A well know and experienced phenomenon, the 8V S-Line suspension - harsh, stiff, wallowy, crashy, bouncy, , great in a straight line on a smooth road, but going round a corner at speed? Hold on tight and jam your leg against the knee rest to keep you in your seat and get ready to replace the fillings in your teeth if you hit a big pothole.
I wasn't impressed. On 18's, it was acceptable, but stiff and harsh on aggressive small potholes, and you needed to run higher tyre pressures to make it feel like you had control and agility instead of Cadillac-esque wobble. I moved to 19's (on Avons ZR7's - one of the most comfortable tyres available) and it was unbearable.
I had a play around, first installed the Eibach Pro springs, which resulted in a softer ride, and a big reduction in wallowing in corners. These would be a 'must have' in my opinion for any S-line owner. No increase in harshness, and to be honest, I felt it was actually slightly softer - Eibach claim their spring weighting is a little less than the S-Line one, hence this experience. On 18's or less, I imagine this would be a really good cost effective setup.
Still , It was too uncomfortable on 19's for me. Running 19's is a challenge without Magride (unless you are young and spritely! or ignorant lol), but I was determined to see if it was possible as the Saloon really needs 19's, it looks a little under-wheeled on 18's.
After much research, Koni Special Actives seem to fit the bill for a better ride, and yes its real! Having been out in a similar A3 (differences - Sportback on Pirelli's) with Bilstein B12 kit (B8 shocks and Eibach Pro), I found it too stiff on 18's, so chancing it on 19's would be pointless. Great body and car control and the Bilsteins are built like tanks, but in my opinion, just not forgiving enough for bad roads in the UK. If you want the ultimate in prowess and edge of your seat performance without concern in everyday comfort, the Bilsteins will probably be better for you.
The Koni's are plush. It's the best word to describe them. They give a comfortable rebound, and they absorb the big stuff without drama. Cornering is now flat, but at the same time with suspension if you hit a bump, and it's a 'comfortable' flat cornering, rather than that 'solid' feeling you get on Bilsteins B8's or coilovers.
Essentially, it feels more 'expensive' and 'controlled'. You can feel their twin valve system 'lock up' as you turn into a corner, then out of the corner, it reverts back to plushness. The 'drive' take up is so much better, you feel as if the power is being direct now instead of being absorbed into the suspension.
There is still some bounce if you hit a big dip, but no where near as bad as the originals. I no longer wince as I see a big hole in the road coming! On 19's, you can still feel the bad bits in the roads, I don't think this is avoidable (a VW Tiguan R Line I almost bought did exactly the same on its 19's) but with the Koni's you can feel them being 'absorbed' as opposed to spine shattering as you do with the standard S-line setup. I think most of the harshness left is pretty much because of the 19" wheel size and reduced amount of rubber.
I can only imagine on 18's or less, this setup would be high end Mercedes/Lexus level comfort and BMW level drivability. I may still revert back to 18's if I still find 19's a bit too much, but with the Koni's, it now feels like there is much less compromise opting for the bigger wheel.
If we say, on 19's, we have a meter 0 - 50-100, the S-line setup is 0, the Magride setup is 100, the Koni/Eibach setup is 50.
Without a doubt, this is the best setup for those wanting comfort as well as performance. It's what the original S-Line suspension should and could have been.
The Koni's are OEM replacement dampers and designed specifically to work with OEM springs, so effectively using the Eibachs you lose '10mm' of travel in the piston (as you would with the original Audi shocks). Koni feel this is within their tolerance level, but using an OEM spring will increase comfort more. The advantage with the Bilstein B8/B12 is that the use shortened piston rods to accommodate for the shorter spring, but the gassing level for me in those, was too much for the cratered roads of South London.
This is obviously all subjective, and many people will find they are happy with their setups, this isn't intent on being an argument, more something of interest for those that are not happy with their suspension and want to find an alternative to enable more comfort and more performance. The Koni's do both. The price is not far off Audi prices for replacement OEM struts, with that in mind, if you are needing new struts, its a complete no brainer.
All of the Koni/Eibach/Bilsteins parts mentioned are available from the Site Sponsors @DPM
I wasn't impressed. On 18's, it was acceptable, but stiff and harsh on aggressive small potholes, and you needed to run higher tyre pressures to make it feel like you had control and agility instead of Cadillac-esque wobble. I moved to 19's (on Avons ZR7's - one of the most comfortable tyres available) and it was unbearable.
I had a play around, first installed the Eibach Pro springs, which resulted in a softer ride, and a big reduction in wallowing in corners. These would be a 'must have' in my opinion for any S-line owner. No increase in harshness, and to be honest, I felt it was actually slightly softer - Eibach claim their spring weighting is a little less than the S-Line one, hence this experience. On 18's or less, I imagine this would be a really good cost effective setup.
Still , It was too uncomfortable on 19's for me. Running 19's is a challenge without Magride (unless you are young and spritely! or ignorant lol), but I was determined to see if it was possible as the Saloon really needs 19's, it looks a little under-wheeled on 18's.
After much research, Koni Special Actives seem to fit the bill for a better ride, and yes its real! Having been out in a similar A3 (differences - Sportback on Pirelli's) with Bilstein B12 kit (B8 shocks and Eibach Pro), I found it too stiff on 18's, so chancing it on 19's would be pointless. Great body and car control and the Bilsteins are built like tanks, but in my opinion, just not forgiving enough for bad roads in the UK. If you want the ultimate in prowess and edge of your seat performance without concern in everyday comfort, the Bilsteins will probably be better for you.
The Koni's are plush. It's the best word to describe them. They give a comfortable rebound, and they absorb the big stuff without drama. Cornering is now flat, but at the same time with suspension if you hit a bump, and it's a 'comfortable' flat cornering, rather than that 'solid' feeling you get on Bilsteins B8's or coilovers.
Essentially, it feels more 'expensive' and 'controlled'. You can feel their twin valve system 'lock up' as you turn into a corner, then out of the corner, it reverts back to plushness. The 'drive' take up is so much better, you feel as if the power is being direct now instead of being absorbed into the suspension.
There is still some bounce if you hit a big dip, but no where near as bad as the originals. I no longer wince as I see a big hole in the road coming! On 19's, you can still feel the bad bits in the roads, I don't think this is avoidable (a VW Tiguan R Line I almost bought did exactly the same on its 19's) but with the Koni's you can feel them being 'absorbed' as opposed to spine shattering as you do with the standard S-line setup. I think most of the harshness left is pretty much because of the 19" wheel size and reduced amount of rubber.
I can only imagine on 18's or less, this setup would be high end Mercedes/Lexus level comfort and BMW level drivability. I may still revert back to 18's if I still find 19's a bit too much, but with the Koni's, it now feels like there is much less compromise opting for the bigger wheel.
If we say, on 19's, we have a meter 0 - 50-100, the S-line setup is 0, the Magride setup is 100, the Koni/Eibach setup is 50.
Without a doubt, this is the best setup for those wanting comfort as well as performance. It's what the original S-Line suspension should and could have been.
The Koni's are OEM replacement dampers and designed specifically to work with OEM springs, so effectively using the Eibachs you lose '10mm' of travel in the piston (as you would with the original Audi shocks). Koni feel this is within their tolerance level, but using an OEM spring will increase comfort more. The advantage with the Bilstein B8/B12 is that the use shortened piston rods to accommodate for the shorter spring, but the gassing level for me in those, was too much for the cratered roads of South London.
This is obviously all subjective, and many people will find they are happy with their setups, this isn't intent on being an argument, more something of interest for those that are not happy with their suspension and want to find an alternative to enable more comfort and more performance. The Koni's do both. The price is not far off Audi prices for replacement OEM struts, with that in mind, if you are needing new struts, its a complete no brainer.
All of the Koni/Eibach/Bilsteins parts mentioned are available from the Site Sponsors @DPM
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