[s-cars] boge vs bilstein shock advice

[Taka Mizutani]

Dave-
In my non-expert opinion, I think your shocks may not be capable of handling
the
springs. If the shocks don't have the right valving, you'll be bouncing
around on the
spring without rebound control.

I would seriously consider getting either the Konis and running them on a
stiff
setting or getting Bilsteins with a revalve to match the Eibach springs.

Bilstein sport with Eibachs match pretty well to Eibachs, though- the ride
quality
in a friend's car was pretty nice.

Unsprung weight should make a huge difference- I could tell whether I had
the
Avus or the Oettingers my old car (6 lb. difference per wheel).

A nice set of BBS RG-Fs or something similar should improve your ride
significantly,
once you get the shocks and springs matched up.

I was running H&R coilovers on our A4, much higher spring rates than your
Eibachs,
ride quality was quite nice even on bad pavement.

Taka

On 2/2/06, Dave Ellis <UrS4 at sympatico.ca> wrote:
>
>
> Taka Mizutani wrote:
> > Dave-
> > what shocks are you running with your Eibach springs?
>
> Boge Turbo Gas.  Doesn't matter if I use the lightweight 15" snows from
> my A4 or the much heavier 16" summers (nearly twice the weight), the
> ride quality is still too harsh for the crappy roads in this part of
> Quebec.  It's not too bad when driving in Ontario, but still too harsh
> for my liking.
>
> > Some shocks do not match well with certain springs. I've noticed that
> > H&R springs with Bilstein shocks are not a good match- the spring rates
> > are too high and the Bilsteins really need to be revalved in order to
> > mate better with the springs. I would postulate that you may be
> > experiencing the same thing with your particular setup.
> >
> > I would submit that high spring rates are not necessarily what causes
> > poor ride quality. With properly valved shocks, high spring rates can be
> > fine on most surfaces (really bad pavement is the exception- broken,
> > cracked and bumpy is even bad with the stock setup). Also, you need to
> > look at unsprung weights- what wheels/tires are you running?
> >
> > A heavy wheel/tire combo can really degrade the ride.
> >
> > Taka
>