Hi all, former 1985 Porsche 911 owner, now enjoying life driving my 1998 Audi A4 Avant 2.8. This is a great car.

The shocks are a little too worn (128K on the OD), and ready to be replaced. I am looking to lower the car only a little bit, as I want to drive the car in the snow when winter hits.

It looks like the Bilstein PSS9's are the BOMB, but I am not sure I should spend that much for suspension. I increased the firmness of the ride on the Porsche with thicker springs (torsion bars), and HD Bilstein shocks, and consequently bumped up the firmness by 80%. Not wanting it THAT hard - I am looking to do something slightly less firm.

I do not plan on autocrossing the wagon, but I don't want to add a set of new shocks, and have the car RISE up an 1" (funny - that was what happened on the Porsche).

I do drive pretty agressively on the street, so I was figuring if I need to buy a new pair of springs AND shocks, doesn't it make sense to do it right the first time, and just go with coilovers for the infinite adjustibility?

Alternatives, suggestions, stories? Do's or don'ts?

Thanks!

Bill Atkins

 

Cant go wrong with the pss9s. I've driven in a few volkswagens with them and they are top notch. Up to par if not better then H&R coilovers. I'd assume they would be as great for an Audi. If you got the money go for it.

As far as not wanting something to hard I believe the pss9s come with adjustable dampening so you could play with it. But I think they still might be to hard for you liking. coilovers in generally are usual much stiffer then stock. Maybe try an Eibach pro kit or H&R race spring/shock combo.

 

I have also read that H&R might be the way to go, but I guess the question I need to ask myself is - how hard is too hard? Going from a little Porsche to the A4 Avant has really softened up my ride tremendously, and I really like the quattro and the way it handles around the corners (weight balance of the car perhaps), but when driven agressively, I get a little hop in the cars feedback, and it makes me want to lower the car just a little bit and stiffen up the shocks like crazy.

Maybe the best question would be "For those people with Bilstein PSS9 coilovers, how smooth or soft is the ride at the softest rebound setting on the shock?".

Thanks
Bill Atkins