coilover harsh in cold weather ? ( canadian's winter)

[waxxonMTL]

After reading this comment, which does make sens, I was leaning toward the H&R street coilover after reading many great review about good ride comfort. Then I read this comment and got me wondering if most review were from people down south..

Pretty much any shock is going to ride harder in colder temps until the fluid gets moving around. Tires get harder too, so do suspension bushings and the like, just something you have to accept unfortunately.

That being said H&R streets are a nice middle of the road coilover.

Jason

So now I'm asking people up north, are all coilover harsh in colder times or there's a company who managed to overcome this fluid problem ?

Thought folk ?

To be honest, I'm happy with the ride height of the car, If I could, I would choose a coilover with the same right height. However, I dislike how the car doesn't feel planted over slight twisty/zig-zag and such.. going over 70 km/h ish, I just feel the car want to change direction, a bit floatly and such. I hope my set of sway bar will correct this issues, but as far as the planted feeling go, I don't think anything else than a set of coilover could fix that.

[tgsweat]

I have bilstein PSS10's and they feel the same in super cold or warm weather. i have mine set pretty stiff anyway, but they don't feel any harsher in colder weather.

[SDV325]

On my GC8 i as well ran PSS9's as well and definitely noticed a difference in the winter vs the summer, the rebound is no where what it should be when its -20C vs +20C. And in Calgary that can happen all within the same week! haha

[anerbe]

If you put winter tires on, they are much softer in the cold months vs. a summer tire. Also, putting on a smaller wheel / larger sidewall spec will soften the ride. Your ride should be fine if you change out the summers.

I'd watch out for corrosion on any adjustable coilover threads. I normally like to coat the threads to avoid the caked on salt from seizing up the rings.

[SteveYem]

I have H&R Street Performance coilovers and noticed last winter (which was my first winter using them) that the ride was noticeably harsher in cold temperatures, let's say anything below freezing. I would also say this is limited to shorter drives. We did a ~7 hour drive in sub-freezing weather where the ride started out harsh as usual, but by about half way through the system had softened up to "normal". I attribute this to constant working of the shocks generating enough heat in the fluid to bring them back to their 'warm' operating characteristic.

That being said, I'll caution you (as I have others) about the ride height of the H&R Street Performance coilovers. The photo below shows my car with those coilovers spun as far up as possible in the rear....there is maybe 1 thread left above the collar and that's as far up as I feel safe going. As you can see I have less than one finger's worth of gap between the tire and the fender. Meanwhile the fronts have plenty of adjustment remaining in both up and down directions. Seems like a design flaw by H&R. I would really like to be able to get the rear a bit higher but it's not possible, unless I install a thicker spring perch that would act as a spacer to add some height. I wish I had known about this before making my purchase, and if so I may have gone with another brand:

[waxxonMTL]

In fact, steve, this is because of your comment about winter harshness that i created this post to gather more comments. I don't want to base my purchase on only one experience, but i can tell your reviews is honest so needs to be taken seriously.

I've ridden on maybe 5 set of coilover but they were all on summer times, so never though about winter. I would say the longest trip I usually do is about 2 hours drive. Most are less than 30 minutes, which wouldn't be enough to heat them up.

Your right, it does seems pretty low in the rear. I can only imagine having 2x 150lbs passenger putting extra stress on the coil. Why didn't you try the spanner/spacer thing ?

[SteveYem]

In fact, steve, this is because of your comment about winter harshness that i created this post to gather more comments. I don't want to base my purchase on only one experience, but i can tell your reviews is honest so needs to be taken seriously.

I've ridden on maybe 5 set of coilover but they were all on summer times, so never though about winter. I would say the longest trip I usually do is about 2 hours drive. Most are less than 30 minutes, which wouldn't be enough to heat them up.

Your right, it does seems pretty low in the rear. I can only imagine having 2x 150lbs passenger putting extra stress on the coil. Why didn't you try the spanner/spacer thing ?

I should also add that I only have extended experience in the B8 / B8.5 with H&R OE Sport Springs and stock dampers (on the B8), and of course H&R Street Perf. coilovers on the B8.5, so my experience is somewhat limited and I would encourage you to continue to seek out as many other opinions as possible.

I just came to the conclusion a couple months ago that a spacer for the rear springs may be required - specifically, it was when I went to raise the rear ride height (for the first time since I had the coilovers installed) and noticed that I was already almost at the top of the adjustment range. I was surprised to see that the front struts had another ~1" of threads remaining in the upward direction. It's on my list to contact H&R to ask for their explanation and recommendation for how to achieve more upward adjustment on the rears. I am guessing they will recommend either a taller spring or a spacer, and in the latter case I wonder if they already have something designed that will do the job without any additional unwanted noise.

And you are right about people in the back seat.....with the car being so low already, the additional weight makes the rear end sag like one of those sorry ass Cadillac DeVilles:

[Mr.Tan]

my S4 is stock, but I run koni coilovers on my GTI and there is a big difference in comfort during spring/summer vs the winter. They are much stiffer and make for a rough ride

[WAF]

If you can the Bilstein pss10 irc with Imodule, then you can adjust on the fly inside your warm car if needed. Nothing bad too say about them 2 Canadian winters so far.

[Rocket Tech]

It's physics - struts and shocks use oil as the damping fluid which gets squeezed through tiny holes to determine damping rate. Colder oil = more viscous meaning it requires more force to push the same amount of fluid through as compared to when it's warmer. Every shock will behave this way, whether it's noticeable would have more to do with how the valving is designed. You'd have to be a shock engineer and know the internals of each brand to be able to make an educated guess as to which would be least sensitive. That or have a shock dyno and test each :)

[hdmlnium1]

I just lost my front passenger side StaSiS coilover Friday, I believe they are built by Ohlins.
I had the car lifted up while we were doing the Mechatronics repair kit and when it rains it poors.. lol
The coilover started leaking very steadily so now I have to see if I can get it rebuilt or if I have to get it replaced.
You can hear while driving the front passenger side making noises.
Damn........
Bill

[Neosapian]

If ride comfort is a concern, KW or KW-manufactured ST coilovers. OEM+ ride quality year-round guaranteed. No bounce, no noise, no drama under any condition I've experienced here on the US border of western British Columbia. From the way my ST's ride, Girlfriend & other passengers cannot tell my (also 3800lbs) A6 is low / slammed on aftermarket kit. With 4 adult passengers and gear, never any access squat, drive or roll. Certainly no negative ride characteristics when cold...Not even after sitting all day in freezing winter alpine weather.

A lot of heat within a shock is generated very very quickly due to friction. I'd venture a guess that a cold shock shouldn't feel unusually firm for any significant or perceptable length of time. If you're dealing with frozen plumbing on an air ride setup - well thats a different story.

[RudyH]

On every car I have had coilovers until this car. None of them lasted at least two Canadian winters, and all claimed to be engineered for winter. Issues ranged from failing shocks to corroded adjustment knobs. The springs I never had a problem with at least...
I tried setups engineered from all over the world and none work....well except Asia that I can think of.

This is the first car I have been headache free and absolutely love it! It is a spring/shock combo though.

The only gripe so far is the fact I get ice build up in the wheel wells = faster tire wear. I can't get anything to kick it out either cause of the gap lol

[Rocket Tech]

I just lost my front passenger side StaSiS coilover Friday, I believe they are built by Ohlins.
I had the car lifted up while we were doing the Mechatronics repair kit and when it rains it poors.. lol
The coilover started leaking very steadily so now I have to see if I can get it rebuilt or if I have to get it replaced.
You can hear while driving the front passenger side making noises.
Damn........
Bill

I recall reading the stasis shocks had to be rebuilt every ~2 years or something along those lines. When I was thumbing through some archives this seemed to be the primary negative for this package.

[waxxonMTL]

wow , not sure what should I do lol !! Maybe I should just do every mod chassis-wise including sway bar and see if the car feel more ''planted '' than before. My situation might be different than most. I had a race car street driven before. I bought the S4 to have a mix of sportiness and comfort so i will kick myself in the nuts if i get a coilover and they don't feel nice for everyday comfort lol

[XLR8 Craig]

Do you have the factory ride control shocks? If So, maybe look into the KW HAS? Height adjustable, increased performance yet similar comforts of the stock shock. Mix these with the sway bars and chassis stabilizers and have a solid setup.

http://vag.excelerateperformance.com.../i-412667.aspx



Greg

[mrmomo313]

I'm going to +1 Steve's impressions. Though the rear adjustability isn't an issue for me..



Sorry missed this thread. I don't drive my car in the winter anymore but last winter I noticed the same thing. At freezing temps, bumps were pretty jarring at times... Not always but def sometimes where I was like, DAMN! Keep in mind, MI roads are god awful in a lot of places.. A very minor tradeoff to get the adjustability over springs IMO... It wasn't bothersome enough to where I questioned buying them... In warm weather they are absolutely fantastic.

[waxxonMTL]

Do you have the factory ride control shocks? If So, maybe look into the KW HAS? Height adjustable, increased performance yet similar comforts of the stock shock. Mix these with the sway bars and chassis stabilizers and have a solid setup.

http://vag.excelerateperformance.com.../i-412667.aspx



Greg

i have non ADS. regular suspension. can this still be used ? i thought these were only for ADS.

[eurotic]

The only gripe so far is the fact I get ice build up in the wheel wells = faster tire wear. I can't get anything to kick it out either cause of the gap lol

The B8 is way better than the B6 in this regard. The B6 wheel well liner was a fairly flimsy fabric-like material that did a stellar job of collecting snow and then because of the weight of the snow the screws holding the line would rip through. It was a mess. So far I have not had that problem on the B8...so far.

[SteveYem]

I'm going to +1 Steve's impressions. Though the rear adjustability isn't an issue for me..



Sorry missed this thread. I don't drive my car in the winter anymore but last winter I noticed the same thing. At freezing temps, bumps were pretty jarring at times... Not always but def sometimes where I was like, DAMN! Keep in mind, MI roads are god awful in a lot of places.. A very minor tradeoff to get the adjustability over springs IMO... It wasn't bothersome enough to where I questioned buying them... In warm weather they are absolutely fantastic.

Curious- when you say that you do not have the rear height adjustability problem, do you mean that you still have plenty of upward adjustment beyond what my picture shows, or that you had no need to go higher so it wasn't an issue for you specifically?

[Reddington]

Honestly, I cannot imagine driving this car in winter any lower than it is stock. Just in the last couple days the amount of snow chunks I have been unable to avoid that hit the underside of the car pretty much guarantee I will never low the car.

[mrmomo313]

Curious- when you say that you do not have the rear height adjustability problem, do you mean that you still have plenty of upward adjustment beyond what my picture shows, or that you had no need to go higher so it wasn't an issue for you specifically?

Ah should've been more specific. I don't need to go higher so isn't an issue for me specifically.


This is where my cars sits right now.. May need to raise it in the rear a little come spring.. I have a feeling my car will be squatting a lot harder on launches with the new tunes

[XLR8 Craig]

i have non ADS. regular suspension. can this still be used ? i thought these were only for ADS.

The shock really is not any different physically however, the rates of the HAS may be designed with the variation of the dampening in mind. But they show fitting all applications so that would be a judgment call. Every car we have installed them on have all had ADS. Have you thought about the H&R OE Sport spring?

Any shock is going to ride rougher when the fluid is cold, it is a matter of physics. I have noticed this with any suspension, stock or aftermarket even airride! Some may be more prevalent than other based off the valving between different kits. I have also noticed the same aspects with tires, that the colder the weather the harder they ride. Usually after some good miles and heat to them, they return to normal. But then again I am not a physicist and this is just my experience so you may find this information irrelevant. Either way I hope it helps

Ride height wise, performance, budget, and pickiness are all a part of the decision making process. If you have any more questions or would like to pick my brain, feel free.

Thanks,

Greg