Civic Type-R Owners Club & Forum

Ok so as I'm one of the very few to own these, I thought I'd give some feedback on these.
To begin with, if you're in a rush for new suspension then these aren't for you. It took just over 3 weeks for these to come through. But the dampers are hand built so it's to be expected. Just bear that in mind.
I dealt with Edwin through MeisterR. Good customer service and quick with the replies through email. I asked about stiffer spring rates but was assured that their standard rate for the EP3/DC5 is good enough for road and track use with these dampers even with semi slick tyres.
Front 8kg/mm
Rear 12kg/mm
So onto the product. They're almost identical to the Zeta-R I previously had. Differences that they have covers that protect the stanchion and spring. Also scribe marks on the bottom of the dampers and an Allen key bolt poking out.


Fitting was straight forward. As they're the same body and springs as the previous. Setting the heights and spring preload was easy. Only a few minor adjustments were needed on the car. N/S/F spring has around an extra 10mm of spring preload to compensate the extra weight of the engine and driver. With driver weight in the car, the height on the front is identical on both sides. The rear height is set to 10mm higher.
Geometry was all set up.
Front
-2.2 camber
0.5mm toe out

Rear
-1.6 camber
0mm toe

Onto the driving. First initial thoughts was how smooth the felt. Yet still maintaining feel and feedback of the road. Going over lumps and bumps the car is much more composed and less skittish. Gives greater confidence on pushing a little harder over uneven road surfaces. Less wheel spin accelerating and better braking on uneven surfaces. On the damper settings I'm fairly soft. From soft settings 5 clicks on the front and 10 on the rear. These have a range of around 36 clicks. Before I used to run 15 clicks front and 20 clicks rear on the old Zeta-R. While is feels a lot softer now, when you push in a corner it almost stiffens up, doesn't roll much and feels just as composed if not more than the old Zeta-R set up.
I'll keep updating this thread as I continue to use and test these. In 2 weeks time I've got a track session at Trax Silverstone where I'll wind the dampers up to a pretty stiff setting and see how they do on track.

Feel free to run the damping up on the GT1, that is where it really start to shine.
Try the damping at -5 click from full hard on the front and rear and give it a try, let us know how it feels.

It will be harsher (but not as much as you would expect), but the response that the suspension provide will be in a different level.
Then back it off from there until you find a good setting that is comfortable for road but still really responsive.
Let us know how it goes.

Jerrick

Well I cranked up the settings. You're right it really comes into its own!
Like you said, it's stiff, but not harsh. Over rough road surfaces like concrete and small imperfections the ride is almost no different to it being on the soft settings. Obviously hit a large bump or dip you know about it. But on basically it's stiffest settings you could live with it.
As for performance, it just gets better! The turn in and response is instant. Nice and firm but not too firm that it washes out on road tyres. Even pushing over bumpy roads it's still composed and not jumping around.
I did find that I still needed the front 5 clicks softer. Whether this is something I prefer or how the car is set up, but with the settings both the same front and rear I could feel the rear of the car squatting down too much to my liking. Wind down the dampening on the front by only 5 clicks and it makes such a difference to the balance.
I'll keep this difference between the front and rear, then gradually reduce the stiffness to find a happy medium for comfort and performance. I'll crank them back up for the track.

Yep, doing what it is suppose to do then.
That is fine, the damper adjustment is there to allow driver to adjust the front / rear balance also.
Increasing the damping in the rear is a way to dial out understeer on a FWD car, so if you feel the car is more neutral with the rear set harder then it is perfectly normal.

Go and drive it more and report back, I am sure you will start to find the suspension better and better the more you drive on it.
At least every GT1 customer had so far.

Jerrick

Few things id like to know for te purposes of this review :

1) How much do they cost
2) How often do they need rebuilt if you are running them on road and on track? (roughly miles/rebuild)
3) Rebuild costs

I think the problem with alot of aftermarket coilovers is they are not as robust as OEM units. They are designed to be run on track, so relatively few miles and much smoother surfaces, where as on the road you get lots of miles and suspension cycles. I'm lookin at getting a set of nice suspension but i am not sure about the lengevity on the road.

D4Z3D wrote:Few things id like to know for te purposes of this review :

1) How much do they cost
2) How often do they need rebuilt if you are running them on road and on track? (roughly miles/rebuild)
3) Rebuild costs

I think the problem with alot of aftermarket coilovers is they are not as robust as OEM units. They are designed to be run on track, so relatively few miles and much smoother surfaces, where as on the road you get lots of miles and suspension cycles. I'm lookin at getting a set of nice suspension but i am not sure about the lengevity on the road.

Hi,

1)GT1's are £1650;
2)The core damper unti is covers by our lifetime warranty for hydraulic function. So they will last as long as you have the car. Just to give you an idea our people have been running our ZetaR coilovers for over 6 years 60k miles without any issues;
3)Our engineering partner, Black Art Designs who designed and make the GT1 can service them for £100 per unit.

Edwin

MeisterR wrote:

D4Z3D wrote:Few things id like to know for te purposes of this review :

1) How much do they cost
2) How often do they need rebuilt if you are running them on road and on track? (roughly miles/rebuild)
3) Rebuild costs

I think the problem with alot of aftermarket coilovers is they are not as robust as OEM units. They are designed to be run on track, so relatively few miles and much smoother surfaces, where as on the road you get lots of miles and suspension cycles. I'm lookin at getting a set of nice suspension but i am not sure about the lengevity on the road.

Hi,

1)GT1's are £1650;
2)The core damper unti is covers by our lifetime warranty for hydraulic function. So they will last as long as you have the car. Just to give you an idea our people have been running our ZetaR coilovers for over 6 years 60k miles without any issues;
3)Our engineering partner, Black Art Designs who designed and make the GT1 can service them for £100 per unit.

Edwin

Ahh nice so they are bilstein PSS9 money, when you say hydraulic function do you mean if they leak? I've never had any units actually leak, they tend to develop play in them though. Is play in the damper covered by the warranty or is that a service item?

I asked these questions regarding the damper.
Basically the lifetime warranty is for any leaks. As they use some super seal that shouldn't ever leak unless the shaft is scored, bent or damaged in some other way. Anything else is covered under their 1 year warranty.

The lifetime warranty cover hydraulic function, so if your damper isn't functioning, it will be covered.
If there are large enough shaft play, it should blow the shaft seal and oil should come gushing out.

However, chances of that happening will be very low on the GT1.
The GT1 are designed with 2 piston inside.
One piston is responsible for oil flow, and a secondary piston are design to act as a structural reinforcement.
This mean the shaft are now held on by 3 point to spread the load, and therefore it greatly increase side load capacity as well as durability.

Jerrick

Ok so tried and tested on the track at Silverstone. Again very impressed with the results.
I didn't go full hard on the damper settings as I wasn't sure how they'd react. But went with what I've used on the road briefly which is from hard, 10 clicks front and 5 clicks rear.
Handling was just superb. For me the balance was just right. Planted with the ability of a little lift off oversteer when needed. So controllable by just feathering the throttle.
After the first session I thought about winding the settings up stiffer. They didn't feel soft, but could of been stiffer. But I was getting to the point of the tyres washing out, going stiffer would probably make the problem worse, so I left them as it was. If I was on semi slicks it probably would benefit from going stiffer.
So far I can't find a negative for these coilovers. I forgot to turn the dampers down to soft driving home. For the first few miles me or my 2 passengers didn't even realise until we hit some lumpy roads. These are probably one of the best coilovers available for the daily/track combo car. At £1650 you might think that's a little steep, but to find a set up on a similar level you're looking at over £2000. These are fairly cheap in the suspension world.
Comparing to my old Zeta-R. They're considerably better in every aspect and worth the extra money. If you're looking for quality, I'd highly recommend the GT1.

Just to add to this review,I've also had the gt1's fitted to my ep3.my first drive with them on the road I instantly felt a difference to the buddy club rsd that I previously had,minor road imperfections are handled with ease and on a country road blast the car was so much more stable and inspiring to drive.i feel more in control of it due to much better feedback and it feels like the suspension and tyres are working more in sync with each other. I had the settings about half way front and rear and the car just felt really nice for normal pottering around yet could cope with pushing on in the twisties.before these I never used to drive my car a great deal on the road but now I find myself wanting to use it a lot more.ive not been on track with them yet but so far I think they're awesome.

Just a quick bump to see how everyone is getting along with the GT1.

Have anyone got more feedback about the treaded bump steer that is common with the EP3 / DC5.
We threw a little magic dust into the GT1 and on testing it sorted out the issue, but just want to get some feedback for confirmation.

Jerrick

To be honest, I never really experienced it much with the previous Zeta-R set up. But I am using additional components to eliminate the issue (rack raiser bracket, extended ball joints, castor increase bushes).
Nonetheless, the GT1 is still superior in comfort and handling over the Zeta-R, especially over uneven and bumpy roads. To this point I've had no bump steer and probably done over 500 miles since fitting.

Lewisgame » Wed Aug 12, 2015 9:50 am wrote:To be honest, I never really experienced it much with the previous Zeta-R set up. But I am using additional components to eliminate the issue (rack raiser bracket, extended ball joints, castor increase bushes).
Nonetheless, the GT1 is still superior in comfort and handling over the Zeta-R, especially over uneven and bumpy roads. To this point I've had no bump steer and probably done over 500 miles since fitting.

Okay, that is fine then... if it is not broken then don't fix it.
We had a race car that was having an issue, and we done some engineering especially in the GT1 to cure this problem.

So if you have issue, the let us know and we can sort it.
If it feels fine and there is nothing wrong... then all is good and carry on smiling.

Jerrick

Ok it's been a long time since the start of this. I'll carry on the review as I'm still using this set up.
So to begin with last year (2016) around April time I noticed some oil residue from all 4 shocks. I notified the guys at MeisterR. I didn't really have time to deal with it much with a Nürburging trip in May. After the trip to the 'ring the suspension didn't feel right. Far too bouncy. Anyway a few emails later I had the units off and dropped them off to the guys down at B.A.D which isn't too far from me.
The service was superb. I basically went to the front of the queue and all 4 shocks were repaired after only a few days. From what I understand. The design has changed slightly from the first ones produced both with the seal and the design internally.
I fitted them all back on and the car felt fantastic again. Possibly even better when first fitted. I used to run them on soft settings for the road but now have opted to run them stiffer and near to track settings. They just work better wound up and you still don't sacrifice too much in comfort. Obviously don't smash it over bumps or pot holes as you'll damage the suspension and your spinal cord.
Price, quality, customer care and performance I can't recommend enough. I've since been back to the 'ring with the revised suspension and although the times didn't reflect the improved speed (traffic) they did make a big difference and given a clearer track. Maybe close to that sub 8 EP3. But that's for another trip.
All in, superb. Go buy now.

thanks Lewis and keep it coming from time to time, i'm interested for the future so a good review is always wanted!