eibach pro street s coilovers, a damn fine suspension for under $1k (LONG suspension review)...
03-17-2006, 11:50 AM
#1
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
eibach pro street s coilovers, a damn fine suspension for under $1k (LONG suspension review)...
...first off, I got them from shox.com, emailed and asked for a quote, they said $959 plus shipping. Part number is #1534.711.
<img src="http://eibach.com/eibach/images/prostreet_s.jpg">
*stock photo obviously
Like the Vogtlands, I believe it is one kit for both A4 and S4 B5 cars (quattro only obviously).
Had them on for a couple weeks now and they are broken in. They haven't settled much, so my initial ride height settings of 25.25" and 25.5" are staying true.
Ok, so my biggest things I look for in the suspension break out like this:
1) Dips at speed.
This would be a big dip at speeds over 40mph. I have found that various different kits do a better, and much worse job handling this input with the uneven weight distribution on the Audi.
2) Bumps when loaded.
This would be taking a long corner with the car loaded, then hitting a bump and see what happens.
3) High Speed inputs.
This would be things like potholes, expansion joints, steel hole covers, curbs if you hit those.
4) Roll.
basically spring rate plus bump stops plus gas pressure if applicable.
5) Cornering behavior.
Does the car understeer, is it nuetral, is it twitchy, whatever. Basically, forget how the car is for daily driving, how does it turn.
6) Comfort.
How easy is it to live with? Is it harsh, noisy, quirky, whatever.
First off, teh Eibach Pro Street S coilovers are made by KW for Eibach Federn (germany) and run Eibach springs (don't know the rates). The "S" stands for stainless steel, and appears to be the same coating as the KW INOX stuff. The dampers are gas pressurized and non-adjustable. From my KW experience, that likely means they are KW V1 damper body with eibach spec'd valving.
If I had to guess on spring rates, I'd say something around 550-600 lbs.
The eibach spring shock kit (1546.780) clearly ran less spring, I believe those were around 350lbs.
I'll throw in the other $1k kit I know, which is the Koni coilover kit. The spring rates there are like 420/390 I believe, so we'll call it 400lbs.
I wish I could cross-compare the Vogtlands, but I haven't driven on them. But I'm sure they're good based on other reviews.
So back to the top 6:
1)Dips at speed:
The Eibach spring/shock absolutely killed at this. It was without question the best suspension I had ever driven on at taking a bump at speed. My best guess as to why is the heavy high speed compression valving and the rebound springs inside the dampers. But this kit would totally absorb a dip at any speed and recover in 1 nice motion, just like the car should.
The Eibach Pro Street coilovers are still really good. Not as good as the spring/shock, and likely becuase they run less high speed compression valving, and have to deal with more spring rate, but they are still really good. The rear seems a little firm, or the front a little soft, but it's damn close to good.
The Koni's really suck at this test. When adjusted right, you can get it close, but their slow reaction time just makes them to slow to figure this out. Again, i'm really guessing here as to why this happens, but this has been my experience.
2) Bumps when loaded.
The eibach pro street coilovers do a really good job at this. What you're looking for here is a kit that still has enough compression travel left when cornering to take an input and not go into understeer (due to increasing front spring rate from the bump stop). This is a function of ride height, and most kits that are set at a good height should be ok with this.
The Koni's would do ok with this as long as you had them above 25.5". Lower heights seemed to have mixed results and you could get some front end wash away when you really lean the car over, then ask for more.
The eibach spring/shock setup did really well at this as well, but i don't know why as the kit ran so freakin low it seemed impossible that the kit would do anythign BUT understeer. However, they figured it out, and the kit did fine taking bumps when loaded.
3) High Speed Inputs.
This is the teeth filling killer. The input that is likely the least common, but you notice it the most.
The eibach spring/shock setup was terrible at high speed inputs. You'd think the rear window was going to shatter and you'd see a control arm bouncing away in the rear view mirror. I frequently checked for bent rims and bubbled tires with this setup on. It was one of few faults the kit had, but it really takes its toll on you.
The eibach pro street coilovers are great at harsh inputs. They do just fine, which tells me they are running less high speed compression then the spring/shock setup. You can pummel into pot holes and joints and not worry about the car breaking.
The koni's do well on this as well, again, a result of the more conservative high speed compression.
4) Roll.
This is just spring rate for the most part. How much does the car lean over.
The eibach coilovers are pretty flat. Still some roll, but not that bad. It's what I would call a good balance. It's not the super flat like an 700/800 spring setup, but good enough to not be a nuisance like stock.
The eibach spring/shock setup has some roll. You get used to it, but it's more roll then I'd like. But again, like *everything*, you're making a compromise, and teh soft springs help this kit out in other aspects.
The koni has more roll then the eibach coilovers. More roll then I'd like, but again, that helps the koni's in other aspects.
5) Cornering behavior.
On a side note, I'm running stock front and rear sway bars.
The eibach pro street coilovers are damn neutral. They give you good turn in feel, and give you enough control to feel the rear break away so you can adjust steering and throttle to keep the car going where you want. Of the 3, this kit has the best cornering attitude. I haven't tracked this kit, but I imagine I'd enjoy it more then the spring/shock setup as I need to use less man-handling to get what I want the car to do. and usually, man-handling means i'm wasting tire grip to get the car to corner as I want. I'm thinking the pro-street s coilovers do a better job getting the rotation with less tire drama.
The eibach spring/shock was really neutral as well. I didn't really know how it was, since it was so low, and my front was running out of travel a lot, but it refused to really wash away like the koni does. It wasn't as neutral as the pro street coilovers, but does a really good job. I was surpised by the kit, and as a result, raised my expectation level for the eibach coilovers. This kit on track was very confidence inspiring. it won't bite you, and you can just pound the curbing with no issues. I did find myself lifting mid corner to keep the car rotating, so it has some understeer in it, but not bad.
The koni kit is pretty understeer in my opion. it washes away the front when you really try to push it. Not really impressed by this setup in this regard.
6) Comfort.
I'm talking about non-harsh input driving. Basically, on around town commute, how does the thing drive?
The eibach pro street s coilovers are good. They are not as comfortable as the spring/shock or koni setup, but they also perform better so there is your trade off. They are not uncomfortable or jiggly or bouncy or anything weird.
The eibach spring/shock are a dream. Buttery smooth and comfortable, just unfortunately you have 1.5" of ground clearnance.
The koni's are another nice smooth setup. Dial in the rear rebound to balance out for your local conditions, and the car is a nice cruiser.
So there you go, for $1k, the Eibach's provide great handling. I'd still say for pure commute comfort, get the Koni's. But if you like the get into the drive, the Eibach's really reward you with some great handling at a stoopid low price. The Koni's are a good value at their price, but you get what you pay for. I really think the eibach's are a bit of a hidden gem. You get handling from kits twice as expensive, but still get a good daily driver. is it suspension utopia? No, cuase no one thing is right for any two people, but it's more then you should ask for at $1k. Huge thumbs up. new respect for Eibach.
Also, they are way easier to adjust ride height then the Koni's. Nice spring perch hardware, and I really didn't need the wrench that much to adust the height to what I wanted, most done by hand.
Feel free to post any questions...
<img src="http://eibach.com/eibach/images/prostreet_s.jpg">
*stock photo obviously
Like the Vogtlands, I believe it is one kit for both A4 and S4 B5 cars (quattro only obviously).
Had them on for a couple weeks now and they are broken in. They haven't settled much, so my initial ride height settings of 25.25" and 25.5" are staying true.
Ok, so my biggest things I look for in the suspension break out like this:
1) Dips at speed.
This would be a big dip at speeds over 40mph. I have found that various different kits do a better, and much worse job handling this input with the uneven weight distribution on the Audi.
2) Bumps when loaded.
This would be taking a long corner with the car loaded, then hitting a bump and see what happens.
3) High Speed inputs.
This would be things like potholes, expansion joints, steel hole covers, curbs if you hit those.
4) Roll.
basically spring rate plus bump stops plus gas pressure if applicable.
5) Cornering behavior.
Does the car understeer, is it nuetral, is it twitchy, whatever. Basically, forget how the car is for daily driving, how does it turn.
6) Comfort.
How easy is it to live with? Is it harsh, noisy, quirky, whatever.
First off, teh Eibach Pro Street S coilovers are made by KW for Eibach Federn (germany) and run Eibach springs (don't know the rates). The "S" stands for stainless steel, and appears to be the same coating as the KW INOX stuff. The dampers are gas pressurized and non-adjustable. From my KW experience, that likely means they are KW V1 damper body with eibach spec'd valving.
If I had to guess on spring rates, I'd say something around 550-600 lbs.
The eibach spring shock kit (1546.780) clearly ran less spring, I believe those were around 350lbs.
I'll throw in the other $1k kit I know, which is the Koni coilover kit. The spring rates there are like 420/390 I believe, so we'll call it 400lbs.
I wish I could cross-compare the Vogtlands, but I haven't driven on them. But I'm sure they're good based on other reviews.
So back to the top 6:
1)Dips at speed:
The Eibach spring/shock absolutely killed at this. It was without question the best suspension I had ever driven on at taking a bump at speed. My best guess as to why is the heavy high speed compression valving and the rebound springs inside the dampers. But this kit would totally absorb a dip at any speed and recover in 1 nice motion, just like the car should.
The Eibach Pro Street coilovers are still really good. Not as good as the spring/shock, and likely becuase they run less high speed compression valving, and have to deal with more spring rate, but they are still really good. The rear seems a little firm, or the front a little soft, but it's damn close to good.
The Koni's really suck at this test. When adjusted right, you can get it close, but their slow reaction time just makes them to slow to figure this out. Again, i'm really guessing here as to why this happens, but this has been my experience.
2) Bumps when loaded.
The eibach pro street coilovers do a really good job at this. What you're looking for here is a kit that still has enough compression travel left when cornering to take an input and not go into understeer (due to increasing front spring rate from the bump stop). This is a function of ride height, and most kits that are set at a good height should be ok with this.
The Koni's would do ok with this as long as you had them above 25.5". Lower heights seemed to have mixed results and you could get some front end wash away when you really lean the car over, then ask for more.
The eibach spring/shock setup did really well at this as well, but i don't know why as the kit ran so freakin low it seemed impossible that the kit would do anythign BUT understeer. However, they figured it out, and the kit did fine taking bumps when loaded.
3) High Speed Inputs.
This is the teeth filling killer. The input that is likely the least common, but you notice it the most.
The eibach spring/shock setup was terrible at high speed inputs. You'd think the rear window was going to shatter and you'd see a control arm bouncing away in the rear view mirror. I frequently checked for bent rims and bubbled tires with this setup on. It was one of few faults the kit had, but it really takes its toll on you.
The eibach pro street coilovers are great at harsh inputs. They do just fine, which tells me they are running less high speed compression then the spring/shock setup. You can pummel into pot holes and joints and not worry about the car breaking.
The koni's do well on this as well, again, a result of the more conservative high speed compression.
4) Roll.
This is just spring rate for the most part. How much does the car lean over.
The eibach coilovers are pretty flat. Still some roll, but not that bad. It's what I would call a good balance. It's not the super flat like an 700/800 spring setup, but good enough to not be a nuisance like stock.
The eibach spring/shock setup has some roll. You get used to it, but it's more roll then I'd like. But again, like *everything*, you're making a compromise, and teh soft springs help this kit out in other aspects.
The koni has more roll then the eibach coilovers. More roll then I'd like, but again, that helps the koni's in other aspects.
5) Cornering behavior.
On a side note, I'm running stock front and rear sway bars.
The eibach pro street coilovers are damn neutral. They give you good turn in feel, and give you enough control to feel the rear break away so you can adjust steering and throttle to keep the car going where you want. Of the 3, this kit has the best cornering attitude. I haven't tracked this kit, but I imagine I'd enjoy it more then the spring/shock setup as I need to use less man-handling to get what I want the car to do. and usually, man-handling means i'm wasting tire grip to get the car to corner as I want. I'm thinking the pro-street s coilovers do a better job getting the rotation with less tire drama.
The eibach spring/shock was really neutral as well. I didn't really know how it was, since it was so low, and my front was running out of travel a lot, but it refused to really wash away like the koni does. It wasn't as neutral as the pro street coilovers, but does a really good job. I was surpised by the kit, and as a result, raised my expectation level for the eibach coilovers. This kit on track was very confidence inspiring. it won't bite you, and you can just pound the curbing with no issues. I did find myself lifting mid corner to keep the car rotating, so it has some understeer in it, but not bad.
The koni kit is pretty understeer in my opion. it washes away the front when you really try to push it. Not really impressed by this setup in this regard.
6) Comfort.
I'm talking about non-harsh input driving. Basically, on around town commute, how does the thing drive?
The eibach pro street s coilovers are good. They are not as comfortable as the spring/shock or koni setup, but they also perform better so there is your trade off. They are not uncomfortable or jiggly or bouncy or anything weird.
The eibach spring/shock are a dream. Buttery smooth and comfortable, just unfortunately you have 1.5" of ground clearnance.
The koni's are another nice smooth setup. Dial in the rear rebound to balance out for your local conditions, and the car is a nice cruiser.
So there you go, for $1k, the Eibach's provide great handling. I'd still say for pure commute comfort, get the Koni's. But if you like the get into the drive, the Eibach's really reward you with some great handling at a stoopid low price. The Koni's are a good value at their price, but you get what you pay for. I really think the eibach's are a bit of a hidden gem. You get handling from kits twice as expensive, but still get a good daily driver. is it suspension utopia? No, cuase no one thing is right for any two people, but it's more then you should ask for at $1k. Huge thumbs up. new respect for Eibach.
Also, they are way easier to adjust ride height then the Koni's. Nice spring perch hardware, and I really didn't need the wrench that much to adust the height to what I wanted, most done by hand.
Feel free to post any questions...
03-17-2006, 12:30 PM
#6
Nice write up. It's $745.00 at Tire Rack.
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