Suspension for my B6

[Droogan Leader]

I'm looking into upgrading the suspension on my car, but I have a question. For a street setup, who does some "spirited driving" occasionally in the mountains, what setup would you guys suggest I get? I'd like it the car to sit at least 1.5" lower, and have a stiff but still drivable ride.

I don't have the B6 sport suspension, and I see that it can be found pretty cheap here in the classifieds. Beyond that, I was looking at going with some Koni sports and Eibach springs.

Later on, I'd also like to attach a rear-sway. Is the RS4 good enough, or should I spring for the Hotchkis or something as nice?

[REDLINE]

i have stock suspesion too and i must say it is terrible when it comes to handling.. do yourself a favor, buy coilovers and do ur suspension right the first time! u can find used coils for ~$600

[CO AVANT]

For spring/shock setup and not true coilovers the eibach/koni combo is very good. Not too stiff and corners well. The RS4 sway is enough. I bet you can find Tein Basic coilovers for the same price as the koni/eibach spring/shock combo.

[JGreen76]

I just bought some Stasis Coilover's from autobahn exotics. Send them a email and they will hook you up with a good price. I wouldn't go used for 2 reasons:1. no warrenty
2. you will not know how warn they really are... couple more bucks will get you what you really want.

[Droogan Leader]

i have stock suspesion too and i must say it is terrible when it comes to handling.. do yourself a favor, buy coilovers and do ur suspension right the first time! u can find used coils for ~$600

Yah, it looks like ass too, especially since I haven't put my new wheels on yet (mine are the lame 15" ones Audi makes).

That price can't possible be for the set, right?

For spring/shock setup and not true coilovers the eibach/koni combo is very good. Not too stiff and corners well. The RS4 sway is enough. I bet you can find Tein Basic coilovers for the same price as the koni/eibach spring/shock combo.

Yah, that's what everyone tells me so they were what I was kinda looking at. Would you suggest Tein basic coils over the Koni/Eibach combo?

I just bought some Stasis Coilover's from autobahn exotics. Send them a email and they will hook you up with a good price. I wouldn't go used for 2 reasons:1. no warrenty
2. you will not know how warn they really are... couple more bucks will get you what you really want.

I'll check 'em out.

[CO AVANT]

Yah, that's what everyone tells me so they were what I was kinda looking at. Would you suggest Tein basic coils over the Koni/Eibach combo?

Yes. A true coilover is a better setup over spring/shock combo......even though the term "coilover" does not work 100% on our cars since either coilovers or spring/shock combo's are in the exact same configuration. The term coilover on our cars really refers to the setup being adjustable in some way.....be it height, compression, dampening, etc...

[velocipedio]

I'm looking into upgrading the suspension on my car, but I have a question. For a street setup, who does some "spirited driving" occasionally in the mountains, what setup would you guys suggest I get? I'd like it the car to sit at least 1.5" lower, and have a stiff but still drivable ride.

I don't have the B6 sport suspension, and I see that it can be found pretty cheap here in the classifieds. Beyond that, I was looking at going with some Koni sports and Eibach springs.

Later on, I'd also like to attach a rear-sway. Is the RS4 good enough, or should I spring for the Hotchkis or something as nice?

I'm pretty sure this will fall on deaf ears, like most conservative advice geared toward actual performance, but here it goes...

1.5" is too low for an Audi road car suspension, unless you are only going for looks.

Stock sport suspension is your best bet for your needs. It's stiff enough for spirited street driving, and comfortable enough to deal with bad roads. It's also a nice height, if you are concered about looks.

Avoid mixing and matching aftermarket parts. 9 times out of 10 spring and shock rates won't match and if you go lower than about an inch drop, you will need to adjust camber and will probably encounter problems with bump steer, grip, tire wear, and steering as you try and sort out what's wrong (I have been there and it sucks).

Many after market springs aren't even stiff enough for the drop they provide. Many springs are actually softer than stock. The Koni yellow shocks or Bilstein sport would be a good match for the stock sport springs, and offer more performance, if you want different shocks. You don't need a swaybar unless you are hitting the track and have figured out what you like and don't like about your car's over and understeer characteristics.

Stock Audi's are pretty well balanced and designed by engineers who know far more about suspension design than 99 percent of those posting here--drive it first, and if you need more, you will know with experience.

As for coilovers--they are useless unless you are getting a true corner balance, tracking your car, and have a good idea of EXACTLY what handling characteristics you need to improve your times.

[AudiA4_20T]

I'm pretty sure this will fall on deaf ears, like most conservative advice geared toward actual performance, but here it goes...

1.5" is too low for an Audi road car suspension, unless you are only going for looks.

Stock sport suspension is your best bet for your needs. It's stiff enough for spirited street driving, and comfortable enough to deal with bad roads. It's also a nice height, if you are concered about looks.

Avoid mixing and matching aftermarket parts. 9 times out of 10 spring and shock rates won't match and if you go lower than about an inch drop, you will need to adjust camber and will probably encounter problems with bump steer, grip, tire wear, and steering as you try and sort out what's wrong (I have been there and it sucks).

Many after market springs aren't even stiff enough for the drop they provide. Many springs are actually softer than stock. The Koni yellow shocks or Bilstein sport would be a good match for the stock sport springs, and offer more performance, if you want different shocks. You don't need a swaybar unless you are hitting the track and have figured out what you like and don't like about your car's over and understeer characteristics.

Stock Audi's are pretty well balanced and designed by engineers who know far more about suspension design than 99 percent of those posting here--drive it first, and if you need more, you will know with experience.

As for coilovers--they are useless unless you are getting a true corner balance, tracking your car, and have a good idea of EXACTLY what handling characteristics you need to improve your times.

Although I agree with some stuff youre saying, coilovers provided a dramatic increase in handling around the corners as well as a great look

[partyboy88420]

I would go with coilovers. Im looking into getting some eibach or H&R coilovers because ive heard numerous good reviews on these two brands and have been told dont waste my time on tein or koni. Just some reviews from northern european where im going to get my work done.

[jc_333]

I've just stuck the RS4 rear arb onto my A4 with non sport suspension. Car handles a lot better with steering more precise and less body roll. However, ride quality suffered slightly as the rear end feels a lot harder.

Planning to install the sports suspension on car as i dont want the ride to be rock hard or bumpy. TBH the OE suspension is pretty damn good balance between comfort and performance.

J

[Casius]

I love my Eibach Pro Kit/Bilstein SP setup

[czero]

Although I agree with some stuff youre saying, coilovers provided a dramatic increase in handling around the corners as well as a great look

I'm not sure you really know how coil overs work then. What you said makes no sense at all.
Coil overs work functionally exactly the same as a shock and spring combo. Guess what coil overs consist of? A shock, and a spring.
The only advantage of a coil over system is the fact that it's adjustable. Almost no one actually gets their car corner weight balanced or adjusted properly, meaning that all they're able to do is drop their car, make it handle like ass for the sake of looks and pretend like it rides on rails with their positive camber selves.

Every time you adjust the height of your suspension you need to get an alignment, so the adjustability comes with a price.

So despite you agreeing with only a few things he said, everything he said is correct. I don't know who lied to you about coil overs being the "right" way to do things, but more money isn't automatically better.
Guess what, a stand alone ecu costs more then a chip, but I guarantee that the average person would make much less power with the stand alone then the cookie cutter chip.