KW+DRC suspension fitted

[voyager162]

finally got this fitted and had a few days adjusting and driving to get an idea of the differences and handling, as no post is complete without pics,



this is set at standard SS+ ride height, as you can see the smaller slow speed spring is totally bound up,and was making odd clicking and rattling noises all the time, at this height driving around it feels very choppy and stiff, as the helper spring is not removing the smaller movements. turn in however is very direct and on a smooth surface the car tracks the corner far better but look out for bumps mid corner as it gets hairy. i was not really happy at this stage so adjusted the base lower to allow the smaller spring to come into play.



the car is obviously much lower but the smaller spring now takes away the small undulations in road surface and the ride is far softer, initial turn in to a corner seems to take place much faster, probably as the smaller spring allows for a faster compression on the loaded wheels, the only odd thing is that you can feel the transition between the 2 springs as the springs compress but once your aware of it its not so bad, and the car tracks much more tightly than with the standard setup.
generally suspension is much stiffer and this might not be to everyones tastes as it really gives you feedback on how bad (or good) the road surface is but on my back road route it feels much more stable in high speed corners than it did previously, on the limit however be ready to catch the oversteer as although it comes on much later it comes at you far faster than previously, which as the set up is stiffer is not unusual.

i will try add a few more posts as i do more milage but all in all i am fairly happy with how its turned out, i'll leave u with a few pics of general ride height.

[Pyrotechnic]

Oh my! That's lovely :O

[edge]

nice mate, likeing the wheels also!

[sonny]

What variation are these?

Iv been running KWV3's now since 2009 and iv been impressed with mine.

Have you uprated the ARBs too?

The cars looking great, the aftermarket rims look spot on too as well as the stance! Good work.

[kay]

I think sonny those are the new kw adjustable lowering springs that grizz has mentioned rather than like yours which are the coilovers,but I could be mistaken as IIRC, OP was installing some H&R lowering springs (as mentioned by him on a separate post) and might hav decided to go the whole hog and go coilovers . But the Drc is still there? so could be just the lowering springs

[voyager162]

its the KW's that allow you to retain the DRC, tbh i think its a great system and didnt really want to go for coilovers, so this is best of both worlds really.

[ArthurPE]

had no idea such a set-up existed, basically coil overs with DRC
that is a nice set-up
the drc is a great system, with adustable shocks, ride ht and proper spring rates should be amazing

[sonny]

I think sonny those are the new kw adjustable lowering springs that grizz has mentioned rather than like yours which are the coilovers,but I could be mistaken as IIRC, OP was installing some H&R lowering springs (as mentioned by him on a separate post) and might hav decided to go the whole hog and go coilovers . But the Drc is still there? so could be just the lowering springs

the kwv3s look the same as the pic above. Interested that it allows the drc to be retained and used as part of the suspension system. What model KW is it?

[wms]

I think it's these ones, as I have also been considering a coiliver over kit if the DRC goes.
http://shop.kw-suspensions.eu/Lowering-springs.html

Interested what the price is with fitting, as my only concern is if the DRC goes, you then have to buy the full coilover kit.

I recently had a full inspection at West London Audi as the car is coming up to five years and the service team lead said they would replace the DRC for me even if it went after 5 years, at most I would have to pay 30%, so likely to stick with DRC for the moment. They also matched an independent quote for a major service with spark plugs, great service all round.

[sonny]

Now im confused... In that link it shows just the springs, any make os spring can be swapped over to retain the DRC system.

What the OP is saying, is that he has a coilover stem that plugs into the DRC system. So in effect replacing the struts. I want to know what variant of KW he is running. Does this system have a bump and rebound setting?

[wms]

If you filter on Audi -> A4 -> RS4 B7 it should show the kit which is 599 Euros, which I think is the Coil spring kit he has rather than just the springs.

"The KW Coilover spring kit is used for lowering the vehicle in combination with the serial dampers, even when electronic damper control is installed. This lowering solution from KW optimises the dynamic performance and the steering behaviour without the electronic damper control deactivated. For this solution vehicle specific adjustable spring seats with adjusted KW lowering springs and the matching elastomer as well as the dust cover system will be used. This complete conversion allows an individual adjustable lowering solution. -- --
Individual height adjustability of the serial suspension kit --"

[sonny]

Ok thanks, just seen it. It mentions the electronic damper control, the DRC system is purely mechanical?

If this is a direct plug and play and is stronger than the OEM KW struts then this may be a good solution.

[wms]

Yeah. I think they must have made a mistake on the description.

[voyager162]

basically the system retains the DRC strut and normal DRC damping control, the KW kit replaces the lower spring perch on the strut with a new base onto which sits the threaded adjuster, it also has new bump stops and gaiters, on the rear there are some new brackets and adj hardware.
i had some problem with my front struts and these had to be replaced along with a new control valve, the struts themselves are not overly expensive at £180 each but of course you have to go through a DRC re-pressurization which adds to the cost, OEM control valve is !!

the DRC system i think is a fantastic solution (damper oil leaks aside) and no doubt Audi did a lot of research to come up with a system that worked fairly well in the real world and ditching the DRC in favour of coilovers i feel will compromise the setup somewhat (having been down that slippery slope before)

the coilover set up can be fine tuned using the various settings for compression n rebound (fast and slow depending what kit you have) bit of a pain having to remove struts to make the adjustments each time or drilling a hole on top of the strut mount to allow for access to the adjusters.
in the past when doing a fair bit of track day work i could get the car set up really well for the circuit but the drive home was torture or set up well for the road but just too compromised for track day fun, the Mrs didn't buy my reasoning that another track day only car was best solution

this KW kit does firm up compression damping quite a bit, so dont expect OEM ride quality but it does leave damping under DRC control and this seems to work well, and all in all seems to offer sportier handling, and ability to make ride height adjustments without the compromise and cost of a full coilover kit.

[adsgreen]

Hmm.
This line is bugging me

this KW kit does firm up compression damping quite a bit

.
Just curious how? From what I have read this kit is effectively a set of springs and mounts - it shouldn't have any effect on damping at all as this is still the DRC system at work.
What it might be is a much tougher spring rate which would make the car feel more like it's had some extra damping but the effects esp when cornering would be different.

I did like the ohlin stasis suspension if I went DRC-less as this has remote reservoirs making at least one change a bit easier. but only on the fronts which is annoying.