Bilstein B16 vs. KW Variant 3

[Esempe]

Just about to buy a coilovers set as my standard suspension has given up on my B7 RS4.

I heard the bilsteins are more easily adjustable but also heard thier ride was way too harsh for the road.

KW were highly recommend but then heard the build quality was lower in recent years and you have to dismantle rears for adjustment?

Which kit is better?

[rwilsonrs4]

i have Bilstein B16 on mine because they are easily adjustable , can change them in about 1 minute depending on my use , . yes they are stiffer than DRC but after a while i dont notice it anymore unless i,m in a stock one , never been in one with KW 3 so i cant comment on them , i have H&R roll bars on mine tooo as they are pretty soft stock as the DRC does most of the work but the handling is way better , feels like a track car , our roads up here are pretty crap so will squirm about a tiny bit on twisties compared to DRC as they are stiffer obviously but mine is charged too so on boost through corners can be a bit fiddly , but still aims better that stock , most folk who fit KW3 to their cars is to replace ruined DRC so then set to middle and never look at them again so drive like grannys mostly , i dont , mine gets a lot of fun

[hector8]

Again another mod looming for me. Car has currently 59k on the clock so I am thinking Discs and Suspension is close.

What are other peoples thoughts on this comparison topic?

[Esempe]

I just bought the KW's

Will report my finding once fitted - before I do I need new tyres

Thinking the asymmetric 3's or the pilot sport 4 - any recommendations?

[Esempe]

Yeah the 4S's are certainly tempting - they are coming in at nearly £1k fitted though - where as the other two are around the £700 mark...... Does the benefits warrant the cost difference is what I'm thinking

[marc1]

Re suspension. Bilstein and KW both get a good recommendation. There are different versions to go, depending on how adjustable you want them to be.

I guess, the question really is... how often will you adjust? For me, I'd get the car set up, height and damping, etc, full geo and corner weighted at a proper place. Then I'd leave it alone. Others may be different, but if I started trying to adjust rebound and damping myself, I'd make a mess of it, or not be able to tell the difference. Something like 16 clicks of adjustment, so not convinced I could tell from one click to the other.

[marc1]

Re tyres... I've heard a lot of mention that the MP4S have softer sidewalls than the MPSS.

I'd probably only fit one of other of them. If the PSS come in cheaper, it's a no brainier.

Had The Goodyears and they are good, but much prefer the Michelin's.

[marc1]

i have Bilstein B16 on mine because they are easily adjustable , can change them in about 1 minute depending on my use , . yes they are stiffer than DRC but after a while i dont notice it anymore unless i,m in a stock one , never been in one with KW 3 so i cant comment on them , i have H&R roll bars on mine tooo as they are pretty soft stock as the DRC does most of the work but the handling is way better , feels like a track car , our roads up here are pretty crap so will squirm about a tiny bit on twisties compared to DRC as they are stiffer obviously but mine is charged too so on boost through corners can be a bit fiddly , but still aims better that stock , most folk who fit KW3 to their cars is to replace ruined DRC so then set to middle and never look at them again so drive like grannys mostly , i dont , mine gets a lot of fun

What setting do you run the front and rear ARB's on buddy and what tyres do you use?

Much want for a charged B7!!!

How many miles on the car/charger if you don't mind me asking?

[samuk]

Yeah the 4S's are certainly tempting - they are coming in at nearly £1k fitted though - where as the other two are around the £700 mark...... Does the benefits warrant the cost difference is what I'm thinking

I paid £810 fitted from elite tyres in Rainham

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

[rwilsonrs4]

I have H&R on mine they are on the soft setting , , i have never moved it to hard as i liked it right away , i am on my 2 set of GY Eagle F1 assy 2 ,got the car originally with brand new Contis which were crap , then got GY F1 then on to the assy2 work just as well but dont look that nice compared to original F1 pattern , but who cares lol , next tyres will prob be Mich pilot SS as i dont use it much in wet weather and not in winter so they will maybe be a bit better but the GY are real good anyhow , has about 18k miles on it since charger install milage now is 62 k , mine is the PES eaton m112 charger so has some grunt instantly right off idle

[marc1]

Cheers buddy. Sounds a bit like Robnic's set up.

I know you said it doesn't really get driven in the wet or winter, but have you ever driven it properly hard in the wet along those uneven roads?

I ask as a few people have mentioned uprated ARB's can result in a bit of oversteer. Not sure if they've run them in the stiffest settings or not. So your input here would be great, as those conditions are probably the most likely to encourage oversteer. Especially with all the extra power/torque. Also likely if lifting mid corner too, which doesn't really happen in a stock car.

I ran the RS4 H&R ARB's on a B6 S4 years ago (Goodyear Asymmetrics too). With ESP off and a heavy throttle, 90 degree junction it could create a massive tail slide in the dry, but only provoked. ARB's were set to hard front and rear, but made such a difference to the turn in and overall handling. I've uprated ARB's on most cars now.

[rwilsonrs4]

I have occasionally used it while wet , and the GY are still ok until its pushed really hard , but I dont "race" it in such conditions , its my pride and joy so wouldnt want it crashed , but I'm, not scared of it in the wet, so its still not bad to drive , i have noticed occasionally with GY in really wet conditoin recently wasnt planned but a thunderstorm happened on a run out it did do a bit of Aquaplaning but i dd the correct thing with that but there was a lot of water , but i drove it pretty much as usual until i saw large lumps of surface water .
Mostly i dont worry too much in the wet conditions , i did use it as a daily for 3 years ,in all conditions now its my weekend/evenieng warrior for 4 years as i have a second car now to keep the miles down on it ,
before I had B16 on it had the H&R roll bars on soft settings on front and rear with DRC and several times I had the back step out a little while about to enter a tight corner a bit fast even in the dry and more so in wet ,so lift off oversteer , but that was seemed to be a few specific corners slightly off camber ,but with H&R and DRC it would step out a bit only on a hard exit on tightish corners not on the way in , depending on the settings on B16's , stiffer it didnt do it , soft it did a little bit
I have the ESP disabled a lot of the time (on fun mode ) as with my charger on boost its standing on its nose a lot when losing traction so ESP kicking in so I would rather have some wheel spin than almost hitting my head off the dash lol , if I,m on a not too tight corner and nail it ,it doesnt step out on the rear unless its real bumpy or dubs or gravel on the roads , a lot of that around my way ,Holds hold well on turn in , on roughish roads up here it will scrabble a bit and now and again I did wash the front out so lifted off but didnt get oversteer on lift off with the B16 on compared to DRC so I have forgotten about that now
I might swap the fronts and rear roll bars to hard , or hard only on rear to see if there is any difference softer on fronts will help on turn in i spose but will depend on the tyre/ conditions , but as it is now i have no issues
over quite a while i did play around with settings on the B16 to find a setting i liked , but it was tricky to get the feel for each settings , on a specific circuit you would know corner to corner which is best , but ive not done a trackday as the nearest is near 200 miles away , anyhow , i set the from 9 (soft) run it , 8 run it, then all the way to 1 , then did 2 steps from front to rear then 4 difference then full hard and it was still ok overall but twitch on rear under braking hard and a bit of porpoising on fronts full soft on a undualting road , so went from full soft front to full hard rear over different road types and was still not too bad but could tell the difference , then went the other way and it wasn so good , was squirmy on front with heavy braking and the back was more uneven on powering out corners , so my normal day to go on just a nice /sporty drive is setting 6 front and rear and funday is setting 1 front and rear on the B16 the adjusted does damping and rebound on the adjuster and a big step from 9-8 and from 2-1 , so comfort on 9 and track on 1

[marc1]

Good info, cheers for that.

[ameet]

KW Variants 3, can't recommend them enough. Smooth enough to not even notice the car is lowered.

Parks well but drives even better! Bit of pic whoring below to give you an idea. The rears are on the lowest setting with the adjustors in.

[Esempe]

Thanks for the advice above!

I Went for the Goodyear's in the end..... About to get a set of 10mm spacers for the rear then will fit the KW's.

What's the best set up for the coilovers in your opinions? (Both damping / height and also wheel alignment if possible?)