Sunday, June 6, 2010

Bilsten B8 shocks + Weitec Springs Review

Promised to write something about the Bilstein B8 shocks + Weitec springs suspension set, Having driven the car now for almost a week. I have subjected the car to most conditions: concrete road, highway, up/downhill, high speed corners, some potholes and bumpy road.

Now that I have the Bilstein B8 shocks to go with the Weitec springs. Once it installed, first thing i noticed is the car had the right look for me, it was dropped front 20mm rear 15mm, Since i always need to carry heavy weight (like my whole family and their stuff), go over a sky high speed bumps in my parking lot and that is what i want and needed. Now the car handles better then before and improved comfy, cornering and grip with above combination.

For going over potholes and bumps, before it would feel very crashy, now it's just a solid "thud" and the bump is absorbed. You can feel before that the tire contact patch bounced a lot with the ground. The wheels came off the ground a lot more. Now they are solid and planted. Left and right transitions, the car exhibits less roll. Some minor bumps that I knew used to make the car crashy, now I can't even feel it. The difference is worlds apart between the stock shock and the Bilstein B8.

For speed bumps and curb entrances, the car rides over them with less bounce. Sometimes, when you go over a curb entrance of a parking lot , you don't want the front of the car to bounce down and up once the wheels hit the lower surface. You want it to just come down, and then back up once and the B8 does its job.

All of these improvements on the B8's are providing more damping force than the stock shocks. The increased damping force is reducing body roll in corners. Take for example hardcore Left and right transitions, the car exhibits less roll. The outside body does not compressed down as much as before, thus giving the inner wheel more grip to accelerate the car in a corner.

All of these can be summed up that the B8 is comfortable for daily driving, and its best ride-handling package I have experienced so far, just buy the B8, no regrets! Oh... I'm not trying to poison you guys, but just... really an improvement on ride comfort and handling.

For the ride height, lots of you guys are waiting for some photos and here you go! :)

Before (Front): it fits 3-4 of my fingers

After (Front): Now you can fit only 2 fingers

Before (Rear): 4 fingers

After (Rear): 3 fingers

got to apologize for some pictures quality because i took it with my phone, and my camera was out of the battery at that moment. I definitely will take some better pics later on, and thanks for spending your time on reading those.
:o)

4 comments:

Firdaus Asri said...

Your ride height is slightly higher than mine (H&R spring with stock dampers) but this allows for better suspension travel :)

FL43 said...

bravo. excellent. fantastic. lovely. thanks for sharing kelvin. it's a not-as-expensive yet successful mod! well done :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks Kelvin for your post. I am about to put on Bilstein B8s with Eibach springs. I read your post last year, and remembered the advice. I'll later post results, and also provide before/after pics.

White PUG said...

hey nice to meet you here! are you driving a Polo GTI as well? you live in Hong Kong? anyways nice to meet you!