[Hirthy]

So I finally gave in when my top mounts cracked the other day and brought myself some coilovers. I know there are lots of threads on here about coilovers but these are pretty unknown and worth telling people about, I've split the review into three sections buying, daily and track use.

I was looking about about Miester R's, KW's and Bilstein, I actually ended up getting some Gecko coilovers the reason I did this is because they come with, top mounts, 20 different settings on the dampers, spring height adjust ability and height adjust ability.

Buying and Fitting:
I ended up buying from Tricolore Performance who get gecko to engineer the coilovers specifically for the car to order, i.e make sure they have the correct fittings and holdings to clip all the wires into, the suspension fitting itself would've taken about an hour but we had a couple of issues with rusted bolts so spent a while drilling out sheered bolts. the car currently sits about 15mm lower than before but could be lower if desired but the pictures show the height so you can judge.

Daily Use:
For daily use these are amazing you can turn them down into the lowest damping setting which is slightly softer than the stock suspension, this means that you can drive normally and not get rattled to death! Secondly you can have your car lower without comprising the spring size as most coilovers I looked in the price range only let you lower the height by compressing the spring, and this normally means the suspension is harder. Finally you can also turn up the dampers for your fast road driving I normally use around 4-6 which I would say allows the perfect feed back for back road driving.

Track Use:
Finally I used these around Bedford on Saturday with the ride lowered slightly more than usual and the dampers in 14, these are amazing for the tracks above the standard, the amount of roll in the car has been decreased significantly, the turn in is much sharper. The confidence these coilovers gave me was amazing I was happy to throw the car in pretty much everywhere and came out the other side. Unfortunately I didn't time the differences between these and stock so can't quantify the exact amount these make you quicker.

 

[Hirthy]

[/url]Gecko Coilovers by James Hirth, on Flickr[/IMG][url=https://flic.kr/p/GKYzrP]

[img]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4552/26751918829_1d330f4a1d_z.jpg[/url]Coilover R53 by James Hirth, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/url]Untitled by James Hirth, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[CarsOrBikes]

Quote: ....... "you can have your car lower without comprising the spring size as most coilovers I looked in the price range only let you lower the height by compressing the spring, and this normally means the suspension is harder"

.....it's the opposite, to lower those you refer to, the spring perch is released, reducing preload, lowering the car.

it's good they come with independent height and preload adjustment, several don't. They come with rear top mounts too? neither pictured?

 

[Jordan]

Meister CRD+ also do everything you spoke about.
just saying.

 

[lordf]

Meister CRD+ also do everything you spoke about.
just saying.

There probably from the same factory as well... Either that or they are based off the XYZ design. BC, HSD, D-2 and XYZ make 99% of these re-branded coilovers.

 

[lordf]

Indeed, My BC RM's are as good as my old Cross Comps that cost twice as much.

 

[Hirthy]

Quote: ....... "you can have your car lower without comprising the spring size as most coilovers I looked in the price range only let you lower the height by compressing the spring, and this normally means the suspension is harder"

.....it's the opposite, to lower those you refer to, the spring perch is released, reducing preload, lowering the car.

it's good they come with independent height and preload adjustment, several don't. They come with rear top mounts too? neither pictured?

They don't come with rear top mounts, and what do you mean by neither pictured?

 

[Hirthy]

Meister CRD+ also do everything you spoke about.
just saying.

I didn't know the Meister CRD+ could do the height adjustment independently tbh. Although the Meister's are £275 more... these only cost £599

 

[CarsOrBikes]

I suspected they didn't, because they're not pictured, but neither are the front top mounts, but you said they come with them?

some coilovers don't come with either, the Meisters mentioned (I don't have them) use linear springs front and rear, plus have pillow ball top mounts iirc all round, and adjustable ones up front, as well as being independently adjustable which is a more versatile arrangement so I'd expect a price difference. My own originate in Taiwan too, much of this type of thing does, or China, but there are more quality issues there.

 

[lordf]

I didn't know the Meister CRD+ could do the height adjustment independently tbh. Although the Meister's are £275 more... these only cost £599

Meisters / BC also come with front and rear top mounts and linear springs, totally worth the extra.

 

[coendek]

All made by a company called HD suspension technology in South Korea, interestilingy they are also responsible for AST too. Manufacturing nowadays has to conform to so many standards that you'd be hard pressed to find something truely dog shit! (Even in Asia.. although not as stringent as Eu)

Dear Phil,

As CEO - CCO at AST and MOTON suspension I can assure you that NO company outside of holland is responsible for ANY production for AST and MOTON products!!!

Can you please change your message because you are spreading wrong info!

In the meanwhile check this:
The New Era of MOTON/AST Suspension ? MOTON SUSPENSION USA

The New Era of MOTON/AST Suspension ? AST SUSPENSION NA

https://youtu.be/R-Me5YOVWcY


as for the owners of the forum.
I am sorry if this looks like pushing my brand on the forum but I am trying to rectify some wrong statements about my brand.

thanks!

Coen de Korte




ps. finding something that is dogshit is easy to find!! go to motorshow essen and buy a 200euro complete coiloverkit.. there you go!
The crappy asian quality is exactly the reason that we still produce everything in Holland!

 

[lordf]

Lolz when you don't know the CEO of AST is on the forum...

 

[PhilRS03]

Dear Phil,

As CEO - CCO at AST and MOTON suspension I can assure you that NO company outside of holland is responsible for ANY production for AST and MOTON products!!!

Can you please change your message because you are spreading wrong info!

In the meanwhile check this:
The New Era of MOTON/AST Suspension ? MOTON SUSPENSION USA

The New Era of MOTON/AST Suspension ? AST SUSPENSION NA

https://youtu.be/R-Me5YOVWcY


as for the owners of the forum.
I am sorry if this looks like pushing my brand on the forum but I am trying to rectify some wrong statements about my brand.

thanks!

Coen de Korte




ps. finding something that is dogshit is easy to find!! go to motorshow essen and buy a 200euro complete coiloverkit.. there you go!
The crappy asian quality is exactly the reason that we still produce everything in Holland!

Coen thanks very much for clearing that up, I wasn't going off of second hand information I saw it on the HD suspension web page the other day. Unless it's referring to another AST suspension (which as you've stated is obviously the case!)

 

[CarsOrBikes]

Hmmmm, just cos I like asking questions...................

Why can't we see on the 'real' product website, any volume manufacturing process for instance? Just curious.

I saw something about STD suspension, American company response saying they're the real deal and that the same name elsewhere were imitation and so on, which is all good and lovely. However, only one had pictures of it's production plant etc.

I'm only curious, because little people like us forum users, could easily be misled into thinking factory pictures etc, indicate the actual product is made there. After all we don't know a lot, so have to interpret what we see and decide if genuine.
Just saying,

Aren't Forge, Coolerworks, Direnza all examples of someone's 'brand' but manufactured for them (and others with different brands) elsewhere? I know for a fact even I can have someone else's 'brand' rebranded as my own, by them! Mad eh?

This is what makes me think, it could be possible that 'wahn ung lo' products (lets say coilover manufacturers) if they existed, could make them for TAS sport components, (if they existed) but still sell them themselves as it's their product? It could also be possible, somebody asked purely to manufacture a product designed entirely by someone else from another country, decide to sell copies, but I guess they'd rename them or something, like ePhone 8 or Rand Lover Discovery , you know.

We should clear this sort of thing up before people buy things that maybe aren't what they seem? In this thread just an innocent comment was made on such beliefs, people don't know not to believe certain things. We need a list! Genuine Things.

If it came down to interpreting videos and websites with large buildings and product names displayed people could still come to the wrong conclusions, so MT needs to do some work for the prevention of sales into the community, of Non Genuine!

I'm bored now, carry on ;O)

Quote:

Sportline II (5200 serie)
The 5200 Series are 2-way adjustable shock absorbers which are based upon competition 3-way adjustable shock absorbers. The 5200 shock absorbers are adjustable in compression and rebound.

The design of the compression adjuster is an evolution of the compression adjuster we provided for the American Grand-Am series for the last few years. The 5200 shock absorbers were designed to achieve a quick and easy set up, allowing separate adjustment of compression and rebound.

In the 5200 Series AST uses an external canister. Throughout testing and competitions, the 5200 has been praised for its performance and capabilities, surpassing other major, more expensive brands and setting a new standard of 2 way damper. Its no surprise that the 5200 is fast becoming a favorite damper amongst race teams and track day enthusiasts world wide. Benefits include:
• High end, track ready suspension that is totally streetable. • Fully upgradeable to 5300 spec. • Rebound and Compression Adjustable (‘Doubles’), with a remote reservoir. • Remote reservoirs allow additional travel, heat dissipation and increased oil/nitrogen gas capacity. • 44.5mm diameter shaft struts are inverted and offer exceptional strength, which in turn reduces geometry change under corner and braking monoevers. • Aluminum cylinder, threaded body shocks, factory mounting style. • New low friction seal on all AST dampings. • Spherical lower ‘’eye’’ shock mounts. • Reservoir with hose or piggyback (piggyback examples: ‘08 STI & BMW E36 rears). • Spherical upper shock mount assemblies. • Synthetic hydraulic fluid. • Optional DLC Coated shafts. • Optional DDP piston (double digressive). • Fully service and rebuildable

Quote:

CLUB SPORT (5200 SERIES)

AST Suspension Club sport 5200 Shock Absorbers.
The 5200 Series are 2-way adjustable shock absorbers which are based upon competition 3-way adjustable shock absorbers. The 5200 shock absorbers are adjustable in compression and rebound.
The design of the compression adjuster is an evolution of the compression adjuster we provided for the American Grand-Am series for the last few years. The 5200 shock absorbers were designed to achieve a quick and easy set up, allowing separate adjustment of compression and rebound.
In the 5200 Series AST uses an external canister. Throughout testing and competitions, the 5200 has been praised for its performance and capabilities, surpassing other major, more expensive brands and setting a new standard of 2 way damper. Its no surprise that the 5200 is fast becoming a favorite damper amongst race teams and track day enthusiasts world wide.
Benefits include:
High end, track ready suspension that is totally streetable.
Fully upgradeable to 5300 spec.
Rebound and Compression Adjustable ('Doubles'), with a remote reservoir.
Remote reservoirs allow additional travel, heat dissipation and increased oil/ nitrogen gas capacity.
44.5mm diameter shaft struts are inverted and offer exceptional strength, which in turn reduces geometry change under corner and braking monoevers.
Aluminum cylinder, threaded body shocks, factory mounting style.
New low friction seal on all AST dampings.
Spherical lower ''eye'' shock mounts.
Reservoir with hose or piggyback (piggyback examples: '08 STI & BMW E36 rears).
Spherical upper shock mount assemblies.
Synthetic hydraulic fluid.
Optional DLC Coated shafts.
Optional DDP piston (double digressive).
Fully service and rebuildable.
Revalvable for specific characteristics.
When you require a custom set up, we ask you to mention the requested spring rates in the order process (in 'Notes and Special requests"). Contact us for more information.
*Actual product may vary, sample image only.

 

[PhilRS03]

It's like anything, there are very very few companies in any industry that truest produce everything in house. Look at the small print from tag heuer watches, the mecahanisms for their F1 range and the "cheaper" variants are all made by the same company that supply mechanisms to Traser, hublot, the lot. Setting up the machines for the tooling to make everything in house isn't economically viable. I built custom rifles, they cost up to 10k and shoot MOA groups out to 600m but i don't make the barrels, or the machine my own actions. Everything near enough is outsourced and and enormous majority of that outsourcing comes from Asia. The components or the final produc themselves still have to conform to EU manufacturing standards (TUV approval for example) to even be sold. So companies that invest in supplying products from Asia who offer good warranties ect wouldn't be in business very long if the product they were peddling wasn't up to some sort of standard.

 

[Pobsey]

The offshore production model is also in the mountain bike world, frames designed over here and built in the Far East, for the better ones or designs picked from the manufacturer for the lower end brands.

As for knock offs etc always buy from authorised dealers and stay away from the eBay specials

 

[Pobsey]

As for my 5200's

This was them been built in Valkenswaard

 

[coendek]

Hahaha guys,

If there is ANY, but I mean, Any doubt about if we do everything in house, let me know.
You, Any of You, is more then welcome in our factory in valkenswaard.

Or drop me a text or WhatsApp and I’ll FaceTime you haha walking downstairs in the factory.


Since I am typing on my cell... this is it for now.

Any questions are ok for me nothing to hide!

 

[coendek]

As for Direnza. Forge and coolerworx. I know the owners of all three companies and I can assure you that they are not working together in any way

 

[coendek]

Ow and std suspension is made in Taiwan. Not in the USA.