cold_beer839

I am going to replace my factory shocks and springs soon.

Give me some feedback on setups you guys have run on your S4's.

Panzer9

I like the 928 Int'l Eibach/Bilstein package. Car corners much flatter, and feels more planted at speed.

the flyin' scotsman

I run Eibach springs with Bilstein shocks which are a great imprevoement over the worn out stock shocks.

I live in a very rural area so city driving is mostly not a concern but when I do the suspension is somewhat harsh as a re rumble strips/RR xings @ 0 mph. If it wasn't for amount of work I'd be swapping the OEM springs to try and other shock but the 4 corners job is large...........I've done it once and not to eager to go back..............unless it snows again.

FlyingDog

What do you want to do with the car? How do you want the suspension to feel?

Soft and luxurious: Boge gas emulsion and stock springs.
More sporty: Bilstein or Boge Sport (red) and stock springs
Much more sporty: custom valved Bilstein and Hypercoil/Eibach 2.5" race springs
Track: Your wallet is the limit.

cold_beer839

I want 'more sporty' and I want to lower the front by an 1".

the flyin' scotsman

Eibach/ Bilstiens are in your future..............do much searching; lots to read.

RyanPerrella

you can lower the car with standard springs assuming you have the coil over shocks which came in when, maybe 84 plus or something. (Dont hold me to the year, i do know all S4's have them.)

SeanR

Going next weekend with the new Boge and Eibach spring set up on mine. From comparisons with the Boge/Eibach and the Bilstien/ Eibach set ups, the later seems to be pretty harsh for every day driving. Taking the new black boge's and Eibachs, performance doesn't seem to differ but you have a much better every day ride.

Now this is just the opinions of 2 GTS's here, I'll give more of an opinion in a few weeks after my install on the '88 S4.

RyanPerrella

Sean,

Maybe before you swap those thing out we can do a back to back test run. I'll definitely show up for this. I have stock and Bilsteins on mine, would be curious to see how the Eibach's feel on the car.

SeanR

You're supposed to show up anyhow. Rogers GTS is not out of the body shop yet, but it is on his and a few that have driven his car that the Eibachs with Boges are the way to go, unless you are on the track.

It's his and Jim's that the comparo is with. Jim is running Eibachs and Bilstiens, Rog the Boges and Eibachs. It would seem that the comparo is that the handleing is not any better on Jims, as opposed to Rogers. But Rogers has the better ride. I suppose the progressive spring is the kicker here with the softer ride. I have a feeling that anything I do is going to be 100% better than I am currently running with.

Besides Ryan, I want to drive a GT since the only one we have available had a nice 2/6 failure, and just got to drive a S4 5 speed, and that thing was a different beast.

You will be more than welcome to drive my S4 when I get it done. Time for some fun.

RyanPerrella

well i better get going on my interior then......off to that cold *** garage!

Courtshark

The bilstein/eibach set up is pretty harsh. I run an intrax/bilstein combo on my 88 SPG and that's even harsher. I wouldn't recommend either for a daily driver. But for a weekender... different story.

cold_beer839

Has anybody ever ran the Koni adjustables?

FlyingDog

Quite a few do, but search for Bill Ball's posts on his Konis before you consider them. For a street car, Boge and Bilstein are the better choices.

Bill Ball

Be careful reading my Koni experience - it is not typical. I think I just got 2 bad sets of shocks several years back. I have ridden in other Koni/standard spring cars that have a great ride with excellent control. George Suennen runs them in his open road race car and it handles like a dream, taking a quick set in turns and not upset by bumps. When I tried the same, the car was a complete mess to handle at high speed and was even really bad in moderate speed twisties on our funrides, where my original Boge Red setup was fabulous. Never figured out exactly why other than the shocks were very weak when I had them dyno'd. So, I pulled them and ended up with Bilsteins and standard springs which are very nice IMHO. My old Konis are being rebuilt into custom dual external adjustables for another Lister by a local suspension shop for about $500 per corner.