Audi Tuning | VW Tuning

Barry told me he felt the stance of his Audi TTS was a bit on the weak side, so we had him roll through for measurements and scheduled an H&R wheel spacer install.

To take measurements, you simply determine just how far out (in millimeters) the wheels can come out in the fender without coming into contact with them. Since a suspension upgrade wasn’t planned any time in the near future we also had to take into account the stock suspension travel to make sure that on hard suspension compression the tires wouldn’t high-five the fender and push it out of place. It was determined that hub-centric H&R 8mm (p/n 1655572) front and 12mm (p/n 2455571) rear wheel spacers would push the wheels out just enough to offer Barry the aggressive stance he was after without any of the drama.

The difference in offset with the spacers is small but big enough to make a visual impact on the Audi TTS stance. Barry approves.

A new car with a small budget to begin modding right away is the ultimate way to get started in this game, and Lindsay wasted no time bringing us her stock E92 BMW 335 in for a suspension upgrade. Selecting H&R coil-overs as a great bang-for-buck option to improve cornering capabilities and bring the car closer to the ground, we threw a set on the day after she took delivery. Ridin’ low (and clean =P) is nothing new to Lindsay so of course we knew to make sure there was no gap between tire and fender.

Hope you’re enjoying the new ride, Linds!  Looking forward to seeing what’s next.

The Jameson twins wanted lower, so they got it! H&R Street Performance coil-overs on their Audi (C5) A6 bring their previous “sport” ride down to SLAMMED status!

Sak came in earlier in the week to purchase a set of 19″ Hartmann Euromesh 3s for his GTI. It didn’t take long for him to come back for a set of H&R’s Sport Spring kit to address the fender gap. For a low-mileage, rarely driven GTI this set-up should do just right for Sak, and he says he’s back in love with his car all over again!

Carl brought us his Audi (B5) A4 avant in as the miles were getting up there and the original suspension was in need of replacing. Rather than sticking with OEM components he chose to go with a coilover kit but wanted to retain as much of the factory comfort as possible. Turns out the chosen B5 application sits pretty close to stock at the highest setting and Carl is very pleased. He also brought us this Borla exhaust to throw on while we had it up on the rack.

Better than when brand new, Carl should be pleased with the over-all performance of his new suspension and exhaust, breathing new life in a decade-old car!

H&R sent us a second set of coil-overs to test on the Golf R on Friday. After the first Test N’ Tune session we felt we could use something a little stiffer and the H&R RSS Club Sport coil-over kit is designed for the committed motorsport enthusiast who is willing to relinquish some ride comfort in return for ultimate handling performance. After installation we threw the Golf R on our alignment rack for corner-balancing before heading to the Test N’ Tune session on Saturday.

The stiffer suspension helped shave seconds off already good lap times so we are very pleased with the results, though we’d definitely not recommend the set-up for the typical street-driven car. We’re communicating our feedback with H&R and there’s talks of an Achtuning-exclusive coil-over kit that might offer a good balance for both street and track. Stay tuned…

Pictures were taken today of the H&R front and rear sway bars installed on our Golf R project, as well as the Premium coil-overs we’re running to show where the adjustment perches sit…

We then took the opportunity to test-fit some H&R wheel spacers to check fitment and clearances with the different sizes H&R offers.  We are happy to report the hub-centric 8mm (HR162555716) and 10mm (HR20255571A/B) spacers fit over the factory hubs just fine. On the stock wheels, we would suggest a 5mm front and 10mm rear H&R wheel spacer for a “mildly” aggressive look or 10mm front and 12mm rear spacers for the more aggressive look, as seen below:

… And compared to stock:

Take that info with a grain of salt, as ride height will certainly be a factor when deciding wheel spacer widths. 

Then,  a short test-fit of the Hartmann G5 Wheels on the Achtuning Golf R was performed to get an idea of what our 19s look like – FANTASTIC, if we say so ourselves!  The wheels are 8″ wide with a 45mm offset and we wrapped them with 235/35-19 Falken FK452, shown below without any wheel spacing.  The “stance” is fairly aggressive and looks just right! Though I might suggest a 225/35-19 for those who plan to run a bit lower than this.

… Keeping the momentum going, we’re getting started on the StopTech Sport Kit upgrade!

While we have APR looking into a few details prior to software upgrades, we are wasting no time with the Achtuning VW Golf R and getting right down to business with the suspension! Our Achtuning VW (Mk5) Jetta 2.5L had up until now been running the H&R Premium coil-over kit taken from the Achtuning A3, which has been down for the count while it awaits an APR Stage 4 motor. We’re then going to throw the stock Golf R suspension on the Jetta for now.

H&R also sent us an RSS Club Sport coil-over kit to put on the A3 but more about that later… It’s Golf R time!  The H&R Premium coil-over kit is now installed on the Achtuning Golf R.  The Achtuning “Signature” ride height is a mild drop leaving roughly a finger-to-two-finger gap between the top of the tire and the bottom of the fender. These are just after installation so we anticipate a small amount of spring settling to occur.

And if any of you Mk5 Jetta guys are wondering where you’d sit after installing Golf R suspension, look here:

H&R’s Trak+ wheel spacers are now featured in the ACHTUNING online catalog with ACTUAL pictures representing each Audi, Porsche, and VW spacer H&R has to offer, and WE STOCK THEM!! Click the link below to begin shopping for your H&R wheel spacers!!

http://shop.achtuning.com/search.asp…anufacturer=28

Oh, and if you need help determining what size spacers to run, click here: http://trakplus.com/measure

This was the closest some of us got to SEMA this year. H&R asked us to mount some 245 & 265/35s on these gorgeous 19″ BBS RS wheels featured on their BMW M1 Coupe currently on display in H&R’s SEMA 2011 booth. If you guys are down there enjoying the show (we envy you - ), be sure to stop by their booth and snap some pictures for us!!