Help with my Bilstein B14s

[Ben NBR Cup]

Hi all,

First of all i hope everyone has a great christmas and gets some nice clio parts.

I have a set of B14s on my 182 track car and have found they are pretty soft especially on the front. Has anyone run a custom spring and valve set up on them. I really like the B14s and i know everyone will say get the ast's but i fancy trying something new and different. i am not worried about the car being stiff and bouncy as long as they give me a nice flat cornering ability. Has anyone modified the B14s ?

Many thanks
Ben

 

[ed55j]

I have faulkner springs on my b14's. Have a look at jjc, they do a wide range of length/rates.

 

[Ben NBR Cup]

I have faulkner springs on my b14's. Have a look at jjc, they do a wide range of length/rates.

Ok thank you very much i will have a look
Have you noticed a difference between standard and the new springs ? did you re-valve the shocks as well ?

 

[NorthloopCup]

Ok thank you very much i will have a look :smile:
Have you noticed a difference between standard and the new springs ? did you re-valve the shocks as well ?

You'll get away without revalving them mate. Trust me, it'll cost more than it's worth to revalve them -£100+ per shock.

 

[Ben NBR Cup]

You'll get away without revalving them mate. Trust me, it'll cost more than it's worth to revalve them -£100+ per shock.

Ok thats cool i am glad you said that especially at that price (i could sell the suspension and upgrade to the ast's for less lol)
Any recommendations on spring rates and what not ? Would you buy the springs from bilstein or get a different brand ?
Many thanks for the help
Ben

 

[NorthloopCup]

Ok thats cool i am glad you said that especially at that price (i could sell the suspension and upgrade to the ast's for less lol)
Any recommendations on spring rates and what not ? Would you buy the springs from bilstein or get a different brand ?
Many thanks for the help
Ben

Do you know what the original bilstein Spring rates are? You want to be in around 450-500 up front mate, but just be prepared for them to wear the dampers out quicker that's all. We aren't talking within months though, so don't worry.

 

[Ben NBR Cup]

Do you know what the original bilstein Spring rates are? You want to be in around 450-500 up front mate, but just be prepared for them to wear the dampers out quicker that's all. We aren't talking within months though, so don't worry.

To be honest I am not sure I shall have a look into it see what they are they are pretty soft.
Thank you very much will that combat some of the front washing out wide from the roll ? (There is a lot of roll on the front the back end is good)
Would you leave the back end on stock bilstein springs ?
That's fine I mean if you want to go fast stuff wears faster haha
Thank you very much

 

[NorthloopCup]

To be honest I am not sure I shall have a look into it see what they are they are pretty soft.
Thank you very much will that combat some of the front washing out wide from the roll ? (There is a lot of roll on the front the back end is good)
Would you leave the back end on stock bilstein springs ?
That's fine I mean if you want to go fast stuff wears faster haha
Thank you very much

I'm sure it's been stated on here what the billy rates are mate, so it's worth a search. It will combat some, but a lot of that can come from various things - rear roll stiffness, roll centres etc.
Also worth noting, the rear controls the front on a fwd car, so you may need to up the rear rates as well.

 

[Dan@SJM]

It cost me £550 to upgrade to AST with selling my bilsteins

 

[bozothenutter]

I think the fronts are 75N/mm so in the ballpark...that's why i have always wondered why people think them too soft ( the AST trackday setup is 80 right? Not that big a difference)

 

[Ben NBR Cup]

I'm sure it's been stated on here what the billy rates are mate, so it's worth a search. It will combat some, but a lot of that can come from various things - rear roll stiffness, roll centres etc.
Also worth noting, the rear controls the front on a fwd car, so you may need to up the rear rates as well.

I will have a little dig around see what I can find on here.
I think I will change all the springs on the car. To get the best set up on Spring rates all round would you corner weight it ?

 

[NorthloopCup]

I will have a little dig around see what I can find on here.
I think I will change all the springs on the car. To get the best set up on Spring rates all round would you corner weight it ?

To get the best out of any suspension setup it needs corner weighting mate.

 

[Ben NBR Cup]

I think the fronts are 75N/mm so in the ballpark...that's why i have always wondered why people think them too soft ( the AST trackday setup is 80 right? Not that big a difference)

See I was told the B14s were build with the idea of the car to be stock with full weight to make a good road car so it can handle bumps in the road and what not I think that's why people say they are soft once it's been stripped

 

[Ben NBR Cup]

To get the best out of any suspension setup it needs corner weighting mate.

I thought that would be the case.
I think I need to get the car to road worthiness and then go get it corner weighted and then buy some new springs.
In your opinion would you modify the B14s or just spend the extra and get the ASTs ?

 

[NorthloopCup]

I thought that would be the case.
I think I need to get the car to road worthiness and then go get it corner weighted and then buy some new springs.
In your opinion would you modify the B14s or just spend the extra and get the ASTs ?

You can get it corner weighted as is mate - the springs don't dictate this, so if you were getting it corner weighted, I'd have it on the suspension that you intend on running. Otherwise it will cost you twice.

I personally wouldn't bother with the b14's. I'd punt them on and put the rest towards either asts, the avo's or bc's. There's a few options out there now - I can only vouch for the asts as its what I've got and had experience with first hand.

 

[Ben NBR Cup]

You can get it corner weighted as is mate - the springs don't dictate this, so if you were getting it corner weighted, I'd have it on the suspension that you intend on running. Otherwise it will cost you twice.

I personally wouldn't bother with the b14's. I'd punt them on and put the rest towards either asts, the avo's or bc's. There's a few options out there now - I can only vouch for the asts as its what I've got and had experience with first hand.

This is true I think I need to do a bit more thinking what suspension I should go for before like you say getting it corner weighted
The think with the B14s you can't adjust the rebound on them either. I think you are right I am going to change them. I am going to save some pennies and get the ASTs. Seeming as the rest of the car is costing me a fortune why not just add to the tab haha. Which ASTs would you go for ?

 

[NorthloopCup]

This is true I think I need to do a bit more thinking what suspension I should go for before like you say getting it corner weighted
The think with the B14s you can't adjust the rebound on them either. I think you are right I am going to change them. I am going to save some pennies and get the ASTs. Seeming as the rest of the car is costing me a fortune why not just add to the tab haha. Which ASTs would you go for ?

I'd get the 4100's mate. They're almost identical to the 5100's other than they're not inverted dampers.

 

[Ben NBR Cup]

I'd get the 4100's mate. They're almost identical to the 5100's other than they're not inverted dampers.

Do you still get the rebound adjustment on them ? And stupid question are the rear dampers and shocks together as one unit ?
Is that something you can still buy new or is that a second hand jobby

 

[NorthloopCup]

Do you still get the rebound adjustment on them ? And stupid question are the rear dampers and shocks together as one unit ?
Is that something you can still buy new or is that a second hand jobby

Yeah they're all rear coilover units mate now and they all have rebound adjustment.

 

[Ben NBR Cup]

Yeah they're all rear coilover units mate now and they all have rebound adjustment.

Ok nice one I shall have a look around see how much they are.
Thank you very much for the help it's greatly appriated