DO NOT BUY.
It tore through both the front bump stops. Recently, I had to get my engine mount replaced. Thinking that's what was causing the thud - literally every small bump, no matter what shock setting, it'll be clapping thuds, like the world is coming to an end. According to the tuner shop I went to get my 034 MS engine mount, they said ECS Coilover has about an inch or inch and a half travel, and that's why it's destroying the bump stop and shitty ride.
It's what came first? chicken or the egg. Did my engine mount die because of the new coilovers or did the coilover's bump stop get destroyed because of my engine mount, because they were dead (suppose to last 50k miles from what I read)?
After the engine mount installs, it was better, but barely livable as a daily driver coilover.
Anyway, I would not recommend this coilover whatsoever. I wasted about $750 on install/alignment (in Florida - it's $1000 install and alignment in DC area), and now I have to do it again.
The shop said BC is the bottom of the barrel for approval to install. At $1200 for BC, mine as well add little more hundred dollars and get KW V1, which was my plan from the get-go.
Their customer service wasn't that great either. No additional parts for this. If anything breaks, that's it. You have to buy a new one.
For me, it's definitely not worth throwing your money away for a coilover that can't be rebuilt, no support, and bad ride.
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Finally got around. I contacted ECS when it first came out. My first instinct was that, this looks very similar to BC Coilovers.
Got me a pair, then bam - had to leave the country for 7 months.
I finally got them installed.
Product: ECS Coilover - 32 adjustments
Sponsored or paid for the product: I paid for it.
Link to the Product: ECS Coilovers for B8/8.5
Installation cost: It varies from a shop and region. Northeast shops will charge $1000 and up. Southeast shops will charge anywhere between $500 to $700. They have to grind out the part where the front adjustment knob sticks out. A good Audi shop will know to include this in the price.
I paid $600. I've done work on my Evo and all my other cars, but I'm getting little too old for this shit.
Time installed: 4-7 hours
Setup: The front dampening was setup at 24 and rear at 20 clicks (from soft to hard). The drop was set at 0.75" all around. This covered the front tires, but the rear tires look good, but isn't tucked underneath the fender well. I was able to clear your "normal" speed bumps without any issues. I'm actually thinking it can go down maybe 0.25" more all around to make it a full inch lowered - and it will still clear the speed humps.
For you knuckle heads - I can't fit my finger in the front fender well straight. I can fit my finger in the rear fender with less angle. But they're all angled and have no gaps.
Initial impression: They arrived in a thick cardboard box. Packaging was well done. No dings or any damage I saw. Heavy. Two issues popped up. The rust that built up on the housing of the shock. Then the welding for the mount wasn't gorgeous. But I didn't see any structural issues you'll have with the welding as it's enough welding- although really ugly. I had BC coilovers and Tein (2000's) before, and I think the welding on ECS was better than that. Only thing was the rust in the shock hosing. This is an issue which will render the coilovers worthless maybe a year or two - or less unless you detect it and clean it up before the installation.
First drive:
The CAR IS ON RAILS. I had to catch myself doing 90+ on a offramp, because it was possible. I didn't even realize I was going that fast. I usually do this at 40mph because the car leaned too much if I went faster. It felt like the understeer has minimized. Turn-in sharp is possible now where it wasn't before. But the car doesn't feel lowered in a sense that I'm driving a NSX or my view of the road has lowered. It feels the same as before at 0.75" drop. I still can't see the corner of the curb.
I had set the front dampening at 24, and rear at 20. The rear did well. But at 24 in the front, it feels/sounded like it was bottoming out the shocks at the front whenever I hit a speed bump little too fast.
The shop had difficulty zeroing the left front camber setup - Was told the negative 2.4 degree camber on the left was to accommodate the driver weight. This can be attributed to either my new Meyler HD suspension install or the coilovers. But I'm going to let it set, then go back to get another adjustment for free as the shop offers this. So, no big deal.
When I adjusted the front down softer to 21, it was little too soft. But this setup, 21 front/ 20 rear felt almost like stock ride comfort with very little sway left to right (vice versa) when turning.
At 22 front/ 20 rear, the car felt strong. I mean, on the rail without loosing the softness that I initially liked about Audi's suspension, which is the reason why I picked Audi over BMW. Plus wife.
I think the only con of this setup, which can be found in other coilover setup is that, in order for you to adjust the rear coilover dampening setup, you have to take the tires off. No pillar top adjustment in the trunk.
Overall first impression: I think ECS has done a good job filling in the price segment for a balance between performance with adjustability for street and track. Most users whose car is closing in on 100k miles, they need to either make a choice of buying a non-adjustable dampening/ride height for some money without adjustability, or they can pick this set of coilovers where it gives you legitimate choice of ride height and dampening rate. Or go OEM and spend a lot of money without having the control of neither dampening or lowering the car.
I think if you understand the business idea behind this product, you understand the consumers they're aiming for. Which is me. Someone who doesn't want to spend tons of money on shocks and springs separately, but is saving up for KW II for later upgrade. But in meanwhile, I'd like to get something in there that I can use for maybe a year or two.
The coilover's been around for so long, I don't think this is something you can screw up now. A lot of the cheaper alternatives are here today because they went through their lessons learned from the early 90's to today. And I'm likely not going to race in SCCA like I use to in my younger days. So this setup is perfect for me, where I get some usable added turn-ratio which I didn't have before this coilover install (AWD cars suck at this - i.e. Evo VII). And I can have the look I can appreciate. And the price is very sound to me.
Anything else?: I installed this when I got my Meyle HD front suspension kit (control arms and etc.) done. So the installation was little bit cheaper. But, I really like how it works. No creaks, no sounds coming from the coilovers. I think at track, you can turn it up higher on dampening setup and run it lower. But for someone living in DC area, I think having the option to go softer in dampening is a great attraction.
Very little bouncing. I'll test this out on 95/85/75 when I'm driving back to VA - there is a road in SC that's terrible, so I hope this can keep up. But very little bouncing for such a cheap coilovers. I was impressed.
I will do a follow up. This isn't the coilover, but if you do go 0.75" on this coilover, it looks like the rear is bit higher than the front. My shop has free alignment/adjustment once this settles, so that's a super plus for me.
Big shoutout to Panzer Performance in Bradenton Florida for this, meyle HD kit, and Coolant system install.
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Originally Posted by Midnight_Rider
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