New person with some basic Qs

[scaryspiders100]

Hi all been looking at the site for some time and have just got my hands on a b5, totally brilliant. Got a couple of questions which have been answered before but im a little confused. first the car is standard so i'm looking to upgrade the handling and braking for mainly motorway and b road use. Not looking to go mad at first but with regards to the RS6 calipers on the fronts i see this can be done without changing the b5 discs (as mine are new) but 2 points, what improvement will i get? Secondly one post mentions the point the calipers are just oversize and the discs will be affected what does this mean?
Second Q what easy upgrades are there for suspension, looking for better feel but not a a harder ride, thanks in advance...................

[Nige_RS4]

I have the RS6 calipers with std B5 RS4 discs. The only issue would be if you were to subsequently upgrade to either RS6+ or B7 RS4 discs, then you would also need to replace the pads at this point, as they would be worm un-evenly due to the 5mm overhang.

If you're asking if it's worth doing? The difference is like night and day - get it done ASAP!

[derdle]

Most forum users would agree that the stock brakes are quite poor and that an upgrade is beneficial. Some may say it is debateable whether it is worth changing if you are only going to use the car on the roads - but this will depend on your driving style. If you plan to use the car on the track (so you can do more than 70!) then uprated brakes are necessary IMO. I have the full RS6+ setup on mine and they are v.good.

As for suspension, I'd recommend that you change the ARB's (Anti-Roll Bars) as this transforms the handling without stiffening the ride too much. I wouldn't suggest doing ARB's and coilovers/otehr suspension mods togetehr unti lyo usee what the ARB's can do for you on their own.

Hope you enjoy your car, and welcome to the forum.

Paul

[bakerdcb]

I agree with Paul, change the ARB's first. The ride is already quite hard and I certainly didn't want it to be any harder which is inevitable if you move to new springs and dampers/ coilovers. You could also replace the bushes instead for Powerflex ones. They certainly make the handling sharper and more communicative. Relatively cheap upgrade but they have a tendency to 'grumble' a bit and need frequent lubrication I find. Not ideal for everyone but they made the biggest difference to the handling for me

[derdle]

but they made the biggest difference to the handling for me

Apart from getting rid of that lardarse sat in the passneger seat at Donnington the other weekend eh? (me!!)

Paul

[Badgersuk]

Which ARB's do you have? And has anyone found some strut braces to fit the cars? are the upgraded ARB's sufficient or would the top strut braces make even more difference?

Thanks in advance

Regards,

Stu

[bakerdcb]

Apart from getting rid of that lardarse sat in the passneger seat at Donnington the other weekend eh? (me!!)

LMAO

[biggingermuff]

Did you change the rear brakes as well? Which suppliers provide ARBs?

[bakerdcb]

H & R ARB's. You can change front and rear to a thicker bar. I just changed the rear to a 21mm job to stiffen up the back end and improve the turn in. I figured if I changed the front too it would be generally less rolly but would do nothing for the turn in on the track. Just a personal choice. The front ARB on an RS4 is pretty beefy already

[derdle]

I changed both front and rear ARB's. The car turns really "flat" ... then did the H&R coilovers. It's now quite a hard ride...next time we're both at the same track will have to compare with bakerdcb!!

I also put adjustable top links on the front and rear after the coilovers were fitted in order to get the camber corrected (lowering the car upsets the camber and there wasn't enough adjustment on the car).

As for rear brakes - mine are stock. I don't know what options otehr members use on the rear though.

Paul

[Golich]

I've not long changed to the RS6 caliper and B7 disk. The difference is night and day. The standard units/pads could only withstand a few 100mph+ braking instances before they REALLY started to moan and in one incident quite alarming fade. I seriously wasn't doing anything too nuts either. The different pads and calipers made an incredible difference and half the price of the usual rediculously priced alternatives. It really is a must have on these cars. If you do over 120mph and plan on stopping quicky the stock caliper and pad will simply not do the job fast enough in my opinion.

I wouldn't have a problem running the stock disk it never warped on me despite one incident when I had the trial Revo map and I braked from 180mph to 30mph and accidently left 50 pence size hot spots on the disk!!! They seemed to scrub off after a few hundred miles!

[Golich]

PS I should have said I swapped my front dampers out for S4 Koni adjustables set to 1/4 turn from soft. I much prefer the compression and rebound damping with the bonus that I don't think the car feels any harder! I tried the rear dampers and they fetl far too hard and the rear end seemed to pop and skip so I went straight back to the stock.

I would recommend trying ARBs first as these are realtively cheap and a doddle to fit.

PPS I have the H&R anti roll bars which I never got around to fitting I guess I don't need them now that I'm selling my B5 for a B7 due in the next couple of months.

[Golich]

O if you do go down the route of Konis the S4 front damper needs minor machining. Basically, they need to be machined such that the spring carrier sits lower as the RS4 is lower than the S4. This simply involves machining an identical grove to that for the S4 hanger but approx 10mm below it. Talk to Kim Colins at QST as he told me about this and did that to mine for an extra £50.