I have some H&R race springs that ive been waiting an eternity to put on because i wasnt sure if i wanted to mount them onto my stock a4 struts. I was thinking maybe buy new bilsteins or equivalent, but at that point it would make more sense for me to just buy coilovers for an extra couple bucks. Then, i got the masterful idea to use S4 struts. Ive read Devil's thread about S4 suspension a few times and it seems like it has the answers i need, however it doesnt mention ever utilizing struts from the sport package. I have the sport package and im assuming that they can handle the load better than regular a4 struts, but not as well as s4 struts. Is that right? not sure which avenue to go with this. if the S4 struts will make a noticeable difference over my sport springs then ill find a set, but my sports are still in good shape.

 

It really depends on the difference in spring rate. I can't seem to find a spring rate for the stock sport suspension. The H&R springs will certainly be stiffer. I don't see a listed spring rate on their website. They should be able to provide a spring rate if you call them.

I'm using Tein S-Tech springs on S4 Struts. The spring rates were nearly identical from the S4 to the Tein springs, so the struts are valved accordingly. I would say that the ride is good. Not harsh at all, but is on the verge of being under-damped. If the H&R springs are any more than the 350/290 of the S4, I'd find some other struts.

 

yea thats kind of what im unsure about. i know the H&R's are fairly aggressive but i dont recall the spring rates. and i cant find **** about the sport struts.

on a different note, i noticed you have an s4 rear sway bar. was there a big noticeable difference with that. I read all over the place that the S4 sway bar is pretty much the best thing you can do for an a4 in the way of handling but i find it hard to believe that it makes such a huge difference.

 

You could try to cross reference the part numbers from the sport struts to the S4 units and see if they are actually the same number. There really isn't a lot of work involved in swapping the springs. If you can't find a spring rate for the H&Rs, you could just install them with the struts you have and try it out. If you don't like it, get some stiffer struts or sell the lot and get some coilovers or other springs.

My car came from the factory with non-sport suspension. The original swaybar was 12mm. The S4 swaybar is 15.5mm. There was a noticeable difference in handling with the S4 bar installed. Since you have the stock sport suspension, your rear bar may be the same as the S4 bar already. If you have a set of calipers you could measure the one currently installed to see which you have. Upgrading to the steel endlinks improved feel as well.

Larger aftermarket bars require additional bracing so that you don't crack the mounts off of the rear subframe.

 

yea i was thinking about picking up the neuspeed sway bar kit because it comes with the subframe braces as a package deal. pretty good price too as i recall.

Im not SUPER concerned about the strut/spring combo, i mean im sure they will be fine with my sport struts but im just trying to figure out if there is a substantial difference between the sports and s4's. mainly because i have limited space to do the swap and its a pain in the *** so i really want to avoid doing it twice.

 

good info here. Didnt come to my attention a larger bar has larger mounting points...duhhhh lol

I too have the sport suspension and am contemplating very very hard on the same thing you are. Nearest ive heard, if you hodge podge the S4 suspension on the A4 using the sway bars and struts and just get more aggressive springs, its like changing to a race car ha. If you go down this fairly inexpensive in comparison path, let me know how it goes.

Good luck man

 

will do. i personally enjoy the aggressive feel on a daily driver so im not too worried about that. just dont want to put the springs on my sport struts and find out that i should have picked up some s4 struts instead

 

see thats where i am torn too. I would go with S4 struts swaybars, hubs for bigger brakes, but get aggressive springs. I cant use the S4 springs cuz mine is a 1.8 not a 2.8 haha