Coilovers vs. Uprated Spring Damper Set Up

[CLS3]

Hi there,

This may have been covered in threads before but after lots of searching I could not find any answers.

I have been researching lots of suspension upgrades for my '01 Facelift S3 and came to the conclusion, as many people have, that...

Bilstein B8 dampers,
H&R springs,
Neuspeed ARB's 22mm Front, 19mm Rear
and either ECS or Forge tie bars was the way to go.

After pricing all of this up I then started looking at Coilovers, I like the idea of having the extra adjustment as I deal with them at work all the time I can set them up perfectly. They work out about the same price as the above set up. I have been looking at Eibach Pro Street coilovers kits and Bilstein PSS9 coilovers (a bit more pricey)

I have read that coilovers can be harsh on the road.

My car is mainly a road car, with the odd track day here and there and wondered what people thought my best option was and whether any one recommended any other manufacturers.

Thanks Chris :icon_thumright:

 

[S3IZZO]

I'm finding my Koni's actually fairly forgiving for road use, they can be harsh in certain circumstances and you're more likely to lower it more than springs/dampers then encounter problems as I did the other day where the car was too low to park over those single bollards which collapse.

I guess it comes down to how you think you could live with them on a day to day basis, on the plus you can set them up exactly how you want but with the B8's and springs from what i've read you've got a really good setup out of the box with no tinkering required.

Personal choice I think but don't let the harshness of coilovers put you off as they're adjustable, it's down to you how harsh you make them - I find they are good but they do make a "twitchy" ride at higher speeds which can be a bit unnerving.

 

[Stewart]

As Glen has said over and over again, and I agree with him, coilovers are great if you like to mess around quite a bit.
However most people, myself included set the ride height once then it never gets touched again so whats the point?

 

[Ess_Three]

Adjustable ride height spring/damper units (Coilovers) are great for setting the ride height, if you can't buy decent springs that give a good rideheight...but you can buy good springs for the S3.

Adjustable damping is great if the fixed damping is crap...but again, fixed damping units are available for the S3 that are spot on for most users/ytpes of use.

Coilovers are generally noisier...

But they let you go so low that you can completely mess up the handling and rip the sump off easily...if that's your priority, go for it.

But as a road car, buying a damn good fixed set up takes all the guess work away...provides great handling and removes the ability for a stupid owner to ruin things further.

I have a car on coilovers and on fixed spring/damper combination...I'd take the fixed set up for road use everytime as long as it was proven to be good.


If you must go coilovers...I'd avoid the Eibach set...
The springs are too stiff and there isn't enough rebound damping...in my view anyway.
The Bilstein/H&R combo is simply 'better'.