Well, I've got the Eibachs and Bilsteins on (along with the new top mounts and bearings).

Picked up the car from the garage, the shocks must have been originals as they looked to be pretty knackered, compressing one of them and it failed to bounce back, the other did but over some period of time!

Driving back from the garage in town, yes this feels different, definetly firmer ride with a lot of feedback from the road.. I was thinking I can live with this, there are a lot of pot holes and manhole covers in portsmouth and it certainly didn't feel worse than before.

So I decide to take it up on the A27 and A3, awesome feedback when on the smooth bits of the road but then there are 'lines' that run across the road (i'm not sure exactly what they are, but guessing where they've resurfaced or something). On my original suspension I hardly noticed them but as I went over them in my new suspension it felt like the car actually had a hard jolt.

I went home thinking what a terrible mistake I have made by going for aftermarket parts because I use the car as a GT car, tending to go for long distance drives on A roads and Motorways and I thought I can't live with this level of harsh ride.

Next day I go to Tescos but this time with the GF in the car, only 6 miles but around town and a small section of motorway but she couldn't tell a difference and said the coop has always been a firm ride.

today, I've done the same thing on my own, up and down A and motorways, and it wasn't as crashy going over the same road 'lines/bumps'.

I don't know if that's normal and the springs/shocks just need bedding in but if i'm honest and I could go back in time, I would have just stuck with the standard springs and shocks. Sure, the car looks better lowered and i'm not paying an insurance premium for the privilage but I personally don't think the handling is *way* better than the standard components and now i've got a 'modified' coop, which could be a potential hassle if I change insurance company etc etc

clearly I must be getting old if i'm complaining about a too firm ride

I'm not expert but the principle of things being under that much load etc needing to bed in sounds reasonable to me.

Give it a few weeks before deciding?

Yeah give it a chance, give yourself a few hundred miles.

yeah, i'm hoping it will bed in and loosen up a bit.

Just goes to prove you can read as much as you want on people's opinions but everyone's got a different opinion of a firm/crashy ride!

I really thought there would be a big difference between bilsteins/eibachs and standard suspension (apart from the looks), personally I don't think there is that much of a difference.

Bilsteins are a fair bit harder than standard shocks, with a must faster rebound.

You should have gone for new standard shocks for a less crashy ride.

Worse case scenario, you can sell them on here pretty quickly, still good as new, and do what rog has suggested and get some new OE shocks.

Guess so!

I've got three options then ..

1. man up and accept the hard ride
2. Keep the bilsteins and put standard springs on
3. Put standard shocks/springs on

I think in future I won't be modifying cars, ever! way too expensive (when you change your mind) and too much hassle.


at least the Bilsteins and Eibachs hold their value well .. how much are second hand sets going for these days ??

Do you want to buy some Eibachs/Bilsteins Rog ?

I got my suspension done on the same day as Duncan but wanted to put a few miles on it before making any real judgment. So after 1k miles (incl. 360 miles each way to the Lakes this weekend) I'll give you my opinion...

Firstly, after the first week of pottering around the A27 and my 12 mile country lane blast over Portsdown Hill, I was far from impressed. Like Duncan I was really worried I'd gone and buggered the coupé right up. The roads round here are poor at best, I cycle my route to work sometime and the coupe now felt as rough as the ride on my bike. I’m going to check my tyre pressures and see if I can take a few bar out to help soften the blow but one things for sure I’M NOT GOING TO BE PUTTING LARGE WHEELS ON NOW.

On a positive note, and one that I hadn't expected, the coupé now pulls away far smother. I put this down to the chassis not rocking back as much when I push the go pedal. And of course I do now have a better 'feel' of the road and this is giving me a lot more confidence when pulling the car into and pulling out of the bends.


So that was the first 300 miles and now it's time for the real test. This is the first time the Mrs has been in the coupe since getting the work done and we're off to Keswick in the Lake District...

10 miles down the road and on to the A27/M27 and a notice that she's got that same look across her face that she had a few weeks after we first meet ("Is this normal, it doesn't feel right, I think I want to stop") . Anyway she plods on, with some fake reassurance from myself, up the M3-A34-M40 and onto the M6 and things still aren't much better but then we past Lancaster and the motorway not only clears but feels as smooth as silk. So I decide to squeeze the go pedal and before I know it I'm gliding round some lovely long sweeping bends doing the wrong side of an instant ban. Time to back off.

The next day we decide to take a trip down to Ullswater and I find myself with an open road (A5091). It's only a few miles long and I didn't need to bend any speed limits but I found myself having one of the best drives in the coupé I can remember. Again the road was smooth, some ups and down but with the added bonus of some tightish corners. That was 4 minutes of driving that will not be forgotten.



So in conclusion if you have nice smooth roads around your area Billies and Eibach will really make your driving feel special. However if you live in an area where the roads are heavily used and poorly maintained (and you're no longer under 21 years old) you may find yourself wishing you had gone for the Osravs.

Nice review Chris.

The more I've driven the car, the more I've got use to the ride however.....
one of the things that annoys me is the rattling of the interior with this harder setup when driving on our local roads ... Especially having been a passenger in a Civic Type R.

To echo Chris' comments, if you're on smooth roads it's a v.nice ride but my god you feel it when they're anything other!

I'll see how I feel in a years time when my insurance runs out as to whether I stick with them or change to fresh standard suspension