adjustable coilovers up to £1k BC's? HDS? MeisterR?
 

hi, I'm planning to get some coilovers for my Spec C and I though it would be easy, but the more I read the less I know which ones to get, I thought to get B14 but you need to get top mounts as they don't come with any and you can't adjust damping/rebound, then I was thinking about BC RM, but they can't get rubber mounts which means that they will knock, so I would have to get BR, I also considered HDS but I'm not so keen to remove the wheels to adjust damping as the knob is at the bottom ( MonoPro version ) and my last option is MeisterR, but didn't find so many reviews about them and I'm not sure if I can choose spring rates?
Car would be mainly used as a daily with 2-3 track days per year.

I have ER series BC coils on. You can have Rubber rear mounts on those but I just swapped mine over to the Pillowball tops so I can play with spring rates more.

Seperate Comp and rebound adjustment, Rebound is in the tops, Comp down below. I run 6/5 Summer and 4/3 long springs winter.

Some nice ones on the for sale board...

https://www.scoobynet.com/subaru-par...-1k-miles.html

I've has Meister R's fitted, and I'm really happy with them on my blob wagon. From the reviews and forms I researched I found that the HSD's were generally considered to be best for track, but hard on the road (and annoying to adjust), and the Meister R's OK for the road but a bit soft for the track. Reviews for BC BR were mixed.
But the set up that got the best reviews were PCA dynamics springs and KYB shocks. I've yet to hear anyone say anything bad about that set up.

many reviews about BC's are stating that they're too hard, but there's no mention what spring rate is used? I was thinking about PCA & KYB, but I'd like to have an option of adjusting the height and damping, also price wise it would be similar to BC's.
I don't know yet if I can choose spring rate for MeisterR and I'm also worried about knocking at the rear unless they use rubber top mounts like BC's do. I spoke w AS Performance and they can make a BC's with longer travel and rubber top mounts which eliminates the knocking at the rear.

The Meister R's have got rubber top mounts on the rear, and I believe that they have done special spring rates on request. Mine are 6/5 front/rear

Contact Edwin at cyber speeds, he's very helpful:

info@cyberspeeds.com

For mine I have adjusted the rebound/damping rate quite a few times (softer for long motorway trips, harder for cross country), but I don't fancy a trip back to the garage to re-do the geo settings every time I change the ride height so that's remained the same since they were fitted.

Thanks for the info, I have contacted him already and just waiting for the reply regarding spring rate and top mounts, don't know if their spring rate is the same as with BC's but I'd like to get 4/5 as I prefer softer springs and if necessary adjust the damping harder

Maybe have a look at pedders stuff too

Get the b14/16 and get the group n top mounts,
Or kW v3 with group n top mounts.
Probably the best out there for road and track.
Buy once spend once.

Perhaps the KW V1 could be in discussion here?

V1 are just basic manufacturer set, no damping ajustable etc

+1 for kw v3 buy once pay once only another 500 quid you need to save and will be well worth it

seen a proven set of these do 200k no rust no rebuilds just faultless performance in my mind:D

Totally hear you re the V3 or Clubsports, which are fantastic - agreed.

But for the money I have paired the V1 with the Whiteline Max C adjustable top mount, and it might be a far better choice quality wise for a more budget oriented setup than BC etc.

Have heard good things about the Eibach or B14 as well.

im in the same boat mate, went to roger clark and was told they have revised the bc coilovers and are the best all rounder. i was thinking of going for the bilsteins but not sure as you always hear good or bad things about each of them

b14's are equivalent of kw v1 as a basic height adjustable coilovers without adjustable damping. B14 with n group top mounts would cost about £1200 and for that price I could get bc er but for a daily with occasional track day it's not worth imo. I'm also aware about v3 and b16 as it's same league but unfortunately it's over my budget. I don't want to buy used set as I'd like to have a warranty in case there's something wrong. Didn't considered prdders as not many reviews and I don't know how the service and after sales care would look a like.

Sound's like you're after my setup.

I have BC ER's on with long travel and soft internal high speed damping. Rubber rear top mounts were fitted and 5/4 springs. Very nice if I wanted to back it all off and a couple of clicks was all I needed to get bounce or kill it. 17-16 out generally.

Now I've put the pillowball rear on and gone up to 6/5. I use the helper springs and normal length BC springs in Summer and longer softer one piece 4/3 springs in Winter and soften the damping right off then back in click by click and settled for 18-20 from full in.

By having seperate Compression and Rebound I can tune it to work with the springs and the BT090 or Winter tyres with much softer sidewalls.

Happy Bunny. The Pillowball back end is neither harsh or noisy BTW. It allows you to use standard 62mm springs as well.

Sounds like a very good set up. Perhaps one for the future...

bilstein B14's.

had them on my hawk spec c , perfect.

as I said before ER are a bit over the budget, but how would you rate the 5/4 springs? were they ok for daily use and when adjusted a bit harder would they be ok for track?? were they fitted to newage?
it seems that what I'll go for, 5/4 springs with longer travel, but BR instead of ER.

thanks, that was my first choice, but I'd like to have advantage of adjustable damping, I know that BC are not the same league as Bilstein, but there's also about £500 difference.

HSD monopro's are excellent, have them on my classic. You don't have to remove the wheels to turn the damping knob, yes it is poorly located, but you can reach it without removing the wheel.

Right, lets get a few things straight first...

1. Softer Springs rate does not always equal to better ride quality:
This has been around for a while, and many people think that softer springs rate equal more comfortable ride.
People use this because it is easy to understand, a 3kg/mm springs is softer than a 5kg/mm springs.

However, the thing that decide on ride quality most of the time is the damper valving.
Specifically, it is the "cracking pressure" of the damper, and this is something that one have to understand vehicle dynamics before they can get into debate.
But let just say this "cracking pressure" is always something that MeisterR look into, and this is why you often hear people that MeisterR ride "nicer" even if the springs rate are the same as other brand.

On the GC / GD, we use 6kg/mm front, and 5kg/mm rear.
However, you haven't really seen any complains regarding a "harsh" ride even on those springs rate.
That is because we made sure our damper have a low "cracking pressure" to ensure the damper actually move when you get onto those uneven road surfaces, something that we focused for an UK fast road / occasional track day car.

So even on the 6/5, it won't be uncomfortable on UK roads.
On softer setting, it should be compliant.
On stiffer setting, it should be responsive.
That is the entire function of the adjustable damping.
If the soft setting is still too stiff, or the stiff setting feels uncontrolled, then the engineers really need to those damper rebuild.

Personally, I would say the 6/5 setup is correct for a fast road / occasional track day WRX.
We work out the springs rate base on the wheel frequency, and it isn't out of this world.
Springs rate are decided mathematically base on vehicle dynamics, and it is something that we have calculated for the WRX.
We didn't pull the springs rate out of a hat because everyone else uses them.

Hope that helps.

Jerrick

thanks Jerrick, you saying that spring rate would be correct for WRX, does it also applies to Spec C which is a bit lighter?

I just looked at Pedders, can't find the info about spring rate, but price is similar to BC and MeisterR, but there's also 2 years warranty.

Yep, the Spec-C will work fine with it.
The weight difference is minor in the grand scheme of things.

I guess the main thing I am getting at is that MeisterR is different from BC, D2, and everyone else.
Don't expect the MeisterR to perform the same just because price is in the same category.
We are one of the few brands with our own UK R&D department, and we put a lot of R&D into our suspension; we don't just take parts of the shelf and bolt them together.

Jerrick

I know I've said this before, but I'm very happy with my meister r's. This easter holiday I've done approx 400 miles with my family and luggage in the car and they've been faultless. Motorways, Welsh b roads and farm tracks they've done it all with no complaints. If only I could say the same of my children. ..

order placed for MeisterR's, thanks everyone for help

I have the PCA Dynamics on my Bug but
had to have them custom made,just over £300 delivered.What a difference from standard!!!..Highly recomend if you don't want coilovers and Peter is a very nice and knowledgeable fella..