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Thread: Kaboom!! - Quality flaw, design flaw, or simply luck of the draw

  1. #1
    Registered User Bigglezworth's Avatar
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    Question Kaboom!! - Quality flaw, design flaw, or simply luck of the draw

    So, this is a question for all of those owners out there that experienced problems during the course of ownership with their DRC. First off, I personally like the DRC. It's a good compromise for a large sedan like this and performs extremely well - WHEN it works.... That caveat noted, I had the 'joy' of experiencing for the third time in as many years, failure of the DRC due to a burst front passenger side hydraulic hose. Not leaking struts (never had leaking struts on either of 1st gen versions on my rides), but rather a burst front hose. The pressure on these lines is 16bar which if I recall correctly from school years ago is a nominal 230lbs of line pressure. Now take for example brake line pressures on an average passenger vehicle which are 5-6 times more than this. In all my years of wrenching and talking to other friends who like cars, I have NEVER ever heard of a brake line/hose rupturing. So this leads to my question:

    Q: Is the fact that I have had 3 of the 4 front lines (on the two RS6's that I own) burst in the past 3 years a quality flaw, a design flaw, or simply bad luck?? They are suppose to be high pressure hydraulic lines and should not burst at pressures less than 20% that of a standard brake hose.

    Thoughts?

    Tim
    '02 S6 Avant Silver - Pokey | Carbon Black/Ebony RS6 w/ stuff - darn quick | '03 Daytona Grey/Ebony RS6 w/ more stuff - quicker yet | '91 NSX CDN issue with 6spd & BBSC - quicker yet and then some | '87 Buick GNX OEM clone w/ lots of stuff - quickest hands down

  2. #2
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    One bar (one barometric pressure)....14.7 PSI?? times 16 gives 235 psi..... you are right on...except this pressure runs all the time to keep the front up right? Kinda like running around with your brakes on for 10 years. Doesn't surprise me that they blow. Put another line on and let it run!

  3. #3
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    after running with H&R springs and Konis for awhile, I have to give some kudos to the DRC system. It's a lot smoother in general driving, yet it does "prop up" the corner of the car that normally would be diving in a hard turn.

    My current setup, with Hotchkis sways, can be pretty uncomfortable (drinks in cupholders will go flying if I hit a bump), so it's a sledgehammer approach to getting the same reduction in body roll.

    My DRC system was functional hydraulically, but the front left strut piston rod was so loose that it was a wonder it was working, or even leak-free.

    If my car didn't have the DRC butt in the air problem, I would have kept it until it failed. Which, judging from the wobbly strut, wasn't that far off anyways.
    Das Silberkugel - Eurocharged Stage 2/MTM/Level 10/Hotchkis/Koni/H&R
    2015 Ducati 1299S Panigale
    2014 Ducati Multistrada Granturismo

  4. #4
    Registered User hahnmgh63's Avatar
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    The DRC does work at higher pressure but I have never heard of a line bursting. Since you have had multiple lines burst I would suspect that whoever recharged your DRC after the recall may have over charged the system?
    2003 White RS6 2013 Midnight Blue S5
    2013 Daytona RS5 2x944 Turbo's 1974 911 w/'91 3.6ltr motor
    Roy, WA

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