Pics of Lowered Riv

Just a cautionary note to others: TSP is used for the cleaning, degreasing and deglossing of walls prior to painting.
TSP breaks the gloss of oil based paints and opens the pores of latex based paint...

Not really a good choice for automotive finishes unless you're at the point of WTF.

Yup, I was aware of that and thank you for making an extra cautionary note about it.

I used this because I was pretty certain the paint was shot so I gave it a try only to find great paint underneath all the crap. And that is also why I never let the car dry and had the water running over the car the entire time TSP was near it.

I wouldn't necessarily suggest anyone to use this unless you could care less about your paint. I don't want to be responsible for some one really messing up the paint on their car. I'd feel horrible about that.

I wasn't planning on buying wheels for the Riv since its more or less my beater car (no offense) but I came across a killer deal for some chrome 18's . Went to check them out and for the money I just couldn't say no. Two tires are new, two are shot. Checking to see if I need hub rings now. Probably won't have them on for a while until I do the suspension and alignment but here is a test fit of one. Looks pretty sweet if I don't say so myself.

(yes I have the new clips for the trim, it will be going on soon. Its driving me crazy!)

Diggin' it!

Oooo very very nice.

Very nice, I like! Reminds me I need to swap my chromes on for the summer too.

Where did you go for the trim clips? I need to replace mine soon, one side keeps coming loose.

Nice!

are they directional? the front drivers side looks directional lol and back wards i think

Thank you everyone!

1998 Riv wrote:

Very nice, I like! Reminds me I need to swap my chromes on for the summer too.

Where did you go for the trim clips? I need to replace mine soon, one side keeps coming loose.

I bought them from www.shopgmparts.com because they let you buy individual clips. If you go to gmpartsdirect.com they make you buy the whole bag of clips which is stupid IMO. It came to about $25 including shipping for all the clips for one wheel well. Hope this helps!

98riviera98 wrote:

are they directional? the front drivers side looks directional lol and back wards i think

Yes they are directional and yes this one is on backwards. That's why I said I was test fitting this one! Good eye though. I was waiting for someone to say that!

If the Rivs a "beater" whats your other car ??
Im just curious ......

I have a nicely modified Audi A4 that has been my daily driver for awhile. I'm trying to cut down on the miles I put on it and lessen the damage to the body kit when it snows out. Kinda backwards since its AWD and handles great in the snow but eh.

VJD2 wrote:

I have a nicely modified Audi A4 that has been my daily driver for awhile. I'm trying to cut down on the miles I put on it and lessen the damage to the body kit when it snows out. Kinda backwards since its AWD and handles great in the snow but eh.

The Riv drives surprisingly well in the snow, provided you are on packed snow or not dealing with ice underneath. The Audi is better in snow *but* in 'daily driving' the conditions usually don't push its limits. My personal experience (driving both for several years) is you are much, much more likely to be able to maneuver a stock A4 or A6 quattro Audi out of trouble than a Riv. Well, let's say I am. Was driving a quattro one itm ein early winter, in the rain, a cold front turned the water to ice as I was, well, breezing down the interstate. Noticed the ice forming on the windshield, touched the brake - big mistake - and lost control. Spun around twice at highway speed, missed the New Jersey barrier in the median - tapped accelerator to get away from it (think snowmobile), which sent us skating toward a bridge abutment on a road that had become ice under sleet. Car was slowing down (I downshifted and I think the grainy sleet helped) but had insufficient traction for any real control. Had Blizzak tires on the Audi. I'll tell you what - when the car slowed down enough to get some traction, it was like the Hand of God grabbed the car and I got control back - still on the ice, about 50 to 75 feet from the abutment (I'd say 3 car lengths or so).

And we continued on the ice, just slower. Blizzaks grip ice OK if you stay at or under 30 MPH or so.

Don't try that in a Riv. Or anything else for that matter.

Due to what look like differences in engineering objectives and execution the Riv is probably (much) less maintenance, either from a time or cost perspective. Much more room in teh engine bay - to change teh timing belt in the A6 I had to remove the front radiator support, there are even pegs built into the chassis at the factory to let you unbolt it and slide it forward. BUT If you do the maintenance yourself, you can keep the Audi running though. They are not that tough to work on but there are some things you just have to know - for instance, you really must replace the water pump when you do timing belt maintenance on the Audi. I joked with a friend, told him that my Audi was like an attractive Italian mistress. First thing he said was, "and how would you know?" I mentioned a friend of mine from Connecticut and his fiery 1st-gen Italian wife, and told him that like her you did not have to dance with her to know she's amazing and also like her (and kind of like Fiats were) the Audi is *high maintenance* and Audi owners are happy with the trade-off. Like my friend from Connecticut the happy ones have a perpetual grin for their cars.

I have to run.

Albertj

If I could find find a nice Audi Quattro, I would like to have one for winter driving.

A friend in the carpentry business, just took one, an A6 Quattro turbo wagon, I think it might be twin turbo if there is such a thing, as partial payment from a client that couldn't pay their bill in full with him.

I need to spend some more time with him this summer and fall and see if I can't squeeze it out of his grip before the winter.
If something mechanical should happen to it this summer and he doesn't want to deal with it, I might be able to get it for a reasonable price. The body and Interior are excellent but the drivetrain has almost 200K miles and appears to have been neglected under the hood.

My local guy who specializes in Audi's has told me to grab it if I can and we could put another engine in it. He has access to rebuilt long blocks for reasonable money.

I'm hoping to get a winter car as opposed to using the Riv in another New England winter.
Would like to save this Riv for 3 season use and the harshest season have an all wheel drive. I like the wagon for practicality as well.
My dog will be happy to be able to go for rides with me again. I won't let him come with me in the Riv.

Rickw wrote:

If I could find find a nice Audi Quattro, I would like to have one for winter driving.

A friend in the carpentry business, just took one, an A6 Quattro turbo wagon, I think it might be twin turbo if there is such a thing, as partial payment from a client that couldn't pay their bill in full with him.

I need to spend some more time with him this summer and fall and see if I can't squeeze it out of his grip before the winter.
If something mechanical should happen to it this summer and he doesn't want to deal with it, I might be able to get it for a reasonable price. The body and Interior are excellent but the drivetrain has almost 200K miles and appears to have been neglected under the hood.

My local guy who specializes in Audi's has told me to grab it if I can and we could put another engine in it. He has access to rebuilt long blocks for reasonable money.

I'm hoping to get a winter car as opposed to using the Riv in another New England winter.
Would like to save this Riv for 3 season use and the harshest season have an all wheel drive. I like the wagon for practicality as well.
My dog will be happy to be able to go for rides with me again. I won't let him come with me in the Riv.

Hmmm..... looking under the hood you want to look at the condition of the fluids. The '99 and later a6s get dirty under the hood pretty quick and will look crappy if the owner does not detail them. They clean up nice though. The other thing, the typical new audi buyer/lessor pretty much *never* opens the hood themselves, maybe because dealer maintenance is included with the cars for the first several years of ownership.

Weak spots on our A6:

- it was recalled for an ignition switch problem that could result in a fire in the dash
- the anti-theft sensors were problematic - I downloaded a copy of VAG-COM (the Volkswagen-Audi specific scan tool) and purchased a dongle, that enabled me to turn the $@#(*&$ things off
- two springs broke for no apparent reason. I guess the OE springs were not German steel, German ones would *not* have just busted IMHO
- the OE front suspension parts were not to my liking - ball joints too small, tie rod ends too weak, and several bushings in the control arms failed one by one. After the 4th failure (2 control arms, a tie rod, a ball joint) I said 'to heck with it' and stripped the *entire* front end and installed Meyle arms/joints/end. Problem SOLVED.
- I replaced two cupholders. They are worse (flimsier) than even the '90s Subaru ones that pulled out from over the radio.
- I replaced the dampers with Bilsteins after driving a rental Lumina (an '01 I think) and seeing that it handled *just* as well as our A6. The Bilsteins tightened things up *real* well, I was very happy with it. Audi specs American cars with a compliant (soft) ride, unless buyers ask.
- Watch out for axle seals, and if you have to replace one then if at all possible do it yourself or find someone who knows what they are doing & will take their time to do it right.
- if it has had regular oil changes, just run a cylinder balance test and if no problems are shown don't worry about the engine. And don't *ever* miss an oil change or the passages will plug and yer engine will become a lump of pot metal. Do not be shocked if the engine needs new seals (camshaft) though. If you do replace the seals (cam/crank) I suggest you switch to synthetic oil.

Albertj

Wow, and I was actually considering an Audi for my wife's next car. Depending on the mileage Albert had on his, I'm not sure anymore. The Riviera and her Toyota have basically been basic maintenance cars for 200k and 150k miles, respectively. Only big fix needed on the Riviera was the transmission rebuild, which I can actually understand considering the circumstances.

But for two of the Audi's springs to just break? How exactly does something like that happen on a modern vehicle? How does Audi even allow for this possibility? And the suspension parts and engine seals - these just sound expensive.

I know in theory AWD handles better in snow, but my Riviera handles very decently in the winter - so well that I have run high performance summer tires year-round for many years without problems. I've lost traction on ice/snow before, but it is not much of a concern, and it has rarely happened, actually. And having seriously tested the Riv's dry handling performance recently, I really can't ask a heavy sedan to do much more.

Winter handling all depends on the tires, car and driver. I had no problem driving my Riv in northern VT, mountain roads, 18" snow on road. I was plowing through snow deep enough that... well I was plowing it with the air dam. I did have snow tires, but it kept right on going. I had no issues turning or braking. I'm sure with AWD I could have gotten up to a higher speed, but guess what - AWD doesn't help you stop.

What was the year of manufacture for your Audi Albert.

I know from reading and doing research and listening to a number of Audi Owners, they are very happy with their cars and look forward to some of the new stuff coming out.
These people i have been exposed to are very good with preventive maintenance, so there might be a car in this group for me as well.

VW's have become the largest selling car in Europe and soon to be globally. just an FWIW

Washed the car the other day so I took the chance to get some pics on how it sits with the new suspension

Eibach Prokit, Gabriels up front and Monroe Max Air out back. It gives a pretty decent ride still for a lowered car. Not too bouncy at all, nice and firm. 100x better handling. Can't wait to put the new wheels on in the spring.

nice, got any before pics to compare?

I'll post some tonight but I think there are some up on the site already from when I first bought the car.

Looks good man! Now I know what I'm doin come new suspension time!

Thanks!

I think it was def worth the time and money. Wasn't all to bad on the pocket either!

Any chance anyone saved any pics of this car? Dying to see it in low-slung rocketship form

llamalor2112 wrote:

Any chance anyone saved any pics of this car? Dying to see it in low-slung rocketship form

+1

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