INSTALLED - Meister R Coilovers/ Impressions, Pics, Etc.

[Rhinopolis]

I am having a set of Meister R Coilovers professionally installed later this morning, and I will include before and after photos to go along with all of my driving impressions. I purchased the Coilovers from Jerrick [MENTION=4680]MeisterR[/MENTION] , and he helped me to find a good local installer because I wanted a pro to help me to set these up. A few details about my car 1st.

1. 2015 FiST with 4700 miles

2. Has a FSTB, 4 point chassis brace, upgraded mid brace, rear sway bar, and a trunk brace. Rear seats and brackets are removed, plus I have a RMM plus upgraded engine and transmission mounts.

3. Wheels are 17x7.5 lightweight Motegi's with 215/40/17 Summitomo HTR Z 2 tires. I set pressures at 39 psi F and 36 psi R.

4. Power mods are an E30 pro tune with Injen 3" exhaust, stock DP, Cobb intake, Cobb FMIC plus charge pipes, and a Tune + specific upgraded WGA.

I have never had coilovers on any of the cars that I have owned over the years (2010 mx5, 2008 Si sedan, 2003 rsx-s, 99 Si), and so I am really looking forward to utilizing and playing around with the settings on these Meister R Coilovers to fine tune for my preference.

Driving Style - The FiST is a weekend car and I drive it for fun. My driving style is "aggressive back road driving", and attacking corners is my favorite thing to do in the car. I used to ride sport bikes, and I learned how to carry speed in to corners by riding those. I have some twisty back roads that I frequent and that have little to no traffic, and these roads are where I like to perfect my corner entry and exit. There's higher speed sweepers (entry between 50-80 mph) as well as lower speed corners that I can practice driving on and that I use to evaluate how the FiST behaves in these situations. To take the car to the next level I need to participate in a track day (MSRH is 15 miles south of me), and I do eventually plan to do this.

Height - 6' even
Weight - 210 lbs
Age - 37

 

[Rhinopolis]

I took a bunch of photos and will upload them this evening. Here are my initial impressions......

1. Jerrick is very passionate and knowledeable about suspension tuning, and he's also the owner of MeisterR. What's really cool is that the coilover system that he developed in the UK with our generation Fiesta ST, was developed around an actual car. Most manufacturers do not get to spend seat time with a professional driver and the actual car when calibrating a coilover setup for a particular make/model, but with MeisterR and our Fiesta ST this is exactly what happened. The finished product took into account all aspects for our car, and was designed as a true compliment to the car instead of as a coilover setup that would just fit. I found this knowledge impressive!

2. Fit and finish are really nice and there's nothing about the install that I couldn't have done at home from my garage. I was fortunate that Jerrick was available close by and that he hooked me up with a very professional install shop that he personally knows the owner of. After the install was complete, Jerrick spent some time with me riding shotgun as we hunted some twisty and rough roads to see how the FiST behaved with the new coilovers.

3. The ride height has room to drop or raise, and I found the preset ride height set by MeisterR to be perfect. It's lower than factory, but not so low that I feel like a teenage drug dealer driving through my neighborhood. According to Jerrick there's "plenty" of room to lower left available, and I will let him elaborate.

4. I set the front dampers at 10 clicks - from complete +, and the rears dampers at 12 clicks - from complete +. I am going to let this settle out and take the car on my favorite twisty back roads that I mentioned in my previous post. The car is noticeably more responsive on turn in, does not have the annoying "bounce" that it used to have when I would go over steady bumps in the road, and the chassis feels very composed with no drama or weird manners. I hit a tight 2cd gear right hand turn HARD on the gas and on the way back home, and the rear stayed planted but rotated very smoothly with the direction of the turn. I can't wait to play more, and will have some time in the next few days to give these MeisterR's a real review.

Thanks, Jerrick thumbsup

 

[MKVIIST]

Nice review can't wait to see the photos.

 

[Rhinopolis]

I'm not very good at putting together forum photo albums, and lets see how this turns out

Photo 1 Before /Photo 2 After - Same position on my driveway

 

[Rhinopolis]

Same scenario as above

 

[Rhinopolis]

Ditto

 

[Rhinopolis]

Pictures of the product and up close installed on the car. Also some right after the install and 1st test drive.....

 

[MKVIIST]

Looks good, I'd say it should go down another inch in the back and half inch in front lol.

 

[rexdriver85]

Thanks for the review, these do look like a great option.

Also - MSR Houston is AWESOME! They also have a world class outdoor karting track, at least the last time I was there, it was a freakin' blast!

 

[Rhinopolis]

Looks good, I'd say it should go down another inch in the back and half inch in front lol.

I might lower the rear another 1/2" fo sho, but the fronts fo no......

Jerrick was a little surprised that the rear at his preset ride height wasn't lower, until he opened up my hatch and saw no spare tire, jack, or rear seats and brackets....lol. I'm WAG'ing that this is near 90lbs removed, and Jerrick says that the weight of what I removed in the rear was calculated in to his factory presets. I messed with his math!!!

 

[Rhinopolis]

Thanks for the review, these do look like a great option.

Also - MSR Houston is AWESOME! They also have a world class outdoor karting track, at least the last time I was there, it was a freakin' blast!

I watch quite a few SCCA events and open track day functions, but I have never karted there and have always wanted to. I need to take advantage!

 

[gizyuluu]

Finally, a coilover kit for serious consideration. Now I need to find the means to meet the large increase in budgetary funds as this a bit of a bump over just lowering springs. Def seems worth it though. [MENTION=2925]Rhinopolis[/MENTION], thanks for posting the pics and review!

 

[Ryephile]

Do you have any data on total stroke, bumpstop compression curve, and where you set the droop, ride height, and max compression? How this compares to stock would be extraordinarily helpful. Am I correct to assume there weren't any damper dyno plots in the box?

Axle to fender measurements are probably the easiest way to convey suspension position.

 

[airjor13]

they look great! definitely an option to consider in the future! thanks for the review

 

[MeisterR]

Good to meet you, and overall pretty happy with the setup.
On our testing, the car was balance on long sweep under power, the transition from left to right was stable, and don't seems to be harsh over bumps.
Let us know how the setting are for overall comfort such as long freeway trip once you get more miles on it.

At the moment, Just for your reference, your setting are (From full stiff)
Front: -10 clicks
Rear: -13 clicks

Let us know how it goes.

Looks good, I'd say it should go down another inch in the back and half inch in front lol.

There are lot of adjustment left still, I would say easily another inch on the front, and another inch to 1.5 inch in the rear.

Do you have any data on total stroke, bumpstop compression curve, and where you set the droop, ride height, and max compression? How this compares to stock would be extraordinarily helpful. Am I correct to assume there weren't any damper dyno plots in the box?

Axle to fender measurements are probably the easiest way to convey suspension position.

Total stroke on the front is about 5 inches, and in the rear about 6 inches.
The bump stop is progressive but quite stiff, we try to keep off of it if possible and allow the suspension to work normally.

As the springs rate are not too hard, there will be more than enough droop travel.
Ride height setting are independent of the springs tension (and therefore damper travel), so that doesn't affect any moving parts of the coilovers other than personal preference.

We don't provide damper dyno with every kit, it is not really needed unless you have some serious production problem.
Mono-tube damper are very repeatable in it's build process the long as the parts used have high tolerance.
If you are interested in what the damper curve looks like, here is a sample

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So far I am happy with the setup.
Riding in the car, it does feel very responsive and compliant.
I am sure OP will give us more feedback once he get more miles on the car and drive around more road that he is familiar with.

The damping adjustment are there so they can be tuned to the driver's personal preference.
So I am sure some fine tweaking will happen in the future...

Jerrick

 

[Hijinx]

I like the front to rear rake, personally. I will definitely be picking up a set of these soon, Jerrick.


Scent from Glade Air Freshener

 

[caliboy15]

It looks like Megan Racing coilovers

 

[MeisterR]

It looks like Megan Racing coilovers

Quite a few coilovers that goes on the Fiesta looks very similar.
After all, it is all going to fit the same car.

MeisterR have a lot of unique difference to other market suspension on the market.
Our damper are different, our damper valving are unique, and our collars have a UK patent pending status.

It's like looking at a Ford Fiesta SE and a Ford Fiesta ST.
They may look similar outside, but the inside as well as the performance are completely different.

Jerrick

 

[Rhinopolis]

Just to confirm, I set the rears to -12 clicks when I got home yesterday. I am taking the car out on my favorite fun roads tomorrow early before the heat sets in, and I will report back.

 

[MeisterR]

I see, you put it up one then.
Was it easy for you to get to the adjuster with the speed ramp?

On the rear you can keep going until you are close full stiff, the springs and damper are paired.
So for track use, I would expect the rear to be within 5 clicks from full stuff.

For road use, it will be a personal preference; find a setting that you enjoy as the driver.
Let us know how it goes tomorrow, nothing beat going to a road that you are familiar with with a new setup as it will really highlight improvement as well as drawbacks.

Jerrick