Any Lift Options?

[Jezza]

I have a 2011 Audi A5 Quattro 2.0T 6MT. I have used the search function and could not find an answer to this question. Are there any coilovers out there that provide for raising the vehicle and inch or two? Why would I do this you ask? Well, I have sh*t driveway with a big hump in it, and I am tired of scraping the bumper, mufflers and various other parts going in and out. I am also tired of parking on the street when I finally have a driveway and a garage sitting at the end of the driveway. I have considered an air suspension, but they are so expensive.

Also, I think putting some chunky tires on it with a bit of a lift and going for the rally car look might be cool. (I have 255/45 ZR19s on the car right now, and let me tell you, that is absolutely the largest tire an s-line car can fit.) After all, the A5 is the descendent of the Quattro more so than any other model Audi currently produces. And, I think I could finally stomach going that route as these cars have dropped so much in value due to various issues and age that I doubt I could lower it much more. The ideal solution would be a long travel kit, but I doubt there is one in existence, let alone one for purchase. So, I thought I'd ask here as it does not seem coilover manufacturers care to list the actual adjustment range of their kits just the max drop achievable.

Thanks in advance.

[Neil F]

I'd spend the money to modify the driveway......

[Coldstig]

Allroad springs and shocks?

[iano330]

driveway ramp..

https://www.bridjit.com/blog/bridjit...-lowered-cars/

[JamesRS5]

KW are great coilovers and have a hydraulic lift option for the fronts.

[Neil F]

Benchmark................https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news...qPO?li=BBnb4R5

[eskimo0101]

+1 on fixing the driveway instead of modifying your car to deal with your messed up driveway. A stock A5 isn't that low so I'm sure this is an issue for other people coming to your house too.

[Jezza]

KW are great coilovers and have a hydraulic lift option for the fronts.

Allroad springs and shocks?

Thank you both for these suggestions. I will look into them further.

As for modifying the driveway or using a ramp, not really an option. A ramp won't work because the dip is not the problem. The hump would not be a problem by itself. The problem is that after the hump the driveway slopes down from the street as my house is a ranch over garage layout. Meaning the garage functions as a semi basement being below grade. The hump combined with the downward angle guarantees that any vehicle below a certain ground clearance will scrape. There is no way to fix this without tearing up the concrete, hauling in tons of earth and completely reshaping the driveway to have a more rounded slope. The other thing is that the hump helps, massively, to keep water from cascading from the street down the driveway and into the garage. We get a lot of rain here, and the drains can barely keep up as is. I can't imagine adding runoff from the street. It is unfortunate, but I'm not one of those people that obsess over wheel gap and getting as low as possible.

[Neil F]

Thank you both for these suggestions. I will look into them further.

As for modifying the driveway or using a ramp, not really an option. A ramp won't work because the dip is not the problem. The hump would not be a problem by itself. The problem is that after the hump the driveway slopes down from the street as my house is a ranch over garage layout. Meaning the garage functions as a semi basement being below grade. The hump combined with the downward angle guarantees that any vehicle below a certain ground clearance will scrape. There is no way to fix this without tearing up the concrete, hauling in tons of earth and completely reshaping the driveway to have a more rounded slope. The other thing is that the hump helps, massively, to keep water from cascading from the street down the driveway and into the garage. We get a lot of rain here, and the drains can barely keep up as is. I can't imagine adding runoff from the street. It is unfortunate, but I'm not one of those people that obsess over wheel gap and getting as low as possible.

I believe I can visualize what you are describing . You need to bridge from the hump to the driveway slope. Why would something like this not work? https://www.bridjit.com/blog/bridjit...-lowered-cars/ or even a steel grate (I guess a pic of your situation would help)

[Jezza]

I'm not sure if this crude diagram I made in paint will help, but I have attached it to this post.

Anyway, the Allroad suggestion got me looking at other Audi and VAG models. There is a company that makes lifts for the VW Alltrac. Unfortunately, VW does not use the same suspension setup. There struts attach with a typical triangular bracket and bolt patter. Whereas Audi has to be a pain in the ass and use a pattern that appears to be unique. The Q5 is also referred as a B8 chassis vehicle, so I began looking there. I believe the stock springs from a Q5 would provide a lift. However, these are hard to find cheaply, and I do not want to shell out a lot of money for something that may not work properly. I have no doubt they will fit, but I do not know how much of a lift they will provide or if it will be even-ish. H&R does make lift springs for the Q5, but I am afraid this would be too much. That being said, a set of lift springs from H&R is considerably less expensive than a full set of OEM springs, especially since they are on steep discount right now. I'm considering buying these and experimenting with them. It wouldn't take more than an afternoon to install, and if it sucks, I'll take them off and sell them to a Q5 owner.

There is another option in the form of a 30mm spacer lift from Tema 4x4, but it does not appear especially solid. Finally, there is Spaccer. A German company that makes universal lifts. These appear the easiest to install, but they are expensive for what they are, and given their manner of install, I do not trust them in the least. They are held in place by the compression of the spring, so I imagine that with enough over travel downwards they could slip becoming unseated and misaligned and screw your stuff up. I know I said finally with Spaccer, but I know air ride would provide the necessary lift. I just feel it is very expensive for a reliable system, but I am open to suggestions.

[Neil F]

Ok I see from the diagram (I pictured the problem at the bottom) You would basically need something from the top of the hump to the road. A bigger ramp and something secure. If it were me, I would call in someone and have a modification added to the road rather than make the car REALLY look ridiculous.

Yea airlift might not be cheap but that would be MY next option vs full time lift (and look REALLY bad)

Have you figured how much "lift" you would need? Taller tires probably would be easier than suspension.

Regarding the spacer (and I CANNOT say how well they work here), they are common for offroad. I have a wrangler and the are widely used and referred to as a budget boost. I have them on my wrangler in addition to lift springs. There is no issue on the Jeeps with the spacers coming unseated. People do big articulation rock crawling with spacers.

[RockJGC]

I have a 2011 Audi A5 Quattro 2.0T 6MT. I have used the search function and could not find an answer to this question. Are there any coilovers out there that provide for raising the vehicle and inch or two? Why would I do this you ask? Well, I have sh*t driveway with a big hump in it, and I am tired of scraping the bumper, mufflers and various other parts going in and out. I am also tired of parking on the street when I finally have a driveway and a garage sitting at the end of the driveway. I have considered an air suspension, but they are so expensive.

Also, I think putting some chunky tires on it with a bit of a lift and going for the rally car look might be cool. (I have 255/45 ZR19s on the car right now, and let me tell you, that is absolutely the largest tire an s-line car can fit.) After all, the A5 is the descendent of the Quattro more so than any other model Audi currently produces. And, I think I could finally stomach going that route as these cars have dropped so much in value due to various issues and age that I doubt I could lower it much more. The ideal solution would be a long travel kit, but I doubt there is one in existence, let alone one for purchase. So, I thought I'd ask here as it does not seem coilover manufacturers care to list the actual adjustment range of their kits just the max drop achievable.

Thanks in advance.

The 2011 A5 6MT, if it has the sport package (you can tell by looking at the seats), will also have a slightly lower ride height compared to the non-sports pkg cars. This is due to different springs. If you have those lower springs, you can always look for a set of the standard springs (or swap with someone who may want your sport package springs) to get a bit higher ride height. It's not going to be a huge difference though...

[NJCarGuy]

Another benefit of going with an air spring system is that you could raise it for leaving/returning and then hit a switch and have it lowered (or stock) height for driving.
One other thing I thought of is Q5 lowering springs...if HR or another vendor sells springs that lower the Q5/SQ5 by an inch or so it would probably be about 3/4-1” higher on the A5, more on a Sport Pkg equipped car. They wouldn’t be as stilt-like as the full Q springs, but still give some lift.
The thing I would be worried the most about would be the reduced droop...by raising the car on the suspension, you are effectively reducing the droop by an equal amount, which could affect ride quality and handling negatively. Think of it like this...if the car stock has 3” of droop (example only, as I do not know the spec), and you raise the height 1” with taller springs, you’ve effectively reduced the droop, so if you drive through a 3” pothole, the suspension droops into it and the car dips down a bit, because the drop is greater than the droop.
You might also get some strange results with alignment, and impact caster...probably have a tendency toward positive camber, too, which you really don’t want.

All told, the best compromise to eliminate the issue while not impacting drivability is the air ride...you can find kits for a couple of grand used (there was one on here in the classifieds for months, might still be there), and, again, you also get lowering and an improvement in ride and handling thrown in.
Isn’t there a way to shave down that hump a bit?
Chris

[Neil F]

Has someone's name written all over this https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...5#post14568235

Dumb question with airlift, obviously it lowers but when you inflate, can it go above stock height which is what OP needs.

[Machinist]

I have airlift installed on mine. Yes it can go above stock height, by at least an an inch and a half or more. I put it at max height getting into my driveway and going over speed bumps and have never had a scrap issue because I'm well above the peak. Then a quick press and back to the sweet spot. Price wasn't much more than a good set of coilovers and installation was easy as can be.

[Jezza]

Maybe I will bag it at some point, but I've just picked up a set of Allroad springs from another member. I'm going to install those at some point when I get a chance. I'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes, but it might be a month or two before I have a weekend before I can do it, because I need to set aside the time to uninstall too in case there are any issues.