Came across this in my morning bathroom reading

Seems like something that might be that last little bit some of you weight savings guys need.

http://fourtitude.com/news/Audi_News...uction-models/

 

Interesting, but those would make me nervous.

 

an OEM doing it is one thing... but the aftermarket is entirely different... the aftermarket just does not put in the same reliability testing as OEMs do...

 

Looks pretty sketch, then again they could be strong, I would never run them regardless of saving a couple pounds here and there

 

sounds expensive, and even more costly over time.

 

I'm pretty sure that's Audi's motto. Fiberglass springs would make me super nervous.

 

i'll take a set.

 

I would trust them assuming they pass the German TUV testing.

 

Fiberglass is actually pretty strong if manufactured and cured correctly. It is stronger than carbon fiber in that it can flex more before breaking. If you're OK with chassis components made out of CF then fiberglass springs shouldn't scare you...though I do agree, hold off on aftermarket stuff until they get to be more common.

BTW, springs are "unsprung" weight and cutting their mass by 40% is not insignificant. It should provide noticeable handling improvements.

 

That 40% drops to 20% when you grok that springs are only half unsprung.

 

Ok hair splitter...that's actually not the case because the steel spring we are replacing is also half sprung / unsprung. If the steel spring weighed 20 lbs, half is 10 lbs, its unsprung weight. If we cut the 20 lb weight by 40% with fiberglass springs, they'll weigh 12 lbs in total, half of which which is 6 lbs unsprung. Incidentally, 40% of 10 is 6...so 40% is indeed 40%.

On a side note, the above 50% thing only applies to vertically mounted springs. Cars that mount the springs and shocks horizontally reduce the unsprung mass to a fraction of the weight of the pushrod/linkage.

 

I couldnt run these.

 

Yeah, my post was pretty silly, wasn't it? Oops. But I'm not sure what inboard suspensions have to do with this.

 

I could only imagine the long term issues with these after a few years and heat cycles. Heat and fiberglass doesn't sound like a good combo. I can only imagine the flood of warranty repair work for an Audi tech in a few years due to sagging fiberglass springs.

 

My bathroom scales point to the weight savings I need.