spring & shock kit VS. coilovers

[S4audi_SD]

i want to lower my car, nothing drastic, and improve the handling. Is there a diference in performance between the spring & shock kits vs. coilovers? I don't care about adjustments at all, but is there any other advantages to the coilovers?

[G_A4]

some coilovers are damp adjustable so you can make your ride stiffer or softer. depending on how you want your car to feel.
with springs and shocks your pretty much stuck with how your car rides.

[S4audi_SD]

i'm not worried about being able to adjust them, what would be the best spring & shock setup. I still want to have a comfortable ride and have my car handle better.

[piaadoll]

i think if you have the $$ for the coilovers..by all means go for it.....for instance...i'm an avid snowboarder...so i like how i can maniuplate the ride height according to season....

from another standpoint, i had a slow wallet with my honda hatch back and purchased springs/shocks combo rather than the tein coilovers i've been eyeing saying, how i just want the car to handle alright and to lower him a little bit..

well....my honda isn't low enough - i can't do anything about it. then, i started autocrossing the hatchback - can't do anything to make him stiffer or lower! bleh! shoulda woulda coulda...

[G_A4]

Originally posted by a4audi_SD
i'm not worried about being able to adjust them, what would be the best spring & shock setup. I still want to have a comfortable ride and have my car handle better.

you can buy the H&R cup kit. it retails for under $700. a buddy of mine has it on his A4. the drops pretty decent and the ride isn't bad. you can also go koni shocks with sport springs.

[G_A4]

Originally posted by piaadoll
i think if you have the $$ for the coilovers..by all means go for it.....for instance...i'm an avid snowboarder...so i like how i can maniuplate the ride height according to season....

from another standpoint, i had a slow wallet with my honda hatch back and purchased springs/shocks combo rather than the tein coilovers i've been eyeing saying, how i just want the car to handle alright and to lower him a little bit..

well....my honda isn't low enough - i can't do anything about it. then, i started autocrossing the hatchback - can't do anything to make him stiffer or lower! bleh! shoulda woulda coulda...

exactly. go coilovers. it's always nice having options.

[audidood]

springs/shocks: neuspeed sport w/ ns bilstein adjustable shocks has a nice even drop. if you can save a little more and wait a little, you can go for FK's or Koni c/o's.

[neoprufrok]

I would save adn get coilovers for the reason that it is a perfectly matched spring/shock setup. This means that the company matched the dampening characteristics to the springs they include with teh coilovers exactly. This elminates much fo the harsheness associated with increasing the spring rate.

[A4NCAR]

I would only get a Spring & Shock combo if it was the desired height and R&D'd as a matched set (like H&R Cup Kit, Sportec's lowering kit,..etc). Otherwise, I'd only get Coilovers because I can adjust the height to exactly what I want and the set up is R&D'd as a matched set. You can get weird results sometimes when mixing/matching "Off The Shelf" spring & shock combos, or undesireable heights. And IMO, the A4 B6 is very accomodating to coilovers. It will be slightly firmer when compared to most "combos", but I think the ride is worth it. Most coilover set ups tend to be engineered toward "track", while some others are made to be more "street performance". Oettinger's CO's are said to be "softer", same with ABT CO's. Both are made by KW to each respective tuners specs. The ones which use Koni dampers are adjustable, but you need to remove the shock to do that. I wanted more adjustability with my H&R CO's, but I didn't like the idea of having to remove the shock to do this (I had KW V2 on my VW). There are some fully adjustable CO's which you do not have to remove (Bilstein PSS9, STaSIS Motorsport,..), but they also cost a lot more.

[yoogene83]

i have the spring/shock combo and i wish i had saved up for a set of coilovers. reason being that i wish i had the variability of the ride height. as much as i love how my car looks being so low, i have to drive super carefully and i can't take many people in my car. However, with the Neuspeed Sport Spring and Bilstein shock combo, you retain a fairly smooth ride but when the time comes for some "spirited" driving, it proceeds to make you smile.

Pending on your budget, go with what you can afford. I've heard that the Eibach kit with koni adjustables are favorites for the softest ride while giving you a lower height. But, also pending on where you live. if you live in an area where it has crappy (snow) weather, then it might be worth your time to invest in coilovers...or if you plan on tracking/auto-x'ing your car.

otherwise, keep researching. you'll see a lot of peoples opinions on Audiworld about suspension setups