Update: I went and installed the Koni Special Actives, and kept the OEM SLine springs. I am working on a deeper review, but here is the short of it.
Goal: To minimize some harshness, specifically when I hit expansion joints/repairs on freeways specifically. (Mind you, I live in SoCal and or the most part our freeways are pretty smooth... not Germany smooth, but nothing like major metros like Chicago, NY, etc..)
I chose the KSA's based on a recent installation by a family member who put them on his 20yr old 911. Good feedback. Watched all the videos I could find, called Koni to make sure I was getting what I was looking for. The biggest challenge was determining if I wanted to add the Eibach Pro springs. These were bought based on some conversations I had with A6/S6 owners in Europe. From what I learned, the SLine suspension on the C6 series was very good. Lots of people I met shared with me that Audi completely missed the SLine suspension on the C7 series and many owners who had the C6 series were trying to find the best combination to mimic what the C6 had (which was a combination of excellent highway comfort and solid performance/capabilities when the driving gets 'fun').
Again, I was not trying to build a track day car... this is a daily that can see 200-300 miles a day for work purposes at times. I was not expecting Lincoln Town Car smooth... just a little upgrade which Koni was 100% certain these shocks would provide.
As advertised, the KSA's as designed would "lessen the harshness on impact of small irregularities and give a more connected feel vs the stock suspension." I speaking with Koni, the only variable would be the springs. I looked for over a month to try and figure out the spring rate of the stock SLine springs (never found) to compare to the Eibach's. In speaking with Eibach (VERY helpful), they were able to give me the spring rates for the Eibach Pro's and spring rates for the C7 A6 OEM springs they tested against... but they could not tell me what the OEM springs were they compared to. Stock? SLine? No idea. But the spring rate delta was 30ftlb's, which was less than 10% stiffer than the stock versions they tested against.
When installing the Koni's I took a look at the stock SLine springs and it was obvious, the number of coils of the Eibach's and the coil diameter as compared to the OEM's would result in a stiffer spring, and probably more than 10%. Interestingly, the spring length was almost identical to the stock SLine, so the drop people are getting has to be based on the spring winding (Eibach's have twice as many coils but a slightly smaller coil diameter.)
Result:
Not only did the Koni's NOT remove the harshness I was looking for, they have actually made the ride a bit worse overall. Two major issues.
1. The stock front shock tower has a rubber donut that is attached to the spring perch. This is bonded to the shock perch, and I assume it's purpose is to reduce vibration/road noise. Has to be, because the amount of road noise I now get has increased quite a bit.
2. I know this may not seem logical, but the shocks are a bit harsh until they seemly warm up a bit. It's not slammed on cheap coilover's harsh... but every bump is now pronounced and transmits throughout he entire car. Add the aforementioned increase in road noise and layer in a few new rattles (I HATE rattles)... ugh.
BUT... as these warm up they do seem to remove a little of the impact harshness on the freeway, but the added road noise makes it seem a lot worse.
AND... When you consider I am running H&R swaybars F&R the addition of the Koni's has made the car overall much tighter. The best way to describe this is the car feels more like a A4 size vs A6. Smaller, quicker to respond to input... it is just a bit sharper in the handling area. That was a pleasant surprise as my rig is a TDI.
Another interesting fact... we corner weighed the car before and after the shock upgrade, and the front to rear weight bias is damn near 50/50 (literally less than 20 lbs delta on a 4200 lb vehicle... we were stunned!). Corner balance was very, very good as well... not as close as the F/R but something so minimal we agreed shimming would be pointless as the suspension is limited on adjustability overall.)
Installation was very straight forward. Every bolt/nut was (per Audi spec) replaced, torqued in steps and with the suspension under load at pre-measured ride hight... and re-checked a week later.
So now what?
First step is I am going to see if I can pry off the rubber doughnuts off the front OEM shocks and mount them to the Koni's in some fashion to confirm what they actually do. If I can reverse some of the road noise, maybe the KSA's stay on as I do like the overall 'tightness' of the suspension when in fun mode (another costly option would be to Dynamat the floor). I am also talking with Koni to see if they have any thoughts on if these shocks are ideal for my needs, so far they are 'surprised' that I have not seen an immediate (even if subtle) improvement on ride quality and the road noise increase has them asking questions at the factory/engineering level.
I have had more than a few people recommend the Bilstein "Green Body" Touring shocks. Sold in Europe, I have had more than a few people tell me these are what I am looking for and a couple people share their opinion that the Bilstein Green's w/the Eibach Pros are a winning combination. (So for now the springs are BNIB waiting for what's next.)
Lastly, I am going to probably pull the springs off and have the spring rates determined. From there I can decide on the Eibachs, even if the spring rates are a bit stiffer (310ftlb vs 330ftlb for example) I might make the swap if they would work better with a different shock. I am also looking into the cost/availability of the Bilstein Green versions cost wise and may try that.
In conclusion would I recommend the KSA? Probably only if your car is due for new shocks and you want to tighten up the overall feel a bit. Do they work as advertised... well not for what I was trying to do, but again on smooth roads they are as good as the OEM but the road noise is a definite factor.
Finally... for those of you ready to respond with "well what were you expecting, they are a SPORT shock" hold off on that thought. The whole premise of the KSA was an overall IMPROVED ride quality vs stock. Watch the videos... you'll find they compared everything on a BMW, but they never tested them on a M series (or for that matter sport style suspension... at least I was not able to determine that). Koni reps I have spoken with are all surprised with my experience, and are willing to swap out the shocks but I can't say they are not operating correctly. They also can't explain why the shocks seems to 'settle' and the ride quality improves after 15-20 minutes of driving. Until we can determine if something is not correct, why go through a swap out only to find the same issue. They are trying to confirm what the rubber doughnut does, they agree it probably helps with road noise type vibrations... appreciate they are willing to ask the factory for feedback. Overall, Koni has been awesome in response/feedback.
I hope this info is helpful... feel free to PM me if you have more questions.
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Originally Posted by Antimatter
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