Bought a S4 with Raceland coilovers

**auditrackspeed** · 08-23-2015 12:30 AM

Ok just bought a car with racelands he had it slammed . OMG the ride quality is so garbage !

So now if a slam the car on vogtland or st coilovers , how much better is the ride compared to raceland . what is raceland on a scale to 1-10 . 10 the worse

INFO the car was bouncing like a moon bounce and when i hit anything it seemed like the car was getting hit with a earth quake

**Fullyscared** · 08-23-2015 12:46 AM

Originally Posted by auditrackspeed

Ok just bought a car with racelands he had it slammed . OMG the ride quality is so garbage !

So now if a slam the car on vogtland or st coilovers , how much better is the ride compared to raceland . what is raceland on a scale to 1-10 . 10 the worse

INFO the car was bouncing like a moon bounce and when i hit anything it seemed like the car was getting hit with a earth quake

I had KWs on my last, they were V3s but god damn, those hands down the best coilovers in my opinion. Rode so so smooth.

**auditrackspeed** · 08-23-2015 01:03 AM

Originally Posted by Fullyscared

I had KWs on my last, they were V3s but god damn, those hands down the best coilovers in my opinion. Rode so so smooth.

Why do raceland bounce so much is the product that much trash ? As soon as i hit something hard the car bottoms out

**untitled001** · 08-23-2015 02:05 AM

Originally Posted by auditrackspeed

Ok just bought a car with racelands he had it slammed . OMG the ride quality is so garbage !

So now if a slam the car on vogtland or st coilovers , how much better is the ride compared to raceland . what is raceland on a scale to 1-10 . 10 the worse

INFO the car was bouncing like a moon bounce and when i hit anything it seemed like the car was getting hit with a earth quake

The ride quality will suffer greatly if ANY coilovers are maxed out, you may be practically riding on bump stops.
- Have you considered raising the car a bit to see if there is any improvements in ride quality?
- Are you looking for comfort, performance, or a slammed look?
If you are looking to replace them, many people run ST and Vogtland and a majority seems pretty satisfied.

I just received my set of Vogtland GT3, I will be installing them soon and I can let you know what my opinion of them if you are interested.

**rani_aridi** · 08-23-2015 01:15 PM

ST and vogtland are not coilovers good for going very low. As said above you can't really have a comfortably slammed car with any coilovers.

**Peter1.8t** · 08-23-2015 01:22 PM

Racelands are trash, anyone that says otherwise is an idiot and doesn't know shit about suspension.

**RocksForsSale** · 08-23-2015 01:45 PM

I have them on my car, they were on when I bought it. I blew one out from hitting a major pothole. However if you don't go super low, like I am, and have read they are actually ok. Mine ride pretty nice actually.

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**RocksForsSale** · 08-23-2015 01:48 PM

I was surprised at how cheap they are, 350 bucks or so?! I wouldn't want my car any lower either, they are comfortable. I'm not sure what you want for that price though.

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**LightningLou** · 08-23-2015 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by Peter1.8t

Racelands are trash, anyone that says otherwise is an idiot and doesn't know shit about suspension.

Hmm and you have firsthand experience with them? Let me guess you are running a $6k Ohlins suspension? They ride pretty well for me and have lasted 3 years now. I don't baby my car either and I regularly toss it around on and off ramps at high speeds. For $350 they have definitely proven themselves to me. As long as you don't slam them, they will hold up very well and ride great.

**LINDW4LL** · 08-23-2015 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by LightningLou

Hmm and you have firsthand experience with them? Let me guess you are running a $6k Ohlins suspension? They ride pretty well for me and have lasted 3 years now. I don't baby my car either and I regularly toss it around on and off ramps at high speeds. For $350 they have definitely proven themselves to me. As long as you don't slam them, they will hold up very well and ride great.

What other aftermarket coilovers do you have experience with? "Great" is relative. Compared to any competent suspension setup, Racelands are total garbage.

**Turtle** · 08-23-2015 03:27 PM

I think any c/o setup will ride bad if set too low. I have pss9s, quality stuff. And I wasn't happy with the ride quality. I messed with the setting and still wasn't happy. The car was by no means slammed, Just not adjusted after the initial settling.

In the end, I added some more height. Nothing crazy, maybe a half an inch or so. It made a world of difference in ride quality/comfort.

I haven't even played with the setting since. I hope this helps

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**Peter1.8t** · 08-23-2015 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by LightningLou

Hmm and you have firsthand experience with them? Let me guess you are running a $6k Ohlins suspension? They ride pretty well for me and have lasted 3 years now. I don't baby my car either and I regularly toss it around on and off ramps at high speeds. For $350 they have definitely proven themselves to me. As long as you don't slam them, they will hold up very well and ride great.

Yes, driven and ridden in cars with racelands. Absolutel garbage suspension. And yes I do have Ohlins, I prefer suspension that actually works. Just because you hit some off ramps at 60mph doesn't mean anything. You live in Florida, one of the flattest states, so don't act like you drive hard.

**zillarob** · 08-23-2015 04:52 PM

Lol, def garbage next to ohlins at the track, but just fine for a daily driver. They are $400 shocks, wtf do people expect?
They pull dd duty just fine and you can burn through 5 sets for what some people charge just to rebuild ohlins. And thats not even factoring in the initial cost.

The reality is many people wouldnt even notice the difference, and even less drive them in a manner to take advantage of those differences.

Id say all the shock options for our cars have their places, for one reason or another.

**DieselElectric** · 08-23-2015 05:22 PM

Hated the racelands on my MKV. Cheap yes, and lost the ability to adjust from corrosion after one winter.

Wished I had just got a quality strut/spring combo, not as expensive as coilovers, better than racelands.

**zillarob** · 08-23-2015 05:32 PM

They all corrode. The high end ohlins and penskes are prob the best here though.
Just sent a set of ohlins out after like 5yrs and they were still primo when I pulled them off.

I wouldnt want to try to adjust any of the others after a single winter in PA. Even coated with something like boesheild or lithium grease, salt is the devil

This is one of the nice things about the el cheapo shocks, just buy new ones

**Dorny1** · 08-23-2015 05:45 PM

For the money racelands are great, but bottom them out and drive around they ride like crap. Had mine for 2 years at 23.5" ftg and they ride fine and handle as good as my vogtlands did (bottom shelf vogtlands) Of course I have the Primo's and i've rode in cars with the regular Racelands and they do bounce.

**LightningLou** · 08-23-2015 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by LINDW4LL

What other aftermarket coilovers do you have experience with? "Great" is relative. Compared to any competent suspension setup, Racelands are total garbage.

On these cars, all I have experience with is stock and Racelands. I enjoyed the way this car rode stock minus the understeer that can be fixed with a larger rear sway and the 4x4 ride height. The Racelands ride like stock to me and there is no weird squeaks or clunks in my suspension whatsoever. Money well spent IMO.

Originally Posted by Peter1.8t

Yes, driven and ridden in cars with racelands. Absolutel garbage suspension. And yes I do have Ohlins, I prefer suspension that actually works. Just because you hit some off ramps at 60mph doesn't mean anything. You live in Florida, one of the flattest states, so don't act like you drive hard.

So let me get this straight, you put a $6k suspension on a street car?? Smart. Look out for potholes and expensive rebuilds on those Ohlins when they start leaking. I'll pass on that. I hope you roadcourse your car every weekend and have a fully stripped interior with a welded in cage if you are all about your race car handling. Not worth it on a street car unless you like a rough and bumpy ass race suspension for the highway. I like my spine. I've lived in 5 different states in the past 10 years, so I have experienced plenty of mountain roads with tons of twisties. The most excitement I can get in Florida are some twisty roads in the country and on ramps I hit at 80-90mph. My "garbage" Racelands go out and I'm out $400... Whoopdeefriggendoo.

**Peter1.8t** · 08-23-2015 06:30 PM

Originally Posted by LightningLou

On these cars, all I have experience with is stock and Racelands. I enjoyed the way this car rode stock minus the understeer that can be fixed with a larger rear sway and the 4x4 ride height. The Racelands ride like stock to me and there is no weird squeaks or clunks in my suspension whatsoever. Money well spent IMO.

So let me get this straight, you put a $6k suspension on a street car?? Smart. Look out for potholes and expensive rebuilds on those Ohlins when they start leaking. I'll pass on that. I hope you roadcourse your car every weekend and have a fully stripped interior with a welded in cage if you are all about your race car handling. Not worth it on a street car unless you like a rough and bumpy ass race suspension for the highway. I like my spine. I've lived in 5 different states in the past 10 years, so I have experienced plenty of mountain roads with tons of twisties. The most excitement I can get in Florida are some twisty roads in the country and on ramps I hit at 80-90mph. My "garbage" Racelands go out and I'm out $400... Whoopdeefriggendoo.

Dude I have to laugh at you because you literally are the epitome of my original post. Bravo to you, and hats off for living up to the stereotype of raceland owners. Come back and play again once you have more experience in this game.

**LightningLou** · 08-23-2015 06:39 PM

Originally Posted by Peter1.8t

Dude I have to laugh at you because you literally are the epitome of my original post. Bravo to you, and hats off for living up to the stereotype of raceland owners. Come back and play again once you have more experience in this game.

And you are the epitome of a keyboard racer. Glad you got a good laugh... I'm the only one laughing cause I spent $400 on my Racelands and you spent $6k on some Ohlins. So what's your best lap time on the Nurburgring dude? You hang out with Lewis Hamilton on the weekends too??

**LINDW4LL** · 08-23-2015 06:42 PM

Appropriate, me thinks.

Then again, what I've come to realize about the Raceland guys- they don't know quality, and don't care. They just want to be slammed for cheap and end up gloating about how good their car rides for the $400 they spent. Sad.

**LightningLou** · 08-23-2015 06:56 PM

This is hilarious. Let's quote Aldo Gucci lmfao!! All I'm stating is that Raceland's are comparable to stock ride and provide very little to no performance gain and rid your B5 S4 of the ugly 4x4 ride height. If you want to drop your S4 and like the smooth factory ride, buy some Racelands and call it a day.

If you still live with your parents and have no mortgage, a wife/girlfriend, and no other bills to pay on a monthly basis, buy some $6k coilovers. Because Aldo Gucci says so... Don't forget to purchase some handbags while you're at it

**zillarob** · 08-23-2015 07:39 PM

Its pretty much a different strokes, different folks thing. Lots of right answers here.

If I were still in WA, and didnt have to worry about salt fkn up my pss9's again, I would have put another set on.
If its all the same, and they are just going to be trashed in a year or two from salt, racelands it is.
Lots of different reasons for lots of different shocks.

I feel the same as lou about them. Little firmer than stock, and ride fine at a reasonable height.
The racelands do seem to be a little underdamped for the spring they run, not terrible though.

For el cheapo dd shocks, they fill the bill nicely. If they last as long as the the salt will allow, Im good.
Now if I were a professional rayskar driver, instead of professional rayskar fixer, springing for the good shit would start to make more sense.

**LINDW4LL** · 08-23-2015 07:42 PM

For those of you that run Racelands, what tires do you run? I'm curious.

**zillarob** · 08-23-2015 07:45 PM

The round black kind

I think Im rollin those sumi htrz3 or something like that.

**Tjtalan** · 08-23-2015 08:00 PM

Racelands are junk, that's why you can get them for less then a set of struts. But if all your trying to do is get low and look fast then they are worth every penny. I had them on my MK5 Jetta, they served that purpose. They rode nice enough, but we're extremely bouncy. Would I put them on this car, no... If I come upon another MK5 or below Ill use them again.

**zillarob** · 08-23-2015 08:31 PM

Stancetard is stancetard. It doesnt really matter what shocks you are running when the inner fender is sitting on the control arms..

At stockish ride height, mine dont feel much different than the vogtland or st cars I drive every other day or so.
I like the ride now better than I liked the ride on the pss9s at 25ish gtf, not really a fair comparison though.
If the collars werent seized on the pss9s and I could raise them up, prob would have been much better.

Not even going to try to compare them to the ohlins car Im working on now. Hopefully the rears arent making the clunking noise anymore after a rebuild that would have bought 3 sets of the el cheapos (that dont clunk)

**Dorny1** · 08-23-2015 08:49 PM

Nobody is saying Racelands are the best but for the money, and the results for DD use in the Northern States, they work great. I Would love to have Ohlins but the way my checking account is set up....

**cinimod25461** · 08-23-2015 10:32 PM

Originally Posted by Dorny1

Nobody is saying Racelands are the best but for the money, and the results for DD use in the Northern States, they work great. I Would love to have Ohlins but the way my checking account is set up....

Hahaha the Kevin Hart reference made me LOL

**landfill** · 08-23-2015 11:22 PM

It is what it is. You don't have big boy bread and don't care to much about superior handling and just want
to lower your ride el cheapo's it is. It's not a bad thing just not everyone's cup of tea. Especially in the realm
of modding for performance and function over form.

**rani_aridi** · 08-24-2015 02:36 AM

Originally Posted by LightningLou

And you are the epitome of a keyboard racer. Glad you got a good laugh... I'm the only one laughing cause I spent $400 on my Racelands and you spent $6k on some Ohlins. So what's your best lap time on the Nurburgring dude? You hang out with Lewis Hamilton on the weekends too??

Go back to your fb group.

On a serious note, my car came with ST's and I absolutely hate them. I have them on my gti and they ride and handle phenomenal, but I don't plan on cheaping out on coilovers for the S4. Hoping to change to koni yellow "race" shocks, swift springs, and adjustable perches. Not sure why people just don't go this route. I only see people do 2 types of suspension setups: st/raceland/vogtland (I know, not equals) OR ohlins. Never anything in between...

**hibiscusS4** · 08-24-2015 05:44 AM

i know i have racelands in my car and with my car at a decent height they do just fine. ive been in cars with st's bc's and other coils are they better oh ya but they also arent 400 dollars ha. there perfectly fine for daily duty at a reasonable height

**DieselElectric** · 08-24-2015 06:51 AM

Originally Posted by rani_aridi

Go back to your fb group.

On a serious note, my car came with ST's and I absolutely hate them. I have them on my gti and they ride and handle phenomenal, but I don't plan on cheaping out on coilovers for the S4. Hoping to change to koni yellow "race" shocks, swift springs, and adjustable perches. Not sure why people just don't go this route. I only see people do 2 types of suspension setups: st/raceland/vogtland (I know, not equals) OR ohlins. Never anything in between...

Agreed. I'm surprised as well.

Hell, I'm running Tein S springs now on stock struts, and will be installing a set of Billy Sports before winter. The Teins have close to the same rate as stock, just a lower ride height. Add in the sport struts and I expect a decent ride.

Granted, the struts alone are still more than racelands, but I just feel that an S4 is above that. It's one thing to go put Chinese turbos on, but suspension can get you killed.

**jpurre** · 08-24-2015 07:59 AM

Eibach ProKit + Bilstein Sports =

**CELison** · 08-24-2015 08:30 AM

I really like my vogtlands. 5 years, no issues

**Yuppie** · 08-24-2015 08:48 AM

Bilstien and H&R setup- did the job of making it look good and handling little better then stock
Stasis street coilvers- felt good and grounded
H&R coilovers- felt good for daily driving and messing around on street, never tracked
Eibach coilovers- felt good for daily driving, wouldn't really mess around too much
Koni and eibach setup- didn't like it just didn't feel too stable
2bennet custom spec coilovers- feels good for most part but something is missing. I have/am considering higher end stuff since it is on my 770 s4.

I guess if it came down to just DD and all show no go I may consider race land but I would rather not risk it since you typically focus on go with the s4s.

To each their own and if you feel as though it works for you great but don't try to put down people who actually put their suspension to use. Also to make a statement about 6k coilovers on s4 is dumb is just like saying all the money we spend on stage 3 is dumb.

**aysix** · 08-24-2015 09:42 AM

since everyone else is giving their two cents...

I've driven/rode in

B5 S4 w/ ST's
B5 S4 w/ H&R's
B5 S4 w/ bilstein shocks/h&r springs
B5 S4 w/ Ohlins
B5 S4 w/ Raceland
B5 A4 w/ PSS9
C5 A6 w/ ST's
C5 A6 w/ KW V1

The car (quinnsterkid) w/ H&R drove very nice, for the money they seem to be a very good upgrade. For the Ohlins, for just street driving it felt like a normal coilover setup, wasn't impressed but i guess they're supposed to be tracked, why they're on street cars beats me.

**christianb5s4** · 08-24-2015 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by aysix

since everyone else is giving their two cents...

The car (quinnsterkid) w/ H&R drove very nice, for the money they seem to be a very good upgrade. For the Ohlins, for just street driving it felt like a normal coilover setup, wasn't impressed but i guess they're supposed to be tracked, why they're on street cars beats me.

I've seen nothing but good things about the H&Rs, KW V1/2/3, PSS9s, and Ohlins. I'm going the H&R route, rode in jballou's car (KW V1s I believe) and it felt great.

As for the ones on my car, they are way past their prime but I have Koni coilovers and they suck. Super soft, bouncy, and I'm not even slammed to the floor. Do it once and do it right, think about how you intend to drive your car hard and where you intend to drive it matched with what you're willing to spend.

IMO based on research, this is my order from cheap to expensive (best setup for each price point):

- Vogtlands
- BC Racing
- H&R/KWV1s
- KW V3s/PSS9s/Stasis tracksports
- Ohlins

**rani_aridi** · 08-24-2015 02:29 PM

^V1's are basically ST's. And I'm sure Vogtlands are waayy better. ST's are super bouncy and somehow make my car feel like a boat. But as soon as I hit a bump it's as if my car skips over them instead of absorbing

**LightningLou** · 08-24-2015 02:37 PM

Originally Posted by rani_aridi

^V1's are basically ST's. And I'm sure Vogtlands are waayy better. ST's are super bouncy and somehow make my car feel like a boat. But as soon as I hit a bump it's as if my car skips over them instead of absorbing

Interesting... My Racelands are not bouncy at all and cost $300 less than the ST's new. I hear more issues about people with bouncy ST's than any other coilover setup available for this platform. Sounds like poor valving.

Btw I am not attached to any FB group dude.

**redline380** · 08-24-2015 02:41 PM

Raceland's fucking blow. Literally and figuratively.

My avant has bilstein/h&r combo and rides way better than my sedan with racelands, which I received as a gift. An upgrade will be in the future for the sedan.

If you are considering racelands, don't. Just don't. Get something decent.

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