Coilovers - Bilstein B14 vs. EQT Balanced Line

[bentin]

Find me a 2018-2019 Ripmo for $3k and I’m in!

Or if you're abnormally tall:
https://www.evo.com/outlet/mountain...6Zx_n2pK0pwoIPGkL_LCDiP6QP4lKp6xoCv2YQAvD_BwE

 

[CarolinaPanthers]

No real input on the Mk7 suspension...but I'm picking up a DVO Diamond for my Following today. ?

Nice! Man, I loved the Topaz.Then I killed it in a freak crash ?. Super user friendly to rebuild and tune to tune via bladder pressure/volume bands. The guys at DVO have awesome customer service too. Always super helpful and will even walk you through reshimming. I should really take them up on the crash replacement/rebuild, but I’m loving the butter f the coil. But yeah, their forks also look super sweet!

Lol not to sound super lame, but your GTI is lowkey kind of an inspiration for mine. Love the way it sits!

 

[Chogokin]

Find me a 2018-2019 Ripmo for $3k and I’m in!

You can find the aluminum Ripmo AF for 3k. It shreds just as hard as the carbon Ripmo. Plus it can take a coil shock unlike the Rip V1.

 

[CarolinaPanthers]

I have a set of BCs on my car and definitely cant complain.

Had BC's on the last car I lowered and loved them! Just don't love the idea of taking the rears apart to adjust damping. Knowing myself, I love to spin suspension knobs, so if it is easily accessible I definitely want to go that route.

The issue with B8s...

Dude! This is awesome info, thank you for posting that. Seems like Bilstein has definitely tweaking the damping on their coilovers which is good. Not that the B8s are inherently bad, but I haven't heard the best reviews for "spirited" driving. Though for a DD, the added comfort probably isn't the worst thing in the world.

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).

This input is killer! I think I'm leaning more and more toward EQT, especially from a customer service standpoint. And thank you for helping me wrap my head around the adjustments lol. I know there was a guy on the Audi forums who was having some issues with ORT coilovers (which he eventually sorted), and another with Forge coilovers on the Vortex who had similar issues with his ride height, so I guess the adjustment is not super intuitive. As much as I want to/should wait for the "Boost Weather Sale" from EQT, I think I'm way too impatient haha.

@CarolinaPanthers @Chogokin @bentin Saving up for a Ripmo AF, myself

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

1. Ripmo AF is such a sick bike to me. Mostly because I'm a cheap ass and ride like a hack so I'm a little afraid of carbon (which seems to be the direction of the industry), but the geometry is right and I love the capability of 135-150 29er. My tall ass is is drooling over the new crop of 29er enduro and DH rigs. And I'm loving the progressive geometry. When I first got on my '14 153, everything finally just felt right. I finally feel like tall people are being included haha.

2. Perusing the EQT thread, Ed did mention that he had Bilsteins that were nice for about 5k miles and a few track days before they started to degrade. Not sure which model he had or the full story, but it didn't instill a ton of confidence. Not that I'd be tracking my car, but still. Just something else to not stress over.

Lmao I'm loving this thread. I really appreciate the technical input about the coilovers. I definitely think the best bet for me is to go with EQT coilovers. And man, I can talk bikes for days haha. Stoked to see some other mtb/GTI fans here.

 

[CarolinaPanthers]

Plus it can take a coil shock unlike the Rip V1.

Can confirm coil shocks are dope. Both my bikes are theoretically a little too linear for a coil shock, but HSC adjustment and some slightl overspringing is key imo. Obviously the coil eats small bumps, but I'm surprised with just how well both bikes still pop off jumps. I do get some harsh bottom outs, but honestly it's not much worse than with air, and the midstroke support of a coil is prime. I sent a janky boulder drop today with the DHX2 and had to send it a few more times to make sure I actually dropped it and not rolled it, the impact was so much more muted than the CCDB Air.

 

[Chogokin]

Nice! Man, I loved the Topaz.Then I killed it in a freak crash ?. Super user friendly to rebuild and tune to tune via bladder pressure/volume bands. The guys at DVO have awesome customer service too. Always super helpful and will even walk you through reshimming. I should really take them up on the crash replacement/rebuild, but I’m loving the butter f the coil. But yeah, their forks also look super sweet!

Lol not to sound super lame, but your GTI is lowkey kind of an inspiration for mine. Love the way it sits!

Thanks!

The guys at DVO are all super cool. Friend of mine worked for them and was based in Taichung Taiwan for a year. I'm local to DVO so I just drove down there and picked it up. Too bad most of the trails are all closed. The good thing is that there are some local low key spots that are not recognized as LA county trails.

 

[Chogokin]

Regarding Bilstein's warranty. I worked for Neuspeed back in the day...and we got back all kinds of messed up shocks and struts from user error...where people would try and warranty. They'd get denied right away. I've seen ones where the threads were stripped, clamp marks on the shock shaft...and bent shafts. You really don't know what people are doing with their parts. At the same time...I've also see some seriously used shocks getting warrantied...mostly from leaks. In my own experiences from working at a large Bilstein distributor. They have warrantied all legit claims. If we inspect the shock...and say it it a manufacturer defect...they will send a replacement right away. If the damage looks sketchy...it'll usually get denied. If you get the B14 don't use a aftermarket swaybar...of you do...don't use those huge front endlinks. I'm sure that the combination of the two are putting a heavier than normal load on the endlink tabs.

 

[CarolinaPanthers]

Good to hear some positives about Bilstein and their warranty. I feel like a lot of what’s been brought has been primarily negative.

That said, I think EQT is the move. Idk if I’ll ever get a larger front sway bar, but it’s nice to know the EQT coilovers can handle them without much issue, at least compared to Bilstein.

 

[swcrow]

I'm personally going the EQT coilover route not only for the easy adjustment availability, but also that you can remain stock height with them....which no other coilover option can offer, if I'm not mistaken.

FWIW, just sold my 29'er and went back to a 26 Giant Trance 4....forgot how much more nimble/quick the 26" bike was in comparison.

 

[Gvazquez]

Had BC's on the last car I lowered and loved them! Just don't love the idea of taking the rears apart to adjust damping. Knowing myself, I love to spin suspension knobs, so if it is easily accessible I definitely want to go that route.

I adjust my BCs with the wheels on the car. The knobs are up top so all I do is jack up the car to get some droop and reach behind the wheel to turn the knobs

 

[Chogokin]

Good to hear some positives about Bilstein and their warranty. I feel like a lot of what’s been brought has been primarily negative.

That said, I think EQT is the move. Idk if I’ll ever get a larger front sway bar, but it’s nice to know the EQT coilovers can handle them without much issue, at least compared to Bilstein.

I think in situations like that they can be hit or miss. Bilstein moves a lot of those coilovers...I'm willing to bet more than all the small companies put together. The sample size here on Golf Mk7 is a really small one.

 

[CarolinaPanthers]

True. And people generally speak out about a product when they are unhappy. Given how small our market is, the few cases that speak out with issues can seem like a misrepresentation of the product as a whole.

That being said, I think EQT is the direction I want to go in. I just had to get tires and that ate up a lot of the coilover budget ?

I adjust my BCs with the wheels on the car. The knobs are up top so all I do is jack up the car to get some droop and reach behind the wheel to turn the knobs

I’m not visualizing well haha, but you can get to the rear adjustment? I always figured the adjustment knob was kind of buried in the shock mount/impossible to do on the car. But I guess that was more based off of the Koni Yellow adjustments and those need to be taken off and compressed to be adjusted.

 

[Gvazquez]

I’m not visualizing well haha, but you can get to the rear adjustment? I always figured the adjustment knob was kind of buried in the shock mount/impossible to do on the car. But I guess that was more based off of the Koni Yellow adjustments and those need to be taken off and compressed to be adjusted.
[/QUOTE]

Its really simple actually. If I jack up the car, the rear wheels droop a little or I can take the wheel off. On the shock body in the wheel well is the knob you can adjust very easily. Nothing comes apart at all so something to consider if you're coming down on the budget a couple hundred

 

[CarolinaPanthers]

@Gvazquez lol I’m sorry for being so dense! The adjuster is at the top of the shock correct? Or is it elsewhere on the shock?

In my head I’m picturing the adjustment knob being at the top of the shock and getting blocked by the rear shock mount... I’ve clearly never had the rear suspension apart haha. I’ll see what I can’t uncover with some Googling. I’m now quite curious!

After spending 5 minutes Googling I think it makes more sense now.



Hope this picture works! Tried from my phone. The adjusters seem to be about halfway down the shaft. Based off my previous experience, I though they would use the same set up as the fronts - adjustment knob on top and similar to where the adjusters are located on Koni shocks. Everything you said made so much more sense now!!

 

[Gvazquez]

No worries! Yeah it was kinda difficult to explain but that's exactly correct. Very simple to adjust the rears with no blockage minus the wheel itself