While this would have been helpful for me before I bought I figured I should try and help the next RS3 owner with some words on the kit.
First of all so you understand where I am coming from the RS3 is not my DD, track car or beater ;) I bought it on impulse because it was Riveria Blue even though I considered getting a RS3 when they first came out ( I was a 2017 deposit) but the whole port fisaco soured me on the car.
I have a 2017 Macan GTS in Mexico Blue, a 2018 GT3.2 Maritime Blue, 2012 Boxster Spyder and a 2018 Mini Cooper JCW as a beater that I send out in harms way of the wild streets of OC and a couple of air cooled 911's. The GT3 is in a league of its own, the Spyder right behind it. I am amused when the Macan rave about their handling...sure for a CUV is handles very well and that's it. I have a whole 244 miles on the RS3 and I dont imagine I will cross 1k this year so I cannot provide some detail about the handling outside of the 100 miles I have added since installation.
The RS3 handles well, not Porsche well but very well for a sports sedan. I did not like the gap and I also did not want to rush into a lowering solution. My first choice was MSS. As I have stated I called the distributor on the Easy Coast who gave me a local shop to do the installation. After that phone call I think MSS needs ot rehtink whom to recommend in the future. I looked at all the low hanging fruit ones, most of the arguments were based on costs, frankly that is not my first concern, instead quality, ease of installation coupled with skill and reputation. I have no desire to sully the names of any other brands as previous installations of H&R and other brands have provided good results. I chose to go with KW and Auto Art for the installation as it worked for me as I grew up int eh South Bay and had friends I could spend the day with while it was installed.
I explained how much of a drop I wanted, I wanted a slight rake ( fwd). A few hours later it was completed. First go round it was exactly what I wanted, about 50% of the available drop was used.
Now I will tell you that anyone that says after installing aftermarket springs that it rides " better" or " OEM" is fooling themselves. Of course it changes. I have had over 70 cars in my 50 years on the planet and most of them I have screwed with the suspension. The only time I can honestly say that the ride was better was the Ohlins on my RS4. Other than that there is some diminishment of the factory ride.
I would say in the short time I have had it that the car in Comfort is 85% of OEM and in Dynamic is 75%. In Comfort there is less roll and dive but as I said about 15% firmer ( with a 50% drop) Dynamic is much firmer and on smooth roads I can see how this would be ideal but we no longer have smooth roads in OC.
Looks wise it is exactly what I wanted. I have no complaints at this point. I may add to this as I add more miles. As I said they will come slowly but if anything of note happens I will post it.
I hope this helps anyone thinking of the KW HAS kit.
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Originally Posted by Mops@Nemesis
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