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Was out for a spin this weekend and heard a knocking from the rear, pulled over to see the rear passengers shock leaking.
Got the car towed to Audi and they advised that new shock is required, and best to replace both of them.
Gonna cost about €2k ish...

Just wondering what my options would be, stick new shocks in and hope the DRC system holds up, or ditch the lot and go aftermarket?.. Anyone have a similar suitation?

coilovers I would say.

Ditch the rubbish and fit bilstein b14 £800

they go with the drc spring right? that would be nice.

When running correctly, the DRC setup is probably the best you can get - coilovers etc are always a compromise.

If you have the shocks replaced at Audi, they'll use V3 DRC shocks which do not fail like the older V1/V2 shocks.

£2k is a rip off - knock them down on that. The shocks are about £270 each from memory so you should be looking at a lot less than £2k for two fitted.

For comparison, I had a single shock replaced, including the bump stop that was mashed, a recharge etc all in for £650 @ Hitchin Audi.

irishmike wrote:Got the car towed to Audi and they advised that new shock is required, and best to replace both of them.

What do they mean by "both of them"?

DRC is diagonally linked so NSR is linked to OSF, and OSR to NSF - so if they replace both rears then you'll have a new and an old shock on each circuit.

Check the fronts as well before agreeing/deciding would be my advice.

Yeah, I wasn't sure on the replace both part so I questioned it. The garage where it is isint my usual one as I was on a trip. The main dealer where it was towed to said replace both rears to avoid an imbalance in the NCT, (Irish MOT)

I rang my local dealer and they said replace opposite corners and gave me a quote of just over 1k euro for both. Think she will be coming home and getting fixed there if I keep the DRC.

Just wondering from people's experience what's the weakest point of the system. Is it the shock itself of the pipes?
If I got the shocks replaced are the pipes likely to cause an issue?

And this V3 from Audi, is this shock only or are there new versions of the pipes too?

irishmike wrote:And this V3 from Audi, is this shock only or are there new versions of the pipes too?

The V2 shocks are the weakest point, followed by the valve block, with the pipes least likely to fail - but with increasing age that could be changing...

V3 refers to the shocks only, there are no updates for the valve block or the pipes that I'm aware of.

I would be tempted to replace the pipework at the same time as having the shocks replaced.

My DRC was replaced with coilovers a couple of years back but the pipework that was left in place under the car has corroded quite badly.

V3's with new pipework should see you worry free for years.

Certainly the setup I will be fitting once my coilovers need replacing.

Yeah, I was onto unit20 who advised to change shock and pipe at the same time.

Will get the full system checked and go from there I guess..

Unit20 quoted me £415 to replace flexi pipe and a recharge.

Pm sent Irishmike

Cheers, Just replied there.

Irishmike,

It sounds like your flexi pipe has gone. Remember, as PetrolDave said, there is also the diagonal pipe system connecting the flexi pipes to the diagonal shock via the valves.

I had 2 shocks, 2 flexi pipes and all 4 diagonal pipes replaced at Unit 20 recently. The diagonal pipes are a big job - about 10 hours at Unit 20 (30 odd at Audi!).

The diagonal pipes had started to corrode badly where exposed to the elements. I guess these cars are at that age now - so worth checking before you decide.

I thought about coilovers but decided to stick with DRC. At least I've replaced most of the system for not that much more than V3s fitted. I should get a good few years out of them now.