Ast vs bilstein

[JKING3008]

Hi all

At the end Of this month, I will be in the position to buy some new suspension for my 182 track car.
I am looking at the AST 5100 coilovers or the Pure Motorsport Bilstein B14 kit http://www.pure-motorsport.co.uk/pure-motorsport-bilstein-full-coilover-kit-clio-2rs.html

The AST have a really long lead time whilst the kit from PMS is available/ in stock.

Thoughts/ Opinions?
@NorthloopCup @pure-motorsport

Josh

 

[NorthloopCup]

Having had ast's, I'd got with them again tbh. Only Nick can answer how good the bilsteins are that he sells though, as they're valved/rated to suit from what I've seen/read.

Only downside to the billies is the lack of damping adjustability as far as I'm concerned, but having said that, there's always been lead time issues with Ast!

It's much of a muchness!

 

[JKING3008]

@NorthloopCup many thanks for the reply, I am defiantly erring towards the AST's atm. Remember you mentioning on my last post regarding spring rates was to go for 100nm front/ 100-110nm rears?

 

[NorthloopCup]

@NorthloopCup many thanks for the reply, I am defiantly erring towards the AST's atm. Remember you mentioning on my last post regarding spring rates was to go for 100nm front/ 100-110nm rears?

No problem mate. Yeah that's where to start on a track only car. Maybe start with 90's on the rears though until you've got used to the car.

 

[pure-motorsport]

The ASTs are a great piece of kit but £500 more than our Bilsteins. I used AST once and that was enough for me. Hopefully their service has improved.
In my opinion the AST rears lack droop travel and our Bilsteins have been made to allow more droop travel. I swapped from an AST rear with 400lb/in to a Bilstein with the dual rate spring and the car was better for it.
Quality wise they are pretty similar, so I would base your decision on whether you want adjustment, how quickly you want them (ours are in stock here and at Bilstein) and the difference in price.
Speaking personally I like dealing with Bilstein as a company, they are helpful, well priced, good after sales servicing of dampers etc and the right product.

 

[pure-motorsport]

You want to spring the car as soft as you can get away with and my opinion is those rates are way too hard on the back. It might work for how Mark likes his car set-up but I like it soft and compliant to maximise mechanical grip. Wheel frequency with a 100-110N/mm rear springs would be huge! I like the dampers to actually move so that they can work for you rather than the tyre doing all the work!

 

[JKING3008]

So I have gone for the AST 5100 as I wont be using the car much more this year as it is going for the clutch to be removed and diff sent back to gripper to be overhauled.
I have been recommend the following spring rates by AST -
Front: 80- 90nm/ 456.8lb - 513.9lb
Rear: 100 - 100nm/ 571lb - 628.1lb

My spring rates at the moment with the Spax 750mc ones are -
Front: 750lb/ 130nm
Rears: 450lb/ 80nm

So a bit confused now on what spring rates to go for!