Bilstein B14 kit vs. B8/Swift combo

[Fiestig]

Not sure I am going to install my one-off Eibach FiST coilovers and might pass them to the For Sale section soon. If anyone knows @D1JL 's old FiST setup they are quite fun on road for the right person, however they definitely come off as more track friendly in my opinion. So I am looking for something a bit more comfy for my old ass.

Now for the discussion at hand...

I have seen both Bilstein options mixed in with coilover/spring/height/etc discussions but I haven't found any direct comparisons between these two options specifically. I haven't heard anyone say anything bad about either bilstein option but I am wondering aside from more height adjustment has anyone had the opportunity to try both? The reason I ask is that either are roughly the same price currently and I am not looking to go far past a 1" drop which makes it a very viable comparison. What would you choose and why (remember I don't necessarily care about the extra adjustability) More the overall ride/handling?

 

[M-Sport fan]

Of course, many will come on here and blast me for this, but, IF I could deal with, live with, and did not care about their drop, I would do the B6/Swift combo because; fairly high rate, and LINEAR rate springs!

I spoke directly with their tech department (3 TIMES!) and contrary to those on here who claim that they are linear rate springs in the B14 kit, Bilstein themselves says NO, they are progressive front AND back.

Now if you are just street driving these, and will never open track/autocross on them, it may not matter at all, and yes, there are some on here that claim it does not even matter (or is actually BETTER somehow??) for actual competition.

But that is my personal opinion/bias, as I just really really dislike progressive rate springs, yes, even for just street driving (you asked ).

 

[Fiestig]

B6/Swift comb

Did you mean B8/Swift combo?

I am with you on the linear springs.. From other posts I have read I assumed that the B14 had linear springs. But if not, that would change my perception quite a bit

 

[M-Sport fan]

Swift constantly waffles between the two Bilstein dampers when you speak to them for suggestions on what to use with their springs, so it could be either.

I personally would probably go with the B6es for my uses, and just put a better/longer than factory bump stop on the top of them (but then I could ONLY use that setup if I used at least .50" damper top mount spacers anyway, since the Swifts lower too much for my uses).

 

[Fiestig]

Well I just found swifts for $286+tax and free shipping so I guess now I just need to decide B6/B8 or something else

 

[DangerMouse]

Well I just found swifts for $286+tax and free shipping so I guess now I just need to decide B6/B8 or something else

You need to run the b6’s. I had the b8‘s with swift springs based on what i read here. The b8’s are shorter causing the springs to be over compressed on the front. It basically bound up the front suspension where the shock couldn’t work properly or the spring. It drove horribly. My personal experience. I know quite a few on here have this setup and i don’t know how they think the car drives good. It felt down right dangerous to me.

 

[XR650R]

It felt down right dangerous to me.

And that's coming from DangerMouse! He lives for danger!

 

[Fiestig]

You need to run the b6’s. I had the b8‘s with swift springs based on what i read here. The b8’s are shorter causing the springs to be over compressed on the front. It basically bound up the front suspension where the shock couldn’t work properly or the spring. It drove horribly. My personal experience. I know quite a few on here have this setup and i don’t know how they think the car drives good. It felt down right dangerous to me.

That's interesting.... Hmmm. I am not against ordering both and trying them out in a comparison. I wonder what the best spring would be for the B8's? Maybe time to do a straight up comparison measurements and specs between B6/B8 and compare each on Swifts.

 

[DangerMouse]

That's interesting.... Hmmm. I am not against ordering both and trying them out in a comparison. I wonder what the best spring would be for the B8's? Maybe time to do a straight up comparison measurements and specs between B6/B8 and compare each on Swifts.

As far as I know the b6 and b8 are same internally but b8 are just shorter. So they work with the majority of lowering springs that are physically shorter than the oem springs. Where swifts are not shorter. Getting the swifts on the b8 struts were a major hassle and the whole time I'm thinking, something isn't right. But I put them on anyway.

Unfortunately at the time b6s were on national back order so I went with koni orange. Shock and spring travel are a good thing. I still want to try b6s eventually but right now I have so much else to do and they work really well.

 

[Fiestig]

Well... Had a screaming deal on a set of swifts, but that fell through because inventory was out. So.. I ordered B6's and whiteline springs. When Swifts are back in stock I will order B8's so I can do a full comparison with B6/B8 Swifts/Whitelines. I honestly don't want to try Eibachs/HR/ST with the B6/B8 but I may have some extra funding coming in soon that would allow me to do so if everyone would be interested in some vids with road testing. I need to do some more company vids anyway so it will be good practice.

 

[Business6]

B6 and Whiteline seem like a good alternative. I'll be interested in your impressions and results, especially if you take measurements *hint hint*

 

[Fiestig]

B6 and Whiteline seem like a good alternative. I'll be interested in your impressions and results, especially if you take measurements *hint hint*

I am going to do measurements of all indvidual parts separated and together, full before/after around gimbal shots with marked up placements, and same road same speed comparison. That should give great results. It will be some work for sure. I really like measured and planned comparisons.

 

[Fiestig]

I will be about a month to collect all the parts that I want to use. Should I do comparisons with B6/Stock springs as well? Or does that matter to anyone? I would think the lowering springs and Stock struts/shocks would matter more. between the 2....Thoughts?

 

[M-Sport fan]

I would likely be the only one on here who would want to know the measured ride height of the B6/factory spring combo, and that is a helluva lot of extra work just for that, so yeah, just do all of the other combos.

There does seem to be large variances between the measured ride heights of multiple different members on here who have done the B6/Swift setup, so curious to see how they sit for you.

 

[Alkoran]

The more data you can provide, the merrier! Thanks for taking that time, it's appreciated

 

[Mikey456]

I will be about a month to collect all the parts that I want to use. Should I do comparisons with B6/Stock springs as well? Or does that matter to anyone? I would think the lowering springs and Stock struts/shocks would matter more. between the 2....Thoughts?

I have the swift springs on oem shocks. There was a debate awhile back about linear vs progressive springs. I’m big about keeping the spring consistency throughout the travel as with the OEM spring does with a 1 inch drop. I’ve heard the Whiteline springs are linear too but the car sits with a little rake. The front sits a little lower than the rear.

As with the ride... let’s just say that tire pressure is important. I run the pressure lower in the front 34/36 rear.

I also noticed someone with a similar setup as mine with just installed bilstein shocks and the car was riding a little higher [he also had poly rear bushing) Someone else posted that gas shocks will make the car sit higher than the oem shocks which I don’t like. When the shocks go bad I will probably replace them with Bilstein B6 or OEM.If the ride bothers me, I will just know that I’m driving not hard enough [emoji41]


2017 Ford Fiesta ST, Shadow Black, Recaro seats, Mountune RMM, Swift springs, 5mm rear spacers, Falken 615+ tires

 

[Fiestig]

@Mikey456 If there is a rake I haven't seen it on an example yet. If I recall this was whiteline on stock struts/shocks. I typically run 205/50/16, recently changed to 205/45/16 for my travel set and my around town are 215/40/17. I am going to try on both my 215/40/17s and 205/45/16s, although more interested in the 215/40/17s. Just to note I really miss my 205/50/16s...lol. I run 36lb nitrogen across the board. The only poly bushings will be for the front sway bar.

I am anxious to see if the below is the case

 

[Mikey456]

@Mikey456 If there is a rake I haven't seen it on an example yet. If I recall this was whiteline on stock struts/shocks. I typically run 205/50/16, recently changed to 205/45/16 for my travel set and my around town are 215/40/17. I am going to try on both my 215/40/17s and 205/45/16s, although more interested in the 215/40/17s. Just to note I really miss my 205/50/16s...lol. I run 36lb nitrogen across the board. The only poly bushings will be for the front sway bar.

I am anxious to see if the below is the case


View attachment 39086

A member named Koozy had the whiteline springs on his car. I don’t know if he is active anymore. The rake is slight but I think the amount of drop is probably on their website. I think Koozy also mentioned that he was rubbing with the 215/40 setup but I think he had 8 inch wheels. I think he has his build somewhere on the forum.

 

[Fiestig]

My 17s are on 7.5in wide so we shall see. I am anxious to find out all of the different variables and driveability for each setup. I was already aware of the drop of the whiteline springs which is advertised to be 30mm =1.2in front/rear. I won't go below 1.25 for my testing

 

[Pablo Pistoffo]

I had the B6/Swift setup and liked it a lot. I moved to the Fortune Auto 500s because I wanted to be able to do some fine tuning, but probably would have been happy if I stayed with them.
If you run a Pierce lower brace, be aware that clearance will be lower.