Advice on shock absorbers (part 2)

[Lankytim]

Does anyone here have any experience of sports shock absorbers? Ive got a set of brand new PI lowering springs for the Audi and was going to replace the shocks for brand new standard items when I fitted the springs but after finding out via the forum that any shocks from the 1980s/early 90s Audi 100 model range will fit Ive found theres quite a few performance shock absorber manufacturers offering shocks for my car.

Would it be dangerous to fit stiffer, lower springs and use standard shock absorbers?

Are they worth the extra investment in terms of handling? Can anyone recommend a decent manufacturer, How much am I looking at spending?

I'm a bit of a stranger to the world of uprated springs and shocks, I don't want to buy a load of stuff I don't need or, even worse, neglect to buy something and make my car dangerous.

[popuptoaster]

Dampers need to be matched to the springs, stiffer springs need stronger dampers to be able to control them, and if your springs are a lot shorter the shock can bottom out on the internal stops and get killed very quickly.

[Lankytim]

These springs are -35mm so not a massive drop. Id googled advice on shocks and many people suggested that they needed to be matched to the springs.... Not a case of sticking on the springs and forgetting about them then!

[popuptoaster]

depends how much stiffer they are i guess, but it seems a bit of a waste to uprate the springs without uprating the shocks and maybe fitting poly bushes.

[Lankytim]

Poly bushes... hummm, I hadnt thought of those!

Right, can anybody recommend a half decent supplier of shocks and poly bushes?

[MartinC]

Tim, it wouldn't be dangerous at all, don't worry.

As Popup says, it might be a bit choppy but only if the springs are a lot stiffer than the original ones.

Fit 'em, see what you think. You can always do the shocks later.

In an ideal world they 'should' be matched. But there should be world peace too!
You can get 'towing' springs off the shelf. These are stiffer, and use stock shocks. All fine and dandy.

don't worry about the tavel. The suspension travel is controlled by other things, as long as you have the standard bump stops etc. the car cannot go any lower than it would with the stock springs.

[Lankytim]

Ive found a place that does cheap uprated shocks. they're made by supersport, anybody heard of them?


www.venommotorsport.com/product_details.php?id=23398&manufacturer=Supersport&category=Suspension


Dirt cheap anyway.. maybe cheap enough to fit them anyway, save taking everything apart again.