Tarpan's 1996 Audi UrS6 - Suspension done. What's next?
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 12:06 am
I've been a member of this site a while and haven't really posted a ton. As my username says, I used to own an 86 Coupe GT which is now departed to another owner. I've had this car for about 2 years already and neglected to make a build thread. I'll start by saying this will be a pretty humble and mild build in comparison to some of the stuff you guys have been doing but I figured this will be a great place to at least document the build and also get a ton of good ideas and information for the future.
I have to say I love this car and it has treated me pretty damn well. I drove the car on and off since picking it up. The big item that had been bugging me since then was the ride quality was terribly diminished. I knew I was due for a suspension overhaul on top of a few other things. Right off the bat, I installed new brake pads, rotors, flex lines, and fluid as the brake system was pretty poor. Soon after, I installed new strut mounts, as well as an HID kit from VVME. It stayed in this configuration for quite a while and was a great stock cruiser. Then, I decided to buckle down on getting some proper preventative maintenance done as well as some major work. This is the first time I've had to do a lot of this work so a lot of this has been a great learning experience for me. Nothing a Bentley manual and the interwebz can't solve! Onwards to the major work.
Round 1:
I started the whole process about a year ago. First thing I did was redo the entire coolant system. Coolant flush and change to G12+ with new hoses where required as well as new OEM sensors and thermostat. Now I shouldn't have any concerns with brittle plastics or leaks for a while to come. Next was some general maintenance items with new wipers and air filter. I don't think the air filter had been done in a long time so it was pretty gnarly. OEM paper filter in! Last for round one was some HPR 60A motor mounts. They definitely stiffened up the motor movement. I'm not sure if it was the motor mounts, the filter, or a combination but I definitely found that I could hear the engine noise a bit better overall. Screw NVH, Inline-5 ftw!
Round 2:
I picked up a TFSI conversion kit (Norbert) for the vehicle as replacement coils for the UrS cars is nearly $200 for ONE COIL!!!! F!@# that! The harness was professionally made and was super easy to install. I also took this as an opportunity to remove the valve cover and redo the Valve Cover Gasket as I was getting oil leaking into the spark plug wells. Valve cover was also sent for powdercoating at this point. Everything was cleaned well and all of it was reinstalled. I picked up some black 2.0 TFSI coilpacks to go with the conversion harness and I have to say it looks great! Not to mention, $~25 a pop for the coilpacks is a beauty.
Round 3:
Next came the beginning of the suspension rebuild. I ordered most of my parts from VM Autohaus. Kris there was solid as ever to provide me OEM quality parts. If any of you Canadian folks need quality OEM parts, order from these guys. They will gladly ship. Mention my name (Tarpan) and you may even get a bit of a discount. I also ordered a few bushings and mounts from Apikol, as well as a couple from Energy Suspension and Powerflex. Plan was to put Poly bushings where possible and then OEM bushings everywhere else. New shocks and springs were supplied from Essex Distributors (aka RPI Equipped) in the form of Bilstein Sports and H&R 29800s. This would give me a modest 1.5" drop.
I won't go into full detail but I decided to remove the entire rear subframe for ease of removal and installation of parts. Just this process was tedious as I ran into plenty of hang-ups. (ie. rusted-to-hell/seized fasteners) When I finally got it all unfastened on on the garage floor, it was clear I had plenty of work to do. A new Apikol Diff. Mount was the first thing to go on followed by Apikol Subframe Mounts. The rear subframe was cleaned up of grime and dirt and painted. Inner Trap Arm to Subframe Bushings were swapped for Powerflex units. Front Trap Arm Mount Bushings were swapped for Energy Suspension bushings. The remainder of the bushings were replaced as required with OEM rubber bushings. Both rear suspension units were installed with the new parts as well. To add to the work, both rear calipers were rebuilt and parking brake mechanisms were freed up and heavily lubricated to go along with new parking brake cables. SS Rear Brake Flex lines were installed and a new section of hard line had to be installed due to a rusty section. New fasteners were used all around and the whole rear end was reinstalled. The rear end took wayyyy longer than I wanted but my wife and I had our first child in the middle of this so progress was severely thwarted. Finally got the rear end sorted with the help of a mate and then flipped the car around and got a crack on the front end.
Round 4:
I was hoping the front end would be a lot easier and straight-forward. I'm happy to report that this has been the case so far in terms of removal/disassembly. I followed my own wisdom and removed the entire front subframe to aid and expedite the process. I currently have the front subframe deconstructed. HPR 60A transmission mounts have been installed along with OEM front subframe bushings.
Items to be done yet:
- Sway Bar and Modified Camber Plates (ECS/Igor) to be powdercoated
- OEM Front Subframe Mounts
- New TRW Control Arms
- OEM Sway Bar Bushings
- Front uprights to be rebuilt with new components
- Front Apikol Snub Mount
- 4-wheel Alignment
As a bonus, I recently picked up a set of 18x8 Avid 1 AV-20 wheels that should fill the wheel wells nicely with the new drop. They will be wrapped with 235/40/18 Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 tires. I also have my front Porsche 996 BBK all assembled so that will be on the bench waiting to be installed in the near future. Just need to pick up some pads. I'm thinking Akebono? It really doesn't need to be said but I really can't wait to get this car back on the road. I do have more plans for the vehicle but as the saying goes, "One step at a time!" First step is to tackle a few reliability and preventative maintenance items and then I'll start focusing on power mods.
Hope you folks enjoyed the procrastinated post. I'll post pictures of some of the work I've done in the near future as I'm currently away for work. Stay Dirty!
I have to say I love this car and it has treated me pretty damn well. I drove the car on and off since picking it up. The big item that had been bugging me since then was the ride quality was terribly diminished. I knew I was due for a suspension overhaul on top of a few other things. Right off the bat, I installed new brake pads, rotors, flex lines, and fluid as the brake system was pretty poor. Soon after, I installed new strut mounts, as well as an HID kit from VVME. It stayed in this configuration for quite a while and was a great stock cruiser. Then, I decided to buckle down on getting some proper preventative maintenance done as well as some major work. This is the first time I've had to do a lot of this work so a lot of this has been a great learning experience for me. Nothing a Bentley manual and the interwebz can't solve! Onwards to the major work.
Round 1:
I started the whole process about a year ago. First thing I did was redo the entire coolant system. Coolant flush and change to G12+ with new hoses where required as well as new OEM sensors and thermostat. Now I shouldn't have any concerns with brittle plastics or leaks for a while to come. Next was some general maintenance items with new wipers and air filter. I don't think the air filter had been done in a long time so it was pretty gnarly. OEM paper filter in! Last for round one was some HPR 60A motor mounts. They definitely stiffened up the motor movement. I'm not sure if it was the motor mounts, the filter, or a combination but I definitely found that I could hear the engine noise a bit better overall. Screw NVH, Inline-5 ftw!
Round 2:
I picked up a TFSI conversion kit (Norbert) for the vehicle as replacement coils for the UrS cars is nearly $200 for ONE COIL!!!! F!@# that! The harness was professionally made and was super easy to install. I also took this as an opportunity to remove the valve cover and redo the Valve Cover Gasket as I was getting oil leaking into the spark plug wells. Valve cover was also sent for powdercoating at this point. Everything was cleaned well and all of it was reinstalled. I picked up some black 2.0 TFSI coilpacks to go with the conversion harness and I have to say it looks great! Not to mention, $~25 a pop for the coilpacks is a beauty.
Round 3:
Next came the beginning of the suspension rebuild. I ordered most of my parts from VM Autohaus. Kris there was solid as ever to provide me OEM quality parts. If any of you Canadian folks need quality OEM parts, order from these guys. They will gladly ship. Mention my name (Tarpan) and you may even get a bit of a discount. I also ordered a few bushings and mounts from Apikol, as well as a couple from Energy Suspension and Powerflex. Plan was to put Poly bushings where possible and then OEM bushings everywhere else. New shocks and springs were supplied from Essex Distributors (aka RPI Equipped) in the form of Bilstein Sports and H&R 29800s. This would give me a modest 1.5" drop.
I won't go into full detail but I decided to remove the entire rear subframe for ease of removal and installation of parts. Just this process was tedious as I ran into plenty of hang-ups. (ie. rusted-to-hell/seized fasteners) When I finally got it all unfastened on on the garage floor, it was clear I had plenty of work to do. A new Apikol Diff. Mount was the first thing to go on followed by Apikol Subframe Mounts. The rear subframe was cleaned up of grime and dirt and painted. Inner Trap Arm to Subframe Bushings were swapped for Powerflex units. Front Trap Arm Mount Bushings were swapped for Energy Suspension bushings. The remainder of the bushings were replaced as required with OEM rubber bushings. Both rear suspension units were installed with the new parts as well. To add to the work, both rear calipers were rebuilt and parking brake mechanisms were freed up and heavily lubricated to go along with new parking brake cables. SS Rear Brake Flex lines were installed and a new section of hard line had to be installed due to a rusty section. New fasteners were used all around and the whole rear end was reinstalled. The rear end took wayyyy longer than I wanted but my wife and I had our first child in the middle of this so progress was severely thwarted. Finally got the rear end sorted with the help of a mate and then flipped the car around and got a crack on the front end.
Round 4:
I was hoping the front end would be a lot easier and straight-forward. I'm happy to report that this has been the case so far in terms of removal/disassembly. I followed my own wisdom and removed the entire front subframe to aid and expedite the process. I currently have the front subframe deconstructed. HPR 60A transmission mounts have been installed along with OEM front subframe bushings.
Items to be done yet:
- Sway Bar and Modified Camber Plates (ECS/Igor) to be powdercoated
- OEM Front Subframe Mounts
- New TRW Control Arms
- OEM Sway Bar Bushings
- Front uprights to be rebuilt with new components
- Front Apikol Snub Mount
- 4-wheel Alignment
As a bonus, I recently picked up a set of 18x8 Avid 1 AV-20 wheels that should fill the wheel wells nicely with the new drop. They will be wrapped with 235/40/18 Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 tires. I also have my front Porsche 996 BBK all assembled so that will be on the bench waiting to be installed in the near future. Just need to pick up some pads. I'm thinking Akebono? It really doesn't need to be said but I really can't wait to get this car back on the road. I do have more plans for the vehicle but as the saying goes, "One step at a time!" First step is to tackle a few reliability and preventative maintenance items and then I'll start focusing on power mods.
Hope you folks enjoyed the procrastinated post. I'll post pictures of some of the work I've done in the near future as I'm currently away for work. Stay Dirty!
