So... I went with the Bilstein PSS10 set up for the adjustable dampening. They only became available recently in a limited supply for the B8, so I was lucky to track a set down. Most stores won't have any in stock until sometime in March. I was really torn between KW, Koni, and Bilstein. Seeing as Bilstein has a good name and the PSS9's and PSS10 applications on other cars had good reviews, I took the gamble and went with this set up. Seeing as my A4 is my daily driver, I wanted to be able to switch it between a good ride for normal day to day driving as well as an aggressive set up for track use. Being an adjustable coilover, I went 50mm lower then stock. My car came with the Sport Package which is 20mm lower then stock, so this is 30mm lower than the Sport Package. The B8's camber isnt really adjustable, so going any lower then this and the tires will really ride on the inside. -50mm will allow for some correction in the toe to even out tire wear. So far, I haven't had a single issue with bottoming out and I love the way my car looks. It isnt too low, but the stance is perfect for me. The only issue with my car being this low is my old floor jack no longer fits under the car. Just a slight lift on the fender and moving the jack with my foot under the jack point under the fronts works just fine. I could just buy a new jack, but I'm too cheap
.Fit and Finish . The front coilovers are chrome plated, the springs are blue, and the shocks are the normal yellow with a blue boot that you would expect from Bilstein. The kit looks nice in the box, but you won't notice any of it under the car. Even with the car this low, you can still reach the dials underneath without it being jacked up which is nice as it makes it very easy. The kit also comes with 2 spanners so you can adjust the ride height yourself, assuming you know what youre doing and have a reliable way to measure the travel. When adjusting the dampening settings, the dials have clicks to indicate what position theyre in. Turning clockwise for a harder ride, counter-clockwise for a softer ride. All you need to do is turn the dial all the way to one side and count the clicks.
Installation. I bought several different spring compressors to attempt to tackle the install by myself. Unfortunately, none of the compressors that I bought would fit in the tight spaces enough to allow me to compress the springs. I could have opted for the tie down/ratchet method that a previous poster had done a nice suspension DIY write on, but I had a bad experience doing this in the past and just opted to pay someone to install them. The cost of the tools alone just about covered the installation cost.
Daily driving. Riding around town, I've played with the adjustments a little bit and found that of the 10 settings (1 being softest, 10 being hardest), 6 is just about perfect for me. It feels the same as my Sport Package suspension, and while some people complain that the Sport Package springs are too stiff, I personally like the way the they felt for daily driving. The Bilstein's can go even softer if you'd like. I drove around at level 2 for a little while but as the springs wore in and it became a little too soft for me and the the car began to surge a little under acceleration and dive a bit under hard braking. I played with the settings to find a perfect spot for me which was 6. Steering remains very responsive, as does acceleration and braking. So far, I have 2,500 miles on them and I've been very happy with the ride and haven't noticed any abnormal tire wear.
On the negative, the Sport Package springs have a large rubber spacer between the strut and spring to minimize road noise. The PSS10s only have a very thin piece of nylon, so if you go over any small bumps in the road you'll hear it. I thought there was something loose under the car until the tech that installed then showed me the spacers from the stock strut which is something I didn't even think about when I opened up the boxes. You get used to the noise, but it's a bit annoying. Overall, it's a big downer I think. Im sure there are quieter coilover kits that would perform just as well without the road noise for people that arent interested in tracking theyre car.
Track use. I took my car out to Infineon which is a very tight and technical track full of elevation changes, hard braking zones, and a lot of turns. For track use, I have a set of 18" Enkei RPF1 wheels with 245/45/18 Khumo XS tires and I set the coilovers on the most aggressive setting (10 on the dial). The difference between this and the Sport Package suspension is huge. Infineon is a great place for me to compare my previous springs to the Bilstein's as I've driven this track several times. In stock form, I noticed a lot of understeer on sharp turns as well as a lot of body roll in the S turns. The Sports Package springs/shocks do fairly well on the track, but when the car is really pushed there is a lot of body roll. With the Bilstein's, I noticed very little body roll as well as almost ZERO understeer. Aggressive tires mixed with these coilovers make the steering almost telepathic. Due to the stiffer set up, I could brake later, get on the throttle earlier, and carry a lot more speed in the slower sections of the track. For track use, this was one of the best mods I've done by far. This makes a BBK my next mod for sure as I could really feel the heat due to the speed I was able to carry through the slower sections.
The only negative on the Bilstein PSS10 besides its higher price is the road noise. Overall, Im very happy with the kit and for anyone thats wants a coilover setup thats easy to adjust ride height as well as dampening, I would recommend these.
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Originally Posted by coolwater
NickZag - you're now on my speed dial
I've seen it a couple times now and I'm dealing with the same thing
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