Price for High End Single Adjustable Coilovers?

[MeisterR]

Just a general questions to the community.

Many of us searching for high-end adjustable suspension are face with many choices.
As it will be a huge investments for most of us, we all want to make sure that we are making the right decision.

But ultimately, it comes down to prices and what we can afford.

We would all love to ride on a set of Ohlins DFV, but at £2500 a set it is just a bit outside of the budget for many of us.


So the questions here is what "High End" suspension do you think you can afford?
How much is it? And why would you choose that over anything else in the same price bracket?

As the keyword here is 'affordable', lets try to keep the RRP of the coilovers below £1500.

 

[ollydc5]

I had a £1k budget and after much consideration I went for the buddy club racing spec coilovers as they were on a good offer at the same time. They are usually £1500 but grabbed a deal, I would of brought the n+ coilovers if not.

I brought them because

Well rated and tested by themselves and their customers
The after service on the items are great as far as spares and servicing the struts and can be dealt with in the uk
The price was within reach and I was happy to put the bit extra compared to rival manufacturers
I was more than confident and comfortable when pestering Paul and buddy club uk when purchasing the coilovers and Talking about my needs and use for the product
I had also had I slight demo of how the coilovers work under different conditions

Hope this is the answers you were looking for and me being a buddy club brand whore had no bias against this, it was a big move for me buying the coilovers as a budget is important

 

[MeisterR]

Brand equity is important, and I don't deny that at all.

I am trying to come up with something more advanced than what BuddyClub have to offer.
We are looking into technology of AST, Ohlins, KW, etc...

And of course, they are design and build in the UK using the best material.
For example, all the hydraulic fluid in the damper are Silkolene, so they have a much higher tolerance against fading... things like that.

I am just trying to get a feel of what the DC5 community want.

As we all know, quality cost money and good suspension certainly isn't cheap.
But it is pointless building something that everyone will want but no one can afford... so I am just trying to get a feel of what members of the community want.

 

[mike.williams]

My budget im torn between buddyclub n+, bc racing and the meister seems very well built as weve been discussing

Cheaper is better for me but without sacrificing quality.

Its good to here meisterR are being ran on a dc2 in VTEC CHALLENGE

 

[George K]

AST get my vote, as they are built to European standards, with proper shim pack type valving,and provide excellent after sales back-up and servicing. They also have sensible travel and AST happily valve for your requirements and choice of spring rates. They are based in Tewkesbury and Curtis Woodman is very helpful.

 

[MeisterR]

As far as competition goes, I think AST is getting very close.
AST is Mono-Tube Damper correct?

What do they retail at?

 

[C&S Evo7]

ohlins all the way for me, the road and track with the dfv system takes the sting out of the bumps completely rebuildable in the UK and quality components.

 

[C&S Evo7]

if you want to be a leader and innovative, dont look at track suspension, there are plenty of people who can do that, BUT very few who can make a car handle on the roads here due to the condition they are in , ie bumpy as f**k.
they need decent travel, softer spring rates and clever damping to cope with the softer springs, i would say that Claire's s2000 with the ohlins fitted is now softer and more comfy than stock but has more grip and composure when pressing on than stock too

 

[sinbad]

for me it would be damping control above all else. A good/clever dampers are what I would want most of the money to be spent on. build quality and support next.

Id want bespoke spring rates for my type of driving/car and assistance with the setup for my car and driving style, be that drifting, track, rally or road.
I think as Si says above, I think most people buy with the idea of doing most of there driving on the road but with the ability of doing trackdays too.

 

[MeisterR]

We are going after the same concept as the DFV realistically, but looking at half the price.
The DFV is good, but £2500 is way out of most people's budget.

But what you want is something that you can drive on the road comfortably, and have fun in the bumpy twisty while remaining compliant and responsive.
Then go to a track day, turn the damping up, and attack the track...
After that, soften the damping and drive home comfortably on the motorway...

That to me is what we are after... because very hard suspension isn't enjoyable on the bumpy twisty that we drive on 95% of the time.
And it is definitely not comfortable on the motorway when you are being toss over all over the place when you are only trying to drive straight!

 

[firthy22]

We are going after the same concept as the DFV realistically, but looking at half the price.
The DFV is good, but £2500 is way out of most people's budget.

But what you want is something that you can drive on the road comfortably, and have fun in the bumpy twisty while remaining compliant and responsive.
Then go to a track day, turn the damping up, and attack the track...
After that, soften the damping and drive home comfortably on the motorway...

That to me is what we are after... because very hard suspension isn't enjoyable on the bumpy twisty that we drive on 95% of the time.
And it is definitely not comfortable on the motorway when you are being toss over all over the place when you are only trying to drive straight!

Hit the nail on the head IMO. Coilovers with progressive springs would be ideal if that's possible, even coilovers with adjustable damping are too hard for road use because of the springs.

 

[George K]

Because the AST have sensible amounts of travel, they can use realistic spring rates, which give frequencies (the correct measure of relative spring rates - this is not b.s.., as I have calculated them for myself) in the correct range for road use, and then control the ride/handling balance by the damping. I am not up to date with prices, but recall that they are on the AST website. I find that they give a better than o.e ride, and often do not even change the damper setting for the hills!