arbrx

After many comments on Ohlins Sl and Motorsport, I thought I would start with the sway bars to see if it would make a difference in how well the car would feel planted on the ground. Wow, it sure did. I am amazed of how well it handles in the turn in's, on the highway, and how well it controls the roll. The somewhat floaty Audi feeling (even in the RS4) has left the building, which in my mind is not a bad thing in itself. I didn't think only the sway bars would accomplish, my main goal, of getting rid of overall body roll, but it did. If I wanted to lower the car, I would get lower springs or maybe the Ohlins. If I felt the RS4 OEM system didn't handle well enough by itself, I would have opted for the Ohlin system which has gotten rave reviews. The RS4 handles so wonderfully for a heavy sport sedan by itself, the sway bars only enhance its OEM DRC system and my general desire for the car to remain more planted in straight aways and turn in's. I am impressed. You can tell the car has stiffer rear control, slightly stiffer steering, and perceived quicker turn in on any turn. It is awesome. In hindsight, for those of you looking for greater control over cosmetic differences, I would highly recommend H-Sport Swaybars first. If that's not enough, you could always go to the Ohlins setup which I am sure is very positive based on everyone's feedback. Hope this may help, your advice sure helped me! Thanks to everyone!

Arb

McGyver

congrats, Arb! Thanks for the write-up.

Vijay

I really don't want the car lowered at all and I'm told that the minimum drop is 3/4" to 1" with Stasis (the only full suspension option in my mind) The stance of the RS4 needs none to only about a 1/4" drop to be perfect, and for real world street driving here in the Northeast, I really don't want any drop, especially in the rear. Now....if there were a Stasis option with no drop, that would be a different story.

It may be a small issue, but with the RS4 already so good in stock form, any money, especially big money, spent on mods need to be damn near perfect for me to consider it.

IMHO, the Stasis suspension should have been designed so that the stock ride height is mid-range in terms of ride height adjustment.

JMSIV

the stock ride height. Lowering the center of gravity will help handling for certain, but I love to bomb down crummy secondary roads like a tarmac rally car, and the ground clearance is nice. Not to mention everyday driving. The stock suspension does a great job of keeping the tires planted over seriously uneven terrain. Better dampers (Ohlins) could improve this more, but stiffer springs and a lower ride height are not something I want.

The sways could be a nice upgrade, even less understeer.

Did you install them yourself?

Bob W.

congrats, you just saved yourself $5000.

MrBucket

Ive heard people say that the ride quality is better with the Stais-Ohlins even

Vijay

that this is highly dependent on the road surface, no matter how much anyone may try and convince themselves otherwise. Here's the truth....

On smooth or only slightly blemished road, a more race-worthy suspension can feel much more nimble as the car maintains and/or returns to "neutral" much more quickly. This is what is perceived as a better ride and it arguably is when the road is in good condition. However, on poorer quality roads, with bumps, frost heaves, patched potholes, cracks, dips, etc. the ride can be punishingly harsh to you and your car. This energy has to be dissipated somewhere. It's won't be absorbed through your 35 series tires, and if you now stiffen the suspension, the only place this energy has to go is into the body of the car. In other words, things that normally aren't stressed will get stressed. Things that don't normally rattle will begin rattling.

So....if you live in a warm climate that is gentle on the roads, you will be much happier with the ride of your upgraded suspension than if you live in a colder, harsher environment. It is also an age dependent phenomenon, I believe. I was much more tolerant of a stiffer ride in my 20's than I am now in my 40's. Mind you, I don't like Lexus-soft either.

I'm not addressing the handling issue, because that is an obvious one and not really the subject of this post.

Bottom line is as I have always said: there is no free ride. For every benefit, there is a cost. It's just a matter of what you are willing to give up in one area for gains in others. Kinda like life itself.

daveak05

this idea that there is NO ride quality degradation when lowering ANY car is a great falsehood put forward by the aftermarket suspension peiople...for a long time.

this isn't to say that one shouldn't use aftermarket suspensions, but denying the obvious doesn't help anyone.

JonRS4

Lowering in itself needn't hurt ride quality if you maintain spring rate and travel. If that's not possible, then yes, it's another compromise and you'll have a harsher ride....

BUT...if you lower and stiffen the springs while introducing quality pieces (like the Ohlins or Penske adjustable dampers) specifically designed for the application, with the correct suspension travel & sping rates and then spend the money on set-up & research to dial in proper spring rate, the proper hi/lo speed compression & rebound damping, you can in fact get better comfort and performance overall. Again, because the original parts were a compromise based on costs, not suspension dynamics.

Unfortunately just spending money on suspension bits doesn't work either. The factory engineers may have had the bean counters scrapping the trick dampers but at least they had the resources to spec the cheap parts properly for use by most buyers. To me, the approach taken by Stasis and other similar suspension tuners to start with quality parts and engineer the full system is the right one.

Tim

daveak05

question: how do you maintain the same travel on a lowered suspension? we're not talking about SUV's here. the fact is that you cannot have the same travel and need a stiffer spring for exactly that reason. i, for one, have not come across a lowered suspension with the same suspension travel designed in. you would be bottoming out constantly and/or rubbing tires.

i think aftermarket suspensioins are fine and actually a needed thing in some cases. but i don't understand this constant attempt to explain away less ride quality or compliance with the lowered aftermarket suspensions.