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pilotmkv

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I will be ordering an air kit sometime next week, and was wondering what people opinions are on either the switchspeed kit or the autopilot V2 kit.

id like inputs on the following.

ease of use
installation (easy, pain in the ass)
any maintenance issues
daily driveability

any other issues worth noting

thanks guys:beer:
 
Why is e-level not on your list of options? Just curious.

Height based management is IMO superior than pressure based (v2)

And the accuair e-level is just hands down awesome. I rode around on manual management for 3 years...The air suspension sub forum might be better to search around in and ask questions like this to be honest.

If you're ready to buy in a week you should have been doing all of this research already you reallllllly don't want to jump into something like that w/out knowing what you're getting into. Trust me I made that mistake. If money is an issue than save up a bit more and get the system that you will only need to buy once.
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
i have been looking around alot but the internet where i am at is very unreliable some days it works some days it wont . Im in afganistan to clear things up but ill be coming home next week for a little

i thought about elevel, i think the reason its not an option is the immediate price of it 3000+ versus 2200

i like the switchspeed kit because in the future theres possibility of upgrade to elevel
 
I like v2, ill be running it in my car when the time comes to getting the car moving again. also have one of the orginal v2 units and it works perfect, I have no complaints at all. if you want some more info just send me a pm
 
i think e-level isnt on his list or a few reasons price and ease of installation are prob the top two

if you want easy to install v2 is great for that

i have been dailying my car on air for almost a year on v2 and i have not had one single issue with it as far as maintenance just empty your water traps every few months and throw in some air brake anit freeze in the winter (you really dont need to but its nice piece of mind)
 
I run v2, and if I were to do it all over again, I would definitely want to go e-level. V2 is awesome, don't get me wrong, but my largest gripes are as follows:

- Pressure based woes
-- Ride height changes with the atmospheric pressure
- Controller
-- Material is "too soft", becomes damaged and flakes easily. I keep mine in my center console, and in just a few weeks, it started to get all muffed up. I'm sure that's my fault as well, but I expected it to be a bit more durable.
- Requires Calibration pretty often
- Difficult to keep ride height accurate when making minor weight changes
- It happens more often than you think

If you do go with v2, make sure you:
- Get the 3/8 version of the manifold
-- Even if you want to run 1/4 lines, you can always run a reducer. There are two versions of the manifold, 1/4 and 3/8. You're always going to have that flow restriction running the 1/4 manifold, even if you step up to 3/8. I didn't know that there were differences in the port sizes when I ordered, I thought it was just in the reducers.
- Get an alignment from a place that offers "unlimited alignments for "
-- There is a place locally that offers 2 years of alignments for $100. I've needed to get realigned each season, pretty much. The pressure does make that large of a difference.
 
i think e-level isnt on his list or a few reasons price and ease of installation are prob the top two

if you want easy to install v2 is great for that

i have been dailying my car on air for almost a year on v2 and i have not had one single issue with it as far as maintenance just empty your water traps every few months and throw in some air brake anit freeze in the winter (you really dont need to but its nice piece of mind)

I hear what you're saying...Price concern wasn't listed as a factor on his list up there so I figured it's worth it to bring up. Having never owned V2 myself I can't speak from experience I just like the comfort of having my suspension set to a specific height as opposed to a pressure.

I will say this. Whatever you do don't go w/ manual management. Routing all of those lines is a nightmare and leaks can be troublesome to find/fix.
 
best thing about manual mgmt is how damn simple it is.

i love not having to rely on electronics to have a reliable suspension system.

screw a relay, digital gauges, ride height control, pressure sensors, etc... properly install all your fittings and analog gauges and you're good to go.

simplicity = reliability, imo ;)
 
best thing about manual mgmt is how damn simple it is.

i love not having to rely on electronics to have a reliable suspension system.

screw a relay, digital gauges, ride height control, pressure sensors, etc... properly install all your fittings and analog gauges and you're good to go.

simplicity = reliability, imo ;)

Trust me I drove on manual mgmt for the past 3 years I know what your saying. Sure it's more work to setup and install (that's part of the fun in working on your car right?) but once it is the simplicity of having the car set to ride height w/out having to eyeball your gauges and hit your target #'s (I bet you raise the fronts/rears to even psi right?) only to later find out that bag of charcoal in the back is making your right rear chaff like a fat kid on a treadmill (true story). Since using the e-level I've gotten away from the idea of having the corner PSI's match. That is completely wrong if you get a ruler out and measure your fender height you will see that each corner will require a difference in pressure to be even.

Anyway there is more than one way to skin a cat just research all the differences...Look at your price range and pick the best one that meets your needs :) Even if you peice together some asco valves and get an avs 7 switch controller you'll be fine :)
 
best thing about manual mgmt is how damn simple it is.

i love not having to rely on electronics to have a reliable suspension system.

screw a relay, digital gauges, ride height control, pressure sensors, etc... properly install all your fittings and analog gauges and you're good to go.

simplicity = reliability, imo ;)
Yup. Happy with my paddles. Last thing I want on my daily is for a electrical management to go haywire and over pressurize, kill my battery, or just not work.
 
Trust me I drove on manual mgmt for the past 3 years I know what your saying. Sure it's more work to setup and install (that's part of the fun in working on your car right?) but once it is the simplicity of having the car set to ride height w/out having to eyeball your gauges and hit your target #'s (I bet you raise the fronts/rears to even psi right?) only to later find out that bag of charcoal in the back is making your right rear chaff like a fat kid on a treadmill (true story). Since using the e-level I've gotten away from the idea of having the corner PSI's match. That is completely wrong if you get a ruler out and measure your fender height you will see that each corner will require a difference in pressure to be even.
:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
I love my Autopilot V2. If I could choose again I would get e-level seeing how the measuring system is superior in relation to the pressure based system of the Autopilot. For the price I am more than content with autopilot and will continue to be happy with it until the day I upgrade to e-level. :beer:
 
For ease and simplicity, V2. I did my entire B7 Passat in 7 hours and have had zero issues since install. I had one minor issue when I had it in my GLI but it was a software issue (did not leave me stranded) that was quickly resolved by Air Lift.

Would I like E-Level? Yes. Am I more than happy with my setup? Yes. My wife uses the car so it's nice to have a user friendly setup too.
 
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