Wes

Hi Steve, I know that you have the H&R Coilover setup for the S4 and I would like your opinion on them. I would love a coilover setup, but do not want to make a huge sacrifice in ride quality for the added handling edge. How much stiffer does the setup feel compared to stock and how much better does it handle. Also, I can get the new H&R coilovers for the S4 at $1399 installed. Is that a good price? Thanks for your help.

Wes
00 S4 (Santorin/Blue Alcantara)

Silver S4

prices yet or ride. SOme good personal feedback would be great.

del

Steve, I too want to know da skinny on da coilovers.

David White

i'm curious as to where you are having the work done....i have h&r coilovers on my a4 and the parts were about $1300 and i payed about $600 for the install and corner balancing......

there is a lot of labor involved in the install and the corner balancing takes a lot of adjusting and weighing....

i would suggest going to someone that has a lot of experience installing and setting up coilovers (possibly a race shop). some places might just install them and adjust them to a certain height...to take full advantage of the coilovers, the car needs to be corner balanced, thats why the coilovers are adjustable!! when the car is corner balanced it will feel pretty darn neutral...

as for the ride quality of coilovers on an S4, i dont know...but in my car, the ride is quite a bit stiffer than stock (non-sport suspension) and you definitely feel the road more! the handling is very flat, very little (basically no) dive, squat, or roll!!! i'm sure Steve can expand more on this topic....

the best thing to do is find someone that has the coilovers and test drive their car....good luck with that :-)

hope this helps!

David White
98 2.8qm

Wes

Thanks for the heads up. I did not ask about corner balancing, I just assumed that the price quoted for the install and parts took care of everything. I believe the labor part of the install was about $190 dollars. But, I will call back and ask about the balancing.

David White

i would seriously question anyone that would quote that for a coilover install!!

you are looking at 1-2 hrs install time for each corner, and up to 4 hrs for the corner balancing...
the shop i went to charged 50 bucks/hr and it took them 12 hrs to do the whole job...but they took their time to make sure it was done right!!

ask around to find a good shop in your area....scca racers, car clubs, etc. can probably reccomend a good shop, then go in and talk to the people at the shop....

it is worth the money to have it done right!!

coilovers are a great mod if they are setup right...

good luck,
David White

matthewk

What is corner balancing???

Steve S.

Remember you need a 4 wheel alignment...and then should, if you can, get it corner balanced. I went for trying to get the diagonals equal...rather that left/right sides equal in front. My install with alignment was $462 at New Dimensions in Santa Clara CA (the VW aftermarket shop...now tinkering with Audis). Alignment alone can run from $70 - 100 depending on where you go to get it. Corner balancing...adjusting the ride height to get the balancing right...can vary considerably. I did mine myself....I have borrowed some scales (but need to return them soon).

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Steve S.

Wes

How much harsher are the coilovers than stock? How is the handling? Thanks

s4 speed

that's a solid install price. i've found the coilovers for 1300, so 100 for install is awesome. I've owned 'em before on another car, iliked them ALOT! and will get them again for my s4. i'll install them myself, and go get the car aligned.

it is stiffer, but the h&r's aren't harsh (unless you ask them to put stiffer springs in) and def worth it for the handling!