Hofahome
01-26-2015, 10:44 PM
It was pretty warm out this past weekend so I decided to install my eurocode sway bars and end links. Plus it got me out of putting away the Christmas decorations! I did not buy the AK, so this should serve as a good review for those considering going without the entire package. BTW, the quality of the endlinks made me want to hang them in my living room. Seriously beautiful.
I have a 2013 S4 without ADS, with sports diff. Stock suspension prior to this and with about 26k mi. Quite honestly, I wasn’t overly happy with the suspension in this car. Sure the ride was pretty comfy, but my god was the body roll unbelievable. I had a B7 A4 with the s-line suspension previously and it had nowhere near as much body roll. With the sports diff it almost made it worse too. I can’t really describe the feeling but it wasn’t confidence-inspiring and there was just a general lack of cohesiveness between the powertrain and suspension.
The install went ok following the instructions. The front was fairly straightforward and I used ramps, but I think investing in a ratcheting wrench set may be a good idea for this job. Like everyone says the rear is kind of a bitch. I found it easiest to: crack open a beer, put on some old school metallica, jack the car up under both rears, unbolt the two rear exhaust hangars, unbolt the sway bar bushings, remove the rear wheels, unbolt the sway bar from the end links, unbolt end links, pull the bar out via the wheel well (this was easier than I thought it would be but you still need to finagle it), sit down and crack another beer, tell yourself how much you are saving in labor costs and that this makes you more of a man, install new end links, put new bar in the same way the other one came out, bolt in new sway bars into bushings, put the wheels back on, lower the car, drive rear up on ramps, bolt up sway bars to the end links (this sucked due to lack of room – buy a racheting wrench) and put exhaust hangars back on (duh).
After driving this car for several days now, I’d say that the car seemed to stiffen up with regard to body roll about 60-70% (assuming 0% is stock and 100% is none/VERY minimal body roll). It’s really how the S4 should have come from the factory IMO. I have a round-about on my way to work and have generally gotten a good feel for the S4’s suspension characteristics, when other cars are not present of course. I found that with the upgraded swaybars, when you push it past 7/10 the roll becomes apparent/intrusive. Mind you, I am on stock non-ADS springs and dampers.
So the question becomes is it worth it? That is always an individual choice but I would recommend them if you find the body roll to be an issue. You will see real world gains and the quality is great. The only downside is spending money, but hey you got to pay to play and these are cheaper than the others. Ride quality really wasn’t affected from what I can tell. In fact the car seems to communicate the road a little better.
I just ordered a set of coilovers, so I will update this in the future to see how much better it gets.
I have a 2013 S4 without ADS, with sports diff. Stock suspension prior to this and with about 26k mi. Quite honestly, I wasn’t overly happy with the suspension in this car. Sure the ride was pretty comfy, but my god was the body roll unbelievable. I had a B7 A4 with the s-line suspension previously and it had nowhere near as much body roll. With the sports diff it almost made it worse too. I can’t really describe the feeling but it wasn’t confidence-inspiring and there was just a general lack of cohesiveness between the powertrain and suspension.
The install went ok following the instructions. The front was fairly straightforward and I used ramps, but I think investing in a ratcheting wrench set may be a good idea for this job. Like everyone says the rear is kind of a bitch. I found it easiest to: crack open a beer, put on some old school metallica, jack the car up under both rears, unbolt the two rear exhaust hangars, unbolt the sway bar bushings, remove the rear wheels, unbolt the sway bar from the end links, unbolt end links, pull the bar out via the wheel well (this was easier than I thought it would be but you still need to finagle it), sit down and crack another beer, tell yourself how much you are saving in labor costs and that this makes you more of a man, install new end links, put new bar in the same way the other one came out, bolt in new sway bars into bushings, put the wheels back on, lower the car, drive rear up on ramps, bolt up sway bars to the end links (this sucked due to lack of room – buy a racheting wrench) and put exhaust hangars back on (duh).
After driving this car for several days now, I’d say that the car seemed to stiffen up with regard to body roll about 60-70% (assuming 0% is stock and 100% is none/VERY minimal body roll). It’s really how the S4 should have come from the factory IMO. I have a round-about on my way to work and have generally gotten a good feel for the S4’s suspension characteristics, when other cars are not present of course. I found that with the upgraded swaybars, when you push it past 7/10 the roll becomes apparent/intrusive. Mind you, I am on stock non-ADS springs and dampers.
So the question becomes is it worth it? That is always an individual choice but I would recommend them if you find the body roll to be an issue. You will see real world gains and the quality is great. The only downside is spending money, but hey you got to pay to play and these are cheaper than the others. Ride quality really wasn’t affected from what I can tell. In fact the car seems to communicate the road a little better.
I just ordered a set of coilovers, so I will update this in the future to see how much better it gets.