[5tevo]

Afternoon all.

I am running STEIN lowered springs and get a little rub on lock so going to up-rate to coil overs...any recommendations?

These are the springs:

 

[batou]

Having had several sets on previous cars I found that twin tube coilovers were much, much better on the street in terms of ride quality compared to monotubes. Tien do a twin tube (FLEX Z) that are pretty reasonably priced at £800-900 if the dampers go on my car thats what I'd probably go for. Damping adjustable and have anti corrosion coating.

 

[5tevo]

Thanks will have a look at those!!

Anyone heard of or had anything from Meister R products?

 

[batou]

Everyone raves about them, haven't tried them on the Forester but my experience on Mini Cooper S was crash, crash, crash and not so great corrosion resistance. I didn't own a set but had been in cars on them so they may have moved on in quality or be better on something with more available trave from factory. They are pitched towards track / fast road so I imagine you lose some ride comfort if that bothers you.

 

[kingstonjames]

Thanks will have a look at those!!

Anyone heard of or had anything from Meister R products?

Have the GT1's on my scooby, ive started a thread in the suspension section with updates and reason why i purchased them etc.

 

[Lockheed]

I found tein basis fine but also heard good reports about meister r s
Im now running ast 5100 s and ast adjustable top mounts and I love em

 

[5tevo]

ST Suspension have been suggested, any experience of these at all?

 

[batou]

Looks like the were manufactured by KW Automotive, I had KW Clubsport coilovers on the mini and they were just awesome but as expected the were quite firm on the road as mostly track orientated. The innox coated threads were amazing though, those coils had seen quite a lot of salt and scrubbed up so damn well.

Having been driven around in similar cars running KW V1 & V2 they were much more road orientated and quite soft (V2 you could firm up the damping though). Depending on which ST your looking at the one with the fixed damping (XT) sounds similar to the KW V1 and the rebound adjustable ones (XTA) sound like KW V2 with top mounts, but both without the innox coating.

Really, when looking at coilovers you should be asking what your looking for out of some new dampers really? Depending which coils you go for, and what you want from them, you might not actually be uprating what you have and could ruin your enjoyment of the car. Be wary of very cheap Chinese coilovers, look at the price and workout 1/3 of that. At best, thats the cost of the materials/manufacturing so they are pretty damn shonky 95% of the time.

 

[5tevo]

ST Suspension have been suggested, any experience of these at all?

Ignore that, they don't make them for the Foz.

Seems to be £1000 or less for sub standard or £2000+ for decent kit (AST etc.)

 

[batou]

Ignore that, they don't make them for the Foz.

Seems to be £1000 or less for sub standard or £2000+ for decent kit (AST etc.)

KW Clubsport were around £2000 for the mini, the equivalent AST 5200 kit was out of my price range at well over £3000. Again, it really depends what you want. AST are mainly track orientated and for occasional street use, unless your looking for a marginal increase in lap times but less fun on UK roads then is it worth the investment in such kit?

 

[brownpantsracing]

I put MeisterR Zeta CRD+ Coilovers on my FSTI and loved them!

https://www.scoobynet.com/suspension-12/1041000-review-of-meisterr-zetacrd.html

 

[5tevo]

Thanks buddy, I am running 18 x 8.5J + 45 wheels and they scrub on the liner on half lock at "normal" road speeds on teh TEIN lowered springs so need something that will sort this and give me a good ride.

Had ASTs in my blue foz many years ago but they are damn expensive.

Review is a good read, thanks....wonder if its worth going for the GT1s if I can get for a good price....?

 

[brownpantsracing]

The Zeta CRD+ coilovers were a great budget coilover and they performed perfectly on my car.

If I did it again I would push and go for the GT1 coilovers personally. I will be looking to get these for my MY15 STI at some point.

 

[5tevo]

Thanks pal, options are the GT1s or the AST if I spend proper money or the cheaper Meisters if i don't.

 

[Scratch]

Been running Meister R on my mx5 track car (in all weather) ,and very pleased with them. Have just bought an Impreza that also has Meister R fitted and again it rides very well.

I would definitely consider them for the FSTI, or possibly the BC Racing ones. Someone told me they're both made in the same place, but I don't know if that's true.

Tein are good, but I've heard a few stories of poor customer service in the event of a problem. in other words you have to send the faulty one back before they will do anything, and if it's off your daily driver then that would be a big problem for most people. But that was a short while ago, who knows maybe they've realised how stupid that is and changed.

 

[Dogs]

Try Mann Engineering in the States. Gary specifically designed some Coilovers for the Forester. And also MCA Suspension in Australia. Josh designed some to suit the Forester. They are externally adjustable for slow speed compression and rebound, rebuildable, and you can discuss spring weight and possibly valving to suit application. He has 3 lines of coilover, and his Dad makes full custom race stuff. Well known in Rally, Drift, and Time Attack.

I have the MCA’s and they ride well, and not harsh on small square bumps like some others on the market. No leaks or issues after a couple of years, whereas another brand I had didn’t even last 6 months.