Another Hotchkis ARB convert

[philipinoz]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share that I've replaced the stock ARBs with Hotchkis. I think I'm pleased that I managed to do the work myself (while I like DIY, cars like the RS6 make me pause).

Wasn't all plain sailing - I only had drive on ramps at my house to work with. Anyway, the rear bar took about 2 hours by the time I'd wriggled the old bar out, got the new one in. Access to the central exhaust hanger was almost impossible, and I gave up trying to remove it. So the exhaust system didn't drop that far down. Also, it seems that with PSS9s installed, the fitting bolts don't work quite the same way as in the Hotchkis pictures/instructions - or my car is just different!! Mine doesn't have the space they showed around the suspensions arms.

The front bar was 15 minute replacement job, so simple. I can see why the recommendation is to start with the rear bar first - heh! More hassle getting the aero-pan off, and back on again. Methinks the previous owner enjoyed hitting kerbs in car-parks. But at least I was relieved to see that the engine bay was immaculate underneath (albeit with quite a bit of Outback Australia dirt).

(In the last 10 months I've had to junk the DRC in favour of PSS9s, and repair rocker cover oil leak, engine sump cover leak, secondary water pump hoses leaking, oil cooler coolant leak - latter was meant to be engine out, but Audi Brisbane managed to do it in-situ. Hence relief. I can see why the previous owner dumped the car!)

Any advice on settings for the PSS9s? With stock ARBs I had them on 3, which kinda stopped the car bouncing around too much, but on our Queensland roads, it'd dislodge fillings! I've now put them on 6 (front and rear), and the initial impression is a compliant ride, and more confident handling. I'm off to find some real roads now and feel the difference. Or fine tune, let's see.

Oh, and here is a picture - not that you can see the ARBs or anything else underneath the car for that matter...


Thanks!

philip

[bilko1]

I think the favoured setting is 4 all round.

[Mr V10]

Please report back if these make a big diference to the handling, these are my next mod.

[Shoppinit]

Yeah, the effective range is 1 to 4 on the PSS9. Any higher than 4 and the car will be underdamped and the ride crashy.

BUT: Now that you've put different ARBs on you will have changed the effective spring rate of the damped system, so you will need to experiment with the settings.

[perthwaRS6]

Over here in Perth, i found 4 on the pss9's all around ok on the front, but a little too crashy at the back on some less than perfect roads. I am also running hotchkis ARBS on soft.

I am now using 4 on the front and 5 on the back. Not crashy at the back over speed bumps and uneven surfaces and seems to handle ok when throwing the beast into right angle corners at 60 km/h with no chopping from the back.

I have not had chance to try on higher speed sweeping corner (~170km/hr) at the local waneroo race circuit yet, although being a smooth circuit, a 4 all around setting or lower would probably be better along with reset of hotchkis ARB to hard.

just my two cents worth.
john

ps would be very interested to know how audi brisbane replaced the dreaded crap plastic heat affected oil cooler fitting with hopefully the bufkin metal replacement fitting without pulling the engine.

[philipinoz]

Yeah, the effective range is 1 to 4 on the PSS9. Any higher than 4 and the car will be underdamped and the ride crashy.

BUT: Now that you've put different ARBs on you will have changed the effective spring rate of the damped system, so you will need to experiment with the settings.

Yeah, with the stock ARBs, I found even 4 was undrivable. 3 kept the car on the road, but the ride was v harsh. 2 lasted only a drive around my local suburb.

But with the Hotchkis (rear set to firm) and PSS9s set to 6, I've driven around a lot yesterday and today, over the road surfaces I've dreaded for the last few months, and it's a revelation. And even with "fast cornering" over the poorer surfaces we have here in Queensland, the car is way better, behaving very similarly to an RS6 Avant (with same set up) I've had a short drive of when I was in the UK a few months back. Still experimenting though - 100kph (62mph) speed limit is mind numbing. I need to find some curvy roads without traffic.

philip

[philipinoz]

Over here in Perth, i found 4 on the pss9's all around ok on the front, but a little too crashy at the back on some less than perfect roads. I am also running hotchkis ARBS on soft.

I am now using 4 on the front and 5 on the back. Not crashy at the back over speed bumps and uneven surfaces and seems to handle ok when throwing the beast into right angle corners at 60 km/h with no chopping from the back.

I have not had chance to try on higher speed sweeping corner (~170km/hr) at the local waneroo race circuit yet, although being a smooth circuit, a 4 all around setting or lower would probably be better along with reset of hotchkis ARB to hard.

Interesting, thanks john! I'll try running around a few more days and see how I go, before I start tweaking the PSS9s down a bit. I'm still getting used to my fillings not falling out and the car not skipping around corners. Tyre replacement due very soon too, out go the crappy Falkens it has, and on go Goodyear or Bridgestones (not decided yet) - will do the PSS9 tweaking after that I think.

ps would be very interested to know how audi brisbane replaced the dreaded crap plastic heat affected oil cooler fitting with hopefully the bufkin metal replacement fitting without pulling the engine.

Ummm, let's just say that they may not have read the instructions before quoting me for 3 hours work. They had the car for three days. I didn't ask how they did it, but methinks they'll pay attention to "engine out" instructions in future.

philip

[philipinoz]

Following up on my previous comments... I gave up on 6 for the PSS9s - the more I drove, the more it felt under damped. After some time experimenting with settings, I converged on 4 for the front and rear. 5 for the rear was a bit more sloppy (sorry, can't think if a better description - I tried 5, wasn't convinced, moved to 4, drove the same set of curves and bumps, felt better). 3 was too hard (even though that's what I had to use when the car still had OEM ARBs to keep it on the road).

Hope these are useful for anyone else using or contemplating Hotchkis ARBs and PSS9s.

Is it better than stock? Yes, it is waaaay better than stock ARB with PSS9s.

Is it better than DRC set up? No idea, never been in a DRC RS6 yet.

Oh, the RS6 got a 4 wheel alignment done this week too. No more skipping sideways going over cats eyes and bad surfaces. Yay!

philip

[Shoppinit]

Good info. Thanks. Might be tempted by these ARBs myself given the positive reviews coming back.

[Mr Footlong]

I just wish there was someone out there that had used both these and the H&R ones on their 6 like I have currently.

[philipinoz]

Please report back if these make a big diference to the handling, these are my next mod.

Took me a while to really test things out (work etc) but here is a quick summary...

Yes, there is a noticeable difference. PSS9s with (for me) ideal setting of 4, and the Hotchkis = car goes round corners like it is on rails. And stays flatter. With the OEM ARBs, it always felt as though it was lurching, or wobbling, very unsettling (PSS9s at 3 then). And that was on smooth surfaces. Rough surface corners, it was very scary. But I went for a more spirited drive (for me) today, and I was amazed at how the handling around corners has changed. The very same (public) road, with its resurfaced patches, ruts, rough and smooth corners, the car just hung on to everything, didn't twitch, wobble or lurch like it did before. It was how a quattro should be (revived memories of my 1996 A4 2.8 quattro actually).

But I also got the 4 wheel alignment done, so that might have contributed to the improvement. But at least corners can be tackled with confidence. Grizz has said more than once on the forum that the Hotchkis are the best mod for an RS6 that's no longer on DRC. I'm now left wondering why I waited so long, even though I wasn't quite so convinced after the first drive two weeks ago.

philip

[perthwaRS6]

thanks philip for the post of your PSS9 and Arbs experience.

I will change rear pps9's to 4 , so setting is 4 all round and hotchkiss to firm setting as you have done and see how I go.

john

[Shoppinit]

Footlong, why did you go for the H&R ARBs? Are they any good? Doesn't bother me particularly that they are for the A6. The RS6 is an A6.

[Mr Footlong]

MRC wanted to supply the H&R ones and had the car at the time, simple as. Don't forget that I hadn't even had the car for a month before leaving her with MRC if memory serves so I didn't know everything that I know now. I can't tell you how much better they are as I had the DRC ripped out at the same time and had hardly driven her, sorry.

[Shoppinit]

How much do these cost? Who can supply them? I hate suspension work, but I like the sound of these...