Meister R review
 

Hello guys. Just a few thoughts on the Meister R coilovers I recently fitted to my vehicle. To cut a long story short, I imported a nice Hawk Spec C RA from the land of the rising sun back in mid November. The car was immaculate with only 54K miles on the clock. It drove superbly in every respect except one - suspension. The previous (Jap) owner had fitted some lovely HKS Hipermax coilovers. Lovely that is if you drive on glassy smooth roads because with a spring rate of 16kg/mm, these were ROCK HARD. Absolutely no good for the fast but pot-holed and lumpy A and B roads of the North Pennines. Also, being designed primarily for track use and with solid rear top mounts, they knocked more than a door-to-door salesman on cocaine :)

I looked around at options and decided that ideally, I'd like to go for the Chevron modified Bilstein kit. However, at nearly £2K and with the recent cost of importing the car plus servicing, new tyres etc, I decided to put that option on hold for a while and fit some Meister R Zeta Rs. While not the last word in refinement, I was convinced they would be an affordable option to make the car lots of fun while working out what to do next. Also, I'd had good previous experience with this kit; I ran Zeta Rs on my last car (Jap import Civic) and they provided over 45,000 miles of faultless performance with a reasonably compliant ride, yet good enough for the odd track day.

Having negotiated a good deal with Jerrick at Meister R, I had them fitted a couple of months ago, and I've now covered over 1500 miles in mixed conditions - mainly country A and B roads, but a bit of motorway and some town driving. I have to say that I am hugely impressed (again). Set to around 10 clicks from full soft front and 8 clicks rear, the ride quality and traction is excellent. Roads that I dreaded taking at speed now invite you to 'press on'. On reasonable surfaces the ride quality is so good that you'd not be left wanting for anything else. On poorer surfaces, it's still good. Yes, it lacks a little refinement and ability to deal with really bad potholes/bumps (becomes a bit choppy) but for the money, I'm very impressed. Also to add that there's absolutely no knocking/banging or any other undesirable sounds. The suspension just gets on and does its job. In short, it's allowing me to enjoy the car and really smile. So much so that now, I always seem to be looking for the 'long way round' :thumb:

Am I still considering the Chevron kit? Yes, I am, but then I'm a perfectionist. But in the meantime, I'm delighted with the Meister Rs and would recommend them wholeheartedly for someone whose budget might not stretch to dearer kit but who still values decent ride quality and performance at a competitive price. Oh and just to add, I have no connection with Meister R in any way other than I am a satisfied customer.

Here's a pic of the Spec C (sitting on winter rims and tyres)

https://i.imgsafe.org/9e7f4a7.jpg

Great review thank you. I've really been considering this as my next step for my forester sti, so great to hear a good review. Thanks for taking the time to post this. :thumb:

No worries BPR :) They're not 100% perfect by any means, but for the money, they're very decent indeed (esp. if you haggle a bit on price ;) )

I've always said (after owning many) that I would never again have coilovers on a road car just because it's a real compromise for the ride quality. But if these are compliant enough to us on our terrible roads then it may be an option worth looking at.

I have the same on my p1. And i absolutely love them. 10 clicks from soft on front and 6 on back. Perfet for road. Not crashy nor hard for daily driving would highly recommend them :)

Thanks for the review, glad you are enjoying the suspension.
The car looks great also. :)

The choppiness you get with very poor road surfaces is something we addressed in the new generation ZetaCRD coilovers.
By no mean it was ever uncomfortable, but we are a perfectionist ourselves and always aim to improve.

Enjoy the car, and if you have any concerns you know who to call. ;)
We are always around for a good reason.

Jerrick

I've got these on my 2005 wrx wagon, and they are superb.
They are the first coilovers I've ever bought and was worried that they'd be too hard, too noisy and basically ruin the car but they are just great and can be adjusted to suit all roads.

Ps. 16kg/mm? Crikey. I'm amazed you've got any teeth left.

Well, my head actually did hit the roof liner after one particularly lumpy section of road :freak3:

I have the Meister R Zeta R's on my car JDM V8 and on the road they are really impressive. Yet to use the car on track but i am expecting good things.

I fitted mine zeta r just two days ago so too early for proper review but I'm impressed, tbh I didn't expect that they will be so comfortable. I'm still playing with the adjustments before I'll go for a full geo.