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Meister R - GT1 coilovers review - UPDATED 2018 ver


RobPhoboS

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NOTE:


I've updated the review to reflect the release of the 2018 version of the GT1's.

 


In super short - Frigging awesome :lol::yahoo:

 

Yes - I shall be taking better photo's :blush:

 

 

If you want to read the long winded bit...

 

A tiny bit on the background:

My car was on Bilstein B6 shocks, with Tein S springs which I installed back in February 2015, along with the Eibach ARB's, and since then the car has done around 12k miles.

At that point I had some poly bushings and OEM rubber bushings, the B6's were replacing the completely worn out OEM suspension. It was a big difference, a little firmer at low speed but far more controlled over 40mph without feeling crashy at all. So I was happy, although I felt the steering response could be sharper.

About a year later this led me to SPL bushings, which are metal and really suited for track work. I had installed camber arms and a number of SPL bushings which removed the slack and sticktion from the polys in several key areas.

This improved the steering response vastly but of course increased the NVH dramatically, whilst that didn't worry me too much it wasn't a good combination with the B6's sadly. They seem to have an initial firm response, due to high gas pressure in the strut – better explained here (from 1min 25s onwards):

 

So for a while it didn't bother me but started to become tiresome trying to dodge every single bit of rough road, drain cover or pot hole. This makes for tiring journeys at town/city speeds but as mentioned fine at higher speeds, as I guess the undulations are making the shocks work already, they felt good.

 

During the winter months in 2016 I started thinking and researching about going to coilovers, the KW v3's were at the top of my list, initially.

I have to say I was hesitant about coilovers from a previous experience on my old MR2. I had installed new BC 'BR' series, which unbeknownst to me had the hard spring option supplied. They were very crashy and I couldn't find a setting that I liked for the road. The build quality was good during my time with them but didn't suit our roads.

 

I obviously made a post to get some feedback:

http://www.350z-uk.c...vers-kw-v3-etc/

 

I have absolutely no doubt about how good the v3's are but after devouring many videos from the Suspension Truth youtube channels, you can pick up a few clues that he's sometimes critical of how the KW's are valved and that they are twintube, although I imagine the top kind you can find off the shelf.

Once again, it's NOT to say they are bad just that it may not suit my particular needs.

I also didn't want rebound and compression dials unless I was absolutely confident in how to set them properly, for both road and track.

I prefer to just have one dial that goes from soft-hard but ideally one that does something meaningful as long as it measured/matched out properly.

Remember that most of the cars I've read about are on rubber or poly bushings, so I had to be wary of any coilovers not providing enough comfort for most of my road driving.

 

I will say right now that I was positively impressed with how Jerrick from Meister R had given some pretty detailed information on that thread, and on other posts as well as plenty of other forums.

The usual thing happens were people are cynical, nothing wrong with that, it's good to get into a debate but this is the internet, so it usually deteriorates into stubbornness, even if it's well intentioned.

I thought these were both good reviews and helped put me in the GT1 camp:

 

http://my350z.com/fo...-coilovers.html

 

http://civictype-r.c...p?f=30&t=287495

 

(if you look at the 4th post down, he had an issue that was quickly resolved)

http://civictype-r.c...77539&start=380

 

He's pretty nifty at the ring too:

 

 

So I emailed Jerrick, I can only say that the way he dealt with me was mightily impressive, especially considering the time of year, on new years eve for heavens sake ! :blush: (apologies about that!)

We exchanged many emails over the last couple of weeks and I can't thank him enough for how good the experience has been.

Yes obviously they want to sell products, I'm well aware of that but there wasn't any pressure pre-sale, and really helpful post-sale when I had a couple of technical-ish questions (and what they were are described below).

 

Installation:

I was hoping to get some help here, not for the physical procedure but so that I had some decent photo's to share of the process, unfortunately my friend was working.

I can only apologise but the day I went to install them I did it by myself, and it had turned from rain to snow, so time fairly critical.

 

bNUueEv.jpg

 

 

Packaged very securely, you get the suspension, rear adjustment extenders and the custom C-spanners for the locking collars. These are unique from other ones I've seen, you have to slide them down/up over the teeth but they lock in tightly so they don't slip. Extra kudos for this design.

 

8qgxuIU.jpg

 

bwkEwtn.jpg

 

If you don't have an impact wrench at home, just spend the £180 and get yourself a Keilder and impact sockets !

https://www.machinem...-18v-brushless/

 

Taking the B6's off is simple, there are enough videos on youtube showing how to do it, this being one of the more concise ones:

 

I just unbolted the droplinks at the front to give me a bit more movement.

And with the rear spring bucket, I only unbolted the outer bolt, you get enough clearance with some pushing to wiggle the spring and rubber cones out. The inner bolt adjusts the toe (iirc), so I'd rather leave it alone.

 

I checked that both front GT1's were the same height, you can use a micrometer/tape measure for this. It's pointless comparing against the old shocks as they'll be different due to the springs etc, plus you'll have to adjust the height regardless.

 

Installing the new suspension is very easy, they have clear instructions with them too, so ensure you read that. I cleaned and wire brushed the surface where the top mounts meet the body of the car as a bit of crud had collected up there.

Obviously with the rear, open the boot, and remove the plastic covering on the brace, I took the top edge pieces off for the extender cable to go through. I ended up using the hole for one of the plastic popper fittings, and drilled a hole through this one, saved time having to work out any measurements.

 

0mr8wR8.jpg

 

oZqBD2k.jpg

 

XHixj4H.jpg

 

CFQMcNY.jpg

 

Once the plastic covers are back on the strut, I was left with quite a length piece of extender cable which I chopped down.

A little tip here, after chopping to the correct length, it wont fit straight into the adjuster dial, so just unwind 4-6 of the individual wires and snip them off. With the rubber covered coiled sheath, I found I couldn't quite cut them but you can bend it whilst in the jaws of cutters and it'll just snap at a certain angle. Then it'll be thin enough to then securely get the dial back on.

 

Ok, so its' on the car but now you've got the quite time consuming task of getting the ride height to how you want it.

The process is simple, as outlined here:

 

I'm pretty sure the ride height can go just above stock if you needed it !

I spent some time getting them as evenly matched as I could, and one thing to bare in mind that it'll settle down a little lower too.

I just measured from the arch to the ground before it settled, once happy, drove it around for a few mins and checked again in the same spot as before for consistency.

Yes, this took several hundred attempts :D

 

 

Time for a drive:

 

For me this is the scary bit, did I make a good decision and will they do what I was looking for ???

Namely, remove the harshness for normal low speed driving, retain controlled driving for higher speed stuff, and when needed perform positively at the track (coming soon-ish).

 

I have initially set it to this but I'll continue to play around and see how it goes.

-17 front

-15 rear

 

Thank f$%k for that :lol:

 

Immediately a gigantic improvement at low speed, all of the sharpness has vanished, the steering feels good and the body is not wobbling or floating.

Bonza !

Yes, the SPL bushings occasionally still rattle depending on the surface at LOW speed but by enlarge that is heard, not felt as it was before.

It really is a remarkable difference, as it feels like they are working in comparison to the B6's.

Moving on to motorway roads, it feels planted, the joints you sometimes get on them don't give the car any problems, and nor does it feel like it's wallowing with the undulations.

Onto quiet back roads they just soak up our lovely (not) condition surfaces giving a greater sense of comfort and handling.

Obviously I shall play around with the settings more, and I'd really like to see how it feels with the settings going towards 'hard', simply to feel what it does.

 

I'll also try to measure the F/R frequency (approximately) and get it to what Shaikh calls 'flat ride' – not to be confused with ride height.

 

I'm not claiming to be a suspension guru but I'm enthusiastic about learning more, and the technical aspects of it in order to take advantage for use in my own car.

The GT1's have delivered, put a smile on my face and stopped me wincing driving on our crumbling infrastructure of roads.

 

It's very early days yet, I've covered about 100 miles, and I'll be updating this post as time and experience moves on, I'm very much looking forward to track time with them.

 

A big thank you to the people at Meister R and Black Art Designs, I think you've done great work :thumbs:

 

(mods - possible to remove media limit when embedding youtube vids?)

Edited by RobPhoboS
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Pleased you're happy dude! Dont let Rocket Rabbit see you've bought cheap Chinese copies.

 

End sarcasm

 

PMSL! I was thinking the same after reading that other topic.

 

RobPhoboS excellent write up, do you have any pics of how you have the car currently sitting? Also any chance you could do a current list of all your aftermarket suspension parts? :thumbs:

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Cheers guys.

I'll amend the first post to include what bits and bobs have been done, with ride height images, plus my alignment settings once I get that booked in.

I think it's a touch lower than it was with the Teins now (although can be set higher) but I've not had a problem with the speed bumps in this area.

 

I did shoot a little bit of gopro video of local roads back in Surrey, a before/after one. I'll get that up this week.

It's not the greatest effort but should show that the GT1's at those settings gave a better ride :thumbs:

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Just thought I posted up something I found interesting from this year AutoSport Show.

 

One of the rather unique feature of the MeisterR GT1 dampers is that we use a double 44mm piston inside.

This is different from other dampers as the GT1 actually use 2 full size piston with 2 wear tape.

This spread the load and therefore increase side load capacity making a stronger unit.

 

GT1int.jpg

 

This is a rather unique design, and I haven't really seen any other suspension brand using similar design... until last week.

 

It seems we weren't the only one using this double piston design, Moton seems to be using this also.

 

MOTONint.jpg

 

There aren't much literature on the function of their design, and it is probably different from the GT1.

But just thought it is interesting because this is actually the closest I have seen in terms of what the GT1 internals looks like.

 

Also, from an engineering point of view, the MOTON's damping adjustment system is a work of art.

Amazing precision and complex, it's no wonder why their 4-way dampers are £10,000 a set.

Overkill? Yes... but what a thing of beauty. B)

 

Just something interesting I found... :)

 

Jerrick

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  • 3 weeks later...

32739477726_71c9bcf0db_c.jpg

 

Just had Kaizer Motors sort out the geo, I think that looks pretty good :)

I have a track day approaching so I wanted to give them a fair test.

I love the suspension, feels soooo much better, even when cranked up towards hard it's not brutal. It's still compliant but not ideal for our rotten roads.

Edited by RobPhoboS
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  • 3 weeks later...

I have a track day approaching so I wanted to give them a fair test.

I love the suspension, feels soooo much better, even when cranked up towards hard it's not brutal. It's still compliant but not ideal for our rotten roads.

 

Let us know how it goes, when is your track day?

How does the car feel on the road now that you have more time to drive with them?

 

Jerrick, the Motons look like titanium rather than steel? Would make sense from a motorsport / weight saving perspective and explain the price...

 

 

It is just the colour of the lighting, not the greatest in NEC.

The pistons of the Moton are gold colour, a normal CNC anodised aluminium piston.

 

There is really no need to use any ultra exotics material for piston because it does not wear, and does not weight a lot.

The surfaces should be anodised but you don't even need "hard" anodising, a medium strength coating is more than enough.

 

If you ask me, that adjustment system is the bit that is expensive.

There are so many precision drilled holes within that system, a thing of beauty.

Is it necessary? Well... if you are paying £10,000 for something I guess so...

I'll save a few grand and just a traditional needle & jet system and do my fine tuning on a damper dyno... much cheaper and probably more accurate. :D

 

Jerrick

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A good reminder for a mini update :)

 

I had my first taster of a track day, albeit on one of those airfield circuits at Woodbridge. I was laughing to myself along the way as it was snowing, and I was thinking this is sods law but actually it was for the best !

This meant I had to concentrate on learning the layout and how my car responded in freezing conditions but pushing on a bit.

I initially left the suspension where it was for the road and I think later I softened it up a bit more.

The surface there goes from concrete slabs to aggressive asphalt runway and everything in between :lol:

I was very happy with the way the suspension performed, getting the power down on such bumpy sections was impressive. It's also why I softened it up a bit to try and soak up the ruts and whatnot some more.

Even in a straight line I was able to get wheel spin in 3rd, just to give you an idea how cold it was.

 

I've got 2 track days this month on 'proper' surfaces so I'll hopefully be able to ramp up the hardness on the GT1's.

 

32515376840_0e03988b9f_z.jpg

 

 

I've not been that lucky with the weather for any good fun drives, or I've been tinkering away on the car but I invited a couple of mates for a drive last weekend, finally :)

 

32301173104_8ca8a6116f_z.jpg

 

For road manners they feel great, obviously I'm not pushing the car on the road as much as you can on the track but everything feels neutral, responsive and smooth. I still drive as I did before which is to avoid potholes the best I possibly can, every time I see one or happen to find one I want to find the pillock who is responsible for getting them filled in - WHERE IS HE !!!!! :rant:

 

I want to get a few friends to try them out, get their thoughts too, especially the NSX chap as he wants to refresh the suspension on that one (160k miles!) :thumbs:

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  • 1 month later...

Hope RobPhoboS won't mind typing my review as we both upgraded to Meister R's recently so I think there's no need for 2 similar threads.

 

Did my fair share of some 300 miles on country road and environment that suits them the most. Layout in this 300 miles was various. From twisty section with new tarmac to same twisty section but with bad tarmac, some very fast corners slow corners. Mix of everything.

 

After instalation I have adjusted suspension to 10 click from hardest in front to 13 at back.

Before hitting the road I've added 1 more click.

 

On layouts with new tarmac car was behaving flawlessly. Reaction on steering wheel is magnificent. You can really understand what is car doing. There is so much feedback coming back. There where few corners where I over pass my braking point coming into curve and needing do brake, very easy and predictable to settle the car.

 

Bumpy sections I was expecting to have a car a bit on nervous side since settings on suspension where almost set to hard. And bumpy sections are really bumpy with a lot of patches mixing new and old tarmac and damage cause by freezing conditions during winter.

 

You can feel that yes you are on stiff setting and going and driving in these condition is a bumpy ride with 80 mph. But although it is shaky inside it is very easy to drive the car. There are no any unpleasant movements or feeling that car is behaving nervous like I had situation with Bilstein B14. Car is evenly soaking up with front and rear end.

 

I'm really surprised with performance of Meister R. Honestly I wasn't expecting them to be that good.

 

I haven't changed much of coilover had before Kw3 Bilstein B14, d2 on various cars.

 

By far Meister GT1 are the best. Simply different league from everything I had before and definitely the best deal on what you pay and get

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G850F using Tapatalk

 

 

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Ah that's really great you're enjoying them too !

Especially in a completely different universe of power to me :lol:

 

I thought I'd also update this too since I've done 2 more track days, both at Snetterton 300 in the last 2 weeks.

 

On the sighting laps I left the GT1's in my road going settings, which is around -21 for the front, and -23 for the rears.

Once we've done those, I let out about 7psi from the tyres, dial them up to around -8 front, -10 rear. Do about 5 laps to get some heat in the tyres and see how it is out there, then come in again, drop more tyre pressure and then set the GT1's to -1 front, -2 rear.

 

It's genuinely amazing how even a few clicks can make a noticeable difference to how the car responds.

Once it's up to nearly full hardness (ooer), I can't feel the need to want any more than that, especially with the SPL bushings, there's just enough pitch from rear to front when you're on the brakes but not so much that you've unsettled the balance.

When nipping off to fill up with fuel, I pulled over pretty quickly as the hard settings are too much for our roads, 30 seconds later and it's nice and comfortable again!

 

I'm a totally novice track driver, and hoping to get plenty of track time and tuition this year.

My hope is that as I get better I'll be able to explore some settings with geo, corner balancing and subtle changes on the suspension so that the car is responding how I want it to. At the moment my brain is focusing on lines, braking points and other cars, before I have the capacity to sense the subtle stuff. It feels great to me but I know I need to start exploring the limits, turning the traction off etc but I'd rather take it step by step than to think I'm a hero.

 

 

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(the wheels are changing colour again, very similar but needed a fresh coat)

 

 

Thirsty car on the track !

34006227256_8d5a38e670.jpg

 

33889752912_c9fc36f4ed_c.jpg

 

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Managed to darken the colour of the front calipers, started cooking the brake fluid just before lunchtime, so some cooling ducts will be added soon:

34047114875_e02f872df6.jpg

 

 

 

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Edited by RobPhoboS
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Might as well make it three .......... they are excellent, as good as anything Ive used previously and Ive used a lot of stuff.

 

Mine are fitted to an E82 135i, previously it was on Bilstein shocks and Eibach springs and along with M3 arms, ARB and diff was a good fast road setup but lost a bit of composure when really pushed, the car was hitting bump stops too often for my liking too.

 

I was considering Ohlins and KW but was convinced by MeisterR's info and having just returned from the Nordschliefe decided to take the plunge and Im bloody glad I did.

On the road they are just as compliant as my previous setup and noticeably better over potholes and really rough surfaces, they deal with small bumps and ripples really well too. Theres no harshness or crashyness, I actually drove home on the track settings and to be honest didnt really notice it being any less comfy than with the damping wound right down.

 

Good quality, great performance and when compared with Ohlins incredible value for money as well, although I really like HSDs on a 350Z its worth saving a bit more for a set of these IMO :)

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  • 1 year later...

Right, I need to get some photos up as it's been some time since I posted on this! 

 

I still love these, and they're staying on!

 

Although I'm sending one back for a refurb as it started leaking some time ago, and I just didn't have the time to send it back. 

 

I've done quite a few track days in them, and they're still great for me. I'm still learning the car, and it's far more capable than I am. Tuition for the new year for sure (doubtful I can do any over winter, and the car needs some attention). 

 

The emails with Meister R have always been good regardless of my planky questions, good to have friendly customer service. 

 

Back soon with the rebuilt shock. 

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  • 1 month later...

This may not initially make much sense...

 

32193298048_dbbb2bc4bf_z.jpg

 

32193298198_6bbab89302_z.jpg

 

New/Old

46064777171_8a1ab8848f_z.jpg

 

However, I somehow ended up replacing like - for kind of like - but slightly updated !

As mentioned I had one coilover that was leaking, and the Meister R team made an offer I couldn't refuse :clap:

 

One thing I will say before I get to writing up a hopefully improved summary, their customer service has been astounding ! (in the very positive sense)

I'll hopefully be back after the weekend with some better photo's.

 

Edited by RobPhoboS
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Ive been back to the Ring twice with these fitted, Spa twice and done many other trackdays and still cant fault them. Full soft damping on way to the track and its more comfy than standard, full hard at track and its a racecar. Would love to see a B2B test with KW's as I reckon these are better performing :thumbs:

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