Going from SS to SS+ [REVIEWED p5!]

[marc1]

Wow that looks like the car sat in salt water to do that.

What pipe is it, need to look at mine?

Doc they are the pipes that pass the fluid to each damper I believe. If you crawl under the rear of the car you can see them just near the space tyre well, but they run the length of the car. Common DRC failure point (one of many I suppose ).

Ordered the H&R's yet?

[sar]

Wow that looks like the car sat in salt water to do that.

What pipe is it, need to look at mine?

i agree not a pretty sight!
that pipe is the one from one of the central valves to the n/s/r shock.
to check them really you want your car on a ramp and get the under trays off.

[docurley]

quote="sar"]

Wow that looks like the car sat in salt water to do that.

What pipe is it, need to look at mine?

i agree not a pretty sight!
that pipe is the one from one of the central valves to the n/s/r shock.
to check them really you want your car on a ramp and get the under trays off.[/quote]
I've had the H&R's for over a month I'm hope to get them done this month.

[marc1]

Not long left then, 30th on Monday. Obligatory pics then when done.

[docurley]

Anyone got the part number for the b5 perches?

[marc1]

Use vagcat.com mate it goes up to B6 platform on there and definitely covers B5's so you'll get diagrams and part numbers mate.

[docurley]

Part No. is 8D0412066F

http://www.vagcat.com/epc/cat/au/RS4/20 ... 2/2974101/

[stu]

Quick update.

The car is in getting the SS changed to SS+. Plus clutch, all fluids, general service. An expensive mid-life revamp but it'll hopefully be worth it..! The DRC pipework and rear shocks were very badly corroded. Nothing had failed but we thought it sensible to replace those bits while they were easily accessible.

I'd have the car back today if it wasn't for the calipers: the refurb company are taking their sweet time.

Gratuitous rear shock photo:

[stu]

Okay, I’ve done my best to extract the parts used for the SS+ conversion.

From the Audi invoice: ‘REPLACED 2 X FRONT AND REAR COIL SPRINGS
REPLACED REAR ROLL BAR AND BOLTS CLAMPS AND BUSHES’

V8E0 411 105 EP 100226/SPRING (2)
V8E0 511 115 GB SPRING (2)
VBEO 511 409 AL STABILIZER (1)
V8E0 511 439 100409/CLIP (2)
V8E0 511 327 D 100409/MOUNTING (2)
VN 101 277 07 100409/BOLT (8)
VN 906 650 01 100558/BOLT (10)
VN 022 146 4 NUT (6)
VN 022 146 4 NUT (3)
V1KO 253 141 H 100602/CLAMP

I'm not sure if the clamp is part of the SS+ job or not. I'll attach an image of all the items from the invoice when I get better internet.

[marc1]

Cheers Stu. More importantly though... How does it drive? and look?? Are you pleased?

[stu]

Cheers Stu. More importantly though... How does it drive? and look?? Are you pleased?

Initial impressions driving are all good. I'll hold back on saying much more until I spend more time in it.

The rear is slightly lower; the front is about the same. Which is how SS+ always looks.

Pleased

[neilparf]

Cheers Stu. More importantly though... How does it drive? and look?? Are you pleased?

Initial impressions driving are all good. I'll hold back on saying much more until I spend more time in it.

The rear is slightly lower; the front is about the same. Which is how SS+ always looks.

Pleased

Nice one Stu - you'll realise quite quickly the difference in the handling and road holding...

[stu]

Here's everything I had done if anyone wants to wade through for the part numbers. No idea what 'NCAR 100607/SPECIAL DEL' is! Maybe the rear calipers I sent away for refurbish??

[Surrey Sam]

That's some nice mid life loving there Stu, hope you enjoy the SS+ ride.

[stu]

Okay, I've had the Sports Suspension Plus for nearly a month now. I'm told the install itself was pretty straightforward. The DRC was depressurized, flushed and fixed up again. The rear shocks (or, more specifically the pipework/joints) where extensively corroded and were changed. Wasn't essential, but I asked that it be done while they were there.

In SS guise the car was great. It's such a versatile setup. Coming from an M-Sport BMW, I was trained to equate hard ride with sporty handling but four years ago the RS4 turned that all on its head.

With the SS+ setup everything is turned up, sharper. The ride is a little harder but the DRC does a great of soaking up the bumps as it does with the SS. The biggest change in regular driving is the sensation from the rear - the roll bar really has stiffened everything up back there. I didn't think there was much to stiffen but there was. This appears to have had quite dramatic effect on turn in. The handling on the same tyres and same windy roads is undeniably changed. There's even less roll than there was before - which I always thought was negligible at the sorts of speeds I feel I can do on public roads.

The real test for the new suspension was my week in Northern Ireland. I have a few favourite B road routes to my home town which I've done in every car I've ever owned. They're a patchwork of different tarmacs, resufacings and potholes. My old Z4 Coupe would skip all over the place and the traction had to be turned off. The RS4 with SS was a revelation: it would suck up every dump, pothole, deviation and cow <beep> with out-of-this-world ease and I could power down the country lanes at a pace that would've been suicidal in the beemer. If the Z4 Coupe was a '1' on the B road handling scale and the SS RS4 a 10, then the SS+ is a good 7. Those SS+ springs are stiff! They didn't make a mess of things though. After one small but significant lump on the road I'm fairly sure I was airborne! The SS would've absorbed the bump and kept contact all the way through. Perhaps I was driving that section faster due to increased confidence in the way SS+ held the car on the corners? I can't be sure.

There's no doubt in my mind that the car is better for me in SS+ -but- SS is better on the worst of the minor roads. The perfect RS4 setup in that environment would probably be the standard sports suspension springs with an uprated ARB. Maybe someone else can do that, and I'll borrow their car for the weekend

Don't ask me what it cost me because I don't know! More than the £500 option from the factory, but it disappeared into the grand cost of a new clutch, two shocks, gearbox/diff fluids and a routine service at Tyneside. Oh, and a rear caliper refurbishment.