MeisterR

A common question many owner ask: How does MeisterR coilovers compare to other brands? As coilovers are only part of a car's suspensions, and there are many other variable involved; it is often a difficult questions to answer. So I want to bring up a very interesting "test" that we will be doing. Here in Houston USA, I meet a driver at a local SCCA Auto Solo event name Lucio D'lsep.Lucio was an Italian racing driver back in the early 2000's, and have decided to get back into competitive motorsport after being absent for over 12 years.Here is a picture of him in the former glory days racing with Osella in Rechberg (Austria) back in 2002. Lucio's current car is a Honda S2000 daily driver that runs in the SCCA Auto Solo STR (Street Touring Roadster) Class.The good thing about the STR class is that the rules limit modification you can do as well as tyres you can use, thus creating a class that daily street driven cars can compete with each other. Suspension Issue Speaking to Lucio, he have been having issue with his car.He is using an off the shelf Bilstein PSS9 adjustable coilovers, and he just couldn't get the suspension to work with the car.The tyres just couldn't find grip and the body motion does not feel controlled no matter how he adjust the coilovers, so he is struggling to keep speed through the corners as well as keeping the car on the racing line.The result is lost traction as well as hitting cones, and this put a time penalty on his result. MeisterR Suspensions Change I thought this will make a great opportunity to test the MeisterR coilovers against Bilstein, and will keep things fair as we can get a qualitative (how the suspensions feel on the road) and a quantitative (Lap time) feedback on the same road car driven by the same driver in the same competitive event. So we got a set of off the shelf MeisterR Zeta-R coilovers, and swap the Bilstein PSS9 coilovers out. Initial Feedback on MeisterR coilovers The initial feedback by Lucio is positive after a few days of street use. Here is what Lucio have to say: Both the Bilstein and the MeisterR look like serious tools and not toys. The MeisterR out of the box are ready for the installation, the light weight aluminium top mount included with the MeisterR is the main difference when compared to the Bilstein that need to reuse the top mount from the original Honda suspension. After 12 years out of racing it’s the first time that I see a suspension with springs coil adjustments independent from ride height adjustments.This is a great improvement and it mean no more compromise when adjusting the ride height. Compare to the Bilstein, the MeisterR damping response and compliancy on the irregularity of the street gives you confidence. You are able to feel the grip and trust the car/tyres, and know that when the grip finish there will be space for correction.The accuracy of the steering is what impressed me the most with the MeisterR coilovers.The front of the car is on track followed by the rear even with the non-linear power curve of the S2000 engine trying to mess up your approach to the apex. It is also more comfortable on softer damping setting.If your potential girlfriend has already experienced sport cars, she will not complain about comfort as softer damping setting is not so far from the original equipment. SCCA Result with Bilstein The last round of the SCCA Auto Solo, Lucio finished in 7th place with 13 competitors total.While the lap time of 51.297 isn't slow, the additional penalties from hitting cones brought his result down to 7th place. The next round of the SCCA Auto Solo will be this Saturday 2nd of August, 2015.We will get the S2000 to the track and hope we finish on the podium, because when you race you race to win. We will report back in a few days time.

Just to say I had quite a bit of feedback from owners that had achieve positive racing result such as Auto Solo that I didn't know about. So if you are using MeisterR and are winning, feel free to let us know as we love to hear achievement of our customers. Jerrick

One question that are commonly asked: How does the MeisterR suspension perform on track? As owners do throw the MeisterR coilovers into the fire pit of competition, I just want to share some of their exciting result. Drift: A One - Two Finish Congrats to Michael Marshall and Mark Luney; a well fought battle and great to see MeisterR in both 1st and 2nd place on the podium. 1st Place British Drift Championship (Pro Class - Round 3 - Teesside): Michael Marshall - Team MnM Engineering2nd Place British Drift Championship (Pro Class - Round 3 - Teesside): Mark Luney - Team Lucas Oil Drag: Setting New Records Now mid way through the 2015 season and David Greenhalgh is setting new records along with winning the competition.Resetting the Japanese Drag Series 1/4 mile 4-wheel drive ET record to 8.369s and the 4-wheel drive trap speed record to 166.07mph in 2015. David’s comment on his custom drag specification MeisterR GT1 coilovers:“Funnily enough, we also have to turn the corner at the top too! Who says no turns in drag racing...........Last year the car was all over the place going up the strip. Check out the videos from Jap Drag Series.This year with Meister R GT1 it's been straight as an arrow, good squat, excellent under braking and so far I've always made the corner at the top!” 1st Place Japanese Drag Series (Street Class - Round 1 - Santa Pod): David Greenhalgh - Team RIPS Blue Streak1st Place Japanese Drag Series (Pro Class - Round 3 - Santa Pod): David Greenhalgh - Team RIPS Blue Streak Race: Top of the Podium Quite a few driver on the podium racing with MeisterR this season.Most drivers are using standard off the shelf MeisterR suspension with minor changes such as springs rate.Some are even racing the same set of suspension for a few season, a testament to the performance and durability of the coilovers. Allister Phillips is using the new MeisterR GT1 coilovers and here is what he have to say:“So far I am very impressed with the suspension. I am already beating my previous years personal best lap times despite carrying 50kg+ in ballast, and I expect to improve my times further. The car feels very planted and inspires a lot of confidence to take more speed into the corners.” 1st Place Super Lap Scotland (Class E - Round 2 / Round 3 - Knockhill): Allister Phillips - Team TrackScotland AK 1st Place BRSCC VTEC Challenge (Production Class - Round 8 - Castle Combe): Matt Le - Team Racebread 1st Place 750MC 5Club Racing MX5 Cup (Race 10 - Anglesey): James Rogers2nd Place 750MC 5Club Racing MX5 Cup (Race 10 - Anglesey): Ben Short Again, congrats to all the drivers for the awesome result, racing isn’t easy and that makes winning all the more satisfying.We just want to share our heartfelt excitement with the community. Jerrick / Edwin

HI Guys, Pre-load can be confusing but I would like to clarify the more preload you add (nothing else changed) the higher you car will be. To measure your preload you need to know the free length of your spring, lets say 200mm (what MeisterR uses on the aerodecks). Out of the box it should have 2mm of preload. The spring length in the coilover unit should measure 198mm. If you add more preload, say 10mm total the spring will measure 190mm and your car height will be higher. The reason being is the weight of the car. Let say with 0mm preload the weight of the car compresses the spring down by 50mm when it is sitting on the road. Also lets say the coilover length is 400mm so with the weight this compresses to 350mm. If you add 10mm preload the spring is compressed to 190mm but the coilover length remains the SAME at 400mm. Then add the weight of the car and this weight needs to act on that preload before it compresses the spring more. So the result will be the spring will still be compressed by 50mm but the coilover length is now at 360mm. These figure are made up as I don't know the weight of the car of the actual length of the coilover unit from the top of my head but the principle is the same. More preload equals more height. Hope that make sense. Edwin

And just to add the good news, all order had been build and send. So you should all get it tomorrow. Jerrick

From feedback of members, I apologise if readers feels the post is biased towards Meister R products, this is not my intention. As suggested in the title 'MeisterR Coilovers Rust Report & Care tips' this post is to give information to the community regarding caring for coilovers, it is simply an informative post. As a result of an information post we did not run a salt spray test on every coilovers on the market to compare, the rusting coilovers in the photo I took, prompted me to make this post so that people who spend good money on coilovers can avoid such corrosion on their products- be it Ohlins, Teins, JIC, Cusco, HSD etc ASTM B117 is a standard salt spray testing procedure. As stated on the photos, the left photo shows the tube body under going the salt spray test, and the right photo shows the salt spray test result after 120 hours. The results shows there were no corrosion to the tube body even after 120 hours when compared to a new tube body. The salt spray test was done to re-assure myself of my products as well as helping my customers make informative decisions, not to compare against other brands. Ensuring our products are of high quality is standard practice at MeisterR. If customers would like to see other brands salt spray test results to compare before buying, I suggest they contact the brand directly, I'm sure they will be more than happy to provide such information. Regarding the MeisterR coilovers on our demo R32 GTR isn't a daily driver as I posted. It does get use to go to show, track and drag during the summer time, it also attends the odd show and car meet during the winter time. The car also drives in the rain, that is one reason why it is on Toyo R1R tyres and not semi-slick like the R888. When I state I don't wash the suspension, I mean I do not purposely wash the suspensions. We do give the arch a wash (like you would during any car wash) when we wash the car. But we do not jet wash the suspension on a weekly basis and grease them up on a monthly basis like some manufacturer indicate as proper maintenance. While MeisterR "Black Chromium" plate is a durable anti-corrosion coating, the extra care tips provided will help prolong the condition of any coilovers. As mentioned this information will be helpful to owners of any coilovers. Jerrick

Corrosion (rust) protection is a major concern for an enthusiast when considering coilovers. Corrosion can cause adjustable components to seized and prevent any further adjustments, especially in the UK where harsh road salt is used during the winter months. It is extremely important that the anti-corrosion coating is durable in order to protect steel damper body. If the anti-corrosion coating is not durable enough, it can be eroded easily by the weather leaving the damper unprotected. Once the coating has perished, the unprotected steel damper body can corrode (rust) within weeks. In the picture above, the anti-corrosion coating at the forward facing part of the damper had eroded leading to corrosion build up on the damper body. Corrosion did not set in on the rear facing part and the upper part of the damper where the anti-corrosion coating are still intact. This is an example of a weak anti-corrosion coating that is not durable enough against wear from the environmental condition it has been in. Many potential customers had asked us about corrosion protection of the MeisterR Coilovers. Therefore, we want to show some pictures of the testing and a real life example of what you can expect from MeisterR coilovers. All MeisterR dampers are anodised in "Black Chromium". The "Black Chromium" coating has been tested in a salt spray test under ASTM B117 standard for 120 hours with no corrosion. This coating was tested to be stronger and more durable than most anti-corrosion coating that are commonly found in the market such as Zinc or Chrome. MeisterR's Demo R32 GTR has been using a standard set of Zeta-R coilovers coat in "Black Chromium" since the summer of 2009. The coilovers had been replaced with a new prototype coilovers that MeisterR are currently developing in summer of 2012. What that means is we have an example of how a set of MeisterR coilovers endure 3 years of real life road use. While this R32 was not a daily driver, it does get used often. We have never jet wash the suspension or put any type of grease on them. We did not give the suspension ANY maintenance let alone "proper" maintenance over the past three years. While we should have followed our own advice and put some white lithium grease on the dampers and with proper care. We wanted to test the long term durability of the "Black Chromium" plating and therefore intentionally neglected all care. This is how the rear coilovers looked after being exposed to the elements for 3 years. As you can see in the picture, there is some corrosion on the steel damper body (as anyone would expect after 3 years of use). The top mount, collars and the brackets are in great condition as they are made from T6061 aluminium. 3 years old damper: Before Cleaning. We did not use any fancy tools or chemicals: all we used were, a can of WD40, a can of brake cleaner, and a few bits of cotton rags. We decided to take all the aluminium collars off to show that they are not seized up, and wipe everything over with some WD40. 3 years old damper: After Cleaning Shines up well and we are impressed with the result and the performance of the "Black Chromium" plating. MeisterR Damper Care Tips: 1. We would recommend coating any metal to metal surfaces with white lithium grease prior to installation. This is especially true for MacPherson Strut suspension as the steel lower bracket will heat cycle along with the damper body, causing them to bind after prolong usage. Therefore, application of grease will greatly reduce the risk of seizing. 2. We would recommend putting a layer of white lithium grease on the damper thread as an extra layer of protection. While damper body should be protected by an anti-corrosion coating, a little bit of extra protection never hurts. We suggest white lithium grease as it is easy to spray on, wash off, and re-apply. We hope this will give some visual evidence about the corrosion protection that goes into every set of MeisterR Coilovers. If anyone has any concerns, please feel free to contact us at info@meisterr.com Jerrick

The goal of this article is to provide some general information to the enthusiast community. I often get ask how coilovers springs differ from lowering springs and how mono-tube dampers differ from twin-tube damper, so I decided to write this article to provide the enthusiast community with some general information on suspensions. Many owners install Coilovers suspension looking to enhance their vehicles looks and performance. While there are many different parts that make up a suspension system, the heart of the suspension is the springs and the dampers. So what exactly does a spring or a damper do? Well, at the most basic level springs control the amount the suspension moves up and down. The dampers control the speed at which the suspension moves. In driving terms, the springs control the amount of body roll, squat and dive the vehicle has. The dampers control the speed of those movements. The combination of spring rate and damping force are what determines the performance and ride quality of the suspension. Type of springs There are two basic types of springs, linear and progressive. A linear rate spring is one that has a fixed spring rate, this means the amount of weight, needed to compress the spring does not change with the load. A progressive spring is one in which the spring rate changes depending on the amount of load placed on the spring, therefore the actual spring rate is not a fixed number. Characteristics of Linear Springs Linear rate springs have a fix springs rate throughout its rate of compression, therefore the first inch of compression will require the same weight as the second inch of compression. Most coilovers suspension offers a straight internal diameter (ID) linear rate springs, this makes changing springs rate much easier and most springs manufacturers offer springs in a wide selection of springs rate, ID, and free length. The main advantage of linear springs is the consistency in the way that the weight transfer from one side of the car to the other side, it should be very smooth and consistent, this makes the cars dynamics much easier to predict as the driver can anticipate weight transfer and body roll more accurately. When exiting a corner, a linear spring will settle the cars body in a smooth manner because both sides of the car are compressing and rebounding at the same rate (1 mm of compression to 1 mm of rebound). This is a great advantage and allows for more confident use of weight transfer because the driver will not experience unpredictable weight shifts. Characteristics of Progressive Springs Progressive springs rate changes depending on the loads placed on the springs, therefore the first inch of compression will require a different amount of weight to the second inch of compression. Most aftermarket lowering springs are progressive springs. The main reason, is that the springs must be soft enough initially for the car to reduce its ride height, but hard enough at the compressed state to prevent the standard damper from bottoming out. When exiting a corner, a progressive spring will send the compressed force from outside of the car to the inside. Since the spring rate is not constant from side to side, the spring on the inside of the car will compress from the force absorbed, it will then send the compressed force back to the outside. This happens back and forth as the car slowly settles down. This excessive body roll requires more attention to control effectively. In winding road driving, progressive springs make steering more complex and demanding compared to linear springs. Type of Dampers There are two basic types of dampers used in the auto industry, Mono-Tube and Twin-Tube dampers. Mono-tube dampers use a single outer tube. A floating piston separates the oil and nitrogen gas inside the damper unit. Twin tube damper use an inner and outer tube which separate the oil and gas inside the damper. The smaller inner tube houses the piston valve & shaft assembly, base valve and oil. The outer tube contains both nitrogen gas and the damper oil. Characteristics of Mono-tube Dampers The main advantages of mono-tube dampers are that mono-tube pistons are much larger than those of twin-tube dampers. The larger mono-tube piston create more flow through the valves than the smaller twin-tube piston as it can displace more oil through the valve; this makes the mono-tube damper more sensitive to small suspension movement. The deflected-disc valve system found in mono-tube system is more precise and consistent than the system of check valve, springs, and orifices commonly used in twin-tube dampers. Mono tube dampers use much higher gas pressure also run much cooler than a twin-tube damper. These means mono-tube dampers are able to provide consistent damping performance under the harshest condition (such as track use). The main disadvantage of a mono-tube damper over a twin tube damper is the cost. Precision, consistency, and performance advantage mean parts used in mono-tube dampers have to be produce with higher accuracy than twin-tube dampers. A much more expensive, seamless-type tube are needed for the mono-tube damper casing, and precision seal are needed to contain the high internal pressure of a mono-tube damper. The performance advantages of the mono-tube dampers make them the choice for serious suspension tuners looking for the best possible dampers. Most high end suspensions from renowned suspension tuner employ mono-tube dampers, as with high performance vehicle application such as Nissan GTR, Porsche Carrera, Mitsubishi EVO MR, Subaru WRX STi, etc. Characteristics of Twin Tube Dampers The main advantage of twin-tube dampers is lower manufacturing costs. Twin-tube damper use much lower gas pressure than mono-tube dampers. This eliminates the need to have a highly polished piston chamber with a floating piston to separate the pressurized gas to the oil inside the damper. Twin-tube damper are also more durable against external damage. Since the internal of a twin-tube damper are located inside the inner tube, damage to the outer tube (such as dent) will not cause the damper to cease functioning. The main disadvantage of a twin-tube damper over the mono-tube damper is the inferior performance. By using smaller internal parts, twin-tube dampers provide less sensitive damping and produce higher temperature under hard use than a mono-tube damper. While twin-tube dampers still offer great performance, their construction limits their performance when compared to that of mono-tube dampers. Due to the lower cost and ease of manufacturing, twin-tube dampers are the most commonly used type of dampers by OEM (Original Equipment) manufacturer. Most OEM replacement dampers and low-end aftermarket suspension products are twin-tube dampers. With suspensions, there are alot of variance (such as some twin-tube dampers that use deflected-disc valve system) and it is impossible to cover everything. I try to produce this article with an unbiased view, it is up to the reader to decide what product best suit their needs, budget, and requirement. I hope this information is useful and should anyone have question, please feel free to contact me info@meisterr.com Thank you for reading and I hope to be able to assist you in the near future. Jerrick Lo Director of MeisterR Ltd.