Planning on getting some Coilovers for my Hawkeye STI, Have Narrowed down to either BC or Meister R.
Any of you Guys got any experience with either of these?
Which brand do you prefer or would recommend?

Sid

 

Cheapest route is tein basics which for 520£ ish , they are actually quite good , i have had bc coilovers before, one car still running them , they seem like a good set up , i ran them on a fairly soft setting , the handling is so much better than it was on fsti standard sti shocks , it was night and day , ive not tried the other brand but heard good things about them , it’s a bit like which oil type and brand to use many people with many different opinions , the reason i said tein i had an sti jdm wagon with them on it , ride was not too firm but was about right plus a lot cheaper , they are height but not bump adjustable

 

i have tein flex z on mine and have been on now for nearly 2 years problem free. i previously had bc's.....................truly shocking quality.

for a budget coilover i honestly cant fault tein's

 

The big thing for Coilovers is to look after them I use Neoprene boots for the springs and spray ACF50 liberally all over the struts every 6 months. Any threaded strut will corrode if not absolutely protected.

BC are a huge company. They make suspension for many manufacturers and also aftermarket struts for other brands as well as themselves. Their own kit is modular and though pretty decent in design is not the best for powder coating and corrosion resistance. They are not factory specced very well IMHO. You can order them custom for no extra, though you won't benefit from any reduced price sales).

I had a set of ER, with divergent valving, +60mm length and 6kg/5kg sprung with helper springs. This was before I had discovered boots and ACF50!

Firstly, the main springs are too short! The extra length meant I could run O.E. ride height, benefiting on the chassis geometry which isn't too bad. Dropping McPherson cars is dumb at the best of times.... I swapped to 5kg/4kg over winter and after 4 years one of the valves was bolloxed and one sucking air badly. All were corroded and difficult to adjust by then. To be fair this was a Turkish winter and several thousand niles of abuse.

I now have the ZR fully adjustable set. +40mm (I should have ordered +60mm - my mistake!). Divergent damping, and they come with minimum of 10kg/8kg springs. Again too short for he travel and with helpers. I've now fitted 8kg/6kg longer single springs so they sit higher in their travel. The helpers waste useful travel and are just masking the fact they are too stingy to put the right length springs on!

After 14 months, they are still perfectly clean and no corrosion anywhere. Lots of ACF50- and the neoprene boots make all the difference!

About to change to 6kg front and rear as the bounce from the 8kg is too much.

Your real question should be is who makes the Meister Rs?

The BC BR model is just crap frankly. The damping is cheap and the travel too short. You can't get a decent ride height either. Avoid. The higher spec models are ok, but prove the old adage. You get what you pay for.