Hello, Fellas!
I am preety close to buy and install Bilstein B8 shocks and H&R
lowering springs. (salesman claims it is the same as Bilstein B12 kit - because these 2 companies work theire springs together?)
Price is about 700 € (guess it's about 550 GBP).
What is your opinion on that kit? How it's compare to a similare priced
coilover kits (Lowtec for egsample)?
Have searched forums but only opinion s i have found is due the
lowering superiority of cheaper coils, or in other hand driving superiority of EXPENSIVE coils. No comparison spring/shock kit vs coils in the same price range.
Vehicle is
Ibiza 1.9 TDI SPORT, 100HP - soon to be remaped to about 145HP, wheels are 205/45/16 (7J and ET is 35).Allready with
Cupra bushes 'cause my mechanic said it is better - and I confirm since I got them for a year - steering is a bit more firm and precise!
Lowering the car is not issue here unless it is in service of funktionality!
I am looking for better performance in handling on regular twisty roads with all kinds of asphalt, some patchets and some dips - please consider this while you coment!
Not interesting in "low to the ground" show off 'cause I don't believe it gaines more speed and more secure drive trough the curves on regular roads.
P.S. English is not my native language so feel free to correct me or ask if something is bad explained!
Thanks!
Hi
Don't worry about your English, it's better than many on here use
I have the Bilstein B12 kit, but it's on a VW Passat estate - so it's a very very different handling car to the
Ibiza to start with (I used to have a
Mk4 Ibiza so I know how different they are).
The springs in my kit are actually marked "Bilstein" on them.
I wasn't interested in
lowering the car either, I don't really care about how it looks, just wanted better handling performance, as the standard setup was pretty poor (and quite old & worn). I also travel on a lot of rural roads where it is common to get debris in the road (dead animals, stones, bits of wood, allsorts!) and also snow in the winter, so I still need reasonable ground clearance.
I figured that a decent damper & spring kit tailored to the specific car & axle weights would be a better bet than a cheap adjustable
coilover kit that would probably never be adjusted correctly, and therefore never ultimately achieve the same level of performance.
I've been very pleased - the handling of the Passat is much improved, and I driving it is now actually slightly enjoyable. At the same time, the ride is very comfortable. Even my Mum commented on the comfy ride (and she didn't know I'd changed anything).
I think the drop was something around 30mm off a standard Passat ride height, but as mine is a Sport model which already sits around 15mm
lower than standard, the drop for me was not as much.
I would not want to go any
lower, the car is quite prone to hitting things in the road now, and during the snow recently, I was almost at the point where the car was beaching out on the snow between the tyre tracks. The engine undertray has taken a bit of a battering.
I recall that the undertray of the
Mk4 Ibiza is quite low as standard.
I do find on roads with lots of dips, the car does bottom out - but the Passat
is quite a lot heavier than the
Ibiza. When I bought the kit, the car was regularly used to drive my wife and baby around, so the B12 kit was ideal as the ride quality is very good. Now the car is only driven by me, and if I was buying a kit again I think I'd like something which was more stiffly damped.
One of the reasons I chose Bilstein was because of the design of the dampers, and their reputation for quality and long life.
I don't know how useful this info is, as the cars are very very different
I suspect it would be a big improvement on the standard Mk4 suspension though !