Meister R GT1 Suspension review
Discussion
Car in question is a Foz STI 05 Facelift and ive just copied and pasted from the Foz OC
As i cant find a review of them on the net, and as ive recently purchased them, i thought id do one.
First up though is my car history;
Fast forward to present day;
Purchased the STI but it was running on Tein Coilovers Front with 4kg Spring (model is the one with the adjustable motors) and some ebay specials at the rear with the Tein Springs on.
I wasnt a fan of this set-up, i like driving down country lanes and several times i felt the rear end come light just before/at the road speed limit on several corners or coming off a round-a-bout. Which for some is great but not for me. Also, going over expansion joints in the road would sometimes have the rear end skipping slightly. But otherwise the car ran fairly softly.
So looking originally at the Meister CRD+'s i managed to find a forum user localish to me that agreed to take me out in his. They seemed to run fairly smoothly but as i was just passenger, i lacked the feedback you get from driving. I guess im just not pro enough to set the car up from the passenger seat. So, then started looking at the GT1's noticed they had 0% finance deal going so why not. I did have to go for the Impreza suspension in our fitment
3 weeks later and they turned up
And had the local garage/race team fit them for me. With the original coilovers on, there was about 25mm of clearance between the top of the tyre and the lip of the wheel arch. I wanted this to go to 50mm as i have no need for a low car (i like the look of the Rallye Scoobies and liked the ride height of my old XT) but alas it wasnt to be. When they wound the kit to my height, it was found to have positive camber and wouldnt go negative @ the rear. After a bit of cursing my end - i didnt realise i needed a Camber kit, i ended up reverting back to 25mm gap and having 0 Camber at the rear. Oddly enough, they commented on the 25mm being the height it came from the factory at. So not sure if MR intended that or it just happened. OEM is still alot higher than the 50mm i wanted.
My settings are now:
Front: -1.9 Camber, 0.05(?) Toe
Rear: 0 Camber 0.03 Toe
Handling and turn in of the car is all rather subjective and ive not been able to chuck it about properly but it does turn in alot better than before, though its lost some of the fun of the XT (no idea what settings that had).
So anyway, how does it ride?
Setting 33
So i had the garage set it on the Firmest Setting, lets call it 33 (0 - soft, 33 - 'hard'), apparently the mechanic come back from a short test drive complaining about how harsh a ride it is. To me, it just felt firm but still supple enough on the roads.
How it rode, so i managed to get some mixed driving in over the weekend from lanes to motorway. And to me it felt great. My OH commented on how it felt more stiffer and rode nicer than previously. One test i have is that my town has a cobbled section (thats even but not smooth and cambered) and i see if i can change the volume on the Stereo (single din Kenwood unit in the centre of the dash) = failed hopelessly as the hand kept bouncing up and down past the knob. But its great for booby jiggling.
As another comparison, ive turned a hard tail mountain bike into a commuter bike by putting on commuter tyres for MTB's, it was like running around with tyre pressures at 75psi (max for my bike tyres is 85psi)
Setting 0
Next up was Setting ), ie the softest possible. I didnt like it and it reminded me of the previous set-up. This test lasted all of a few miles of town driving and some lanes before i had to pull over and firm it up.
Using the Bike PSI pressure, it was like running around on 30/85psi
Setting 20
After setting 0, a quick twist of the knobs by 20 clicks all round. Ive not really had much of a play on this setting, just a quick motorway blast but id say its more like 60/85psi.
Like i said before, some will find hard super hard as it all depends on their car driving history and what they currently own, which they will compare to. Also, tyres can play a massive part in it as well. Im running around on Nokian Z-Lines XL. So i wouldnt say they was overly stiff but i dont find them soft and tend to run them at 32psi cold = 34 psi hot. I find that if i run them at 32psi hot, they dont handle how i want them to. Strangely i find that they handle better sub (the magic) 7c than at the hotter temperatures.
Ill update the thread should someone ask any questions but otherwise ill update once ive done 1000 miles on them. A friend had them on his MX5 and said it took them 1k miles until they had 'bedded' in so ill go through all the settings again and comment again on how i find them once the suspensions worn a bit. There just doesnt seem to be any review threads on here or anywhere thats current or for the Foz
As i cant find a review of them on the net, and as ive recently purchased them, i thought id do one.
First up though is my car history;
- Honda Integra Type R DC5, ran around on OEM suspension and then Eibach Pro-Street Coilovers (not alot back then was available for the DC5)
- Then purchased a Porsche 996 GT3 and ran it along side the DC5. People said the 996 was raw - it was luxury compared to the DC5!
- Sold the DC5 and got a Forester 2.5XT that had OEM suspension on the front and Pedders Rear Kit
- the XT's engine then decided to 'die' and i got a '05 STI
Fast forward to present day;
Purchased the STI but it was running on Tein Coilovers Front with 4kg Spring (model is the one with the adjustable motors) and some ebay specials at the rear with the Tein Springs on.
I wasnt a fan of this set-up, i like driving down country lanes and several times i felt the rear end come light just before/at the road speed limit on several corners or coming off a round-a-bout. Which for some is great but not for me. Also, going over expansion joints in the road would sometimes have the rear end skipping slightly. But otherwise the car ran fairly softly.
So looking originally at the Meister CRD+'s i managed to find a forum user localish to me that agreed to take me out in his. They seemed to run fairly smoothly but as i was just passenger, i lacked the feedback you get from driving. I guess im just not pro enough to set the car up from the passenger seat. So, then started looking at the GT1's noticed they had 0% finance deal going so why not. I did have to go for the Impreza suspension in our fitment
3 weeks later and they turned up
And had the local garage/race team fit them for me. With the original coilovers on, there was about 25mm of clearance between the top of the tyre and the lip of the wheel arch. I wanted this to go to 50mm as i have no need for a low car (i like the look of the Rallye Scoobies and liked the ride height of my old XT) but alas it wasnt to be. When they wound the kit to my height, it was found to have positive camber and wouldnt go negative @ the rear. After a bit of cursing my end - i didnt realise i needed a Camber kit, i ended up reverting back to 25mm gap and having 0 Camber at the rear. Oddly enough, they commented on the 25mm being the height it came from the factory at. So not sure if MR intended that or it just happened. OEM is still alot higher than the 50mm i wanted.
My settings are now:
Front: -1.9 Camber, 0.05(?) Toe
Rear: 0 Camber 0.03 Toe
Handling and turn in of the car is all rather subjective and ive not been able to chuck it about properly but it does turn in alot better than before, though its lost some of the fun of the XT (no idea what settings that had).
So anyway, how does it ride?
Setting 33
So i had the garage set it on the Firmest Setting, lets call it 33 (0 - soft, 33 - 'hard'), apparently the mechanic come back from a short test drive complaining about how harsh a ride it is. To me, it just felt firm but still supple enough on the roads.
How it rode, so i managed to get some mixed driving in over the weekend from lanes to motorway. And to me it felt great. My OH commented on how it felt more stiffer and rode nicer than previously. One test i have is that my town has a cobbled section (thats even but not smooth and cambered) and i see if i can change the volume on the Stereo (single din Kenwood unit in the centre of the dash) = failed hopelessly as the hand kept bouncing up and down past the knob. But its great for booby jiggling.
As another comparison, ive turned a hard tail mountain bike into a commuter bike by putting on commuter tyres for MTB's, it was like running around with tyre pressures at 75psi (max for my bike tyres is 85psi)
Setting 0
Next up was Setting ), ie the softest possible. I didnt like it and it reminded me of the previous set-up. This test lasted all of a few miles of town driving and some lanes before i had to pull over and firm it up.
Using the Bike PSI pressure, it was like running around on 30/85psi
Setting 20
After setting 0, a quick twist of the knobs by 20 clicks all round. Ive not really had much of a play on this setting, just a quick motorway blast but id say its more like 60/85psi.
Like i said before, some will find hard super hard as it all depends on their car driving history and what they currently own, which they will compare to. Also, tyres can play a massive part in it as well. Im running around on Nokian Z-Lines XL. So i wouldnt say they was overly stiff but i dont find them soft and tend to run them at 32psi cold = 34 psi hot. I find that if i run them at 32psi hot, they dont handle how i want them to. Strangely i find that they handle better sub (the magic) 7c than at the hotter temperatures.
Ill update the thread should someone ask any questions but otherwise ill update once ive done 1000 miles on them. A friend had them on his MX5 and said it took them 1k miles until they had 'bedded' in so ill go through all the settings again and comment again on how i find them once the suspensions worn a bit. There just doesnt seem to be any review threads on here or anywhere thats current or for the Foz
MeisterR get a very good reputation on the MX-5 forums. They're generally regarded as the best choice for road use. Tein seem to have as good a reputation, but are much more expensive.
Based on that I bought a set for my 2007 NC. They certainly sorted the jacked-up look of the early NC. I had the dampers set very hard at the start, which made the car feel really planted, but then I started suffering a really sore back. D'oh!
Eventually I settled on something like 7 clicks from soft at the rear, and 9 clicks from soft at the front. Others on MX-5 forums seemed to go a click or 2 higher at each end for road use.
It's a cliche, but they did transform the car. Yes, the ride was firm, but they demonstrated how the OEM Bilsteins were the worst of everything : wallowy in the corners, lots of pitch and dive, crashy over potholes. The car also gained much sharper turn-in, the steering felt superbly predictable in all situations.
This is making me want another MX-5 on MeisterR's
Based on that I bought a set for my 2007 NC. They certainly sorted the jacked-up look of the early NC. I had the dampers set very hard at the start, which made the car feel really planted, but then I started suffering a really sore back. D'oh!
Eventually I settled on something like 7 clicks from soft at the rear, and 9 clicks from soft at the front. Others on MX-5 forums seemed to go a click or 2 higher at each end for road use.
It's a cliche, but they did transform the car. Yes, the ride was firm, but they demonstrated how the OEM Bilsteins were the worst of everything : wallowy in the corners, lots of pitch and dive, crashy over potholes. The car also gained much sharper turn-in, the steering felt superbly predictable in all situations.
This is making me want another MX-5 on MeisterR's
Darryl247W said:
MeisterR get a very good reputation on the MX-5 forums. They're generally regarded as the best choice for road use. Tein seem to have as good a reputation, but are much more expensive.
Based on that I bought a set for my 2007 NC. They certainly sorted the jacked-up look of the early NC. I had the dampers set very hard at the start, which made the car feel really planted, but then I started suffering a really sore back. D'oh!
Eventually I settled on something like 7 clicks from soft at the rear, and 9 clicks from soft at the front. Others on MX-5 forums seemed to go a click or 2 higher at each end for road use.
It's a cliche, but they did transform the car. Yes, the ride was firm, but they demonstrated how the OEM Bilsteins were the worst of everything : wallowy in the corners, lots of pitch and dive, crashy over potholes. The car also gained much sharper turn-in, the steering felt superbly predictable in all situations.
This is making me want another MX-5 on MeisterR's
Are you though comparing 11 year old, tire & worn OEM Bilstein dampers/springs v brand new Meister R (or brand X) components?Based on that I bought a set for my 2007 NC. They certainly sorted the jacked-up look of the early NC. I had the dampers set very hard at the start, which made the car feel really planted, but then I started suffering a really sore back. D'oh!
Eventually I settled on something like 7 clicks from soft at the rear, and 9 clicks from soft at the front. Others on MX-5 forums seemed to go a click or 2 higher at each end for road use.
It's a cliche, but they did transform the car. Yes, the ride was firm, but they demonstrated how the OEM Bilsteins were the worst of everything : wallowy in the corners, lots of pitch and dive, crashy over potholes. The car also gained much sharper turn-in, the steering felt superbly predictable in all situations.
This is making me want another MX-5 on MeisterR's
TEKNOPUG said:
Darryl247W said:
MeisterR get a very good reputation on the MX-5 forums. They're generally regarded as the best choice for road use. Tein seem to have as good a reputation, but are much more expensive.
Based on that I bought a set for my 2007 NC. They certainly sorted the jacked-up look of the early NC. I had the dampers set very hard at the start, which made the car feel really planted, but then I started suffering a really sore back. D'oh!
Eventually I settled on something like 7 clicks from soft at the rear, and 9 clicks from soft at the front. Others on MX-5 forums seemed to go a click or 2 higher at each end for road use.
It's a cliche, but they did transform the car. Yes, the ride was firm, but they demonstrated how the OEM Bilsteins were the worst of everything : wallowy in the corners, lots of pitch and dive, crashy over potholes. The car also gained much sharper turn-in, the steering felt superbly predictable in all situations.
This is making me want another MX-5 on MeisterR's
Are you though comparing 11 year old, tire & worn OEM Bilstein dampers/springs v brand new Meister R (or brand X) components?Based on that I bought a set for my 2007 NC. They certainly sorted the jacked-up look of the early NC. I had the dampers set very hard at the start, which made the car feel really planted, but then I started suffering a really sore back. D'oh!
Eventually I settled on something like 7 clicks from soft at the rear, and 9 clicks from soft at the front. Others on MX-5 forums seemed to go a click or 2 higher at each end for road use.
It's a cliche, but they did transform the car. Yes, the ride was firm, but they demonstrated how the OEM Bilsteins were the worst of everything : wallowy in the corners, lots of pitch and dive, crashy over potholes. The car also gained much sharper turn-in, the steering felt superbly predictable in all situations.
This is making me want another MX-5 on MeisterR's
I forgot to mention I fitted them when the car was 9 years old, on 50k miles.
Edited by Darryl247W on Saturday 15th September 20:59
Darryl247W said:
MeisterR get a very good reputation on the MX-5 forums. They're generally regarded as the best choice for road use. Tein seem to have as good a reputation, but are much more expensive.
Teins flex z for near as damit the same price as the meister zeta-crd, £840 for the teins £849 for the crd's. Fitting/setup will be the same on both of course.GT1's seem to be £1850.
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