craiglieberman

Yes, Stasis MS.

Ask yourself this question: do you really think the substantial difference in price would be "worth it" insofar as a substantial difference?

Ahh, therein lies the rub.

Define "difference" or "worth" it.

Will your car handle "better"? What does "better" mean? Faster lap times? How much faster?

Will your car ride "better?" Define "better?"

Will they last as long? How long do you plan on keeping your car? Which setup costs more to repair if there is a problem?

Are you all more confused now than before?

Good. Buy the KW's. The difference in price cannot be substantiated by any rational person.

I've had KW's on three different cars, with never one single failure in over 120,000 miles of usage (spread over three cars).

Vijay

I'm not talking about value here, however. We all know that a $5400 MTM exhaust isn't "twice" as good at it's $2700 MTM counterpart. There is no question that the "higher" you go in the mod market, you get diminishing returns. By that I mean that in order to get something just a little better, you have to pay a lot more.

My issue with suspension is this: I am really not unhappy with the DRC system, but one of my shocks is starting to leak fluid. As such, I want to go aftermarket for the obvious handling benefits. But....I want the least possible detriment to ride quality, irrespective of price.

Alex@Europrice.us

However the Ohlins dampers are technically far more advanced than what the KW V3 is using. I believe we all got into these arguments when I was with STaSIS and the suspension had just be introduced to the RS4 community. I am bias and I have had experience with both Ohlins and KW based setups, the Ohlins based stuff is far superior in many areas. Is the KW V3 a decent system, yes, but you do get what you pay for and the price difference is there for a reason. Are there anomolies in the "you get what you pay for" equation in this market, yes. However I don't think STaSIS is overcharging or pumping up the price of the Ohlins systems as compared to KW setups. I genuinely believe from a technical and subjective stand point you get more out of an MS setup than a KW V3, thus the price difference. The SL system is more of a direct competitor to the V3 and pricing reflects that. If you genuinely want the best the MS setup is the only setup, though it is suited to certain individuals who are looking for that level of suspension with maximum adjustability and compotence. Not knocking the V3, just stating from my experience the Ohlins dampers are a superior base to a great coilover setup.

Cheers,

craiglieberman

Alex;

What I'm trying to get my head around is this:

Ohlins is a third party vendor, which means Stasis has to buy the shock (then mark it up to make a profit), right? Plus importing it to the US, etc. That adds to the cost.

I do not disagree that the Stasis MS is apples to oranges to the KW V3, however, is it "worth" a difference with NO test data, lap times, or other independent evaluation to justify the expense? Only the buyer can answer that.

I'm not trying to ANSWER this question, I'm trying to get the buyers to ASK THEMSELVES that question.

There's always "the guy" who will buy something just because it is flashier or priced higher (I know...I'm often that guy).

But of all the RS4 owners I've actually met, it seems as if most are casual performance enthusiasts who drive their car at 7/10ths at best.

Me, personally, I've great luck with my KW's both on and off track and moreover, have 40,000 trouble free miles on them.

It would help to hear from Stasis MS owners about their experiences, but I don't think I've heard anything bad on that front, so either way, a consumer should feel confident in their choice no matter which they select...that's the good news!

Ultimately, one's purchasing decision may place an inordinate preference to one's own subjective tastes rather than quantifiable differences, though.

My point to the OP was, if you already have one type, why would you switch to another? With tires? Fine. Women? Fine. Suspension? Silly waste of money.

Send me the money instead, I'll go buy tires. Or women. Depends on which looks better.

Alex@Europrice.us

and to be honest the best way is for the customer to ride/drive a car with Ohlins to see if he actually likes the system better. It could be for any reason, everyone has different tastes. There's a lot of technical reasons why the MS damper is superior to the KW unit, even the SL unit in some ways, but again as you state in most cases people aren't driving 10/10ths and the most important thing is what the customer feels is satisfactory to them. I'd suggest if anyone can to always shoot to go for a ride in a car equipped with any suspension or product they may want to install, sometimes it's not possible, but when it is it's always the most helpful tool to see if it's "worth" it to the customer.

When I was at STaSIS a lot of guys even upgraded from a lower level STaSIS suspension to the MS. Much of the time I would try to get the customer into what they described would be right for their use, a lot of the time people described the MS system, but would err on the cost savings side only to come back later to get the MS. The labor time, the loss in reselling used suspension, etc sucks, but it happens and I know I've done it myself before. I had Street Sports, Track Sports and eventually Motor Sports on my S4, though I had the benefit of being right there at the source while I was doing all of this.

It is all about what the customer wants and the best way to find out what suits the customer best is to give all the options a test drive, works for a lot things...

Cheers,

JMSIV

If you are looking to hear from owners with the MS system, there have certainly been of reports here.

I love mine. I wrote up a long report of it in the past. Still love it.

Ohlins makes dampers. But Stasis orders the dampers from Ohlins built to their specifications. Stasis is not a middle man up-charging for profit. You cannot go to the Ohlins web sites and order the same kit. Stasis created a kit with dampers and springs specifically built for an application. In the US, Stasis has more experience racing the B7 chassis than anyone else, and the car is as close to what we drive as any race car can be. I don't doubt that KW makes a great damper. But if you are starting from scratch, I do not believe there is a better system than the MS.

That being said, I probably would need to be really bored to remove V3s from my car and replace with the MS kit. It's a bit of a hassle, and I only wanted to do it once.