S3 AP Coilovers

[Gavin_s3]

Hello, looking at getting some coilovers for the first modification. I've been toying with either a stage 1 map or the coilovers but think I'm gonna go coilovers first.
What's people's reviews on the ap's?
Anyone got before and after pictures?
Do you think coilovers first or stage 1 map?

Cheers Gav

 

[DPM]

Good quality kit for the money and made by KW over in Germany so a well known brand behind them.

The kit is height adjustable so you could pretty much set it to what ever height you wanted but I'm sure some members will get some pictures posted.

Damian @ DPM Performance

 

[nluk100]

Stage 1 map and ARBs over coilovers all day long.

 

[smurfworth]

Mines on ap's if you wanna take a look

 

[Donny_DJ]

Hello, looking at getting some coilovers for the first modification. I've been toying with either a stage 1 map or the coilovers but think I'm gonna go coilovers first.
What's people's reviews on the ap's?
Anyone got before and after pictures?
Do you think coilovers first or stage 1 map?

Cheers Gav

As what Damian said, he's the expert. I've never had personal experience with coilovers but heard on here the APs give quite a stiff ride. What's your aim eg lowering, stance, comfort, track days?
I went for the Bilstein B12 Sportline damper/spring kit and never looked back.

Get a stage 1 remap from Revo too.

 

[Gavin_s3]

Stage 1 map and ARBs over coilovers all day long.

Thanks for your input.
There's a company near me who do the revo map as well

 

[Gavin_s3]

Mines on ap's if you wanna take a look

Definitely mate got any pictures?

 

[Gavin_s3]

As what Damian said, he's the expert. I've never had personal experience with coilovers but heard on here the APs give quite a stiff ride. What's your aim eg lowering, stance, comfort, track days?
I went for the Bilstein B12 Sportline damper/spring kit and never looked back.

Get a stage 1 remap from Revo too.

I just can't help myself and like modifying my cars, had this one 2 months now and it's time.
I'm just after a lower stance and handling improvement tbh I'm not really impressed with the standard set up I think it's pretty poor.

 

[Gavin_s3]

Good quality kit for the money and made by KW over in Germany so a well known brand behind them.

The kit is height adjustable so you could pretty much set it to what ever height you wanted but I'm sure some members will get some pictures posted.

Damian @ DPM Performance

Cheers Damian. I've seen them on your site for £400. Is there any sales or anything coming up any time soon?

 

[Donny_DJ]

I just can't help myself and like modifying my cars, had this one 2 months now and it's time
I'm just after a lower stance and handling improvement tbh I'm not really impressed with the standard set up I think it's pretty poor.

Ha, i hear ya - keeping it standard is boring. What's your budget (parts & labour) and where u based? You might be best with some Eibach Sportline springs. What's the mileage?

 

[Gavin_s3]

Ha, i hear ya - keeping it standard is boring. What's your budget (parts & labour) and where u based? You might be best with some Eibach Sportline springs. What's the mileage?

I've seen the ap's for £400 which seems like a good price for what you get and they get good reviews from what I've read.
I'll just fit them myself probably done my type r a few years ago.
How much would a garage charge?
Cars 2008 49k sport back s3

 

[DPM]

Cheers Damian. I've seen them on your site for £400. Is there any sales or anything coming up any time soon?

No sales planned but I'm sure we can do something for you if you drop us a PM when you want to order.

Damian @ DPM Performance

 

[Donny_DJ]

I've seen the ap's for £400 which seems like a good price for what you get and they get good reviews from what I've read.
I'll just fit them myself probably done my type r a few years ago.
How much would a garage charge?
Cars 2008 49k sport back s3

Yeah £400 is a decent price and they're apparently a good bit of kit. I wouldn't be keen on the backbreaking ride on coilovers though. You need to maintain some sort ride comfort surely.
I think a garage would charge anything between £150-£250 in labour to fit coilovers. You'll prob need to get the tracking aligned afterwards too and that's additional £s.

 

[smurfworth]

Definitely mate got any pictures?

Loads in here: http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/thread...now-with-sprint-blue-s3-content.202908/page-6

Ap's aren't stiff and harsh at all, I've used them on a daily basis for near enough 4 years and feel they are fine. Best bang for buck coilovers you can buy and that's coming from someone whose had coilovers ranging from £150 to £1100

 

[Gavin_s3]

Yeah £400 is a decent price and they're apparently a good bit of kit. I wouldn't be keen on the backbreaking ride on coilovers though. You need to maintain some sort ride comfort surely.
I think a garage would charge anything between £150-£250 in labour to fit coilovers. You'll prob need to get the tracking aligned afterwards too and that's additional £s.

From what I've read there not too firm, obviously going to be a bit firmer than standard but that's what I'm after if I'm improving the handling.

I'll fit them myself and my local garage charges £40 for the tracking keep the costs down.

Now I'm thinking about it I might get a stage 1 map first

 

[Gavin_s3]

Loads in here: http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/thread...now-with-sprint-blue-s3-content.202908/page-6

Ap's aren't stiff and harsh at all, I've used them on a daily basis for near enough 4 years and feel they are fine. Best bang for buck coilovers you can buy and that's coming from someone whose had coilovers ranging from £150 to £1100

Cheers for the feedback! If I'm going coilovers its Deffo ap's.

Just read through your full build thread nice s3.

 

[24JSeymour]

Theres a before and after pic of mine, i also swapped from 18's-19's so thats closed the gap up abit. They really are a good coilover for the price, got me round the ring in one piece anyway...

 

[TDents84]

As what Damian said, he's the expert. I've never had personal experience with coilovers but heard on here the APs give quite a stiff ride. What's your aim eg lowering, stance, comfort, track days?
I went for the Bilstein B12 Sportline damper/spring kit and never looked back.

Get a stage 1 remap from Revo too.

Hi Donny, keen to hear what your setup has done to the ride comfort. I'm on S Line springs with Koni FSD dampers but looking to improve the ride further. I'm thinking Eibach pro springs although that lowers the car which i assume makes the ride stiffer?

Also toyed with finding some SE Springs or just reducing the wheels from 18s to 17s. Any advice for someone with little knowledge of suspension mods? Thanks.

 

[Donny_DJ]

Hi Donny, keen to hear what your setup has done to the ride comfort. I'm on S Line springs with Koni FSD dampers but looking to improve the ride further. I'm thinking Eibach pro springs although that lowers the car which i assume makes the ride stiffer?

Also toyed with finding some SE Springs or just reducing the wheels from 18s to 17s. Any advice for someone with little knowledge of suspension mods? Thanks.

Hi @TDents84, yes sure. To put things into context over the Summer I had just fitted 19s and needed to close the arch gap further as the Eibach Pro springs weren't cutting the mustard.
I was looking at the AP coilovers as I like the idea of adjustable ride height but heard differing reviews ie some say the ride was good; some said it was really stiff. It's quite subjective.
So I was gona just buy some Sportline springs but while doing research on here I was only reading good things about the Bilstein/Eibach collaboration for their B12 Sportline kit. Car had done 68k miles so I thought it WAS worth paying the extra to upgrade the dampers too (they are B8 Sprints).
I can honestly say the ride comfort is excellent. Yes it is slightly stiffer than standard but you expect that otherwise it would be catching the arches due to the lowered stance.
You can tell they've done their homework though because the Sportline springs sit at the perfect height - ie they reduce the wheel/arch gap but not low enough to kill your sump when you go over speed humps. There is still a small enough gap to allow suspension travel (ie some comfort).

Eibach Pro springs will slightly improve the stance & handling over S-Line so definitely worth going for. I wouldn't bother with SE springs. You could go down to 17s with higher profile tyres which will improve the comfort but that will worsen the look of your car I imagine - depends on your priorities!

Hope that helps - let me know if you needed to know anything else pal.