Hello gang. New owner of an extremely clean '14 Q60 awd (rebadged G37) with only 44k miles. Finally, I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time to buy it a great price. Need some help on upgrading to a 19" rim/tire size and means of lowering it a bit without messing up the awd driveline. I'll post those questions down in the coupe section. But again, thanks for having me. Look forward to gaining more knowledge on my new Q!

 

Be aware that the AWD sits at a higher ride height than any other model, and thus needs "moar low", compared to a RWD model, to look the same after the drop. But once you start approaching around 2" of total drop you need to start worrying about other things.
IMO, the three biggest issues are:

• excessive rear camber, even after adjustable camber arms, traction rods, and toe rods
• terrible bumpsteer and tram-lining
• excessive CV joint angles and/or torn CV boots

Some of these are kind of fixable with expensive race and or drift suspension parts. Drop knuckles are the common solution slammed drift cars, and there are a few options out there for the rear that will work on the AWD. But the AWD uses different front suspension parts than the RWD, and none of the fabrication companies I've seen design anything for the AWD front. And the adjustable front upper control arms you can get don't really do enough to correct roll center on their own. Additionally, your options for coilovers are a bit more limited by the unique AWD front suspension.

With a mild drop you don't have to worry about these things as much, because they aren't as prominent. You'll still want to consider camber arms and lockout washers, but you can probably still get everything aligned to factory specs.

 

Thanks digital,

Got my eyes on a simple set of awd specific Swift springs on Z1. Not much of a drop (1.5, 1.7), but that's okay. Plan on going to 19's and that will close the wheel well gap a bit more. It's a daily and I live in a land of potholes, so going to low was out of the question from the jump.

 

Nice! With a set of Swift springs you can probably get away with an eccentric bolt lockout kit and adjustable camber arms. A set of 19s with some meaty tires would probably be perfect for what you need.