Kenny H

After much thought I've come up with a game plan for my A4 '02 Z. I'm scrapping my plans to go with a big Yank convertor and will likely go with a much smaller Vig 2800 or 3200. It will be a full bolt-on car, and eventually a smallish cam. I'm hoping to run high 11s @ full weight on drag radials. I figure I will need ~ 360 rwhp and a 1.70 short time to do that.

This car's 37k mile suspension is stock & it pretty much blows. LS1 FBods (regular non SS/WS6) handle crappy in stock form and I want to tighten it up.

As far as shocks go I'm going to go with the Konis. I don't fully understand the different types, so I'm looking for some feedback on that. Also, it seems guys have run the Konis with the stock springs but I definately want to lower the car. It sits way too high and since I'll be running a small convertor anyways, the lack of weight transfer shouldn't be too much of an issue at the strip.

I'm looking to make this car handle very well and I will accept a bit of a harsher ride. Potholes down here in NC aren't much of a problem so a stiffer ride should be very bearable, however this is going to be the car of choice for our trips to Mrtyle Beach etc so I don't want an absolutely bone crushing ride either.

I'm thinking the Konis w/ Sam Strano lowering springs will work nicely. But what about bigger sway bars? Sub frames? A strut tower brace? If I do all of that will the ride be very very stiff? What do you guys recommend?

FWIW I still have the stock 16x 8 chrome snow flake wheels on the car. To really feel some better handling do I HAVE to goto a 17" wheel/tire combo? I like the 16s for now because I think I'll snag another 2 wheels and throw some MT drag radials on them, and then have my regular street tires on the car most of the time and then my 16" drag radials when I want to head to the track.

Let me know what you guys think about the Konis w/ strano lowering springs, and then possible adding larger front/rear sway bars, subframe connectors, and a strut tower brace to the mix. Thanks....

qwikz28

iTrader: (12)

although i haven't tried multiple setups, i can tell you what i have and what i hear.

my car has:
Koni Single Adjustable (double adjustable is impossible to tune and even sam strano uses singles)

Strano Springs and sway bars.

full UMI Chromoly suspension double adjustble with rod ends and subframe connectors.

the strano springs are pretty stiff, but certainly livable. if your suspension is old and worn out, you might appreciate the added stiffness. i live in NJ and NY which the roads are far worse, and i have no complaint.

sway bars are good addition, i'd recommend getting just the front for now and maybe adding the rear later if you want less roll in teh rear

UMI suspension, maybe the double adjustables were overkill, but if you do get them and you don't know what you're doing, have someone adjust them for you. its not as easy as one might think. road noise went up a great deal with these bad boys.

any subframe connector will do wonders, preferrably weld in and boxed.

tires- this is a big deal. my buddy and i have almost identical setups. but he has stock z28 wheels like you and i have 18x9.5 wheels. my car drives much different than his. his car is much softer and has far less lateral grip. i'd recommend that you eventually switch to 17" wheel combo. you'll be glad you did. the extra width of tire and stance will make your car feel tons better.

i hope i helped. maybe now the real suspension gurus can come in here and correct any of my misinformation

EchoMirage

iTrader: (3)

if you want real help with suspension, talk to strano himself

BillS

iTrader: (13)

I autox a lot and have tried many different combos. I have learend over time to work directly with Sam Strano.
The combo that i have ended up with is a pair of sams rear springs and a set of Ground Control coil-over fronts, in the same spring rate as Sams fronts. My shocks are Koni 2x adj, but only cause i had them, the singles are a better choice. After many other trys I ended up with a set of Sams swaybars. If you are looking for big increase in front grip, and dont have any class rules preventing you, the Global West front upper control arms make a huge difference. They add a bunch of camber and caster and correcet the suspension geomentry. I dont know if any of the other makers Front upperes do this they may.
In the rear the I eneded up with a set of Umi lower arms with a rod end/ poly bushing They handle just as well as the 2x rodend units with out the noise that was way over the top.
As for tire/wheel combos I would go with a 17 in wheel with a good 275 tire for the street. I race on 4x 315's but they are way too much for street use as they track into every rut and sandblast the **** out of your paint. I have a LG torque arm, it gives very little benefit on the street, it helps on race tires with wheelhop on braking. As for subframes, get them and only go welded, bolton's are nothing but extra weight as they can flex at the bolt holes. The front shocktower brace does nothing, I have one and the only reason it is still on the car is that I have some other things mounted to mine.
As i started with Sam is the best contact for this. The next best thing is seat time, get out and do some autox events to learn the way the car behaves at its limits.

2MCHPWR

iTrader: (10)

yeah call sam. i know you wanna keep it simple.
koni singles all around. SFC's.
strano springs. new alignment with some neg camber up front.
then 17's 275's all around.
avoid the LG TA like the plague; its mounting plates are paper thin; get spohn or similar if you ever want a replacement TA.
Learn how to race/drive on race track that has turns would help too

JS

iTrader: (4)

I would do this setup if I wanted to turn a corner...
Strano Springs
Strano Sways
Single Koni's
Spohn frame conn.
Spohn Control arms
Spohn Tq arm w/loop
Spohn Adj. Panhard
Spohn STB
BFG 275's
17X9 ZR1's
Some negative camber up front

The car will ride nice and handle like its on rails.
If u can affor CM parts save the weight and get them,For a street car I would go poly bushing in the panhard and control arms or if u can handle alittle more noise poly/hiem versions....

Kenny H

Thanks for all the feedback gang!!

I can't wait to get the shocks, everyone who gets them says its a very noticeable difference.

I hope this all comes together for me. The car has a couple scratches on the hatch that I'm having a paitn guy take care of. I've already got a few bolt-ons ready to go on. I'm really hoping to get a 12.0 car that handles well and is streetable to drive anywhere at any time. I can't ask for much more than that.

Durien

dude? all the roads down in your neck of the woods are full of pot holes and are in straight lines.....

Kenny H

You spend all your time in downtown HP. No one goes down there unless they HAVE too, its a sh!thole. I spend all my time further north and then in the Winston Salem/King/North Greensboro/Belews Creek area. None of those areas have pothole issues and their are plenty of curvy roads to enjoy. We are looking to move ASAP, I'm done with subdivisions. We hope to be moving 10+ miles outside of High Point.

P-DOG

opifghepuitgpghpweuteji

NJSPDER

iTrader: (2)

If your roads are rough, I would avoid the Strano springs. They are great rates for balanced handling, but they drop the car close to 2 inches and that can be painful. Go with Eibach Pro Kits, similar rates, same rate split as the Stranos, so the balance should be about the same.

Adjustable shocks are great if you are going to take the time to mess around with them constantly, if you just want to hop in the car and enjoy it, get some off the shelf Bilsteins and call it a day. It won't be until you have a fair amount of seat time that you will learn to take full advantage of the adjustables anyway.

One big tuning point to play with is sway bars. A lot of guys love the Strano bars, supposed to be very balanced and lend itself to getting back to the gas early and rotating the car through the middle of tighter turns. Bars are something that is a quick change and you may be able to borrow from friends to try different combos at an autocross to find the balance you like.

Big thing is to not forget that a stiff chassis is a happy chassis. Get good subs and a 3point strut bar. You want all of the movement handled by the suspenion, as soon as the chassis moves you are introducing variables that don't like things like bumps, dips, and pavement seams.



-Tim

BillS

iTrader: (13)

my personal experence is that the strano spring are way better then the pro-kits. That is true esp in the ride. they lowered my car slightly less then the pro-kits and the linear rate allows the shocks to work better and give a better ride, even on shitty roads. If you want a performance spring and keep the stock ride height then the 1le fronts are the way to go with stock rears( 1le rears are too stiff)
I also have to aggree on the LG-TA having real thin mounts, I forgot that I cut mine off and refabbed them for the 12-bolt. Now the 9IN came with a new TA system.

chknhwk01

iTrader: (3)

SPOHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN.........:n od:

PERFORMACE...... THE BEST IN THE BUSSNESS.....

CAN U DIG IT "WARRIORZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"

STRIPSTAR

iTrader: (4)

Strano springs, Konis and Strano bars. Custom alignment max caster-1-1.5 neg camber and 0 toe. Get moly rod end lcas and and adj panhard bar. Stock torque arm if you arent drag racing. I did that and road raced it and its vastly superior.

qwikz28

iTrader: (12)

same setup but with a UMI steel TA and i love it. i think the best thing to do if you are worried about ride quality is stay away from low profile tires. i'm thinking of switching back to 17" wheels to save some ride quality

BubaGumpShrimp

iTrader: (1)

how is drag racing with sams suspension(ie weight transfer). I know the koni's you can adjust, do you adjust them for the track/make a difference at all in weight transfer at the track.. I currently have qa1's and yea the transfer is real good but this suspension sucks *** on the street and since i hardly ever race the qa1's are coming out. Just a little concern with the adjustability for track use(that is if i ever go again) but more of a concern with highway handling now...

STRIPSTAR

iTrader: (4)

The Konis are so much better that there isnt much drawback with weight transfer. use the soft settings and you be suprised. I swap the stock rear springs in and soften the shocks for strip use.

qwikz28

iTrader: (12)

actually sam's rear springs are softer than most other drop springs. one guy even claimed he gained a tenth of his 60' foot when switching to the strano/koni combo.

Zturd

iTrader: (12)

Well I can tell you need to get WS6transam01's sorry butt out of the trunk to help that thing handle!!!!!!!!!!

Oh and you better be prepared for Aug 29th 2009 to drive your sorry butt up here for my wedding too!!!!!

STRIPSTAR

iTrader: (4)

Congrats Bruce