Alright been reading and researching for about a month on the forum. I have a couple simple questions. First I have a 1998 1.8t Q. It was a gift and it has 70,000 miles on it. My two front stock wheels are bent all the tires on the car are shot.
Question one: I need tires and wheels I would prefer 18’s with the appropriate tires to accommodate that...but...I do not have the funds to do my suspension until spring of next year so reading on here I will have a “4x4” Would this be the best route to go? Or should I do a 17inch wheel instead? Oh and I don’t think I have the sport-suspension.
Question two: When I’m on cruise control on the freeway at 70mph my RPM’s are at 3100. Is this normal for my A4. It seems a bit high from say a 2000 1.8t Passat I have ridden in-2800rpms?
I appreciate your help this forum has been very informative and VERY helpful already.
wsufreak

 

question 1 answers all you qs the car has been in an accident so this has to be the primary objective "what damage was done and is there a report", was it a gift or an action sale??

 

No the car was not in an accident according to carfax. It was a gift from another family member but according to Les Schwab Tire Company they recommended not putting new tires on the factory rims. It looks like it was curbed on one of them really bad. I also had the vehicle inspected so I'm really not concerned with the past condition of the vehicle I know it's sound.

 

in the UK we call it a category D not reported to our DVLA but an accident none the less "look for another" whats the mileage/service history/how many owners/general condition/engine performance ? oil leaks, coolant leaks the list is endless why do they wish to sell it????? (because of a young driver doesnt cut it) just open you mind as to the sale you could have a winner or a lemon so be careful advice only

 

Well I appreciate your concern about my new car. I pretty sure my close family doesn’t want to start beef with me by selling me a lemon. Anyway back to the original questions...

 

ok... dind mind him. he tends to confuse you with off the wall questions and stuff [8D]

if you dont have sport suspension.. you can browse the classifieds over on audizine.com .. there are usually stock sport suspension setups for sale over there quite frequently.. and you can get the sport shocks for real cheap..

and yes. if you dont have sport suspension you will be riding around 4x4 style and we will all laugh at you [sm=laughat.gif] ..
j/k.. but seriously .. 4x4 is bad..

rpms are normal.. our cars really need a 6th gear so dont worry.. the wheels depend on what look you are going for.. if they are gonna be dark centered with a lip they need to be 18's or they will look really small.. if not a lip style wheel.. go for 17's .. especially if you are on a budget..

you could get some decent 17's and a used sport suspension setup for pretty cheap actually..

did i miss anything?

 

I'd suggest 17 inches max.

Is the car manual or auto? RMP don't seem too high.

When you peplace the tires, you will have to do all 4 at the same time. If you are in the US, check tire rack over the net for wheels and tires. Yokohama Avid H4s or V are pretty reasonably priced.

 

Yea it's a manual. This brings up another quick question...playing with the throttle under the hood and throttling it up there seems to be a lot of engine movement. Is this normal? I can feel it when i start out in a gear it almost feels like a bad U-joint in a pickup truck? I know it could be a lot of things but i saw this http://www.purems.com/products/product.php/II=952...and figured maybe it’s normal...I really appreciate your help guys I'm always on this forum laptop and new Motorola Q they are both always on here...Thanks


Oh on more thing I know that your not suppose to get springs without shocks but what if i got springs now without shocks and swapped the shocks out in about 6 months. I won't be putting more than 3,000 miles on the car within that time? Or should i get the new wheels and tires and do the suspension all together when i have the money?

 

stock non-sport shocks will go out very soon with an aggressive spring...if you went with a sport spring you will probably be alright for 3k miles, especially since you're only at 70k right now...but if you put a race spring in there, count on them going bad within a few weeks.


the engine movement can be a few different things...you can put in a snub mount..greedspeed is cheapest at 13 bucks, apr is most expensive at 50..all are polyurethane so they pretty much all work the same (apr is slightly larger and will sometimes cause vibrations)...you might also have bad motor mounts and/or tranny mounts...tranny mounts are very easy to replace, i did both in about an hour total, look into upgrading to allroad tranny mounts...engine mounts i've never done but i don't think they're too difficult, you can get RS4 mounts if you want to upgrade those too..

 

Speaking of tranny mts, when I go into 4th gear, and only 4th gear, my car begins to vibrate when i get on the gas again. In my last car, with a direct link shifter, it was the tranny mount, but with these shock isolated gearboxes or whatever, I can't tell.. Please tell me its just a simple tranny mount problem