Hey guys, quick question for the avant owners out there - I have a 1998 avant QM with the sport package. About a week ago, as I was doing the rear brakes, I was gently tapping the caliper off of one side when I heard something drop off of the other side. Upon inspection, it was about a half of a coil from the bottom of the rear pass side spring, rusted through in one area. My question is, what springs are you guys using. I want to replace all four together, and the car already has Bilstein shocks (not sure if they're the sport or HD). It seems that H&R only sells a race spring set for the avant - I don't want that much of a drop, or that harsh a ride. Also, don't want to go the coilover route. Any suggestions? Thanks - Ian

 

Hey man. I've done a lot of looking on this subject, and H&R seems to be the only manufacturer who has different part numbers for springs between the B5 sedan and avant. Neuspeed, Tein, etc all use the same P/N for avant and sedan. From what I've read, the avant weighs about 100lbs more than the sedan, presumable from all the extra tin and glass. If you're worried about the rear end sagging, you could pick up some spring rubbers from a race shop or autozone might even have them. I've got the sport suspension on my avant as well and am waiting until the god damn rain stops to install some neuspeed race springs. I know several avant guys on here also ran/are running aftermarket springs, maybe they can provide a bit more insight.

 

Oh yeah, totally forgot to mention that it's a 2.8L

 

Thats ok as long as you get springs for a 2.8. The spring rates are different because the 2.8 is quite a bit heavier up front.

 

Awesome - thanks for the info. I figured the fronts would be the same b/w the two, but wasn't sure about the rear.

 

FWIW, I just put neuspeed race springs on my car yesterday. They use the same part number for sedan and avant, and the fitment was perfect. I don't think you have anything to worry about if you want to order some sport springs that aren't explicitly for an avant.