Bilstein B14 coilovers ride

[MattyJ4]

A few weeks ago I installed a B14 coilover kit on my car. This was the first time I had ever upgraded the suspension on a car so I was not incredibly sure of what to expect. The fronts feel great but the rear seems to be bouncy. I am curious if others have had this impression. If this is the nature of this kit I may be interested in upgrading to an adjustable damper but I am not sure if I should consider KWs or a PSS10 set up. The car will never see a race track but I do prefer a stiffer ride.

Thanks for your input.

[fhwang]

Check out the B16...the clubsport version looks nice but so darn expensive.

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[will13k7]

What's your ride height? (fender to ground measurements?) Do you have a rake (forward or reverse) or is your car setup level?

When I had more of a forward rake going, on certain uneven roads the suspension would oscillate front to back and then back to front a little more than usual before absorbing the changes in the road, it got better after I leveled the suspension out more.

The B16/PSS10 is not bouncy, it follows the road closely by rebounding quickly, but it can be a little harsh on the hard bumps at certain settings. On decent roads its smooth as silk though.

[MattyJ4]

I've got 24.75" in the front and 24.25" in the rear. Oscillation is a good way to describe what I'm feeling over some road conditions. Should I try bringing the front down .5"?

[will13k7]

I've got 24.75" in the front and 24.25" in the rear. Oscillation is a good way to describe what I'm feeling over some road conditions. Should I try bringing the front down .5"?

might be worth a shot to get them within 0.125" of each other before jumping to a different set of coilovers? With my setup the rear is 1/8" higher than the front, it feels better than when the rear was 5/16" higher than the front.

below 25" is pretty slammed though, it will be bouncier the lower you are since your going out of the ideal range of the dampers.

[coolwater]

My b14s have been perfect. I'm not as low as you though. Have half a finger gap all around.

-cW

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[fhwang]

H&R sport springs and Bilstein B8 in the rear. No rear bouncing what so ever; very planted.

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[MattyJ4]

I brought the front down almost as low as it goes which now matches the rear for fender height. I really didn't notice a difference in the way it felt. I think the nature of the b14s is just a little harsher than I anticipated. Roads in Colorado are rough and unless I can soften the ride with a different setup I may go back to stock.


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[will13k7]

The only other things left to try is to go with a FTG around 25.5" and above or lower performance tires with softer sidewalls, or smaller wheels with tires with more sidewall (18" with 40 series for example), but if you want it slammed with nice wheels and tires while being able to dial in the comfort, then you'll need adjustable dampers.

The PSS10's on setting '5' are pretty comfy in my opinion. On the S4 when I was using setting '7', the handling was awesome, but the harsh bumps wore on me after a few months, then I switched to '5' and it felt like heaven. lol. On the S3 I started with '6' and left it there. maybe '4' or '5' will be good for you with those f'd up roads?

[MattyJ4]

So I've finally given in and brought the car up an inch to see if it improves the bounce and it did the trick.

Since the original install I have had a clunking sound coming from the rear end when the suspension gets more than usual articulation, such as when I take a steep curb at a strange angle to avoid scraping. Yesterday I took the rear springs and shocks out while adjusting the spring perches to see if there was something obvious that would be causing this noise such as a broken sway bar link and I have found nothing, yet the strange sounds persist. Any tips on diagnosing this? To me it sounds like the the springs are getting hung up on something and then popping back into place, but that just doesn't seem possible.