. the ride is nice and smooth, with none of the typical bouncing, jouncing, or jarring that you get with gas.



not much else out there in an hydraulic shock that will allow coils. koni does make a double adjustable gas shock that might not be bad. again, being double adjustable is the key to smoothness, as well as not running a linear spring.



if you change your torsion bars to a stiffer bar, then you can run just a shock, with no coils, and likely have more options.

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[parptarf]

What about a hydraulic shock and using the stock torsion bar? Just as a replacement for the yellow Koni dampers I already have on.

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[flash]

well, then you can't mess with the front spring rate, but if you're under 220, it could work fine. that's what is there stock. it might be a bit soft if you use a fixed rate shock, and anything over the stock front spring, but if you use one with adjustable bump and rebound then you would be fine. i've done that in a couple of cars now.

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