Bilstein B14 (PSS) vs Bilstein B14: Anyone know the specific differences?

[Fusion Works]

Just because they can't suggest revalving doesn't mean I won't. I have a set here that will probably get revalved soonish if the owner wants to step up from the Eibachs (which are junk. He already had a rear one puke its guts out)

My Bilstein fronts are an inverted damper design using a revalved Bilstein insert.


Just bought some more tubing to build another set. Think I am gonna do a track set and a street set of dampers. This allows me a lot less work to setup for a track weekend vs daily driving.

 

[Fusion Works]

BTW, Chris Taylor told me they never had a rear beam shift on a Bspec Fiesta or Mazda 2. LOL. Well we know that ain't true.

 

[rallytaff]

You guys lead such complicated lives! I've had my H & R street performance coilovers on my car since Jan 2016 which lowered the car substantially on stock wheels and tyres and I've had NO problems with them EVER! No rubbing regardless of road surfaces and no leaning in corners. Loves me the simple life!

 

[foodtruck]

- Steering feels like it requires a little more input, It is basically not as twitchy into tight turns, which I suppose gives you more fine control since the input feels like it takes a little more to translate to the tires. I personally miss the crazy twitchiness of immediate and direct input because I enjoy the devious and chaotic personality of the fiesta. May be something I have to look into.

Just noticed this comment, and its pretty interesting because I think I'm noticing the same, but on B14s. I recently measured the lowering and its pretty much the same as Swifts (~1in in the front) so I'm wondering what can this be attributed to. Probably not due to B14's progressive springs since Swifts are linear? Could it just be the effect of lowering the front by 1in on our platform?

 

[Fusion Works]

That is the lack of low speed rebound from the B14s. The OEM dampers got a lot of the "snappy" feel for our cars with a healthy amount of low speed rebound. The B6 damper does OK, better than the B14.

 

[M-Sport fan]

That is the lack of low speed rebound from the B14s. The OEM dampers got a lot of the "snappy" feel for our cars with a healthy amount of low speed rebound. The B6 damper does OK, better than the B14.

If I am going to pair them with Swift Spec Rs, would I be better off going for the new old stock (IF I can find them, Rock Auto claims to have them on their listing) early OEM dampers, or the B6es, as far as quality/longevity vs. performance and 'feel' goes?

I know that they are both twin tube, small internal component diameter, not inverted, street use type dampers, but could the factory one even possibly be as high in build quality as the Bilstein??

 

[Fusion Works]

So the Swift Rs drop the car and the B6/Stock dampers are stock length. Now that said you could figure out a way to space the spring out to compensate for that extra length. The B8 is a better choice for a shorter spring. I haven't dyno'd a pre 16 damper. Would be interesting to see what the differences are.

That said a twin tube is a twin tube as far as I am concerned. The internals are about the same, so I would expect durability to be similar. The Bilstein probably has better finishes so it won't rust away as fast if that is a concern.

 

[foodtruck]

That is the lack of low speed rebound from the B14s.

Right, but then how would that explain the similar reduction in steering twitchiness on Swifts and stock dampers the OP reported? That's what's confusing to me. Then the reason for it must be something that's common for both Swift and B14 springs?

 

[Fusion Works]

Re-read his post. Wonder if he ever checked his alignment after installing the springs? Lowering the car would toe in the front axle thus making steering less responsive.

 

[Volumetrik]

Lots of good discussion here. Is there a NVH impact from using the DNA camber plates? I've seen reports in the BMW forums about increased NVH from using plates, but very little in this forum.

 

[Fusion Works]

You will hear a more NVH.

 

[foodtruck]

Not DNA plates specifically, but I tried coil-overs with solid top mounts and went back to a setup of similar stiffness with stock ones. With the former, the all road imperfections and impacts are definitely sharper and the tire growl is noticeably louder.

 

[foodtruck]

Re-read his post. Wonder if he ever checked his alignment after installing the springs? Lowering the car would toe in the front axle thus making steering less responsive.

Forgot to follow up; in my case, the cause of slower steering feel was this

 

[Fusion Works]

The toe is a bit wonky, but none of that should change steering response. Zero toe in the front vs one wheel being toe'd out a little bit isn't a huge difference. If nothing you would have had better steering response on the side with the toe out.

 

[foodtruck]

The toe is a bit wonky, but none of that should change steering response. Zero toe in the front vs one wheel being toe'd out a little bit isn't a huge difference. If nothing you would have had better steering response on the side with the toe out.

Something must have also changed during alignment then . There was a very distinct difference between before and after.