Completed: DIY DRC removal/swap with Koni Yellow Sports....

[kevcp]

Spend the extra money for the V3 and then add Hotchkis sway bars...

[Cmnair]

Spend the extra money for the V3 and then add Hotchkis sway bars...

Agreed ..the V3s are a whole another story

[nistah]

Spend the extra money for the V3 and then add Hotchkis sway bars...

I made a compromise, bought the Hotchkis sway bars which I've only heard positive things about from everyone and matched them with 2 front Koni 82-2516Sports & 2 Koni 82-2526sport rears. Figured what I may give up in performance with the Koni's vs KW V3's I'll make up for with the addition of the Hotchkis Swaybar set.

All in my cost for this set up is under $1000 from TireRack which is less than half the cost of the KW-V3's and less than the total cost of the KW-V1's alone, nice price.

Currently carefully reading the installation summary above w/ links to step by step and it seems you need to get the Koni's dialed in just right, I am aiming for something similar to DRC ride quality and similar ride height with a more level look than the stock settings which ride high in the rear.

Questions: also looking into replacing the upper control arm bushings since mine always tend to be shot after a year or so....and I'm seeing a variety of options including:
OEM
HD
Delphi
034

Which of above are best bet for upper control arm bushings?

Also planning to use the factory springs as I don't want to use the H&R kit because I don't want to lower the stance of the car too much, any risk with going with the the OEM factory springs matched up to Koni's once everything is apart? Does a new regular version of the springs exist that does not lower but provides new OEM or OEM like springs to match to the Koni's?

Should I replace anything else once oil demon DRC is removed & the car is apart: IE tie rod ends, cv boot etc want to be thorough and coordinate to get as much done as possible at once. Thanks to everyone on this forum for the information

[JakeLight]

Can anyone who has done this procedure comment on the fitment of the metal perch ring for the rear shock? I received a set where the ring would not fit over the shock housing and after some hubbabaloo Tire Rack and Koni support decided that every shock (82-2526SPORT) they had in inventory matching my manufacture date were shipped with the wrong perch ring.

I now have just received my replacement with a different manufacture date, and the metal perch ring with these also does not fit over the shock housing. Now could I make it go over with some force? Maybe, but I'm checking to see if for the folks that did this the ring just fit like it did for the front, or if any experienced rings that were so tight they would have to hammer them down to get them over the housing down to the support ring.

Thanks in advance

-jake

[Muggy]

Can't make any comments on a Koni setup, but on my Bilsteins, it slipped right on, no force necessary. I can't imagine that you'd be required to use a hammer on the perch to use it...that would surely scuff and damage the paint as well.



Come to think about it, I also had a Koni sport package for my '02 A6 2.7 MT, and don't remember any issues with this either...

[JakeLight]

Alrighty...so I went for it and after getting the perch ring hammered past the first 1/8" or so (and creating a nicely formed pile of Yellow paint shavings below) the rings were able to slide the rest of the way down the housing to the adjustment height clip - think I'm good here.

-jake

[spiff637]

Alrighty...so I went for it and after getting the perch ring hammered past the first 1/8" or so (and creating a nicely formed pile of Yellow paint shavings below) the rings were able to slide the rest of the way down the housing to the adjustment height clip - think I'm good here.



-jake

If you get stuck I can put you in contact with my guy who did this for my former baby years ago. He's probably still lurking on this board somewhere. Repeat after me, never sell this car. I miss it daily..

[JakeLight]

One more question for the group. (I had a shop do the work fyi...). I noticed when they installed the lower rear spring seat they didn't use the metal piece that is formed to hold the rubber spring seat piece which is built to keep the rubber from deforming.

Parts #2 and #6 from this diagram: https://www.jimellisaudiparts.com/im.../195511150.jpg (2 is the rubber one that fits over 6 which is metal)

So what did you guys put between the spring and the metal perch ring that comes with the Koni rear shock? Did you just go directly with the rubber lower spring seat on the metal perch ring, or did you put metal on metal to the perch ring using the extra metal part, or whip up some kind of rubber gasket between the metal perch ring and the metal lower part that holds the rubber spring seat? I snagged those parts Audi spec'd for the 4.2L sport rear suspension as the DRC had already been replaced with Neuspeed coilovers.

-jake

[Muggy]

Pretty sure that I just did the rubber isolator directly on the lower perch on my Bilsteins...

[AudiPilot]

Same for my Bilsteins, rubber mount directly on the lower perch ring.

[NerdyDeeds]

+1 more for the rubber mount. I remember having trouble getting the perches mounted on my Koni's as well. Then after two years the perches bent in the rear and one corner was sitting lower, so they're not up to the task IMO. Plus they're not very easy to adjust so I wouldn't recommend them.

I did recently put on the H&R springs as well, but now the car sits too low for my liking. I get a little bit of rubbing with the stock wheels, but I don't think my summers are going to fit at all. Muggy, how much of a drop are you expecting with the Bilstein/H&R combo?

[boca rat]

FWIW both my current RS6 and recently sold NSX came with old (I think 8 years+) H&R springs, and both sets were sagging badly. I don't know if this is expected behavior from lowering springs but I don't see them in a good light at all.

I have perfectly good Bilsteins (with the saggy H&Rs) on the RS6 right now, but will swap them out for KWV3/Bilsteins if I can get a good deal as labor cost to swap in new springs is more than swapping in new struts as best I understand it. And can sell off the current Bilsteins struts once swapped too.

+1 more for the rubber mount. I remember having trouble getting the perches mounted on my Koni's as well. Then after two years the perches bent in the rear and one corner was sitting lower, so they're not up to the task IMO. Plus they're not very easy to adjust so I wouldn't recommend them.

I did recently put on the H&R springs as well, but now the car sits too low for my liking. I get a little bit of rubbing with the stock wheels, but I don't think my summers are going to fit at all. Muggy, how much of a drop are you expecting with the Bilstein/H&R combo?

[Muggy]

+1 more for the rubber mount. I remember having trouble getting the perches mounted on my Koni's as well. Then after two years the perches bent in the rear and one corner was sitting lower, so they're not up to the task IMO. Plus they're not very easy to adjust so I wouldn't recommend them.

I did recently put on the H&R springs as well, but now the car sits too low for my liking. I get a little bit of rubbing with the stock wheels, but I don't think my summers are going to fit at all. Muggy, how much of a drop are you expecting with the Bilstein/H&R combo?

Mine seems to be a little nose heavy with the H&R sport (yes RS6 specific) springs and Bilsteins...also not in love with the handling either...too soft for me at higher speeds. I do get a touch of rubbing inside of one front fender on my stock wheels and tires that have burned a little slice out of the driver's side liner (no actual fender rub, but close!). My car came with the springs, new in the box, as some extras and I found a seller that had every bushing, nut, bolt, etc. to put together the full setup shown above for about $800 out of my pocket. At the time, I needed a budget friendly option and this fit the bill.

Once my trans is in and everything is running well, I'll probably upgrade to coilovers...I really like the look of the 2Bennett ones, but we'll see. I did pick up some RS4 wheels this week, and from photos that I've seen, I think there is just a hair more clearance between wheel size/offset and a thinner sidewall with less balloon than the OEM 18's. We'll see once I get it back on the ground though...may test fit to eyeball, but with no motor in, I won't be able to tell up front just yet on actually clearance under load.

Driver's front...lower than the passenger side..



Passenger front...



And on the rear...too much rake for my liking, but stuck with it for now....







And here's a pic that I pulled from a few-year-old BAT listing (maybe someone's car on here?)...showing the RS4 wheels and sitting lower than I am...looks like just a tiny bit more tuck than the stock 18's on mine now...

[NerdyDeeds]

My front sits more like the car with the RS4 rims.

[Muggy]

Oh man, that's gotta rub with OEM rubber...too low for sure on a static setup...

[kilian tuning]

For some reason the koni 82-2526sport arent available anymore here in the Netherlands...;(

[kilian tuning]

Managed to get a new set of koni 82-2526sport from France

[kilian tuning]

Anyone used the most firm setting rebound front and rear?