Installed H&R Springs & 19" Rotiform Mia wheels

[Jones]

Just finished installing Rotiform Mia 19x10" wheels, and H&R springs today.

I have pictures (although not great quality), but cannot upload for some reason. If anyone can help, would appreciate it.

1. Wheels are 19x10 et35 with 5mm H&R spacers for all 4's.
They protrude hair beyond the edge of the fender flares. There's no rubbing at all. (Thanks Brian H!)

2. Tires are Falken FK452, 255/35/19.
The tires are stretched on the 10" wide rims and has a bit too much of ricer-look for my taste, but can't complain overall. They are very sticky and look great, too.

3. H&R Springs
The local Subura Specialist shop (AZP Installs) here in northern NJ, carefully did the swap. (Thanks Adam, Jake!) The spring swap was done with the shocks intact to the DRC line. Took a little extra time making sure we didn't disrupt the DRC lines.

The ride and feel of the H&R springs are second to none. The progressive springs absorbs the little bumps very comfortably (better than the OEM springs), but when pushed they kept the tank very levelled. I was thinking of upgrading the sway bars to hotchkis, but I don't think will be necessary with these springs. And there's no bounciness at all. As far as the ride height, currently the fronts are 12.75" and rears 13.25".

I took the car in for an alignment to another local shop but the tie rods were seized, so could not get the job done. The car definitely does not feel right. I am not sure if it's due to the alignment or DRC needing to be reset. Will have to take it into a dealer and get the tie rods replaced and have the alignment done. (Perhaps they can reset the DRC while doing this).

Few questions:

Since the entire four corners are sitting lower and compressing on the entire DRC, it probably needs the DRC to be reset (re-valving), right? Any DRC expert wanna chimme in? Would appreciate it.

Is it true that you cannot align the car to the original specs if you have aftermarket wheels?

Also, if my tie rod is seized, do i need to replace both inner and outter ends?

Thanks in advance.

[Jones]

http://bl136w.blu136.mail.live.com/att/GetAttachment.aspx?tnail=11&messageId=0391859f-07eb-11df-9287-00237de49cd6&Aux=40|0|8CC6A0EE9AB4780||

[Jones]

http://bl136w.blu136.mail.live.com/att/GetAttachment.aspx?tnail=10&messageId=0f16ce07-07eb-11df-af64-00215ad7ca40&Aux=40|0|8CC6A0EF9D6FD20||

[skribe]

are your pix files size too big???

[Jones]

Yes, they are. So, went out and took couple of pictures on my phone.

[RS6-4dr911]

DRC Reset
Certainly no expert here, but the DRC works by sensing different amounts of travel between diagonal shocks (dampers). If the related shocks move the same amount, the central valve stays silent, so to speak. When one damper moves differently, the central valve chimes in and begins to limit travel to both dampers.

With the H&R springs, it looks like the front drop was about the same as the rear, so the central valve wouldn't be fooled, I wouldn't think. I'm not sure if a reset will do anything since they do that with the car in the air, wheels hanging.

Your handling is most likely the result of the drop changing your toe-in settings. Don't know the geometry well enough to know if on these cars a drop will increase or decrease toe.

When they adjust, my personal recommendation is to tell them to set the toe to no more than half of the factory settings (i.e. closer to zero toe-in)


Photo sizes
Finally learned to post photos directly from photobucket. Dave's right, if he can do it, anyone can. Even me. What a great thing, because size doesn't matter. :harass:

[Jones]

http://bl136w.blu136.mail.live.com/att/GetAttachment.aspx?tnail=0&messageId=972a0b7a-082d-11df-979d-001e0bcc4980&Aux=14|0|8CC6A51828951D0||

[Jones]

Thanks RS6-4dr911,

Yeah, i was hoping they get the alignment as close to factory specs as possible, but the shop told me once the aftermarket wheels are on, it's very difficult.

And I thought they tightened the DRC with the wheels down??

Yeah, I figured out how to post pics. Just added one interior shot.

[RS6-4dr911]

I would think it would be hard only if the wheels didn't allow them to mount the alignment equipment. Otherwise, that statement makes no sense. It is shocking how few alignment monkeys, er, I mean techs, truly understand the alignment process.

A wheel is just a disc, and its orientation in space relative to the chassis is adjusted by the same methods regardless of what the disc looks like, even with spacers. Even with little glow in the dark valve stem caps. No effect.

My recommendation on toe-in is within spec's but at the extreme low end of the range, NOT dead center of the range.

And no you didn't add a shot. Still nothing. Even phone pic's are usually too big for the size limits on here.

[skribe]

posting pix is not hard, just read the faq.

if you have no ability to resize pix, put 'em on flickr and copy and paste the unique URL (the web address)

[Jones]

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af280/jk_racing_bucket/th_IMG_0474.jpghttp://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af280/jk_racing_bucket/th_RS6front.jpghttp://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af280/jk_racing_bucket/th_RS6side.jpghttp://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af280/jk_racing_bucket/th_rs6int.jpg

Hope the pictures worked...

[skribe]

Victory! Except now they're tiny.

Looks badass from what I see through the pixels. I told my computer "enhance" like they do on CSI... but nothing.

[MaxRS6]

Here comes help- Car looks sharp and nice stance! Now go get some quality camera pics and background commensurate with the car. LOL


http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af280/jk_racing_bucket/RS6front.jpg

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af280/jk_racing_bucket/IMG_0474.jpg

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af280/jk_racing_bucket/RS6side.jpg

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af280/jk_racing_bucket/rs6int.jpg

[Jones]

Thanks Max!

[RS6-4dr911]

Is that RED carbon fiber on those inserts??:vhmmm:

No offense, but no likey.

[Jones]

No offense taken. Yes, they are red kevler.

[Beastly]

car looks good, red CF is a wow!

[Jones]

Beasty, thanks. The red carbon fiber (kevler) in person looks really good. THey really accentuate the red dash back lights. It's one of those love it or hate it item on the car.

[ben916]

Here comes help- Car looks sharp and nice stance! Now go get some quality camera pics and background commensurate with the car. LOL






http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af280/jk_racing_bucket/RS6side.jpg



Very Nice Rims!

Which ones are these?
I also like the Kevlar!

Edit: just read the Subject line... HA!

[DHall1]

Please this car looks great.

Open a photobucket account and copy paste large pics in the forum.

Please......

http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad348/03RSTT/RS6pics/monkey_smoking_1a.jpg?t=1266166024

[Jones]

ok. took few pictures today.. i'll try to upload. (crossing fingers)

[Jones]

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af280/jk_racing_bucket/IMG_0512.jpg?t=1266178778

[Jones]

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af280/jk_racing_bucket/IMG_0511.jpg?t=1266178865

[Jones]

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af280/jk_racing_bucket/IMG_0510.jpg?t=1266178910

[Jones]

http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af280/jk_racing_bucket/IMG_0509.jpg?t=1266178953

[Jones]

Hope you guys can see the pictures.. After the settling the car down by loosening all the control arm link bolts (during the alignment procedure), the car is sitting about 1/8" lower all around. I'm not sure if you can tell by the pictures.. but the stance is much better than before alignment.

As far as the wheels, Brian and his team from Rotiform recently launched these wheels. I was looking for Sportect 20", but these are close to what I wanted in the wheels (deep concave look, with 1/2" to 1" lip). Their reasonable price make them even more attractive. Hope Rotiform comes out with 20" version of these...

[rle55]

awesome!!! - where in NJ? sometime in spring can we talk...i will probably do the H&R spring as well - im in greenwich CT not too far. - (or maybe bilstein coilovers or KW's) after seeing your car, im definetely doing the same :) couple of questions:

does it rub? do you have to modify fenders???

19x10 et 35's... - im looking to get BBS 18x9 et 14's with probably a 255/40 or 245..tires . some of our fellow forumites disagree and said that it will stick out way too much? - you have a 10" on yours and it does'nt look bad at all...what do you think? 16mm in inch is about 5/8" to 3/4" right? well, let me know when you can ok.

again, nicely done!

Ronnie

[Jones]

Ronnie,

Thanks. I'm in northern NJ. I didn't have to roll the fenders, and they don't rub at all. (that's with driving around in Northeast bumpy roads). 18x9's with 255's should have no problems with clearance, but why et 14's? Instead of putting spacers to make up for it, you should try to get the right et's (which I believe is 25 for 9" width).

I heard nothign but great things about KW variant 3. I was surprised how whimpy the stock shocks were. If I had the $, I would definitely go with KW's..

May be we can do a spring tri-state gtg at GPNY...

[Jones]

This picture probably does better justice of how nice the wheels are..

http://bl136w.blu136.mail.live.com/mail/SafeRedirect.aspx?hm__tg=http://65.55.174.183/att/GetAttachment.aspx&hm__qs=file%3d79a9d099-e8a7-48cd-acde-c1a7ef37b95c.png%26ct%3daW1hZ2UvcG5n%26name%3daW1h Z2UwMDIucG5n%26inline%3d1%26rfc%3d0%26empty%3dFals e%26imgsrc%3dcid%253aimage002.png%254001CA8860.CE9 13060%26msgHash%3dffffffffffffffff&oneredir=1&ip=10.4.25.8&d=d2940&mf=32&a=01_ebd294b748621eab5d2249af80495c05f03cb6d43c00b 913c4844fdd698694b1

[DHall1]

Ronnie,

Have you done the math on your rim choice? What exactly is the backspace and dish on your setup.

I could give you the answer but I want to know if you did the math.

I think its pushing the limit and your running tire loads much farther out that what Audi designed.




awesome!!! - where in NJ? sometime in spring can we talk...i will probably do the H&R spring as well - im in greenwich CT not too far. - (or maybe bilstein coilovers or KW's) after seeing your car, im definetely doing the same :) couple of questions:

does it rub? do you have to modify fenders???

19x10 et 35's... - im looking to get BBS 18x9 et 14's with probably a 255/40 or 245..tires . some of our fellow forumites disagree and said that it will stick out way too much? - you have a 10" on yours and it does'nt look bad at all...what do you think? 16mm in inch is about 5/8" to 3/4" right? well, let me know when you can ok.

again, nicely done!

Ronnie

[rle55]

dave,

yes, i actually drew it on section...

not quite sure if i did it correctly, am i adding .55 inches plus .25 inches to what i have (stock wheels) now?

just by visual, i think i can go 3/4" to 1" out..

so if i go 245/40's it might stretch out the tires a bit and i am assuming / the stiffer and lowering (negative) spirings might compensate for the tires to go in.. ( i dont really know...:(

anyway, the rims where installed on a RS4 w/c came with 19x9et29..if it is really suicidal then ill probably abort the plan and rethink and might go w/ bbs rgr 19x8.5 et32...

or dave,just give the answer:)

thx

[skribe]

- im looking to get BBS 18x9 et 14's with probably a 255/40 or 245..tires . some of our fellow forumites disagree and said that it will stick out way too much? - you have a 10" on yours and it does'nt look bad at all...what do you think? 16mm in inch is about 5/8" to 3/4" right? well, let me know when you can ok.

again, nicely done!

Ronnie

If you run 245's on 9"s you'll get that "stretched" look... some people likey, it does look cool (see above pix.) It's not my cup 'o tea though. Stretched rubber might prevent ET14 9"s from looking too open-wheel sticky-outy. Are you going for a "hella flush" look? (big offset, big stretch, big negative camber) Those guys wear out tires in 3,000 miles. For show, not go.

Still think ET14 9" offset is too agressive, will put unreasonable loads on your control arms, end links, etc.

Just my $.02.

[DHall1]

^^

What he said. Ok let me get the calc out. I guess you didnt do the math.

Here are some facts.

OEM 8.5 30et 5.43in backspace and 3.06in dish.
VMR 9.5 33et 6.05in backspace and 3.45in dish.
BBS 9.0 14et 5.05in backspace and 3.94in dish.
xyzrim above 10.0 35et 6.37in backspace and 3.62in dish.

So to answer your question its your taste and your car. Look at the pics of stock cars, the VMR pics of Bruce's car and the xyz rims above. You are sticking your outside rim edge another .32in out further and overall taking the tire contact patch out. All the other rim choices almost match the tire contact patch as factory. So from a mechanical standpoint. I have to give the thumbs down due to the physics of the loads.

But I cant answer your subjective need to stick the wheel rim out further past the fender. Only you can answer that question. I can only get the calc out and give you data.

[DHall1]

The BBS you noted with 19x8.5 and et32 will fit perfect. I would give two thumbs up on that choice.

You will love the way the wheels sit and the car handles.




dave,

yes, i actually drew it on section...

not quite sure if i did it correctly, am i adding .55 inches plus .25 inches to what i have (stock wheels) now?

just by visual, i think i can go 3/4" to 1" out..

so if i go 245/40's it might stretch out the tires a bit and i am assuming / the stiffer and lowering (negative) spirings might compensate for the tires to go in.. ( i dont really know...:(

anyway, the rims where installed on a RS4 w/c came with 19x9et29..if it is really suicidal then ill probably abort the plan and rethink and might go w/ bbs rgr 19x8.5 et32...

or dave,just give the answer:)

thx

[rle55]

i got it now dave, thx.

so the 9" w/ et14 will stick out 7/8" from the stock wheels.:nono:

plan abort.

thanks again.

[rle55]

dave, sorry to bug but will spacer work - say h&r 12mm or 15mm?

[Jones]

dave, sorry to bug but will spacer work - say h&r 12mm or 15mm?

No. It's not spacers you need. You need to machine off about 12 to 15mm's.

As skribe advised, even if your wheels some how clear the fenders, you are going to put a tremendous strain on the control arm links. As is with the current OEM setup, the control arm links and bushings take a pounding. I've already replaced ton of bushings. Many of the front bushings require replacing of the entire control arm (very costly). And not to mention, everytime you take the arm links off, you most likely have to get the alignments done.

You must be getting a good deal on these wheels to follow this path. Be prudent. There are many good deals (checkout audizine's classifieds)out there, including BBS's. Get the correct offset wheels. Your car will thank you, and your wallet will thank you.

[rle55]

jones - hahahaha! apologies to be dumb...i'm really trying to work this out! not a deal at all it still in the 2k range but its magnesium and rare...anyways, i' will check out audizine for some good stuff and will venture rotiform and check out the wheels there as well -anyway, ill be in touch soon when i install the springs ok

thx,
ronnie

[Jones]

Hmm.. "rare" is a description i personally stay away from when it comes to wheels. Your wheels will get nicked, damaged, etc.. and if and WHEN that happens, more difficult it may be to find replacement for just one wheel.

I don't know what BBS you're looking for, but here's a decent deal. (hope I don't get in trouble for posting other forum link). http://www.audizine.com/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=30002&title=new-price19-26quot-3b-bbs-ch-27s&cat=48

Yeah, let me know about the H&R installation..

[DHall1]

^^

BTW, nice job on the H/R spring install. The fit and stance of the car is just killer. I love it.

[DHall1]

Good you understand. I was not going to come down on you but wanted to give you a heads up before you took a dive in the deep end.

Max....insert the deep end pic here.




i got it now dave, thx.

so the 9" w/ et14 will stick out 7/8" from the stock wheels.:nono:

plan abort.

thanks again.

[Jones]

^^

BTW, nice job on the H/R spring install. The fit and stance of the car is just killer. I love it.

Appreciate that! I think one of the great asthetic features of the RS6 is the flared fenders. I wanted a stance that really accentuated that! I hope I did that... For some reason, I now get every other Subaru STi's on the road that wants to race me... :revs:

[Jones]

http://www.nelsonlee.net/index2.php#/rgallery2/16/

Links to updated pics.

[snoopra]

Great pics Jones! Love the music tracks! Perfect stance. Just add LED tail lights and you're good!

PS
Add your location to your sig:)

[ben916]

http://www.nelsonlee.net/index2.php#/rgallery2/16/

Links to updated pics.

Ok, I remember this car AND I remember something about the RED C/F!!!!
I like it!!!

[Jones]

Thanks guys.. You'll soon see the car on autotrader.com. Need to feed and educate my growing kids.

Snoopra, Nelson Lee (owner of M3) took those pics last night. Oh, I'm in Northern NJ. Not too far from you..

[speedtrapped]

I really like the red as well, is that the seller from craigslist?

[snoopra]

Didn't notice it (red CF) until mentioned. Don't really like CF but red CF looks awesome!

[ben916]

Ask and you shall receive...

http://boise.craigslist.org/pts/1980673346.html