R34 GTT Suspension Upgrade - Bilstein/King

[Jhare413]

Hey guys,

I recently bought a 1998 R34 GTT Coupe, and it has come with some Tein Super Street coilovers (P/N QEN68-Z1531 at the front and QEN69-Z1531 at the rear), which just don't fit the car properly, it sits too low in the front and can't be raised any more. This means that the car scrapes on every bump in the road and even on moderate cornering. As far as I can tell, these coilovers are designed for an R33 GTR??

So I am planning on changing them out for Bilstein shocks and King springs, which I have been doing a bunch of reading about Sydneykid's group buy back in about 2006 I think. Seems like a really good street/occasional track setup for a daily driver. Just wanted to check that it's still a good setup nowadays for the money. Also, I noticed that Sydneykid said that the ones he sold were individually valved for each sale:

"Yes Daniel, I have specified revalving for the Bislteins to suite the spring and bar rates I have chosen."

So I'm wondering if I will need to get my Bilsteins revalved as well?

Additionally, I have read on the group buy that the Bilstein shocks are height adjustable by circlips? But I'm not quite sure what this means and if it is specific to the Sydneykid group buy, or if all Bilstein shocks are height adjustable. If I am aiming for approximately the 350mm front and 340mm rear (wheel centre to guard) that is recommended in the group buy, will the Bilstein shocks and kings springs around that?

 

Sorry for asking so many questions, any help is appreciated, cheers.

[GTSBoy]

SK kinda does and kinda doesn't do his kits any more.  Well, actually, my information is about 5 years old, because I got him to do me a set of B6s in ~May 2014.  At that time he was only doing it as a nicety for SAU people.  I don't know if he's still doing it now.

The SK deal was for him to get a set of B6s and revalve them to suit the springs that he recommended to go with them.  Kings are not those springs, but they are as close as you can reasonably get.  He also machines a couple of extra circlip grooves into the bodies of the dampers to provide further height adjustability, over and above the couple of grooves that Bilstein put on them stock.  The circlip grooves set the height of the lower spring perch.

Yes, if you get Kings low and the B6s, you will be able to set them to the right height.  You will probably have to lift the bottom perches up a notch after the springs settle in.

SK's revalved B6s are great.  There is something really nice about the way that these dampers ride.  I replaced a pair of stock B6s (at the front) which were still in great condition and a pair of KYBs at the rear (which were f**ked) and the improvement was really noticeable.  Both ends of the car got much better.

At the time I did mine, most coilover choices (BCs etc) were hard riding nasty shitball things and the SK dampers were a very viable choice, especially for a road car.  These days, it is probably true that MCA's dampers are able to be set up to be even better, and for not much more money.  I suspect that if I were doing it now, I would probably spend a couple of grand on MCAs, and live with the fact that they are defectable (because height adjustable).

You can do further searching on this topic on this forum because I have written many words on it in the past.  As I mention above though, my opinion on the coilover option has probably shifted a bit since then.

[Jhare413]

Alright, cheers man, I did see that the ones he had in his group buy were the Whiteline springs, but as far as I can tell now they are discontinued and Kings were the next best.

I did also have a brief look at the MCA's that a lot of people recommend on here, but I'm trying not to spend too much so I was going for the cheaper option, but I was wondering how the MCA Street Essentials compare to the bilstein/kings?

The fact that the bilstein/kings aren't defectable is also a bonus, so for now I am leaning towards that setup.

[Kinkstaah]

I also have a similar kit and have had them for years - Though I went for a more uprated version with harder springs and received 5/4KG springs initially and later bought 8/6 springs and used those later.

The car rode and drove really well relative to any other 34 I ever had a chance to drive in and Shockworks at the time's test car was also a R34 and they admitted defeat along the lines of not selling me their kit due to me unlikely to get any benefit at all from their product over what I have.

Bilstein Australia (based in Sydney at Heasmans) will also rebuild/revalve the shock to suit if you like which is something I am going to do because one of them is weeping after a few years, and I have somewhat drastically changed the car to the point where revalving may be sensible... (i.e there is no RB in it anymore). plus the fact mine were originally done by SK to suit 5/4 springs to begin with.

Bilstein AU were nice enough to communicate and ask me to get the car weighted so they can advise whether they even should valve to suit, and I tend to like companies that try to save you money when you ask them for a service. Other brands when approached with the same question were far less forthcoming.... i.e "Just buy our most expensive thing you'll be fine" etc.

I have not tried MCA's myself, and was looking into them but after chatting to bilstein its far more cost effective to get them serviced and revalved then selling and changing brands considering I and everyone that ever drove the car really liked how the Bilstein/Eibach combo worked in real world and on the track.

For reference the Eibach springs I got/have are:

ERS Y/X ERS-H-200-60-0050
ERS Y/X ERS-H-200-60-0040

Replaced with:
ERS Y/X ERS-H-200-60-0080
ERS Y/X ERS-H-200-60-0060

If you really want you can buy the 5/4 combo I have as they're sitting around unlikely to ever be used again, if you wanted something 'better' than King springs, Eibachs are also an option.

[Jhare413]

I think for now I'm just going to go for the bilstein/king springs, but thanks anyway, you've given me more to think about.

I have contacted Heasmans and asked about this setup to see what they recommend running it with and to get a price, but am still waiting for a reply.

[KiwiRS4T]

I got a set of Bilsteins for my C34 Stagea with Tein springs but being in NZ didn't have ready access to SK so they were not re-valved but was still a great suspension.

[Jhare413]

Cheers for your help guys, and I think I've made my decision, I'm going for the MCA Street Performance.

I contacted Heasmans and asked about getting Bilstein shocks (B6) and king springs. They've quoted me $1950 for the shocks ($1331), installation ($484) and an allignment ($132). Then I would have to supply the springs (about $340 for kings) and my own strut tops as well, since my car currently has coilovers.

Or I could go for the MCA Street Performance, which would be about $2100 delivered, and install these myself. From what I've read these should outperform the Bilstein/king setup, unless that is paired with the custom valving and other suspension components that are included in SKs suspension package, and maybe upgraded to Eibach springs. I didn't want to spend about the $3k that it would cost to properly do that setup so I'm going with the MCAs.

[GTSBoy]

fair enuff.

[Kinkstaah]

It is worth mentioning that when people talk about OMG SO GOOD SO MUCH DIFFERENT it's rarely and apples to apples comparison. Either setup will do fine, and these are minor handling differences which can be preferential at best when comparing known 'good' options.

I drove my car back to back with the same model car with BC BR's in it, and honestly other than some feel, I can see that it realistically would have performed the same or very very similar. it's not like we are all going to crack it cause we saved $1000 and did a 1:31.1 at the track instead of 1:31.0.

Were the BC BR's harsher, did they have a little more roll? Sure. Was this due to other things like bushes in being in better or worse condition in either car? Possibly. Were they a hell of a lot less expensive? Absolutely. I say the differences in all forms of aftermarket suspension are subtle.

You will like the MCA's.

[niZmO_Man]

What about this?
https://www.demon-tweeks.com/au/tein-street-advance-z-coilover-suspension-kit-teigsn62-91ss2/

I am running Street Basis Z (no damper adjust) on my Liberty GT wagon, wound them up to highest and they sit a smidge lower than the factory Bilstein suspension. Ride is surprisingly comfortable on shitty Sydney roads, handling is about same as standard as well. Good replacement I say. Was ~$800 delivered to my door.