Down to two Coilovers need help.
 

Good Morning Fellas!


I've narrowed my choices down to either ST Coilovers or Bilstein B14.


These will be used as 99% light Spirited Daily Driving. 1% Heavy Spirited Driving.


Enkei RPF1 17x9 +35 wrapped in 255/40 R17 tires.


Question is who's has these on their car.


Always been a Koni Shock and Spring guy on my previous cars.


Thanks!

whichever ones double up as a hammer better

I have no idea what you're talking about. :/

I've looked at the two of these as well. I believe the Bilsteins have a larger diameter spring than the ST's, not sure if that is a concern with your wheel/tire size.

I've always been a big advocate of the ST's. I love KW coils and KW makes the ST's so it's a win win for me. Their price point is excellent and so is their quality. One of my buddies has them on his FR-S and he absolutely loves them. I've driven his car a couple times and it's definitely a nice ride without sacrificing performance. He uses his car in every season and he has yet to complain about them. Some people are concerned that they are made with Galvanized Steel and not Stainless Steel, but honestly if you take care of them, they are going to give you plenty of life.

Most of the people around here (New England) that send in their coils to get rebuilt or who buy new ones because theirs are "shot", neglect their coils and don't clean them regularly. The biggest issue we see in coils are frozen adjustment rings. This is a simple lack of maintenance problem and can solved by paying a bit more attention to your coilovers.

I think I'm of the same mindset as a significant percentage of people are in that stuff that is under the car is supposed to be rugged and if it doesn't have a lubrication point that is part of scheduled maintenance it gets forgotten about unless it fails. I've done lowering springs in the past but never coilovers.
What is normal maintenance for coilovers?

Based on your usage, I would say the Bilstein setup will likely be a better quality ride, but not quite as good when driven to the limit. They use progressive springs instead of linear which are more comfortable, but less predictable (they're not unpredictable, just not a predictable as a linear spring at the limit).

The ST's won't ride bad, and IIRC are a fair amount cheaper than the B14's?

I'd say Bilsteins; you don't sound like you want to be fiddling with adjustments.

You just have to keep them clean as best as possible. Keep dirt out of the threads. That's how it will lock up. One of the best things to do is raise the car in the winter and lower it back down in the summer. Keep moving the adjustment rings. You can wire wheel them which takes a bit of time but it will keep them clean.

Ended up ordering ST's. Put two names on a two sheets of paper, randomly drew from a hat Ended up with ST's. lol

good job.

Bilstein B14! That's what I'm going for after I can find a good price!