Best shocks for h&r OE sport springs

[elscotto80]

I have a set of h&r OE sports on my stock non-sport shocks. They have become increasingly rough as expected. I see that we have the bilstiens and koni shocks available. I have not seen much in regard to which shock is best with this spring. Anyone have any input?

Thanks!

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[AdrianLee]

Koni FSD Kit should be good. Its a little pricey though. I've heard good things about these shocks

[deceptacon]

Bilsteins or koni. Depends on what you want. Koni is twin tube and bilstein is mono tube. Just my preference, I prefer a twin tube for daily driving.

[jlaudio]

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...oni-FSD-shocks!

same price as the Koni's you can get a quality coilover such as H&R or Vogtland

[audiAYYY4]

good luck.

check out the Koni yellows. They are adjustable so over time you should be able to find a comfort level you like. Not externally adjustable unfortunately, you'll need to remove them in order to adjust. So sad, other cars have options for externally adjustable shocks but not us.

In the future try buying a suspension kit (springs and shocks together, like the Bilstein B12) or coilovers. No worrying about springs and shocks matching.

[elscotto80]

Yeah I am sort of regretting not getting a matched set. Thanks for the input folks!

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[SleeperCar]

i am in the same boat, i dont necessarily regret springs because it was the quickest and cheapest way to get a solid drop other than cutting springs which is not something i would ever do).

Personally, i would just save the money you would spend on new shocks and just get coils. you might be able to recoup some of the cost by selling the springs too.

[Pared]

Got S4 suspension for cheap - did the job.

[elscotto80]

Yeah I thought about that as well but had read that it does not drop as much due to the s4 being heavier.

One thing that I have noticed that with the warmer temps (30s) it rides way better and is not as bouncy. Perhaps I will just ride out the winter and maybe things will be better by springtime.

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[o1turbo30v]

If you are looking for a stock type ride I would just order some OE replacement shocks for Sports Suspension, like Sachs, Boge, Bilstein Touring Class, etc. from numerous online dealers it will be a little firmer than your non-sport shocks but not overly firm. If you are looking for something a little more than a stock sports suspension ride I would go with Bilstein Sports, they are not adjustable but do you really want to take the Koni Sports off the car every time to tweak the dampening? The Bilsteins ride so well, I had them on my B5 S4, B7 S4, numerous GTI's, etc. AWE had the rears for $90/each a little while ago, shop around, you should be able to get a full set off whatever for $400-$700.

[ChornsYYC]

Have the exact same setup as the OP (non-sport suspension with H&R OE sport springs). I'm happy with the ride height the way it is. Thinking about going with the Bilsteins but have read discussion where people claim the HD's may raise the vehicle and the sports could lower it. I'm calling BS on both accounts but would love to hear from someone who has ran either setup.

[Excelerate]

Bilstein and KONI make the best shocks for the B8 chassis IMO.

[ChornsYYC]

Sorry to hijack... I can't find the time for a thorough search - anyone know what the recommended Bilstein shock is when running H&R OE sport springs on non-sport suspension. HD's or sport?

[gsommerp]

Sorry to hijack... I can't find the time for a thorough search - anyone know what the recommended Bilstein shock is when running H&R OE sport springs on non-sport suspension. HD's or sport?

I've ran HDs in other cars, and really liked them. The sports are stiffer, however the HDs are stiff enough IMO. I also have H&R OE sport springs and need a little stiffer struts and shocks.

[Mike@PureMS]

We recommend the KONI Sport adjustables. KONI FSD's are fine shocks, but don't work too well with a lowering spring. Bilsteins are nice, but tend to ride a bit more firm on bad pavement.
We've got both available, email or PM if you're interested.

[B G 8er]

I actually have the OEM Sport shocks on the H&R OE sport springs. At first they were alright but they are occasionally feeling a little bouncey/floaty, mostly on larger bumps at higher speeds.

I think my recommendation would be to replace the shocks and springs with a paired set. Someone just recently posted in another thread you can buy Bilsteins for the B8 with matched Eibach springs.

Anyways, for me after much thought and research on the H&R OE issue, I decided to majorly splurge and purchase the Stasis Ohlins coilovers through Europrice. I will post my impressions after Eurocode completes the installation when I can get the car to them later this month.

[audiAYYY4]

I actually have the OEM Sport shocks on the H&R OE sport springs. At first they were alright but they are occasionally feeling a little bouncey/floaty, mostly on larger bumps at higher speeds.

I think my recommendation would be to replace the shocks and springs with a paired set. Someone just recently posted in another thread you can buy Bilsteins for the B8 with matched Eibach springs.

Anyways, for me after much thought and research on the H&R OE issue, I decided to majorly splurge and purchase the Stasis Ohlins coilovers through Europrice. I will post my impressions after Eurocode completes the installation when I can get the car to them later this month.

I look forward to hearing about the Ohlins. Price and maintenance turned me off, but I've been in a car with Ohlins and was amazed at how much grip that car had around the track. It might have been a different type of coilovers, but all Ohlins have that pedigree for great suspensions.

[B G 8er]

I was able to take advantage of some special year end pricing from Alex @ Europrice so the price was rather comparable to what I would have had to pay for a set of Bilstein PS10s or KW V3s, etc. I am hoping the ride quality and performance characteristics are high above the others as Alex is promising. He explains that the maintenance can be stretched out and after speaking with Jeff at Stassis' Tech support, he told me their website needs to be updated, that Stassis is no longer automatically charging customers the servicing costs if the servicing to maintain the warranty is skipped prior to rebuilding the dampers. I also spoke with Ohlins USA and they explained that Satsis buys individual "parts" from Ohlins (not entire dampers) and builds the dampers to their own specs thus the technology of the dampers is Ohlins however, the dampers are actually a custom Stassis product. He explained to me the resason Stassis is so strict with their warranty policies is because technically, these products are "racing" technology which has been adapted for dual street use. They are made for performance first above "long term durability". They assume most product owners will drive on them aggressively plus, they have to contend with the fact that many of their coilover sets will see poor conditions such as rough roads, inclement weather conditions in places like the NE with road salts, etc. I don't have any intentions of tracking my car and live in S. Cal. I am as cautious as possible over LA pot holes and the worst my car will probably see will be occasional canyon runs with fellow Audi enthusiasts.

[audiAYYY4]

I was able to take advantage of some special year end pricing from Alex @ Europrice so the price was rather comparable to what I would have had to pay for a set of Bilstein PS10s or KW V3s, etc. I am hoping the ride quality and performance characteristics are high above the others as Alex is promising.

Unless of course, you would have also noticed the PSS10s on sale near the end of the year . LOL

Interesting stuff, I didn't know Stasis did the dampers themselves.

[B G 8er]

Unless of course, you would have also noticed the PSS10s on sale near the end of the year . LOL

Interesting stuff, I didn't know Stasis did the dampers themselves.

Good Point! Another interesting benefit of the Stassis coilovers is you can set them minimum lowering near the OEM sport package suspension height.

[audiAYYY4]

Good Point! Another interesting benefit of the Stassis coilovers is you can set them minimum lowering near the OEM sport package suspension height.

Oh so thats even a little higher than H&R OE springs (just trying to keep on topic, lol).

The front struts for the Bilsteins can probably be adjusted higher than OEM, non-sport. So much of the shock body is threaded. I'm at 26" gtf and tons of room to go up (at least 2-3" ).


The back springs would be the limiting factor. I dont have a pic of that, but if I had to guestimate I would say I could maybe get to 27" ground to fender. I'm not sure what OEM sport or non-sport are. Someone once told me there non-sport was 28", I think.

I wonder if Stasis makes the shocks custom to the A4, instead of something that might work for both A4 and S4, and possibly others. Custom would be awesome.

[millerrh]

Oh so thats even a little higher than H&R OE springs (just trying to keep on topic, lol).

The front struts for the Bilsteins can probably be adjusted higher than OEM, non-sport. So much of the shock body is threaded. I'm at 26" gtf and tons of room to go up (at least 2-3").


The back springs would be the limiting factor. I dont have a pic of that, but if I had to guestimate I would say I could maybe get to 27" ground to fender. I'm not sure what OEM sport or non-sport are. Someone once told me there non-sport was 28", I think.

I wonder if Stasis makes the shocks custom to the A4, instead of something that might work for both A4 and S4, and possibly others. Custom would be awesome.

While the Bilsteins might have a large threaded body, they have limits to where you can set the perches. I'm sitting at 26.2 fender-to-ground right now and getting spring binding sounds from them. I suspect it's cause I'm too high. I'm going to go check this weekend against this spec in the manual.

[audiAYYY4]

While the Bilsteins might have a large threaded body, they have limits to where you can set the perches. I'm sitting at 26.2 fender-to-ground right now and getting spring binding sounds from them. I suspect it's cause I'm too high. I'm going to go check this weekend against this spec in the manual.

Oh, thanks for clearing that up. I guess I don't know how high they can go then.

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[Mike@PureMS]

The max height of the suspension is going to be dictated by the length of the shock. You can spin the perches all the way up if you want, but at some point the shock will top out and the car won't go any higher.
Typically Bilstein sport shocks are about an inch, sometimes more, shorter than the factory shock. This will generally limit the car from getting near the factory ride height.

[audiAYYY4]

The max height of the suspension is going to be dictated by the length of the shock. You can spin the perches all the way up if you want, but at some point the shock will top out and the car won't go any higher.
Typically Bilstein sport shocks are about an inch, sometimes more, shorter than the factory shock. This will generally limit the car from getting near the factory ride height.

I see. Thanks for the info.