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My S3 has covered 17,000 miles and has suddenly developed a clonking noise at the rear. At first i thought something was loose in the boot but it seems the noise is either rear suspension or exhaust related.

The sound is like metal hitting metal and quite deep. It happens when weight is transferred ie round bends. I have had a quick look underneath and noticed there are lots of rubber bushes but none look obviously persihed.

I wondered if there are any known issues with S3s before I book her in for a check?

I used to have a clonking noise at the rear with the Bilstein PSS9 coilovers fitted on my car which was due to the awfull design of the rear springs (rear springs had collapsed)!!!Thank you Bilstein!!!! ;-(
I finally changed them to adjustable H&R springs and everything is ok now.
Do you have OEM suspension?
Check your rear springs for some kind of sign.

Nikos.

I had something that sounds very similar - going round roundabouts at medium speed, get a clonk on one side of the car - AMD took a look when I was up there as I have Konis and H&Rs but it was in fact the ARB that had 'popped' out of its joint (or something like that) - and that sorted it.

Dunc

Thanks for the replies. Strangely I jacked the car up to look underneath, saw nothing unusual and lowered the car back down. When i got in the car and reversed off my drive i heard a loud 'boing'. Since then the noise has gone! Remarkably it seems that something had popped out and has now popped back! Sorry but what is an ARB joint Dunc?

Anti-Roll-Bar joints.

You might also want to check your brake pads if you hear a noise when going from first to reverse & vise versa. Maybe it is time to change them!

Nikos.

Thanks Niko, the brakes are fine, looks like it was the ARB joints!

My A3 Quattro does this occasionally - I'll have to check the ARB because it has been bothering me and Audi couldn't find anything wrong at the last service.

It also creaks like old floorboards over speed humps - has anyone else experienced this and know the cause?

Yes I have had creaking too over speed bumps - doesnt do it anymore though - perhaps some lubricant on some of the joints around the wheels/suspension?

Dunc

It could have been a badly seated spring. The noise you heard may have been it popping back into place in the housing.

Whilst we're talking about noises from the rear, make sure that the car has had the recall for that ball joint (something like that) that affected S3's a few years back - if applicable on age that is.

Cheers

Ben

I think it can't be anything major as I have just spent a whole day caning the poor car on an advanced high-speed driving course and, though the tyres are no longer quite what they once were, the suspension was (and seems still to be) fine.

Still creaks away over those speed-humps though I note. The creaking gets worse when the car is warmed-up oddly.

My car is the facelifted job (Y-reg) so imagine the ball-joint issue had been solved by then?

Turns out the bushes have been worn into an early grave by the generally cratered surface and traffic-calming devices of South London's roads and this in turn has damaged the ARB.

Doh.