Which coilover kit? & more DRC woe!!

[ilovecoldbeer1]

Sadly only 2 weeks into RS6 ownership and only a 3 days after its major service trip to Southampton Audi and the DRC system being given the all clear there is a very loud rattle that has magically appeared overnight, seems to be coming from underneath right in front of the spare wheel housing when driving over bumpy roads; also appearing at the same time is very slight wheel wobble through the pedals circa 65-80mph.....

I've had all 4 wheels balanced today and there are no flat spots, also had the car put on a ramp and nothing appears to be loose/broken/perished and its been thoroughly prodded and poked. I've pulled out the entire boot trim and rear seats but the noise is defo outside - i got my father to drive me round and round a local industrial estate with me in the boot to doubly make sure it was not loose internal components!!

Rocking the car up and down and side to side when stationary repoduces a clicking noise from the nearside rear shock valve but its is not half as loud as when its driven......these valves are located next to the spare wheel housing and bolt through the wheel tub exactly where the noise appears to be coming from

So in the interests of my sanity i'm going to bin the DRC if the concencus is that its had it??

My question is which coilover kit is the sensible choice - with reasonable handling and at least some comfort!! i'm not very fussed about having endless adjustments unless these more basic systems are no good?, i was thinking maybe a Bilstein B14 or a KW V1? Apparently KW's have lifetime warranty??

Ive booked a service appointment at Southampton Audi to diagnose the issue, if its more DRC hell the whole system is going in the bin for good!! its also might cure the brutal ride from my exisiting lowering springs which i did not like anyway....

Everyones views are appreciated!!

[Daveperc]

Cancel the trip to Southampton Audi and take the 45 min drive up ton Camberley. They are the only dealer in the country that seem to be able to get DRC right. That way, if it is the DRC (which I'm not convinced about given the symptoms) you will get a clear view of what is/isn't broken, rather that Southampton covering their backsides.

Dave

[Virdee Autos]

The Bilstein PSS9 kit is the one to go for IMO.

The PSS kit is good, but the damping adjustability on the 9s does help and hence makes it a better overall package.

We have the PSS9 kit in stock for immediate despatch. PM me for more info.

[Mr V10]

I've only heard good things about the service from Virdee. Go PSS9, my H&Rs are too hard even for a sporty sort of car.

[Shoppinit]

Do what dave said first. It's good to be in possession of all the facts. That way you'll feel even better about binning the DRC

I was lucky enough to be able to compare my PSS9 with some H&R back to back. I can tell you that the ride on the PSS9 is much smoother.

[Ceveman73]

Bilsteins are ok, I have the PSS9 too, and whilst they are better than broken DRC, the setup isn't the best I've experienced. I'm saving up to get the Ohlins kit by Stasis. The best kit by far for the RS6, with super plush damping and larger external resevoirs that allow you to run higher spring/damping rates without the car feeling crashy or the damper bottoming-out. For me, the spring rates supplied with the PSS9 are too soft in the rear, meaning that the rear is very bouncy on bumpy roads unless you run it on the highest damping setting, which then makes the car crashy.

I had the setup assessed by a car dynamics and suspension specialist at Silverstone and they agreed that the rear spring rate was too soft, and that they were underdamped in relation to the spring rate. I've since had firmer Eibach springs fitted, and had the dampers revalved to match, and whilst much better than before, with the car feeling much more controlled and less understeery, I still feel the damping suffers on bad roads as it bottoms-out too easily.

This is the kit I'm going to get, not the cheapest I know, but as I found first hand; buy cheap and buy twice:

http://www.stasisengineering.com/produc ... otorsports

Mart.

[Shoppinit]

Those are nice, but what a price. Do they have any european distributors? Who revalved your shocks?

[Ceveman73]

Yeah, cheap they aint, but Ohlins dampers are proper plush motorsport units, with quality and performance to match. The average 'highstreet' range of coilovers available for road cars are honestly considered 'budget' in performance circles, and offer just the tip of the iceberg in terms of suspension dynamics. The Ohlins will definitely be worth it!

Bilstein's were returned to Bilstein UK for revalving, and Eibach coilover springs were sourced by the specialist at Silverstone.

Mart.

[Daveperc]

Will be really interested in how these work out once on, and in use on our salt-laden, grit scarred roads.

Why? Because the damper with separate reservoir is virtually identical concept to the idea behind DRC damper units, but without the cross linking etc.

Of course the Ohlin system has the benefit of being a sealed system (like a conventional damper) and so avoids the need to pressurise externally, but it was the damper units which consistently failed on older systems, rarely the accumulator and valves. Hence the early upgrades to add rubber boots etc to try to keep out our aggressive road treatments.

What could be even more interesting would be to take the Ohlin units, bin their little external reservoir, and link in to the core of the DRC system. That way you would have the purported benefits of the Ohlin damper (? better made, and different seals etc?) combined with the balancing from DRC.

Dave

[Shoppinit]

What could be even more interesting would be to take the Ohlin units, bin their little external reservoir, and link in to the core of the DRC system. That way you would have the purported benefits of the Ohlin damper (? better made, and different seals etc?) combined with the balancing from DRC.

That would be interesting Who's up for destroying £4k of olhins and their DRC in one fell swoop?

[Mr Footlong]

I had Ohlins suspension fitted to my STI2 back in the day and it was very good indeed. No doubt it is probably ancient in comparisin to the current Ohlins stuff but it was still around 4k back then if memory serves. Shame I can't remember anything about the model etc..

[monoi]

Cancel the trip to Southampton Audi and take the 45 min drive up ton Camberley. They are the only dealer in the country that seem to be able to get DRC right. That way, if it is the DRC (which I'm not convinced about given the symptoms) you will get a clear view of what is/isn't broken, rather that Southampton covering their backsides.

Dave

+1

[Mr Footlong]

+1 more. Doug at MRC told me today that it looks like I have another DRC shock on the way out (leaking front right) so I am prob going there but they warned me that it would be at least £500, subject to it being nothing more than the shock.... Considered PSS9's since the car is there but with company tax and VAT looming along with a holiday next month I am being tight and going with what is expected to be the cheapest option, for now......

[bakustax]

The PSS Set up is pretty good at around 850GBP...

[Mr Footlong]

I was looking at that kit heavily and didn't have any interest in adjusting things, I just wanted comfortable suspension that did the job. Doug said that the PSS kit is fairly hard in his opinion and the PSS9 kit gives a more comfortable ride in comparison. Really don't want anything resembling a rattly old go kart so will wait until Tax/VAT/holidays are over and will be addressing this when she goes up for the next set of upgrades next year.