TwinTurboTerror

I'm debating between Eibach Pro-Kit / Bilsteins (the cheap option) or H&R coilovers (the expensive option). I only want ~ 1" drop and not too stiff a ride, which are my main priorities.

My secondary priority is creaking. The Eibach/Bilsteins on my old Jetta creaked like crazy. Are coilovers less or more likely to creak?

DAP@EPL

Technically our stock suspension is a coil (aka spring) over shock setup. However the term "coilovers" is generally applied to a spring/shock combo where there is an adjustable spring perch.

Given that, neither would be more or less prone to creaking, IMO.

-Dave Pramanik

MikekiM@PureMS

Coilovers do sometimes have more parts involved like adjustable perches and tender springs which can sometimes make some noises.
Since coilovers typically have a wide range of adjustment, if you're at the extreme low, sometimes the spring can be loose within the spring caps, and thus also make some noise.

In general however neither is noisy. If you're looking for a comfortable setting I'd suggest neither of those setups. The H&R coilovers will be firm, and the Bilstein shocks won't be comfortable.
I'd suggest something KONI based like the KONI shocks with the eibach springs, or the KONI Coilovers.

BiturboBoy_V2.0_S3--

eibach springs are fairly soft. bilsteins have "too stiff" compression damping (most for high piston speed situations and also a little bit for low piston speed or so i'm told)...i'd think that combo would be ok in terms of comfort (and i've ridden in it before which confirms that but it is a tiny bit stiffer than stock). the shock has to do a lot of work, which isn't ideal but i'd call it pretty comfy at least at the beginning.
i'd always thought the koni's would be better for medium to higher spring rates because it had less compression damping an the ability to adjust rebound high enough to damp the forces coming from stiffer springs.
i'm keyboard tuning though (with the exception of riding in an eibach bilstein car before)...

MCH 2.7t

Have the shocks grooved above and below the stock groove so that you can adjust ride highth to your preference

TwinTurboTerror

Wow, those rims look hot on the A6!

TwinTurboTerror

The ride in my old VW with Eibach/Bilstein was nice. But I don't know if that applies to the S4.

MikekiM@PureMS

Keep in mind that the spring rate differences between say an H&R spring and an Eibach spring are pretty small. The adjustable damping on the KONI is very good, and will allow them to work on a wide range of springs. There isn't precisely 1 damping curve that can only be used on 1 spring. There's a range of curves that will work just fine. While you're right on in terms of mixing and matching shocks, the items we're comparing, H&R springs vs Eibach springs, just for example are close enough in damping to consider them both good options.