Cheeky Quick Shoot at Wembley... what do you guys think?

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adam cool dude said:
Genuine question but ultimately is air better than coils for ultimate feel and grip? I totally understand its appeal on something like an S-Class but as a performance enhancer?

Obviously weight is a disadvantage of air and the cost means you could get some pretty meaty coils for the same price.

I have had a go in a Toyota Soarer with TEMS and that just felt plain weird. Tonnes of grip but you can not feel the limits.
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All I can say is this: I added all the upgrades at the same time. Before, the car did not like it as I reached the grip limit on corners; it got twitchy and a bit unpredictable. Now I can take those same corners faster and with more confidence... it's way more predictable and the uprated ARBs seem to be giving me the perfect balance between understeer and oversteer (definitely had more understeer before).

Previously:
OEM 19" RS4s Wheels (9" all round)
Fresh set of Michelin Pilot Super Sports (255/35)
Stock Audi DRC suspension.
Stock Audi RS4 Anti roll bars F+R (hollow)

Now:
20" 360 Forged (9.5" all round)
Slightly used Toyo Proxes T1-R (245/35)
AccuAir Performance Suspension
H&R Anti roll bars F+R (thicker, solid)

Whether the better performance is down to the tyres / suspension / arbs or a combo of all 3 (which I think is the most likely) I'm very happy with the handling performance so far. I can still feel the surface of the road perfectly but the ride is still smoother. If I'm speeding down a bumpy country lane I can change the ride height to 90% and it also goes stiffer, so I get more of a rally car type of suspension.

Also as an added bonus, with the stock suspension, certain stretches of road surface (especially the worn parts of the M25) seemed to resonate really badly with the whole car, filling the whole cabin with a weird loud humming noise... was very unpleasant the first time it happened, I thought something was broken!

That's now gone :cool:
 
Hate to say it but i think performance would be even 'better' with the OEM wheels and MPSS tyres + air ride then your current toyos.
 
Blackhawk47 said:
Hate to say it but i think performance would be even 'better' with the OEM wheels and PSS tyres + air ride then your current toyos.
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That has indeed been playing on my mind :D Wider tyres, better grip rating, and slightly bigger tyre wall for a wee bit more comfort.

Keeping them around for winter regardless, but I'll definitely put them back on and give them a test at some point :cool:
 
Heofz said:
Maybe try reading the thread before commenting :rolleyes:


Also it still has mechanical struts... air-over-shocks, i.e:

http://i.imgur.com/ARXPGfx.jpg[/IMG

[url]http://caraudiosecurity.com/75578-audi-a4-06-08-front-air-suspension-kit[/url]


[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/JkuLfxn.jpg[/IMG

[url]http://caraudiosecurity.com/75678-audi-a4-06-08-rear-air-suspension-kit[/url][/QUOTE]

Regardless of what I what I think it looks like, if I was purchasing an uprated suspension setup for an RS4 I'd probably choose a reputable Audi tuner, not a car stereo shop.

Or am I behind the times with you crazy kids these days?
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Will Gill said:
Regardless of what I what I think it looks like, if I was purchasing an uprated suspension setup for an RS4 I'd probably choose a reputable Audi tuner, not a car stereo shop.

Or am I behind the times with you crazy kids these days?
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I'd say it's more a reflection of the niche market. You either have to go all in as a distributor like car audio did, or it wont really work due to the bespoke nature of the kit (and its cost) needed to be kept in stock.

I don't see somewhere like MRC ever stocking airlift kits or performance tyres... but who knows maybe I'll be proven wrong :D
 
The air ride offers stance and weight over the standard car in real terms. If you don't want that stance or that weight then it's pointless in my opinion. In standard form the B7 RS4 was an almost perfect compromise of ride, handling, grip and traction and I am not sure how this modification, not least with the bigger wheels can improve on those elements without compromising other elements. Be interesting to have a go in it however, having done 100K miles in a B7 RS4 I kind of got to all its little foibles and party tricks and I still come back to the point that on a bumpy, wet, badly cambered road it was fantastic and extremely accomplished. On track it was less so, but if I was going to put in on track I would not add air, I would add other stuff and remove lots of other stuff.
 
Jonnycoupe said:
Do you realise what you just typed. Unless terrain mapping on the S Class for their magic ride control is purely due to the response you highlighted as oppose to the worlds most comfortable car? (With air suspension)
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Your point being what? That Merc had to add in a terrain recognition and response sysytem? That is exactly why air suspension is not suitable to fast road cars, or performance cars (which the S class is not). You see, for normal bump / steer air suspension, controlled by computers and pumps, reacts almost after the event has happened. It most certainly always feels that way. With a mechanical system, the response of the car is instant, not delayed while some computer reacts and then an air compressor reacts and then an airbag reacts. How then do you overcome the lag and response of such a system? Well, like Merc, you add another system that reads the road ahead and effectively gets the air suspension ready.

When Porsche, or the M division, start putting airbags on their cars, you can come back and tell me how it's great. :)
 
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Django x2 said:
Your point being what? That Merc had to add in a terrain recognition and response sysytem? That is exactly why air suspension is not suitable to fast road cars, or performance cars (which the S class is not). You see, for normal bump / steer air suspension, controlled by computers and pumps, reacts almost after the event has happened. It most certainly always feels that way. With a mechanical system, the response of the car is instant, not delayed while some computer reacts and then an air compressor reacts and then an airbag reacts. How then do you overcome the lag and response of such a system? Well, like Merc, you add another system that reads the road ahead and effectively gets the air suspension ready.
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Not really sure what you're on about regarding reaction times of compressors etc. You seem to think that the car relies on a compressor pushing air into the suspension to counter-act every bump in the road; that is not how it works at all, moreover that sort of system would be almost impossible to pull off successfully.

All the compressors do is maintain the pressure in the air reservoir. The pressure in the bags are set when you set ride height or make an adjustment (spring rate / ride height changed). From that point on, the bags simply act as springs.

The dampers are 30-point adjustable too, so no issues there either.

Django x2 said:
When Porsche, or the M division, start putting airbags on their cars, you can come back and tell me how it's great. :)
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The Audi RS7 comes with air suspension as standard. :confused:
 
[TW]Fox;27913620 said:
Did you really swap Pilot Super Sports for Toyo Proxes?!
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No, they came free with the 20" wheels :p

When they need replacing (and if I haven't sold the wheels by then), I'll be surely going back to Michelin PSS. These Toyos seem to wear quickly from what I've read.

Some show piccies from santa pod GTI Spring Festival on Sunday :cool:

PqTUsoY.jpg


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Em6ir2o.jpg
 
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3 different watermarks on 3 different poorly-taken photos.. Why do people think that slapping a watermark on a few snapshots from a car show makes them a "photographer" :(
 
dunno. but I'm not complaining. I feel honoured that people deem my car worthy of taking the photos in the first place :)
 
Howard said:
3 different watermarks on 3 different poorly-taken photos.. Why do people think that slapping a watermark on a few snapshots from a car show makes them a "photographer" :(
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Lmao. Anyone with a DSLR is pretty much a photographer these days. Nowt wrong with the engine photo.
 
I like it.

I also like the fact that you have been so reasonable in all of your responses. With good explanations and knowledge. Knowledge of your own car, that to be honest, no one else here can really judge the ride on.

Cosmetically people can say it looks crap, but until people have driven the original and your modified, they have no grounds to comment.

99 percent of what people have posted will be based on what they have read on other forums. And 99 percent of that will be from people, just like them.. With no actual experience of the car.
 
I'm still struggling to see why people have so much hate for this? It's beautiful. So what if it is an RS4, why would he buy an A4 S-line and have no power if he can afford to buy and run this? He bought it to enjoy, he hasn't put chopped springs on it he has put a decent suspension setup which he can change the ride height so that at shows and car parks etc he can lower it to the ground for 'Stance' and in fact, keep his wheels safe from theives. He has changed the wheels to 20" from 19", which many people do on these kind of cars... We aren't talking 17's on a corsa B here.

At the end of the day, yes it is a nice car as standard but he has made it, in my opinion even better and to how HE wants it. He looks after it, it's clean, I just don't understand the hate.
 
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