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Coilovers - Bilstein B14 vs. EQT Balanced Line

CarolinaPanthers

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Bethlehem, PA
Car(s)
18 GTI 6mt
Hello friends,

For anyone as bored as I am, here's a little light reading!

With nothing but time on my hands and the threat of a stimulus check coming my way, I am getting closer and closer to pulling the trigger on a set of coilovers. I've all but ruled out a shock and spring combo, though a Koni Yellow set up is always in the back of my mind. Also ruling out ST X, Vogtland, et. al, to help narrow down the field. For now, the two front runners are Bilstein B14 and EQT Balanced Line Coilovers. I'm really leaning towards the EQT, but have some reservations. Bilstein is tried and true, but lacking some adjustments (for better or for worse). I can confidently say that my car will never see a track. I will not take full advantage of all the benefits of coilovers, especially for a daily driver.

So why coilovers? I had a terrible experience running OEM replacement shocks with way too low of springs on a previous car. Bought used, shocks were probably already blown. Replaced with with BC coilovers and my life got a lot better! A spring and shock combo would be enough for me to want to save up for another month and just go with the coilovers that I really want. I also know I'd be a bit annoyed if I couldn't get the ride height just where I wanted it with springs, especially knowing how much I paid. Plus, adjusting the rear Koni Yellows seems like a pain in the butt. And, at the end of the day, I guess I just want coilovers lol. Due to paralysis by analysis, can those with real world experience/cooler heads help me form a decision?

EQT Balanced Line -$1,259
Pros
  • Ride height and shock travel are separate. As I understand it, going lower doesn't necessarily have a negative impact ride quality. Perhaps this is also related to ease of adjustment? (see cons)
  • EASILY accessible damping adjustments - Under cowl for fronts, bottom of shock for rears. No need to take rear suspension apart to adjust. I like turning knobs.
  • Allegedly, the ride is similar to OEM at full soft, and can go stiffer as wanted. Just as important, I can easily revert back to a softer setting
  • Camber plates. Pretty cool, eh? Plus the price is the price - no need to factor in strut mounts and bearings. Will I mess with camber much? Probably not.
  • Great customer service
  • Can source different springs/spring rates if needed. Not a huge selling point for me, tbh.

Cons
  • At the top of my budget.
  • Divorced rear shock/spring. How tf do I set the ride height? Via the spring perch? Via the shock body? A little of both to make sure the ride height provides preload on the spring? Am I overthinking this??
  • Will salty PA/NJ winters wreak havoc on the rear adjuster? What treatment should I use?
  • Do all these adjustments give me just enough rope to hang myself? Ride height, damping, camber. It's easy to get lost down a rabbit hole and drive myself crazy - is perfection just one thread here, two clicks there?
  • Kind of silly, but how does one get an alignment and then adjust the camber? My thought process - Set ride height, align car, pull fronts and adjust the camber, tighten, and reinstall. Pain in the ass. Does pulling the strut via the 2x4 method require a new alignment or can the camber adjustment build onto the current alignment?
  • Are all of these extra features at the pricepoint masking a less than ideal damper and/or spring?
Bilstein B14 - $1,134 (including new strut mounts and bearings )
Pros
  • A lot of happy users
  • Bilstein knows their way around a well designed shock
  • Damping already set and matched to the springs by Bilstein for a daily driver. Sounds like it is on the sportier/stiffer side and I like that.
  • Corrosion resistance
  • Easy enough to figure out how to adjust the height. Too low = bummer ride quality. Not looking to go crazy low anyway
  • Fewer adjustments to drive myself crazy with
  • Not stoked on stories of Bilstein's customer service. BUT, I can fall back on FCP Euro's warranty if needed.
Cons
  • For $100 more, why didn't I just get coilovers with all the adjustments my little heart could desire?
  • From what I gather, he lower you go, the worse the ride gets. Not looking to go crazy low, but I could see myself wanting just a little more low than the 30mm drop and becoming frustrated when the ride quality goes to hell
So, my heart is leaning toward the EQTs. Buy once, cry once kind of thing. They have all the "features" I want. But, there are more pros than cons for the B14s. And along that line of thinking, why not just settle on shocks and springs for ~$900. Save that extra $2-350 and put it toward other mods for the car or my mountain bikes. And it's that same loop over and over - quarantine is getting to me! So, I'd love to hear your guys' takes. Input from those who have experience with either option would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your input. If nothing else, hopefully this long-winded, overly analytical, nonsensical rant provided some entertainment as you practice your social distancing.
 

bentin

Autocross Champion
Location
Austin, TX
Car(s)
23 Golf R - 3 Pedals
I'm in a similar position. Torn between the EQT and going Koni Sport with H&R springs. Would like to have the extra money for the new Evil Following, but do like the EQT setup. Heard the Bilsteins are poorly valved and blow through travel too frequently, so ignoring them at the moment. Loved a set on my old track hound M Coupe, but sounds like they're not quite right on the Mk7.

The stock Sachs at 26k miles are pretty shot, and of course the ride height is a bit high, so would love to get something both lower and capable of running better camber.
 

CarolinaPanthers

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Bethlehem, PA
Car(s)
18 GTI 6mt
Well - you had me at Evil Following lol! I’m a big dude at 6’3 200ish and love the idea of a 29er. I demo’d a Sentinel up in Bellingham and nearly bought one on the spot lol.

Alas, I have a 27.5 Transition TransAm, 27.5 Transition Scout, and 27.5 Process 153. Suspension wise I have a Topaz, CCDB Coil CS, and Fox DHX2 for the 153 as well as a Monarch and CCDB Inline Coil for the Scout, and an extra 27.5 Pike (non-boost of course). And a whoooole bunch of 27.5 tires. Safe to say I’m relatively locked locked into 27.5 for the foreseeable future haha.

Anyway, back on topic. I’m at 21k and really wouldn’t want to throw any kind of lowering spring, aside from DG, on the stockers. Plus, they’re likely on their way out.

Interesting take on the B14 damping. I haven’t heard anything negative about them per se, but that’s just pushing me a little further toward the EQTs.

But, I’d also really like to pick up a Smashpot coil conversion for the 36 on the front of my 153 and make it more of a DH focused rig. Man, cars and bikes are two hobbies that don’t play nice with my wallet!
 

bentin

Autocross Champion
Location
Austin, TX
Car(s)
23 Golf R - 3 Pedals
I've been on a DeSalvo 29er single speed for a dozen years. Had an Intense 5.5 for ages too, all coil, just love the feel of coils, don't mind the extra weight.
Just really want to go back to having some squish and the Evils just seem to nail the feel for me. Also been debating a RipMo, was really hoping they'd expand their US production though.
Check out the B8 thread, they're the same shock that the B14 uses.
 

CarolinaPanthers

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Bethlehem, PA
Car(s)
18 GTI 6mt
Hm. Yeah, people report the valving on the B8’s a little softer than the Koni’s. Can anyone confirm B8s are the same as on the B14s? There’s so much out there about the dampers for the B14s - same as B16 on the middle setting, same as B16 on a softer setting, same as B8s... lol it’s making my head spin.

In mtb related news, I’m definitely becoming a coil convert for my bikes. Coil F/R, cushcore, and DH tires on my XL 153 won’t be light, but should suck up bumps like no other. Pushing the fork up to 170mm should help me refrain from buying a DH bike for another season... maybe.

Man, I tried single speeding on the TransAm. That lasted about a month before I gave up on that adventure haha! The new breed of 29s are so sick. Punch above their weight class on the descents but can still pedal for days.
 

Chogokin

Autocross Champion
Location
So Cal
Car(s)
GTI Sport | Audi A3
No real input on the Mk7 suspension...but I'm picking up a DVO Diamond for my Following today. ?

From what I've been reading about the V3 Following is that Evil won't have them till July.
 

Gvazquez

Go Kart Champion
Location
North Carolina
I have a set of BCs on my car and definitely cant complain. The rear divorced spring/shock setup is very standard for our platform and only AST and VWR make a true rear coilover rear for us. It's not a big deal just gotta up your rear springrate to compensate for this. BCs are 1k and if you get the DS series BC that has digressive shocks that's 1200$ and will be plenty for what you're doing
 

MiamiBourne

Go Kart Champion
Location
South Florida
Car(s)
2016 6MT Golf R Oryx
I'm on the same boat. I'm on ED Springs and stock strut/shocks for about 28k (32k total on the stock dampeners) and the road is getting bit too bouncy. I was looking at the Bilstein B8's but others with ED Springs have not said nice things about the combo. Koni Yellows seem like a good option but cost and the way you adjust the rear don't appeal to me. Plus I want the ability to lower just a tad more.

Bilstein B16 vs EQT is what I'm comparing. My only real issue with Bilstein is what you mentioned that if you lower too much it could affect the ride quality. From what I've seen they need to be maxed out to barely lower more than an inch...but still those that have done this rave from what I can tell.

I think the customer service would be good from EQT. EQT's look similar to Fortune Auto, Silverline (I think that's the name), Forge Motorsport and ORT Coils and lot's of people have good things to say about them. I'm sure it's a similar supplier that they have customize to their needs. Either way...people seem happy with these types of coils...so I'm leaning towards EQT.

Just waiting for him to have a sale...
 

bentin

Autocross Champion
Location
Austin, TX
Car(s)
23 Golf R - 3 Pedals
No real input on the Mk7 suspension...but I'm picking up a DVO Diamond for my Following today. ?

From what I've been reading about the V3 Following is that Evil won't have them till July.
Not like I'm going anywhere...
 

flipflp

Autocross Newbie
Location
PNW
Car(s)
'16 Golf R DSG
Can anyone confirm B8s are the same as on the B14s?

The issue with B8s being a bit too weak on compression damping with lower rate lowering springs should not be an issue with B14s at all. Primarily because the spring rates on both B14s and B16s are nearly twice what most lowering springs are (400fr/420rr) but they are also adjustable for ride height. As long as you're setting up coilovers as recommended, they shouldn't bottom out. That is one big benefit over piecing together springs and shocks separately.

Neuspeeds site has damping specs on each, but I'll paste them here too:

B8 Front:
880 rebound / 775 compression
B8 Rear:
Can't find this anymore :\

B14:
Front: 915 / 925
Rear: 950 / 715

B16 Front:
Valving Reb/Comp: 2485/1205 - 3440/1760
B16 Rear:
Valving Reb/Comp: 1000/600 - 1300/770
 

Raguvian

Autocross Champion
Location
Bay Area, CA
Car(s)
2019 GSW 4MO 6MT
EQT all day. I haven't heard good things about Bilstein CS, and as you said, EQT has great customer support.

For the camber, I would set the plates where you want them before install and alignment. Doing an alignment and then pulling everything apart for camber is going to screw up your alignment anyways. Just set the fronts to what you want (e.g. -1.2 deg), and then ask the alignment shop to do their best to even it out to fine tune it side to side. Personally, I'm going to get a set of EQTs if they go on sale for Black Friday this year for around $1k, and then will also get the Tyrolsport Deadset kit so that the subframe is locked and I won't have any issues with camber other than the camber plate adjustment.

For the rear, you'd want to adjust the ride height using the spring perches. The shock "height" adjustment isn't going to adjust your ride height. You just want to keep it so that the shock is in the middle of the travel for your ride height (aka isn't close to/slamming on bump stops or being extended fully out and pogo'ing).
 

bentin

Autocross Champion
Location
Austin, TX
Car(s)
23 Golf R - 3 Pedals
@CarolinaPanthers @Chogokin @bentin Saving up for a Ripmo AF, myself:p

I would honestly email/message Ed and ask for his insight. He's a track guy, I would assume he's ridden on the Bilsteins you're considering, and he seems like enough of a straight shooter/honest guy to tell the truth between the two
Consider the last gen plastic Ripmo for similar money. The DVO bits have mixed reviews on the AF, while the Fox bits on the plastic bike are a no brainer.
 
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