westwest888

Stock is probably the best setup, unless you're going to spend about $3 grand or more.

seinsmeld13

I would not recommend springs only. On my 07 GTI I installed eibach lowering springs using the stock dampers and six months later the stock dampers were shot. I then installed some Koni FSD's which are designed to go with the Eibachs. Nice reduced height and a comfortable ride. If I had to start from scratch today i would add a rear sway bar to this set up.

I learned my lesson with that car and therefore installed Koni coil overs on my TT. Same cost when you consider two installs on the GTI and two alignments. I love the coil overs and no need for sways. Nice ride.

For my S4 I haven't decided but will probably go with the Koni coil overs if and when they are released as they have been trouble free. The advantage of the coil over is you can raise her up for the winter if use choose to do so.

koobah

Yes, but it's too much $ if you want to do it right, since you should have an alignment and corner balance done everytime you adjust the height.

seinsmeld13

Yes but the option is there. I actually never changed the height on my TT just left it lowered since that car was very involved in changing the rear height so I just left it where it was.

legbend

I'd like to lose some wheel gap and keep the ride as close to stock as possible.

DavidSilverS4

H&R OE Sport Springs are for you then. Im doing the same thing.

DavidSilverS4

How much of a difference do the sway bars make? Can someone who has them installed give us some feedback?

LeadToRome

I keep thinking about this. I mean, the Audi engineers are hardly idiots, they've already attempted to give the car the best combination of ride, handling and looks that can be had for the money. Isn't it a bit presumptuous to think we can do better than them? On the other hand, no matter what we do we are putting money into the system that they didn't have available, so it's not crazy to think that with the addition of some money you can end up with a better result, is it?

But think about, say, springs. If Audi went with springs that were identical to the H&R OE Sports in height and rate I doubt it would add much if anything to their build cost. After all, the car has springs already and they had to pay for those. But they made a conscious decision to go with the springs they currently have. Why them instead of, for example, clones of the OE Sports? Obviously Audi thought they were making the best choice considering the restraints (cost, availability, ease of use in manufacturing, and ???) that they were working under. If they were making their best guess then replacing the springs to get something (i.e. drop, handling) must mean that we are also giving up something as well. But what? Just money? Or something else? And is it worth the trade-off?

'Round and 'round she goes, where she stops, nobody knows...

westwest888

I think cost is equal or inconsequential on a sport spring or a regular spring. What they're trying to hit is the perfect cross section of buyers. An A4 or a 328i need a palatable setup for the folks. The S4 can go really aggressive because it's a low volume car.

I spent years tuning the suspension on my 2006 BMW 325i sedan and documenting my steps on the forum. I started with H&R swaybars and Bilstein Coilovers. This worked great for a season at the track, except for negative camber up front (could only get -1.1 when I needed about -2.5). So I added camber plates. Turns out it's not so easy to mix and match camber plates and coilovers. The spring hat was machined about 3/4 inch too low, which had a bad effect on the ride.

Then I went with Ground Control coilovers, which are a Koni yellow shock, an Eibach spring and a custom camber plate in one mated assembly. I really liked this setup because it was built particularly for my car and tested for fit ahead of time.

My honest feeling with the S4 is that the stock suspension is up to the task and I do not plan on modifying it. Plus (for those that care) the ride height is perfect and the wheel gap looks nice.

I'm going to get it aligned more aggressively. The M3 has a wide range of adjustment for a stock car; I'm hoping the S4 is the same. Mostly, I want to see how much negative camber it'll let me dial in. If I can get -1.5 in front I'll be a happy camper.

LeadToRome

Could you explain a bit more about "aggressive alignment" please? I'm not even positive I understand the concept.