MISTERJONES

i've been lurking/searching and found most people using KW coilovers to lower their S4. i then checked out KW's site and read about the 3 models they have.

now here are my questions:

1. is it possible to lower with a spring/strut combo ala A4, for instance? and would it work to use their applications or are the S4's proprietary? and is anyone offering springs for the S?

2. if the A4 springs/struts were used would the handling be shot?... i basically already know this but some insights would be appreciated.
3. KW speaks of maintaining ride comfort while decreasing body roll, etc but "comfort" is subjective. some think the stock is soft, others stiff. With the adjustments the variant 2 and 3 offers, is it possible to keep the stock comfort quality while lowering? or are lowering and comfort oxymoronic?!

4. could one lower and actually make the ride softer with their adjustments? or are the coilovers inherently more stiff due to sport design?

sorry this is long -and hopefully not terribly redundant!

BenM@University Audi

Would it be as good as the stock suspension? Doubt it. And no, using A4 shocks/springs wouldn't be a good idea, as the car weighs more.

I'll be straight up honest, I have never had good experiences with KW coilovers. We had a set on JoshD's B5 S4 for awhile (granted they were used), but even on full stiff they were way too bouncy and underdamped, obviously because 3 of the 4 shocks were blown. I guess that's what happens when you run the shocks at full stiff because they're way underdamped in the first place.

There's also a set of KW coilovers on our widebody Red GTI and they are equally unimpressive, and very underdamped too. The car gets some nasty oscillations going over big bumps on the highway and driving it in seattle city streets, forget it. That being said I haven't tried the kw coilovers for the B6 S4 yet.

Long story short, personally I'd hold out for something like H&R coilovers or a Stasis suspension that is guaranteed to be a noticeable and worthwhile improvement over the stock suspension, and not just lowers the car.

HarnessedLunacy

but then again they was a good magazine article posted that gave praise to KW.

BillK

The S4 performs superbly out of the box, and IMHO lowering the S4 does nothing but greatly increase your odds of scraping the bottom of your car on road hazards (not like the S4 won't do that stock...) :-(

Glen @ KW

Hello MISTERJONES & Ben ,

You have a few really good questions, and there has been a few interesting answers.

You are very correct in saying that comfort is subjective, but having been personally involved with the process and tuning that KW applies to all of its applications during my last training session at the factory, I can give you my direct thoughts on our systems. Check your email a little later for my personal experience.

Generally in comparison to other Race Type tuners, KW is perceived to be on the soft side in a market where "bone jarring" is considered high performance by the majority of the users.

With the large range of adjustment V3 systems you can do just about anything you want to do with regards to your suspension. From one extreme to another. With the INDEPENDENT bump and rebound control on all four corners, you can tune out or tune in just about any handling characteristics that you want. (H&R & Bilstein both offer compression and rebound tuning with one ****, adjusting the shock either harder or softer in a pre-set fashion)

As for pure comfort, you definitely can tune them to be softer than the factory settings with just a few adjustments. It is really very easy. Our staff are here to help you, so if you get into a set of KW's, just give us a ring and we can walk you through tuning your system to your liking.

I am curious on the comments from Ben about our systems being under dampened, and under what circumstances that he feels that this is the case.

And obviously it is hard to judge a system when it is second hand, and as he describes it "obviously because 3 of the 4 shocks were blown."

Ben:

On both of the cars that you have experience with, can you answer a few questions for clarification?

Are these V1, V2 or V3 systems?

Were they purchased through a KW North American Authorized Dealer?

What height was/are the car set up at?

As some kits floating out there have been purchased "Grey Market" it is difficult to tell if this is the proper kit for the car. Many systems have been re tuned for North American use to deal with the differences in not only the vehicles but the roads and conditions experience here.

As we all know, each system has its prescribed lowering range & setup and if they are outside of this range it is no different than taking a fish out of water. They just don't work the way they are intended.

I look forward to Ben's response, and for everyone else reading this post, if you have any questions or comments, remember we are only a phone call or email away!

Glen Messinger
KW Suspensions North America
1-888-530-1433 x 105
media@kwsuspensions.com