Please Rate or Slate a Suspension Set up for my 2001 S3

[S3 Paul]

As a result of my koni set up falling to bits ( coilovers ) and the lack of contact from Koni after my emails, I may well be needing a new suspension set up. I had no problems with my Koni coilovers to be honest, They were damping and height adjustable,
The car was sitting about 35 mm lower than standard ( maybe 40)
Im guessing i need coilovers to maintain this "look"?
Money is limited to an extent ( due to this being a forced change rather than a planned one )
Most of the people i know localy lower their cars more for looks that handeling , I was happy with the compromise i had, still comfy(ish) ride but much improved handeling .
Makes so far ive seen than do kits for the car are...
AP
Weitec
KW (v1 )
FK
H&R twin coil
Spax RSX

can anybody give me any sort of reviews?
Or surgest something else?
Thanks

 

[jezzy]

i have these
they come with 3 yr warranty.
There actually pretty good.
i drive b roads all day, not to crashy, but on smooth tarmac they feel great,only been on 6 weeks but no probs so far
eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

 

[colicabcadam]

buy cheap buy twice, you get what you pay for

avoid the FK's, you only have to google them to see how many people get knocking and leaking shocks

also, the ones posted above, £42 a corner....... have a good long hard think about it, yes they come with warranty, but that warranty will not give you a hire car, remove the shock and replace the new one, nether will it be a next day service !!!

just remember although no longer worth £28,000, they did cost this new, so take that into consideration !

 

[colicabcadam]

and btw, i am sure when i had my problem with fk that they got sent to koni for testing.... which would explain why you have had no luck, both the same company!!

yep, i was defo right, just fished this out.......

From: Sales @ DPM Performance
Sent: 01 November 2011 09:58
To: Adam Luke Corbett
Subject: Re: Warranty claim



No it could then be off the road for up to 4 weeks as FK will need to send the dampers off to Koni.

 

[aragorn]

Bilstein B12 Pro kit.

Nuff said!

 

[jezzy]

still cheaper if you buy twice lol
are them discs still for sale?

 

[Hammy999]

I have APs they give a good ride quality not to harsh well controlled over bumps yet firm enough to reduce roll when cornering and the build quality looks and feels good for the price.

 

[S3 Paul]

Nice to know,
I know cheap cheap isnt the answer, But i can not run to the dizzy heights of 900 + now as this is an unplanned change,
I asked a lad i know who works for a tuner and he said almost all coilover companys use KW dampers which are known to leak ( to mot fail level) but then be found to be "ok" when returned,
To be fair i think 4 years plus from my Koni's wasnt bad , Its more tha fact a mounting point failed that worries me,
The SPAX RSX i looked into now say will not fit cars where the anti roll bar bolts to the shocker... Dont all S3's our shape do that?

 

[aragorn]

Most people on here seem to buy (and thus are recommending) **** coilovers, rather than spending the money on a decent fixed spring kit.

I dont get this thinking, as for me, ride quality and handling come above being able to move the front of the car down 5mm more than you ran it the week before.

99% of the folk fitting coilovers wont have had the car corner weighted, nor will they have even touched the adjusters after the initial fitting and settling in period, so its fairly pointless paying the extra for that adjustment (or paying the same but getting poorer quality parts as a result)

Bilsteins B12 Prokit is where its at for a daily driven road car. It manages to combine OEM comfort, with a good improvement in handling AND somehow manages to make it smoother and more comfortable around town than the OEM suspension to boot.

 

[colicabcadam]

still cheaper if you buy twice lol
are them discs still for sale?

the thing is, cheaper yes when you just tally up the pats, but add up the price of having.....

the suspension taken off
sending the suspension off
hiring a car for anything up to 4 weeks !!!!
refitting the new suspension

it all adds up and more importantly it is inconvenient !!

yes i do and i want them gone lol !!!

 

[s3dave]

KW are my favorite lovely handling, and firm yet not crashy....

 

[warren_S5]

99% of the folk fitting coilovers wont have had the car corner weighted, nor will they have even touched the adjusters after the initial fitting and settling in period, so its fairly pointless paying the extra for that adjustment (or paying the same but getting poorer quality parts as a result)

100% agree, speak to most people who buy shyte coilovers about corner weighting and they will just look vacant and then go on to tell you how it's all good because it's lower than a daschunds knacker sack.

At a guess I'd say the majority of low priced coilovers are sold as a mechanism for stimulating pub banter heroics rather than because they add any real handling improvement to the car they're put on. And most don't care because it's scene.

I'm always dubious when a coilover system costs less than a decent damper / lowered springs set up.

 

[DPM]

Bilstein B12 kit or the H&R coilovers get my vote on the S3 8L.

Damian @ DPM Performance

 

[S3 Paul]

This seems to be turning into a massive slate of anybody with coilovers that doesnt understand every element of suspension.
Let me explain the reason behind my Koni coilover choice i made...
I had recently been allowed out of hospital after breaking my back , I didnt want rock hard suspension but didnt want a 4 wheel drive look for the new car,
Alot of people said KW variant 1 or H&R but they didnt have damping adjustment so i would be stuck with however hard they came.
That explains the adjustable damping
The coilover part was because... lets face it, its a road car. So the look of how the car sat mattered,
I have run the car on half adjustment on the road prety much all the time ive had it. On track ive upped the front damping a little to good effect for how I drive,
The height would have been reset slightly in the next couple of months when the 18's went on.
Ive bought and tried spring and shock set ups that claimed "40mm drop" only to find the ride be spot on but the height be as near as makes no diffrence standard

 

[S3 Paul]

Bilstein B12 kit or the H&R coilovers get my vote on the S3 8L.

Damian @ DPM Performance

Is it right that the H&R coilover kit uses the same bilstein dampers as the PSS9 kit?

 

[AARON77]

Vince uses th fk set up and we both agree copared to my kw1 set up there's no comparison
But when we look at like this,
he needed shocks to get him through an mot and his budget was non existent so they were totally perfect.
Not only did he get his mot but he defo got better handling and looks

I guess it's all about budget!!!
I wouldn't touch the cheepo's but then my budget is slightly different

 

[jezzy]

At the end of the day its how you drive and everybody has a different driving style.
Ive adjusted mine twice and will do continue to do so for different seasons.
I can not justify 600-900 suspension for a car i dont take to track days.
They maybe cheap but there ok for my needs.
If they fail i will tell the forum so other members get the benefit of my experience.
just my bit

 

[jezzy]

oh yes before i forget.
i will have the discs and im in biggin hill bud

 

[AARON77]

At the end of the day its how you drive and everybody has a different driving style.
Ive adjusted mine twice and will do continue to do so for different seasons.
I can not justify 600-900 suspension for a car i dont take to track days.
They maybe cheap but there ok for my needs.
If they fail i will tell the forum so other members get the benefit of my experience.
just my bit

I'm gonna disagree
The fk are excellent value but no matter how you drive they're crashy/gashy
I've driven vinces car many times and he has mine!
And I know he is gonna be spending a bit more on his suspension soon!
so that'll be coilover kit number 2 for him

 

[colicabcadam]

oh yes before i forget.
i will have the discs and im in biggin hill bud

not too far then, will pm you.....

 

[warren_S5]

This seems to be turning into a massive slate of anybody with coilovers that doesnt understand every element of suspension.

Apologies, not meant to be a slate, an observation based on years of reading threads of 'Got coilies, dropped it 60mm'.

For proper petrolheads with a limited budget who are mindful of what they're getting into then fairynuff (and doing the alignment / maintenance / keeping them from seizing up etc). Too many people jump in blind thinking theyre the answers to all theyre prayers.

 

[colicabcadam]

Apologies, not meant to be a slate, an observation based on years of reading threads of 'Got coilies, dropped it 60mm'.

For proper petrolheads with a limited budget who are mindful of what they're getting into then fairynuff (and doing the alignment / maintenance / keeping them from seizing up etc). Too many people jump in blind thinking theyre the answers to all theyre prayers.

i fell for it to, live and learn, never again !

 

[AARON77]

Apologies, not meant to be a slate, an observation based on years of reading threads of 'Got coilies, dropped it 60mm'.

For proper petrolheads with a limited budget who are mindful of what they're getting into then fairynuff (and doing the alignment / maintenance / keeping them from seizing up etc). Too many people jump in blind thinking theyre the answers to all theyre prayers.

They're a very short term option hey

 

[colicabcadam]

trust me the hassle replacing them when you are not prepared for it is just annoying, knocks, leaks, it all happens.

warranty is great, but like i already said, the warranty only covers the part, it will not cover the cost you incur changing them, neither will it pay for the MOT you failed because of the leaking shocks !

 

[colicabcadam]

and if you want a cheap fix, get some second hand original dampers (or use your old ones if you kept them) and just replace the rear springs with new originals, from my understanding the rear springs are the only part that really fails on s3 suspension

 

[S3 Paul]

Well i spoke to the Koni importer for the UK earlier and i think it was good news,
He seemed sure they have sourced the part that failed on my set up as a single part before,
He has emailed Koni Holand to see if they are still available ( fingers crossed )
If it is doable i would rather fix the set up i have already and change when i have had time to save / look into other options ,
Corner weighting of my car?? having the equipment needed is the problem.

 

[jezzy]

appreciate every ones opinion, all feed back is what the forums about.
i thought they were 312 mm sorry bud my error.

 

[aragorn]

Corner weighting of my car?? having the equipment needed is the problem.

In the same way as you probably dont have the equipment to set up the tracking or camber on your car, if you want it corner weighted you go pay someone who does have the kit. Its somewhat pointless for a road car though, because you'll probably end up with a stance that you dont like.

I dont mind if you choose to use coilovers, and the Koni setup you have is a quality item, and thus is fine. Its also a grands worth of suspension.

My point, was that on a budget, coilovers are almost always a crappy choice, when compared to spending similar amounts of money on a spring/damper kit.

If i only had £200 to spend, i'd much rather fit some quality eibach springs and pair them up with some good condition OEM dampers, than a set of £179 ebay coilovers. And infact this is exactly what i'm about to do on my Avant, i just need to find some time to fit the springs.

My saloon has eibach springs and shocks fitted, mainly because the shocks came up at a price that was to good to pass on, otherwise i'd have been running it on oe dampers as well. It drives better than the Avant, which is on completely standard suspension. Its comfier, less crashy and handles better. Its exactly what you want from a road car and i'm hoping the eibach springs on the Avant will give a similar result. Installing bone jarring coilovers would NOT make it drive better than it does, though i conceed that if i spent £1200 on some top notch coilovers it would obviously be better.

 

[S3 Paul]

I do have access to most things to set up the tracking and camber ( for the cost of a few coffee's )
Corner weighting however... is a bit beyond the people i know,
Even people i know who take part in time attack ,
Like you say though , On a daily driver its a little OTT as the things/ people i would end up having in the car would not bee too happy with being told to spread themselves evenly around the car.

 

[<tuffty/>]

Billy B8's and Apex/H&R springs work well for me... B12 kit is B8's and (some) springs IIRC

<tuffty/>

 

[S3 Paul]

How far would you say it lowered the car paul?
Im planning on fitting my 18's soon and would like to either be able to set the stance how i want it to sit or know what to expect

 

[<tuffty/>]

Here you go...

<tuffty/>

 

[Tricki]

My saloon has eibach springs and shocks fitted, mainly because the shocks came up at a price that was to good to pass on, otherwise i'd have been running it on oe dampers as well. It drives better than the Avant, which is on completely standard suspension. Its comfier, less crashy and handles better. Its exactly what you want from a road car and i'm hoping the eibach springs on the Avant will give a similar result. Installing bone jarring coilovers would NOT make it drive better than it does, though i conceed that if i spent £1200 on some top notch coilovers it would obviously be better.

From my experience I wouldn't expect too much by just changing springs. The performance upgrade you can get from a spring is very limited - the correct rate and better material quality is all that comes in to play, and of course the shorter length of the spring, but that has to do with lower center of gravity and not the spring itself. The damping is where it all happens, without a change to better controlled compression and rebound I can't see getting any significant improvement.

Apart from that I totally agree with what you said about coilovers VS std. setup with quality damper and spring, unless you want to control your ride height or do not know what you want/can get away with at time of purchase.

 

[Dani_B19]

Kw Variant 2 coilies here, excellent handling and i can play with the damping all day (which i do al ot lol).

 

[aragorn]

Billy B8's and Apex/H&R springs work well for me... B12 kit is B8's and (some) springs IIRC

<tuffty/>

B12 Pro Kit is B8 springs and Eibach Pro-kit springs.

 

[aragorn]

From my experience I wouldn't expect too much by just changing springs. The performance upgrade you can get from a spring is very limited - the correct rate and better material quality is all that comes in to play, and of course the shorter length of the spring, but that has to do with lower center of gravity and not the spring itself. The damping is where it all happens, without a change to better controlled compression and rebound I can't see getting any significant improvement.

Apart from that I totally agree with what you said about coilovers VS std. setup with quality damper and spring, unless you want to control your ride height or do not know what you want/can get away with at time of purchase.

Yeh the shocks will ofcourse play a part. On the Avant i've got a set of low mileage RS4 dampers to go along with the new springs. It'll be interesting to see how they compare as a complete setup, compared with the same springs and Eibach Pro-System shocks on the saloon. If its crap then i know i just need to get saving and buy some Bilstein B8's!

 

[warren_S5]

I'm having Eibachs pro spring kit fitted to the new S3 dampers in March, and likewise if they don't work well together I'll get some Billy dampers to harmonise the set up. Still need to do WALK and rear ARB later in the year.