August 7, 2007

2007-08-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

If going low was easy, everyone would do it.

Well, that's not true, but for those enthusiasts, such as our A3 customer, who really want to slam their modern fwd vehicles, there are definite obstacles in the way. Simply put, Audi never intended for this vehicle to lay on its belly. Well, not on purpose, any way.

Even those less diehard folks using coil-overs to achieve max-lowness still encounter issues when trying to wring that last little bit of drop their threaded-body struts have to offer. First obstacle is the passenger side drive shaft. You see, it tends to bang against the chassis when going over bumps and that's a less than ideal situation. Most (sensible) people, upon hearing that rather alarming sound, raise their vehicles just enough to make the sound go away. But not our guy, no - he ain't giving up that easy. Remember, we're installing air ride into this Audi and if it can't get down more than someone else can with a set of off-the-shelf coil-overs, what's the point?

Faced with that kind of determination, we knew we had two choices: clearance either the driveshaft or the chassis. Neither option is ideal, but I think most of you will agree that option two is the only way to go.

Let's be clear here - what we're about to do to this vehicle is something not to be taken lightly. We are cutting into some very important metal and removing a section, never to be seen again. Yes, we will reinforce the area as much as possible, but the truth is it may not be as strong as it was before. Our customer understands this and is willing to accept any consequences that may result. In other words, kids, don't try this at home.

First up, Doug carefully measures all the different areas in which the driveshaft can come into contact with the chassis. The goal is to remove as little material as possible, so being thorough is very important at this stage. Once the area is measured and marked, it's time to cut. Since an arch is nature's strongest shape, Doug uses such a shape for his cut.

Once the area is clearanced, a section of 14-gauge stainless steel tubing is cut to fit the opening. Once welded in place, this extra material will help to reinforce the compromised area.

After the welds are ground, a coating of sealer is applied to ensure no moisture can find its way into the notched area.

So, are we ready to lay some frame? No, not yet. One of the other obstacles in the way is the fact that our Audi uses McPherson front struts. What's the problem there? You'll see in a future update.

August 1, 2007

2007-08-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

See the 2006 Audi A3 below? Looks pretty low, right? Well, maybe to you, but as far as our owner is concerned that car is indistinguishable from your average SUV. Yes, he wants to go lower - much lower.

Aftermarket suspension set-ups have come a long way in the last 20 or so years. In the old days, if you wanted to lower your vehicle you were pretty much relegated to whatever spring and shock combos were available for your particular vehicle. During the '90s threaded-body coil-overs, which were typically used in motorsports, became another option, albeit a pricey one. These components, commonly called simply "coil-overs," came with threads on the lower shock bodies and two locking nuts that allowed the lower spring perch to go up or down. This function allowed an owner to lower or raise his car over a wide range and offered the ability to go much lower than any fixed-height spring/shock combos. Another plus offered by coil-overs is that you can properly corner-weight your vehicle for optimum handling.

Since coil-overs made their way from being merely expensive race-only curiosities to a viable option for those enthusiasts looking to get that extra bit more from their suspension set-ups, we see them being used more and more. But there are always people who want to take things to extremes and our A3 customer fits that profile to a T.

To go lower than even the most extreme coil-over option provides requires either a hydraulic or air-ride set-up. No doubt reading the words "hydraulics" and "air-ride" conjures up images of sixty-fo ('64) Impalas or dancing Japanese mini-trucks. We don't blame you, but we're here to tell you that, at least when it comes to air-ride set-ups, things have progressed a long, long way. Proof for such a statement comes in the form of the Audi allroad and A8, the VW Touareg and even the Porsche Cayenne - all of these cars come with air-ride suspensions straight from the factory.

The truth is that using air-bags in the place of metal coil springs isn't such a crazy idea and offers quite a few advantages, such as on-the-fly spring rate and height changes (lowering a vehicle by even one inch at highway speeds can greatly improve fuel economy), but in this case we need to be honest and admit this project is all about getting slammed. Make some sparks. Laying frame.

In the upcoming installments we'll cover what's involved in putting together a workable kit for an Audi A3 and we'll show you what obstacles lay in the way. We intend to use a mix of off-the-shelf components, and some of these will need to be modified to achieve our goals.

1552 v.2 blog #9: Audi A3 Air Ride

August 7, 2007

August 1, 2007