coilovers or springs

S3-kitch

S3-kitch

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hey guys i am wanting to upgrade and i dont no what is best to get for my s3 40mm drop on springs or get coilovers....

thanks for any help
 
coilovers deffo. i got them on my A3 and they are beauty. **** to fit and you can SLAM it straight to the ground! :yahoo:
 
depends how many times you will change the setup. BTW, each time you lower the coilovers, you need the tracking done (someone can correct if i'm wrong)

a good spring/damper kit will also be good.
 
I suppose it depends what you want out of the car and how much you have to spend?? Are you looking for performance or just looks?
 
I was wundering the same thing!!! H&R or FK springs???
 
A3rutheboy said:
coilovers deffo. i got them on my A3 and they are beauty. **** to fit and you can SLAM it straight to the ground! :yahoo:
Click to expand...

And it will drive crap on roads!!

40mil should be ok on a convnetional spring and damper kit and will generally be easier to live with! Dont go any lower on an s3, the rear springs will bind up, just as they do wiuth the bilstein PSS9, £1500 worth of coilover kit! DO a search to see what I mean!

I would go -30 mil H and R springs, car drives well on roads and track with suitable dampers and ARBs.
 
I'd suggest H&R springs too...

And if you decide to fit coilovers and "SLAM it straight to the ground" don't be surprised when you find you've lost what was left of the meagre handling it once had...and you hit your sump and it potentially costs you an engine.

I too would suggest you stick to a decent set of springs (H&Rs or Eibach - personal choice which...but I prefer the H&Rs) and Bilstein dampers...it'll go around -30mm on those and the shortened dampers not only retain suspension travel, but actually improve the handling drastically.

It's not cheap to make an S3 handle very well and improve the looks...
However, it is cheap, to bolt on a set of cheap-*** coilovers, dump it in the weeds, and ruin the car all together.

I'd give the whole issue careful consideration...and any messing with the ride height will also require adjustable rear tie bars to correct the rear camber - or you'll wreck rear tyres (inside edges) and have a car that's twitchy at the back and not especially good to drive.
 
Had Eibachs with bilstein dampers on my old A4 1.8T sport and i was pretty pleased with them. Dropped it about 35mm i think, the front seemed to drop more than the back after a few months. It sounds ridiculous but i stuck 4 bags of sand in the boot and drove it around for a few weeks and it finnished off the job nicely, looked sweet when i took em out!!!

I think i'll use a different method on the S4 though. :whistle2:
 
Is there a coilover kit you guys recommend then?

When im back from my hols i want to start on my car again, im on a H&R cup kit atm 55/40 i think, and tbh the ride is VERY harsh. Prawn has the weitec equivelent and his is alot smoother than mine.

Saying that though my car handles VERY well, only reason i want to go Coilovers is because the front sits lower than the rear and it looks a bit odd.

If i wack a set of FK/WEITEC coilovers you saying it wont handle as well as it does now?

J
 
The Weitec coilovers are really good and i'm sure it'll handle as good with them on as it does now on your A3. It is a different case on the S3 as any lower then 30mm-ish on the S3s and the ride is pretty much ruined. On the A3 you can get away with a lower drop.

HTH

Damian @ DPM
 
Damian, i may want to purchase some H&R springs off you guys in the next week or so!! what price could you do me including delivery?? cheers bud!
 
Cheers for that Damian. Will let ya no when i want some :)
 
may be a silly question but i know nothing about lowering etc and ride quality and handling etc but if i wanted my car to sit just a little lower without affecting much else what would be the best thing?
 
audi upgrades
It's always best to change the shocks and springs when lowering for a matched set and in the case of the S3's we also suggest adjustable rear tie bars, although some people get away without running them.

How many miles have your shocks done?

You could just get a set of springs if you didn't want to spend alot.

Damian @ DPM
 
S3 Rav said:
may be a silly question but i know nothing about lowering etc and ride quality and handling etc but if i wanted my car to sit just a little lower without affecting much else what would be the best thing?
Click to expand...

If I may comment here...
Std S3 dampers are crap. They are woefully under damped. I fitted H&R springs to my car at 1 week old...and the dampers were soggy and past it in under a year.
If you want the look, and don't drive hard...and don't mind rear tyre wear (inner edges) you will be fine with lowered springs.

If you like to drive hard...the standard dampers will wobble about all over the place...and hit a big compression and you risk your sump! I know...mine was scuffed several times.
In this case...uprated, shortened dampers are essential.

To really se the car up well, and to reduce rear tyre wear, you should consider the rear tie bars. It'll make it nicer to drive, more predictable and less hard on the inner edges of the rear tyres.

But...if you just tootle about and want it to look better...springs will be fine.
 
again another silly question but what exactly do the dampers do? and would it be possible to change say the springs first and then the dampers and then get rear tie arms bit by bit. (my pocket isnt near deep enough for all at once!!)
sorry for the thread hijack btw people.
 
Springs absorb the bumps in the road...and set the ride height.
Dampers control the springs - stop them from being too bouncy.

Some people refer to dampers as shock absorbers - or shocks.
Which technically is incorrect...they aren't.
It's the spring that is used to absorb the movement of the wheel/brake/hub etc up and down...with the damper used to control the rate at which the spring is compressed (bump control) and the rate at which the compressed spring is allowed to 'spring' back to it's normal shape (rebound control).

You need both to work together to give great handling.

Simplistic...but that's the basics.


You could fit springs alone...but you'd need to do a full 4 wheel alignment which could cost you £100 afterwards.
Then if you add dampers...another alignment and £100
Then if you add rear tie bars, another alignment and £100.

It's cost effective to do the lot together...
Failing that you have to suffer the additional alignment costs.
 
thanks for all the help guys... Damian how much for a full spring kit and what make are they....

i had a very low polo on coilovers and the ride was really bad so i think springs will be best for my s3

another questions what type of exhaust should i get...
 
S3-kitch said:
thanks for all the help guys... Damian how much for a full spring kit and what make are they....

i had a very low polo on coilovers and the ride was really bad so i think springs will be best for my s3

another questions what type of exhaust should i get...
Click to expand...

I see you live in Amersham........I work up there..............small world
 
I have nevr driven a car on coilovers on the road that felt "nice".

Road suspension and handling is different to racetrack, and on racetracks you can dial out the poor handling with adjustments, on road, no one ever does!

Top quality conventional (non adjustable is ok) dampers (Bilstein and Koni, maybe Eibach although I find they are harsh) land springs (swear by H and R) lowered by 25-30mil (depending on starting car spec) will rarely perform anything other than brilliantly on roads on road cars.
Even top range top qilaity coilovers are generally mediocre at best on roads, unless you adjust them to the same height and stiffness as the conventional shocks, (in whihc case save yourself £500-£1000!). And lower quality stuff is pretty nasty on roads!

For proof if it were needed, go test drive a stock Evo8 or 9, 260, then try a same year MR.....only chassis difference is non adjustable bilstein shocks and slightly stiffer springs.......but you wont believe how much better it feels, how easy the improvement is to feel, in ride, grip, comfort and roll/pitch! And a stock evo does not handle badly to start with!!
Billy B8s and H and R-30 is plain and simple fabulous on an 8l S3.
 
yeah i dont no if u ever saw a lowed black polo if so that was my old car now i have a blue S3.. where do you work Big Mo small world.

thanks for all the help

Damian i will be intouch about the springs shocks ect....
 
S3-kitch said:
yeah i dont no if u ever saw a lowed black polo if so that was my old car now i have a blue S3.. where do you work Big Mo small world.

thanks for all the help

Damian i will be intouch about the springs shocks ect....
Click to expand...

:icon_thumright:

We have some Weitec coilovers on special that you may be interested in!

Damian @ DPM
 
We'd always recommend a good springs and shocks setup but if S3-kitch wants a 40mm drop then that's not going to happen on the S3 with just springs and shocks.

Damian @ DPM
 
This is one which never ceases to amaze me, i see all these cars around slammed to the deck & always think well there's another with no handling!

Its so common in this area to see them & the result is usually found in a field on it's roof some place. I've had 1st hand experience with a Clio which I lowered & dropped 1 notch on the torsion bar. This dropped it 60mm at the back & ruined the car perfecty!! Its no fun having the **** overtake you on a corner believe me!!!

If you want that then go buy a Saxo.

Personally I would go for a decent kit as suggested in the other posts & a max drop of 30mm.

Just my pennies worth :hi:
 
even smaller world you guys, im from prestwood so go to amersham all the time:p
Look out for a yellow s3

Brab3r
 
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