bilsteins

[daveh]

hey there i'm wondering has anyone experienced a ride height change after installing bilsteins.I put h&r's in my 91 and the same in his '00T.his car seemed to drop a lot more than mine .He's running stock 16/17 and i'm running 17/18.Both with stock shocks.Anyway I just Bilsteins in his '00 from Dali and it raised it a little .Maybe even 1/2 an inch.enough that it changed both front and rear toe .Now I got bilsteins but hope they wont raise my car coz I like it right where it is .I did put perch on the TOP seat.If i put mine on the bottom seat will it go too low ?.Anyway any input would be appreciated.Thanx DaveH

 

[Ojas]

Bilsteins (even when using the upper perch location) should not raise the car compared to stock shock.

An all-too-common mistake when installing Bilstens is to install the perch upside down. Besides raising your car, this is probably dangerous. Have you seen this recent post?

Or this right vs. wrong way to install (from Dali's site)?

 

[daveh]

Thanks Ojas but I had it right .Actually when I put the H&R's on his car it was WAY lower than mine,and both of us were running stock shocks .I still cant drive his car onto the alignment rack without it hitting the jacking points.

 

[nsxtasy]

If you use the lowering perch, it will lower the car.

I measured my car's ride height before and after I replaced my stock shocks with Bilsteins on the regular perch, and the ride height was exactly the same.

 

[1BADNSX]

I replaced my stock shocks with Bilsteins on the regular perch, and the ride height was exactly the same.

Ken, please give us a report in the difference between stock and Bilstein dampers with no other changes on the track.

Bob

 

[nsxtasy]

Ken, please give us a report in the difference between stock and Bilstein dampers with no other changes on the track.

Well, it's kind of difficult, because (a) the comparison is between well-worn stock shocks and new Bilsteins, and (b) there were 18 months in between the two drives.

I think it's very common for new shocks to feel much better than worn ones, but that may be more a reflection of wear than of differences between the two types of shocks when new. In my case, I didn't notice anything bad about my old shocks (with 52K miles including 8500 actual track miles), but the car just didn't seem to have the precision "point and shoot" handling that I had previously experienced when the car was newer. That seemed to have returned when I drove it with the new Bilsteins.

When it comes to ride quality and performance, the Bilsteins have very much the same feel as the stock shocks do when new; they have very nice ride comfort on the street, but they firm up and provide great handling when pushed hard on the track.

If I had had back to back sessions between an NSX with relatively new stock shocks and with my new Bilsteins, it would have been a better comparison, for purposes of identifying the differences between the two types of shocks.