Coilover recommendation

[mavada]

Hi all,

I might consider buying myself some coilovers to get rid off the failing drc.
I have to choose (budget wise) between:

Bilstein B14
H&R Monotube
KW Version 1

Anyone having experiencing those?
Rideheight adjustment with wheels on or not, driveability, hard/soft Ride, the amount of Rideheight to adjust, durability etc.

[Shinobi675]

I haven't had those. I had a set of pro street s fitted to an e36 m3, new poly bushes and a decent geometry. Amazing handling, worked at both a trip to Tesco and laps of the Nurburgring. It was ride height adjustment only, compression and rebound were fixed by model.

[Shoppinit]

What's wrong with your DRC?

I wouldn't get H&R. My experience of them in the RS6 isn't very positive. Too low, too harsh.

I hear good things about the B14, but how many people can compare to other solutions? I've never tried an RS6 on KWv3 or B14 but I would be curious to.

If I were to do it again I think I'd keep the DRC, put a pressure gauge on each circuit and own the tools to recharge it properly.

I might still do this.

[Gripper1]

If I were to do it again I think I'd keep the DRC, put a pressure gauge on each circuit and own the tools to recharge it properly.

I might still do this.

I'd do the same if I had the DRC when I bought it, though no doubt the rest of the system that is probably open to atmosphere is shot by now. Has anyone looked at the DRC to see about the options for stripping down and refurbishing the struts? The myriad of seals etc available now, maybe it is possible to build a DRC strut up to a better spec than when new?

I also wouldn't go H&R, they can only be adjusted height wise by adjusting the pre load on the spring (I think). Whereby the lower the car is the better the ride, if you raise it the ride quality suffers a lot. They may be fine when new, but the springs become weak and it gets saggy at the rear. I was driving out of Robin Hoods Bay which has a steep hill in and out and the rear arches rubbed all the way up, had a few odd looks from tourists on foot . There was also evidence of the springs binding meaning they had lost their strength.

I changed to standard springs and KONI's for £500 and haven't looked back.

[rsmotors]

I have hr coilovers on mine , way too low on the rear and very crashy,, if the roads are good its great , , occcasionally i can feel my tailbone hit the base of my brain , not good .I am looking for standard spring for mine now , the shocks are great .

[rsmotors]

Where did you go for standard springs per chance?

[Gripper1]

I had my search alerts set on Ebay and Gumtree. I got lucky and got a set from a chap who saw my wanted post on this forum.

May be a bit of a waiting game as they seem scarce, it took me a few months for me to source. Not sure what happens to all the springs maybe they are binned along with the DRC shocks?

[Mɐʇʇ]

I'm with you on this!

I changed to standard springs and KONI's for £500 and haven't looked back.

[Cbardell]

I've just ordered some custom rear springs for my h&r's as they have sagged a lot. Spec'd the same as bilstiens and only £40 a side, I gave up on the hunt for standard springs as it was taking too long.

[Cbardell]

To be fitted this weekend....

[Shoppinit]

Cool. Let us know how they are. Must be loads of saggy H&R cars out there.

[Jayjay101]

To be fitted this weekend....

I would love to know the spec and where you go these pls!!

[Cbardell]

To be fitted this weekend....

I would love to know the spec and where you go these pls!!

I got the spring rates for the PSS9 from Bilstien, they gave them in Nm at 100 rear and 90 front.

The 100 rears work out arround 575lbs but the closest I could get in 2.5" was 600 at the time I ordered as I didn't want to wait lol

Ordered from D.Faulkner. http://www.dfaulknersprings.com

I used to work for a support race team to the BTTC and these guys were recommended by my old contacts.

They do a bulk buy discount scheme so depending on this weekends outcome it might be worth organising a group buy for all the saggy H&R owners as I'll probably do my fronts too.

[IanH755]

I've not used the Bilstein B14's but I've driven cars with DRC (mine), B16's (or PSS9 - mine) and KWv3's (cryptic's) on the road and I genuinely couldn't tell any difference between the Bilsteins/KW, almost exactly the same feel, damping, comfort etc. I've tried DRC and Bilstein on the track and the Bilstein's (with uprated ARB's) were much more suited to track-work than the DRC which felt more "wobbly" when really pushed to the limits.

[Cbardell]

Cool. Let us know how they are. Must be loads of saggy H&R cars out there.

Today didn't go to plan, epic fail on the spring length measurement before ordering.

Car now sits like an allroad and the spring seats touch the drive shafts! New shorter springs ordered will be fitted Tuesday.