Ohlins Stasis coilover experiences?

[Caveman]

Newbie here so be gentle :)

Thinking about a set of these for my RS6+ but have heard that they can be noisy? Is this true? Can anyone share their experiences and provide an honest assessment of them in terms of:

- Ride quality

- Damping quality

- Noise

- Suitability of supplied spring rates (which rates do you recommend?)

I would be looking to use these in the UK for fast road use, bearing in mind that UK roads are very poorly surfaced and often bumpy and broken.

Thanks!

Mart.

[Erik]

Öhlins are local to me. Great products, but customer service and delivery time can be so so I've heard.
They're more focused on racing products, not the private sector.

Look into what efforts are needed to service them also.

I've tried them on 911 Turbos (Rufs) and they're great. No noise and great damping and ride.
For the RS6 I don't know.

[ben916]

I would be curious on this also, not to say I am gonna drop $4k USD on a suspension (but then again OEM DRC if you have to pay for it is in the neighborhood of $5.8k USD, IIRC).

[Amulet-S6]

I'm a first time coilover user, so I may not be the best judge of dampening. I've had the Stasis Motorsport coil-over package on my RS6 for 3.5 years. In that time, I've had 3 struts "go out" and have to be replaced at my cost for labor and parts. (They had their own "thumping noise" issue with their first design which took over a year to resolve.) I went with the "aggressive street" set-up which has 700# springs all around. It has worked flawlessly on the track. This was prior to Audi admitting they had an issue with the DRC system. With some strongly worded letters, I got audi to reimburse me for my coilovers.

Now that I'm not tracking my RS any longer, am considering a switch to the "normal street" set-up with 600# springs to give a little more comfort to my daily drive.

Hope that helps, Jim

[Aronis]

I priced the Ohlins back when my DRC first failed and was quote $5800 for parts only!

At that time they were the only aftermarket option for the RS6, as others were not yet produced. The PSS9's had failures early on posted here if I recall.

Now there are more choices as the RS6 has gotten older.

Mike

[yokust]

I have put on a few sets on C5 2.7t's and B5 and B6 S4's.

And personally by far the best handling and adjustable coilover out there.

BUT that being said, I would not want to daily drive these coilovers at all. Either the street spring rate or the track spring rate are very harsh. I drove a B5 S4 with them on out to Utah for a track day at Miller Motorsports Park and I thought my kidneys were going to explode the entire time. And rode out to Cali in a B7 S4 with them on as will and was having the same feeling of having to pee every ten minutes on the side of the road even though I wasnt drinking anything

[hahnmgh63]

What Amulet said is representive of a few other Ohlins on the list over the last 5 years. They were one of the first companies with a coilover set-up for the RS6 but their are others now. I'm very happy with my KW V3's but I don't know if they would be my first choice on rough roads although if there are a lot of softer settings but it would take some time to work them out.

[Caveman]

I have Bilstein PSS9s currently, and I find them too bouncy, with insufficient damping adjustment. The rear overhang bounces over undulating roads and doesn't feel very controlled or confidence inspising. I've been in the MRC tuning S4 with ohlins and although it was very firm, I was impressed with just how plush the damping felt.

I think the PSS9s are designed for comfort, not performance, but after owning Evos and Scoobs, I want to get a more focused drivers car.

I want FIRM, but not CRASHY or harsh. Also I couldn't stand noisy suspension.

Any more opinions?

Cheers,

Mart.

[dwarfboy]

I've had the aggressive street stasis/ohlin suspension for quite some time(3+ years.) I installed them when the DRC failed for the second time and was no longer covered under warranty. I had no intention of paying to have a known flawed system reinstalled. I had the hotchkiss sway bar installed at the same time. The total cost including stasis suspension, sway bar, labor and control arms was $5717. I remember because this is the amount of the check Audi eventually sent me to reimburse my costs when they finally admitted the DRC was an issue.

There are a couple things you need to be aware of:
1. They lower the ride height of an already lowered car.
2. They can make noise.

The noise is hard to describe. It make a small noise on major compressions/decompressions, but more annoying is that it make a more noticeable noise on rough roads when the back end moves. On smooth roads with dips or bumps across the road it's no problem, but on rough roads where the bumps are uneven it makes a noise from the side to side motion. Also noisy on winter roads after they've been plowed and the ice develops lots of pot holes. It seems to have gotten louder with age but still isn't to the level of banging or rattling, but there is a definite noise. Stasis was aware of the noise problem when I purchased them and said they were investigating but I have no idea if they ever developed a fix. If there is one can somebody let us know?

That being said it's an excellent and reliable suspension. I've tracked the car several times and it's awesome at the track, inspiring great confidence. It's a stiff suspension, but reacts quickly and isn't harsh.
Randy Pobst, a professional driver that won a championship in an RS6, told me it's the best setup RS6 he's driven since he was racing them. It's pretty amazing to see and feel how fast this car can be in the hands of a great driver.

[LIRS6]

May '07 I replaced the DRC with Stasis-Ohlin MS with #650 springs. Total cost $4108 including installation (ultimately fully reimbursed by Audi). From the moment of installation I had a dramatic noise issue with the rear dampers - the left side in particular. The indy shop that did the conversion kept the car for an extra day, trying to cure the issue, but could not. After consulting with Stasis, I just took the car as it was. The noise drove me a bit nuts - as Dwarfboy stated, it was particularly bad over rough roads. Stasis issued a service bulletin (#08-SA-002 dtd Feb 28, 2008) regarding the noise, but it only identified the noise as something they were aware of and were working to correct, but that it posed no danger nor did it impede performance. After harassing them for many months, they finally offered to exchange my rear dampers for new dampers, allegedly with a fix. While there is still some occasional chatter, they are a vast improvement over the original set. But these dampers require maintenance - the fronts had to be rebuilt about a year ago - cost was $100/damper (plus shipping). Quick turnaround time, but I had the hassle of having to remove them which I did myself, and which saved me about $800 I would suspect.
The performance is great - I am very pleased with them in that respect. The ride height is perfect IMO, as presently adjusted.