Evening all Can anyone comment on the transition from cup suspension to BC coilovers 7kg / 4kg set up? the roads around me are full of potholes and bumpy roads. Cup suspension i can live with, maybe if it was a notch firmer i could get used to it but if it’s knocking driveability and comfort out completely, will probs stay away It’s a daily, used as a short commuter, occasional weekend blast and even rarer track day once or twice a year although not had it out on track yet. just dropped from 19”s to 18”s - arch gap looks wild. It’s done about 40k so at some point rather than buying more cup suspension with altitude issues, thinking of BC’s thanks in advance
I will give you my opinion ... The CUP suspension is really firm ... I run around 2/3 trackday a month with original suspension, Eibach springs and silver project camber plates. In my case I am thinking of a Bilstein B16. If you only do a track day once in a while, it is not worth spending on a suspension adjustable in height, hardness, with adjustable couplings, apart from the topic that it is a Chinese suspension. 1- the camber configuration that you are going to set for the street, does not work on the circuit and vice versa 2- on fast circuits you have to get off the car, on the street it will go touching the bottom. 3- continuously you touching the oil tap because tou are going to notice the car very hard and then you isn't going to know in which position it was good.
If you are getting dizzy due to altitude, you probably better off with some new cup dampers and some H&R srpings, they will lower the car without spoiling the handling, done this on my MK2 for daily street use and its a dream. This of course is only my feeling, but i know a few who has done similar changes.
Appreciate all the responses will definitely consider just the springs upgrade I.e h&r or eibach’s and perhaps new CUP shocks too while i’m there i sat in a megane 250 with bilstein b14’s on the weekend albeit very briefly which felt tight, firm but still supple in damping and soaking up road imperfections. Costing around 800 new I guess a set of eibach’s / h&r would cost 200, CUP dampers all round another £200 ish so half the money to get rid of the altitude issues and maintaining as a DD. Sergio - how do your eibach’s and CUP suspension stand up on track? Appreciate you are doing 2/3 track days a month, would you be happy with your current set up if you doing say 3/4 track days a year?
Hi Ahmed, The Bilstein B14 suspension is an ideal suspension for day to day, it comes to be an "improved origin CUP" suspension but with a threaded body and a narrow spring (perfect for setting adjustable top mounts!) a simple suspension that works perfectly. I need to change my suspensions because they have more than 140,000 km of circuit and DD and I have reached the point that I want to get more juice. The good thing is that I only use my car on the track and really, I don't care if it's a hard and bouncy car.
This thread has help me a lot!! B14 are in my mind for a future. At now I drive with cup shocks and AST springs, feels good but maybe are too much low.
if there is no money for KW suspension buy grams springs on the stock cup dampers !! everything else will work worse than stock suspension! I had both bc racing and B14 kit and it is downgrade from oem cup!! Now I have KW v3 and I'm happy with them
Really?? I don´t know in a Meg, but I had B14 in many cars(Clio Sport cup, Gt Turbo, STI), and always works very good in my opinion. So I´d ask that, in this forum many people have hours and hours in tracks or fast road and your opinion is important to me. Don´t wanna waste my money!!
i really liked the BC's on my mk2, had 8kg front and rear, maybe a bit much for just road use but on track was really great. I also have BC's on my mk3 10kg front and rear and on the road its really nice, was expecting it to be a hard ride but its not. Also BC's are adjustable for dampening, i believe B14's are fixed, with my BC's on the road i set to 5 clicks out of 30, works for me
yes I sold bc and b14. damping is worse than on stock. suspension moves are very small. the car was constantly jumping and it was not comfortable to ride. it was okay on a flat road but on a bad road they don’t work at all. I had no worse suspension. even when I wanted to buy me here on the forum discouraged and they were right kw var3 or higher will give you superiority after stock cap.
The B14 is an "improved CUP suspension" a threaded body and a narrow spring. I know the people of tecnoshock (manufacturer and official technical service of Bilstein in Spain) and they take the b14 and turn it into a clubsport suspension and adjustable in hardness, becomes a trackday suspension and comfortable for DD.
Sergio, I know Tecnoshock works, we send they a couple of suspensions of race cars for rebuild and very happy with them. Engimek, in Gipuzkoa works very well too. Thanks to all for answer, I want to read a few opinions more and will see what to do.
Thanks Matthew! I didn´t found that thread, very interesting. Well, it seem like I must forgot the B14 Many of you speak about Grams spring. In Spain are´t know. In the web they say that the springs low 2,5cm, sincerely, I think that don´t deserve money to change my AST springs just for up 0,5cm. Maybe will spend that in a camber plates and give a plus to the OEM suspension. Thanks again, that help me and my wallet a lot!
I just wanted to make to understand that the b14 is not a sports suspension. Many people think that it is, I know what I'm talking about.
You're coasting underdamped on your springs with 5 clicks from soft . You'll get into the proper pothole at speed and will damage internal seal in the shock , your strut moves freely without any control . From memory BC recommendation to use at least 10/12 clicks from soft on the road.
I currently have BC's. I had cup shocks to which i put H&R Springs on, firstly the H&R Springs made it awful to drive, far far to firm. took them off for the BC's and i am far from impressed with them. They are really crashy and still to firm. spring rates are 7/5. I am now looking at the V3's, but would like to know if you can get camber adjuster top mounts for the V3's?
If you think there Crashy on the mk3 you need to try a mk2 with them I have 10 and 10 on my mk3 and there way better than they were on my mk2
Yeah they ain't great on the MK3, I had 10/8 and the ride quality was proper poor on the road. Way worse than my race spec ASTs with 10/10 rates [emoji23]
i was going to get some kw v3s but i think i might just put my cup shocks back on with some lowering springs. which ones are best? had H&R and they where terrible, before the BC's
They're great damped with OE springs . My Grams and brand new cups with silver project top mounts were as bad on the road as BCs , forget the B roads , will skip you into the ditch . They're track orientated , but on track they're too soft . Wish someone made OE spec springs but 20mm lowered , that would be perfect for a road car.
Sorry to jump in guys.. I am unfortunately one of them people who is looking to lower the car to improve looks and perhaps handling for road use, but without spending a fortune and without destroying the good Cup set up Sounds like all spring options are a no go?
Lowering springs need to be stiffer than OEM otherwise you'd be bottoming out the car all the time. Not at all. Grams or Cooksport springs are fantastic if you just want to improve the looks without sacrificing comfort. I have the Cooksports on mine and really the only thing I notice when driving is the car is now less wallowy over bumps which is obviously a good thing. Apart from that it feels the same to me but looks so much better which is exactly what i wanted.
Thanks, I might give Grams a try. But one thing I do want to ask is the spring rate of the Grams, according to: https://www.kamracing.co.uk/car-tun...ult-megane-mk3-grams-lowering-springs-rs.html it seems softer than the Cup springs, but people who have used them or other springs said they feel less body roll? Not to bash any opinions, but a genuine question
@Ken i can’t speak on behalf of Grams however i did go for the h&r’s myself. I was looking for exactly what you have noted, i.e get rid of the ride height and if an improvement is available in handling, i’ll have it It doesn’t look like it’s sat on the floor, nor is it sat on the sky anymore. It looks OE, like it rolled out of the factory and they are not crashy, if anything i’d say 10% firmer than my OE cup springs which was welcomed, to be fair my cup springs had done about 42k and i think just became a bit soft with the wear. A little less body roll but negligible i’d say I too contemplated the cooksport/grams/eibach etc. Forum member called Matt West vouched for the H&r’s from a comfort and ride height perspective which is why i went for them hope that helps
I haven’t had top mounts fitted mate i have had the car 4 wheel laser aligned however, after i had the springs fitted to recalibrate and were no issues bringing it to CUP settings. Believe the 275 cup geometry differs slightly to the 250,265. Bit more aggressive and responsive on turn in so went for 275 set up and it drives spot on to me. In my original message on this thread, i did contemplate fitting new CUP shocks, never did though in the end they’ve still got life in them, no hint of any leaks
Well, I think we must to have one thing clear on our minds, that is pretty good for track, is not for road, and viceversa. Is impossible to drive confortable daily and break the chrono on track with the same setup. I have read a lot of opinion and to be honest, every time I am more confused. Have anybody test Eibach pro-kit??
