RS3 8Y -- lowering options without losing daily feel/comfort

[Amirh87]

I love the way this car drives and feels. However, I'd really like it if it was a few miles lower for aesthetic and performance.

I made a huge mistake on my previous car by putting springs on. It felt great at speed or canyon runs but as a daily it was just so crashy. With that said, my previous car, didn't have adaptive suspension

Now with me as an owner of a brand new 8Y. What options are available that is compatible with adaptive suspension but doesn't completely ruin the daily "feel" of this vehicle.

I'm also interested in track & autocross days.


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[Alex D]

It seems from the eibach europe site, the 8Y platform shares the same part numbers as the 8V for springs.

[8STTRS]

I ended up getting KW HAS springs. I enjoy the way they feel and the kind of handling they offer with respect to how the car felt stock and what it was I was searching for. It's certainly nowhere near as harsh as my ZL1 1LE or even my wife's RS3 with JRI coilovers.

[Amirh87]

I'm nervous about springs. I put the 034 springs on my old A4 and it ruined the car as a DD. Felt great on canyon runs, but it was so crashy.

I'm glad guys are having better experiences with the eibach and the KW.

If I wanted to go the whole way with coil overs. What kits would be compatible with adaptive suspension?


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[Alex D]

If it’s a daily, my rule is to not go too low. I try to stay to a max of 1” lowering on a daily driven car. My ideal lowering is .50-.75” but not many spring manufacturers offer that.

[XLR8Performance]

So the coilovers won't allow you to keep the Adaptive Suspension, So what you would do is also acquire an 'electronic dampening cancellation kit' and I can send you over the info for that as well.
There's a couple really great options for you for coilovers, Including KW, as well as ABT.

You'd be looking at KW's V3 Kit, This set-up really gives you a better, and much more enjoyable performance on the street.
It's equipped with dual level valves that are independently adjustable for compression (road comfort) and rebound (driving dynamics) dampening
So you can really make your set-up your own, and have it feel, and preform exactly as you want.
You can drop the fronts from .8" - 1.6"
and the rears 1"-1.8" with this set-up

ABT's Coilover set -up can have you drop the front from .8"-1.6",
and the rears .8"-1.8"
their system is equipped with adjustable rebound as well, in addition to pressure/preload adjustment

Both would require the shutdown of the electronic dampeners, and KW actually carries a kit for that!

Let me know if you'd like some more info on any of this! Happy to help you out

[o1turbo30v]

I'm nervous about springs. I put the 034 springs on my old A4 and it ruined the car as a DD. Felt great on canyon runs, but it was so crashy.

I'm glad guys are having better experiences with the eibach and the KW.

If I wanted to go the whole way with coil overs. What kits would be compatible with adaptive suspension?


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KW has plug and play coil overs for the 8Y that are compatible with the stock electronic dampening controller.

https://www.kwsuspensions.com/audi_rs3_kw_ddc

[b1aZe]

KW has plug and play coil overs for the 8Y that are compatible with the stock electronic dampening controller.

https://www.kwsuspensions.com/audi_rs3_kw_ddc

While yes, that article says they do, I don’t think it’s for the 8V+ models. When you filter for 2018+ RS3, the one compatible with the EDC includes a delete kit, not EDC struts like you mention.

https://www.kwsuspensions.com/produc...-352100al.html

[8STTRS]

While yes, that article says they do, I don’t think it’s for the 8V+ models. When you filter for 2018+ RS3, the one compatible with the EDC includes a delete kit, not EDC struts like you mention.

https://www.kwsuspensions.com/produc...-352100al.html

I don't remember the name of it but, I would go to 529Innovations.com and look at their magnetic ride cancelling stuff. I think it may have been called iSweep DCC cancellation kit or something like that. When we swapped over to the 529Innovations coilover kit they have, we also snagged those. We've had zero issues with them on my wifes 2019 RS3.

[o1turbo30v]

While yes, that article says they do, I don’t think it’s for the 8V+ models. When you filter for 2018+ RS3, the one compatible with the EDC includes a delete kit, not EDC struts like you mention.

https://www.kwsuspensions.com/produc...-352100al.html

Using the KW Germany website, https://www.kwsuspensions.net/shop?c...oversuspension

Plug and play part number is 39010059.

[Amirh87]

So the DCC cancellation kit, enables compatibility with the DCC?

I guess the reasoning behind my question: with a DCC cancel kit, will it still adjust suspension from comfort>dynamic. Or will it be a fixed setup and not bring any up any error codes due to the cancel kit.

Also, thank you everyone for taking the time to educate a complete dunce.


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[o1turbo30v]

So the DCC cancellation kit, enables compatibility with the DCC?

I guess the reasoning behind my question: with a DCC cancel kit, will it still adjust suspension from comfort>dynamic. Or will it be a fixed setup and not bring any up any error codes due to the cancel kit.

Also, thank you everyone for taking the time to educate a complete dunce.


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A DCC cancel kit allows non-dcc compatible suspension to be used, say traditional Bilstein Sport Shocks with Eibach pro kit spring or whatever brand coilovers. DCC compatible suspension keeps the functionality of being able to change the dampening, electronically through the cars computer just like stock. I believe only KW and Bilstein offer fully compatible DCC suspension.

[coolwater]

Any opinions on the Neuspeed springs? https://neuspeed.com/products/neuspe...39913634660486

-cW


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[Amirh87]

Any opinions on the Neuspeed springs? https://neuspeed.com/products/neuspe...39913634660486

-cW


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Haven’t tried the neuspeed’s. Only the 034’s.

I’ve heard great things about the H&R HAS springs.

I opted for a full coil over kit- KW V3 | plug and play.

Should be delivered and installed within 2weeks


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[coolwater]

Haven’t tried the neuspeed’s. Only the 034’s.

I’ve heard great things about the H&R HAS springs.

I opted for a full coil over kit- KW V3 | plug and play.

Should be delivered and installed within 2weeks


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I had HR VTF on my RS5 and they were great. Though other than adjusting it during install I never touched them again so debating if I want an adjustable setup.

-cW


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[coolwater]

So I went to try and adjust the rear up on my KW has kit, but the perches and the collar just spin freely. I’ve seen ppl use glue to make the perch stick. Any thoughts on this?

-cW


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[TheContrarian]

Neuspeed springs have worked well for my 8V, very little negative change in ride quality, mild drop that you can live with. I've been through two winters in a miserable cold and snowy environment without issues.

[clerkpalmer]

Neuspeed springs have worked well for my 8V, very little negative change in ride quality, mild drop that you can live with. I've been through two winters in a miserable cold and snowy environment without issues.

How about tire wear?

[itsjustjed]

So I went to try and adjust the rear up on my KW has kit, but the perches and the collar just spin freely. I’ve seen ppl use glue to make the perch stick. Any thoughts on this?

-cW


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The rear spring perch is a bad design on the KWs. You really have limited options to adjust them. You can try JB welding the spring perch to the body of the car. I personally use rubber tape and an oil filter wrench to counter-hold the perch when spinning the collar. I can't recommend this approach, you do some damage to the threads and it takes forever. The final option is to drop the control arm and remove the perch each time you adjust the rears, which makes no sense on coilovers, but is what KW wants you doing.

I'm going to find a machine shop to make me new perches and replace the rears on my coilovers.

[coolwater]

The rear spring perch is a bad design on the KWs. You really have limited options to adjust them. You can try JB welding the spring perch to the body of the car. I personally use rubber tape and an oil filter wrench to counter-hold the perch when spinning the collar. I can't recommend this approach, you do some damage to the threads and it takes forever. The final option is to drop the control arm and remove the perch each time you adjust the rears, which makes no sense on coilovers, but is what KW wants you doing.

I'm going to find a machine shop to make me new perches and replace the rears on my coilovers.

Thanks for the info. I was thinking to use a glue gun to get a few drops between body and perch. Just enough to prevent it from spinning. But yeah from all I have read you need to remove to adjust which is crazy. Risk affecting alignment each time also this way…

-cW


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[TheContrarian]

How about tire wear?

Nothing unusual. Camber increase from the springs alone is modest, although many people claim that camber alone doesn't have much impact and that toe is was causes abnormal wear.

[coolwater]

Ok so a bunch of 8Y folks including myself are experiencing spring creeking noises when there is extra load on the front springs when turning at slow speeds on the KW HAS kit. With the fact that you can’t adjust the height easily and now it being noisy, I can’t recommend this setup.

This is the first set of springs I’ve had that don’t come with rubber spring sleeve to reduce noise. The 8V versions did come with it. Very disappointed in the KW HAS kit so far on the 8Y.

8V KW setup - clear sleeves


8Y KW setup - No sleeves…. Why?


-cW


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[FSTSNAL]

I am not sold on kw never been a fan. Wish there was another option for dcc coilovers. Wish bilstein made their b16 for this platform. I may be forced to eliminate adaptive and go ohlins.

[Jetdriver]

I've modded a lot of suspensions in my time and while I think it's always improved overall handling (and looks) of the cars, there have always been drawbacks. Most of the time, the drawbacks gave been extra "noise". Extra rattles, creaks and clunks that were never there with the OE suspension. I've got a '17 WRX with Bilstein Trophy Cup coilovers that I daily drive. 400lb springs on all four corners and ball bearing camber plates up front make for a harsh, noisy ride. Maybe Eibach is the way to go with this car.

[FSTSNAL]

I don’t mind noise to be honest. I’m not a fan of the perches on the kw. I had motons with 750lb springs on a 2200 lb car before with full spherical ends for all bushings so I k know about suspension noise.

[coolwater]

I am not sold on kw never been a fan. Wish there was another option for dcc coilovers. Wish bilstein made their b16 for this platform. I may be forced to eliminate adaptive and go ohlins.

There is an HR coilover kit that I may try down the road. I’m just surprised KW decided to cheap out and not include a sleeve to reduce noise. It’s obvious from the design that the top of the spring would rub on itself once there is weight on it…

-cW


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[RudyH]

IMO, I had the hardest time with this, especially with the factory dampening on my current car, I can't imagine it's much different with the RS3.

The springs and shocks are so dialed in for each other, it's really difficult to get low and comfort in the same sentence.

One major thing I would say is investigating how to recalibrate after a drop. That was a major difference that I found after lowering my VW anyway. Pretty much you need all 4 wheels off the ground, and of course leveled. Then in OBDII you can re-calibrate.

Other then that, I tried EMD springs, MSS adjustable springs and finally Eibach's.

I loved the EMD springs drop, the ride was good in 80% of the situations, but out of the blue you would bottom out the shock and you were afraid of how much that is going to cost. Only to learn you are simply putting daggers into your shocks life.

With MSS springs, they were good, but it seemed the product wasn't too good and initially they handled great and seemed like the right product. I ended up replacing two blown shocks from the EMD's and MSS's with Bilstein's only to make the issue worse. I tried adjusting, but keeping in mind, as you adjust the springs - you should also consider an alignment when you have it dialed in where you want it. That being said, something that is easily adjustable is important which I always had a hard time finding.

It wasn't until I got the Eibach's, where the ride height isn't as low as I wanted - but the ride quality paired with the Eibach B6's - is just an absolute blast. Comfort is comfortable, while race it feels like you can't find the cars limits without having a level of crazy.

Morale of the story:

OEM = light drop
Bilstein B6 = light drop
Bilstein B8 = drop away, and I think this is where I would put adjustable springs too...I am not sure if I would do adjustable springs again, MAYBE a different product then MSS Springs

Just buy, coil overs, and I think Bilstein B16's were what I wish I bought instead of going the Eibach / B6 route. The dampening adjustability with the 8Y RS3 and MK8 Golf R, is going to be more interesting though, as you have a lot more play with settings.

Again, lessons learned on a Golf R...not a RS3...but this is the first thing I am working on when I get my 8Y

[coolwater]

Went with neuspeed sport with rear spring pads. Slightly stiffer than OEM. So far no noises and handle great.







-cW


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[Jetdriver]

Went with neuspeed sport with rear spring pads. Slightly stiffer than OEM. So far no noises and handle great.







-cW


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That looks like a nice, conservative drop. Do you have wheel spacers?

[coolwater]

That looks like a nice, conservative drop. Do you have wheel spacers?

No spacers just 19x9.5 wheels et16 front and et45 rear.

-cW


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[CW98]

No spacers just 19x9.5 wheels et16 front and et45 rear.

-cW


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Did you have to do any recalibration of the DCC after installation?

[Rguy]

I will be going with the KW DDC when i can find them in stock somewhere.

[coolwater]

Did you have to do any recalibration of the DCC after installation?

I did not and it does ride stiffer and I can feel bumps a bit more. I did bring it in to the dealer for alignment. Everything checked out fine.
I also manually adjusted my headlights higher. Count-clockwise on the white adjuster on each headlight. 3 turns.

I’ll see how it goes, but the last week of driving I don’t feel like it’s too stiff or a problem.

-cW


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[Rguy]

I will be going with the KW DDC when i can find them in stock somewhere.

Just contacted KW, these are 6-8 weeks out from Germany.

[S3DUDE]

I have been on KW V3 on my 8Y now for about 6 weeks and I am loving it. I did one track day and they were great, the only thing holding me back from putting down decent track numbers were the tires. At this point I have not done an alignment yet although I am aware that I need one sooner than later.
For now, I haven't even touched the pre-seeing(compression/rebound) yet although I need to start messing with it because otherwise it would be silly to have this top tier suspension and not being able to use it. We had 4 people seating in the car and there are no weird noises, it feels firm but very comfortable. My wife drove the car a few times (she has a RS3 8Y on stock suspension) and she loved it. In all honesty I think that you will like the KW V3s.

[993140]

I have been on KW V3 on my 8Y now for about 6 weeks and I am loving it. I did one track day and they were great, the only thing holding me back from putting down decent track numbers were the tires. At this point I have not done an alignment yet although I am aware that I need one sooner than later. For now, I haven't even touched the pre-seeing(compression/rebound) yet although I need to start messing with it because otherwise it would be silly to have this top tier suspension and not being able to use it. We had 4 people seating in the car and there are no weird noises, it feels firm but very comfortable. My wife drove the car a few times (she has a RS3 8Y on stock suspension) and she loved it. In all honesty I think that you will like the KW V3s.

Looks great. Is the ride height out of the box too or have you lowered it further?

[S3DUDE]

Looks great. Is the ride height out of the box too or have you lowered it further?

It was lowered like 3/4 of an inch. In fact , it was lowered twice by the mechanic. He went for a test tide and to have the suspesnion settled, he then called me to come and check it out. They measured the distance and lowered slightly more. So far we had 4 adults in the car with no rubbing and in all honesty this car will never see more than 4 people riding in it ever!!!

I did noticed though that the rear tire tucks inside of the wheel well when you have passengers or when you are at the track making tight turns but again, it does not rub inside. Eventually I will be running one size wider in the back so I will find out if the clearance is still good or not.

[Jonathan Grossm]

I have been on KW V3 on my 8Y now for about 6 weeks and I am loving it. I did one track day and they were great, the only thing holding me back from putting down decent track numbers were the tires. At this point I have not done an alignment yet although I am aware that I need one sooner than later.
For now, I haven't even touched the pre-seeing(compression/rebound) yet although I need to start messing with it because otherwise it would be silly to have this top tier suspension and not being able to use it. We had 4 people seating in the car and there are no weird noises, it feels firm but very comfortable. My wife drove the car a few times (she has a RS3 8Y on stock suspension) and she loved it. In all honesty I think that you will like the KW V3s.

Good evening. I have a 2024 8Y RS3. I have RacingLine sport lowering springs and RacingLine Front and rear sway bar End/Drop links. No other performance mods right now. I'm going in for an alignment tomorrow. Can anybody please provide recommendations on adjustments for front and rear Camber, Caster and toe? My car is 80% daily driver, and 20% canyon carving and track duty.
I really appreciate any good recommendations. Thank you!

[Brian@Unitronic]

I have the H&R on my 8y. they crashed a lot at first but ever since i had the suspension relearn down with odis it rides much better.

[Jarbear]

I have the H&R on my 8y. they crashed a lot at first but ever since i had the suspension relearn down with odis it rides much better.

Could you elaborate on this? I'm looking to install lowering springs soon and would like to have as much info as possible before hand. Thanks!