My wife an I are getting old lol, our bones done like the harsh ride with MeisterCoil overs , especially now we have to deal with the Fenland Roads which are often like roller coasters. On occasion the rear end wold crash through and bottom out the shocks or if the sufficient damping wound on would be far to harsh, tried different spring rate and damping rates from full soft to full hard , never found a happy medium for us.

so acquired a set of OEM JDM spring shocks which looked almost new , 2003/4 with 40 k on them , what a revelation , really do the job for us , returning the car to similar to when I drove it out of show room 22 years ago. Other than poly bushes.

car is maybe 20mm higher , doesent really look like an SUV , but could always stick some eibach lowering springs on , but for now it’s so much more comfy for our old bones lol , Honda San didn’t do a bad job it seems !

 

I have 2 (S2s) chip. One on stock, one on Nitrons and very low
I often think for road use STD is better.. but better in terms of NVH I suppose

​​​​​​A good ride alongside good handling is under rated imo. Still really enjoy the standard car, it was in storage for a bit and I really missed it

 

Did you have much preload on rear springs, have 15mm on my rear coilovers at 10k rate ?

 

Nodels , preload was one of the things I messed around with , from zero to 20mm. Along with ride height , and damper settings , never got the feel or compromise for ordinary driving that compared with OEM , not to say the Meisters could not provide a performance solution they will for sure, tried 3 different spring rates over time. One thing is I am pretty sure the Meisters travel on the rears was short hence occasionally feeling like they bottomed out with a noticeable clang ! , especially with the softer spring rates and lower damper settings.

Never had the feeling that the OEM ever bottomed , yesterday driving fen roads and the awful humps I think once the rear Y in the exhaust touched tarmac ! Or something did , not looked for scrapes yet lol.

 

Those fenland roads are the very pits. I used to drive our S Korean student back and forth to Ely (school) from our gaff near Dereham at half terms and exeats. In the end I abandoned the direct route via Queen Adelaide and stuck to the main A10 from Littleport the last few miles. A few minutes longer and less direct but tyres on the road not mid air half the time. Mind and that was the M3 on smaller wheels too not S days oo er

 

I used to find the same with my old Zeta Rs. I got the feeling that high speed compression damping was lacking. Once you put it under a sustained compression (like a firm, low frequency compression in the road), it pushed through the travel too easily. I upgraded to the GT1s all round and they're faaaar better. Meister reckon they're comparable to the higher end coil overs like KW, Nitron, Ohlins etc.

I can't compare myself, having not used those. But they are a lot more controlled than the Zeta R. They let me get the power down on bumpy corners far better when I was supercharged than with the Zeta Rs. And none of that rear end wallowing, even at softer rates (I'm currently on 9kg/mm at the front and 7 at the rear).

 

Cant argue with that, ran MY07 shocks+Spoon springs for years and loved the combination. Had D2 and Tein Circuit Masters which both weren't great for everyday road driving with the latter being great on track. Have gotten V3's now (not installed) after the OEM ones started knocking, i know the KWs are quality so hoping they'll do the job just as well.

 

I reckon with my setup as is on a decent road (some kind of flat) the Nitrons would be far better in terms of performance but on a crap road stock would fare better
Its rare to get remote reservoir damping on aftermarket - this allows thicker shock struts and so more control on the rear under power.

but in terms of pure NVH stock is a nice solution.

Off topic but the ride/handling of our little honda e is almost perfect for me on roads around here. Even that might be too stuff for the fens though

 

The remote reservoir was one thing I liked about the Bilsteins, they were properly good on very rough and bouncy roads.

Then again, OEM are made by Showa, who certainly know their stuff.

 

I would say stock is probably a good choice given the state of the roads in this country - woeful in Oxon where I live. You have to look very carefully for potholes on the backroads. And that's where I like to drive.