UPDATE 3/24/17: MeisterR coilovers after 10k miles

[2hot2handle]

Here it is...... Install was straight forward.

Unboxing..... Comparison of links

Unboxed front and rear

Stock front vs Meister-R front

Don't have a clear pic of the front installed around the wheel well. But there is plenty of clearance for wider wheels (i'll be running 9.5" wide) and access to adjust the front camber plates. Damper set to 16 (middle).

Rear strut comparison..... reused the stock mounting perch and used new mounting screws as recommended by Honda.

Rears Installed, plenty of clearance for wheels. Damper adjustment is a bit tight but not impossible to adjust. Mine is set to 16 (middle) for now and will play with the settings after a few days of settling in.

Installed the adjustable collars on the bottom. Fit way better vs being on top and allows for easier adjustment.

Stock height close ups.

More pics to follow lol ..... getting car washed

 

[2hot2handle]

I'll try and take some better pics later. Coilovers should settle and may lower another .1"-.25". I have about .5" left to lower in the rear and another 1-1.5" available in the front. After I install my front lip and the 19x9.5 wheels I have coming in, I'll adjust the right height again.

Ride so far:
On middle damper settings all around. Slightly stiffer than stock but definitely not bumpy. Smooth for the small amount of driving I've done so far. After a few weeks, I'll post a more in depth review.

 

[MeisterR]

Let us know how it goes, but the car is looking a lot better already.

Jerrick

 

[CANMAN]

Sick....

 

[2hot2handle]

UPDATE: So it's been a few days of driving. Impressions so far are good. Have not noticed any settling at all really. That is to be expected as the springs aren't progressive coiled at all really. No weird noises so far and surprisingly, the car is driving really straight; so the install didn't mess up my alignment much. Camber in the front has increased a bit. The rear camber looks about the same (This is just my eyeball gauge as I'll be getting an alignment in a few days after I lower the car a bit more). Still on the middle damper setting of 16 and compared to stock, I would say this is a mild increase in stiffness. With that being said, I'm going to adjust the dampers to full hard (32) settings for a day just to feel the difference on that end. Afterwards I'm going back to the middle (16) for a few days to reset myself. Then I'm going to set them at full soft (1) to see how that feels. After all is said and done, I'll be able to determine the settings I prefer for daily driving and so on.

 

[inv4zn]

I don't know what these are like, but my old coilovers explicitly stated to NEVER go full soft, as there isn't a hard stop; it was 16-way dampeners, and the proper way was to go full hard, then count 16 clicks back. If you tried to go full soft by turning the knob it would just fall out and you'd be fucked.

That said, in my honest experience, unless you're getting $4k autocross coilovers (Ohlin's, for example), 32-way dampening is just 32 levels of ambiguity lol. Just set it and forget it.

 

[MeisterR]

I don't know what these are like, but my old coilovers explicitly stated to NEVER go full soft, as there isn't a hard stop; it was 16-way dampeners, and the proper way was to go full hard, then count 16 clicks back. If you tried to go full soft by turning the knob it would just fall out and you'd be fucked.

That said, in my honest experience, unless you're getting $4k autocross coilovers (Ohlin's, for example), 32-way dampening is just 32 levels of ambiguity lol. Just set it and forget it.

That is why we are here.

1. Going full soft is fine, but there is very little damping force so it may feel a little "floaty" to some.
Most customer will go down to around -25 clicks or so and find a happy place.

2. Adjusting damping to full soft won't cause the knob to fall out, the actual adjustment mechanism is inside the damper.
Adjusting from the full stiff position and counting clicks toward soft is the most accurate way of adjustment as you are starting with the adjustment valve in the fully closed position inside the damper.

3. The 32-way damping is very noticeable, especially on the stiffer end with there are quite big changes between each clicks.
Looking at the damper dyno, there are over 80% changes in damping force value over the adjustment range; so it is something you are going to feel.

The 32 adjustment provide finer adjustments through the adjustment range.
To some I say think of the adjustment as 16 clicks with a half clicks in between; because at the stiffer adjustment range, each tiny clicks makes a big changes to the actual damping force.

I hope that helps, but let us know how it goes.

Jerrick

 

[2hot2handle]

I don't know what these are like, but my old coilovers explicitly stated to NEVER go full soft, as there isn't a hard stop; it was 16-way dampeners, and the proper way was to go full hard, then count 16 clicks back. If you tried to go full soft by turning the knob it would just fall out and you'd be fucked.

That said, in my honest experience, unless you're getting $4k autocross coilovers (Ohlin's, for example), 32-way dampening is just 32 levels of ambiguity lol. Just set it and forget it.

Thats a strange instruction for a coilover that you experienced. Obviously not all coilovers are made equal. Back in the day, there were companies that advertised "XX" level of damping but in reality, all it was just "XX" number of twists/clicks (an illusion). Today that isn't the case so much (I hope) and with these Meister-R's, I can confirm that the damper levels are real and noticeable. I verified these myself by compressing the front and rear struts by hand at full hard and soft levels just to see if I can feel a difference and they differences are VERY noticeable. Now how that translates to the car is different. IMO, you more than likely are not going to feel the difference in the seat of the car going up 1-3 levels and likewise going down 1-3 levels from an initial setting. But going 4+ levels either way, I can confidently say with the numerous setup's I've had (literally dozens) that you can or at least start to feel the difference.

My ongoing impressions so far; these are not going to be a hardcore dedicated coilover for tracking purposes. They serve a very good purpose to:
1. Lower the car
2. Keep comfort level comparable to stock
3. Improved performance? During everyday driving, the car does not lean as much and is tighter on turns. The car doesn't dive during breaking or squat back during acceleration as much compared to stock (on damping level 16/middle anyway)..... but DO NOT confuse this as a wild increase in handling. I would say mild so far. For sure a better set of tires and corner balancing will bring this setup alive a bit more.
4. The springs on these are not super stiff, but are stiffer than stock, and IMO are very streetable (again I've gone through A LOT of coilovers in different cars so for those of you that have done the same, you know exactly the feels I'm talking about).

 

[1WickedCivic]

My ongoing impressions so far; these are not going to be a hardcore dedicated coilover for tracking purposes. They serve a very good purpose to:
1. Lower the car
2. Keep comfort level comparable to stock
3. Improved performance? During everyday driving, the car does not lean as much and is tighter on turns. The car doesn't dive during breaking or squat back during acceleration as much compared to stock (on damping level 16/middle anyway)..... but DO NOT confuse this as a wild increase in handling. I would say mild so far. For sure a better set of tires and corner balancing will bring this setup alive a bit more.
4. The springs on these are not super stiff, but are stiffer than stock, and IMO are very streetable (again I've gone through A LOT of coilovers in different cars so for those of you that have done the same, you know exactly the feels I'm talking about).

Thanks for your review, it makes for an interesting read. How would you compare these coilovers to ones made by Koni & Bilstein? I've only used those two manufacturers in previous cars & most recent experience was the Bilstein PSS system on a E90 generation BMW sedan.

 

[2hot2handle]

Thanks for your review, it makes for an interesting read. How would you compare these coilovers to ones made by Koni & Bilstein? I've only used those two manufacturers in previous cars & most recent experience was the Bilstein PSS system on a E90 generation BMW sedan.

I've only tried Koni struts on my 99 civic and 99 integra back in the day. Back then, I tried Neuspeed and Eibach springs over the Koni's before switching to Skunk2 and GroundControl coilovers over the Koni's (that was before full bodied coilovers were readily available). So I can't give an honest opinion on any Koni's.

Now for the PSS system. I've ran Tanabe Sustec Pro's, Bilstein PSS9 and KW3 variant3's on my EVO8. The PSS9 IMO are pretty comparable to these Meister-R's as they are not very stiff and damp well. Now the PSS9's were not designed to go super low at all as they were intended to achieve real improvement in handling all around as you're aware I'm sure. As I added more power in the EVO, I also added more stickier tires and the PSS9's couldn't handle the confidence I had in the car. Thats when I switched to the KW3's. KW3's were awesome for the track but IMO were are too aggressive for the street (though plenty of people run these and other aggressive coilovers daily).

Obviously this is all subjective as my level of comfort for street performance will differ from others. Hope this helps anyway.

 

[1WickedCivic]

I've only tried Koni struts on my 99 civic and 99 integra back in the day. Back then, I tried Neuspeed and Eibach springs over the Koni's before switching to Skunk2 and GroundControl coilovers over the Koni's (that was before full bodied coilovers were readily available). So I can't give an honest opinion on any Koni's.

Now for the PSS system. I've ran Tanabe Sustec Pro's, Bilstein PSS9 and KW3 variant3's on my EVO8. The PSS9 IMO are pretty comparable to these Meister-R's as they are not very stiff and damp well. Now the PSS9's were not designed to go super low at all as they were intended to achieve real improvement in handling all around as you're aware I'm sure. As I added more power in the EVO, I also added more stickier tires and the PSS9's couldn't handle the confidence I had in the car. Thats when I switched to the KW3's. KW3's were awesome for the track but IMO were are too aggressive for the street (though plenty of people run these and other aggressive coilovers daily).

Obviously this is all subjective as my level of comfort for street performance will differ from others. Hope this helps anyway.

Yes, very helpful & your experience with PSS9 mirrors mine. Are the MeisterR coilovers made in the UK? Is the damping digressive or progressive? I also ran a combo of Neuspeed & Sachs on a Mk3 GTi, which was ok but didn't really have the control that coilovers provided.

 

[2hot2handle]

Yes, very helpful & your experience with PSS9 mirrors mine. Are the MeisterR coilovers made in the UK? Is the damping digressive or progressive? I also ran a combo of Neuspeed & Sachs on a Mk3 GTi, which was ok but didn't really have the control that coilovers provided.

Not sure where they are made as the box only says designed in the UK/US (they probably are noted on the struts themselves but I'm way to lazy to take a peak down there). I'm also not sure if they are digressive but my guess is they are as the react well to large bumps and dips (typically progressive/linear are very harsh on large bumps/dips). @MeisterR Can you chime in on this please?

 

[RallyeRed]

When will we be able to pre-purchase these?

 

[MeisterR]

Yes, very helpful & your experience with PSS9 mirrors mine. Are the MeisterR coilovers made in the UK? Is the damping digressive or progressive? I also ran a combo of Neuspeed & Sachs on a Mk3 GTi, which was ok but didn't really have the control that coilovers provided.

The coilovers specification are engineered in house at our UK workshop.
We design all the internal valving, etc.
The ZetaCRD+ are made oversea to our specification.

The damping technically speaking is a "digressive" damping, but then technically speaking almost all monotube damper is a "digressive" damper.
There are a lot of mis-understanding on vehicle dynamics, and sometime I don't want to get myself in trouble because of miscommunication.

I have attached a dyno below, so you can see what the CRD damping curve looks like.

When will we be able to pre-purchase these?

The first lot are under production at the moment, we will have them in August time.
If you are interested, just drop us a PM and we will sort you out.

Jerrick

 

[RallyeRed]

@2hot2handle does the car scrape? How are the harder dampening settings? Is the ride firm but comfortable? Or is it harsh?

Sponsored