MeisterR GT1 Coilovers - Opinion

[MeisterR]

MeisterR has been working over the past 2 years on the development of an amazing British engineered suspension.

We didn't want to make something simply different, we wanted to make the best and compete with the best offerings on the market.

We have finally arrived at the finish line and the new MeisterR GT1 Coilovers are finally ready.

The GT1 coilovers are developed in collaboration between MeisterR and Black Art Design (BAD).

BAD is a well known British suspension company responsible for many race winning cars.

Their portfolio range from the DAX Rush, Noble, Classic Austin Martin, to the fastest privateer Ford RS200 in the Colorado Pike Peaks.

The GT1 coilovers have many custom in-house made parts that are truly cutting edge engineering.

As there are so many technical features on the GT1 coilovers, we are still compiling a presentation that can show off these features in an easy to read format.

But here is a little teaser video I made up for the GT1 Coilovers

>http://youtu.be/GXsTFyuo8UM

The GT1 coilovers retail at £1650, and we want to provide a few benefits to members that may be interested.

Here are a few points we are thinking about and we want the community's opinion.

1. Life-Time Warranty on hydraulic function to the original purchaser:

That is right, the GT1 damper is built to such a high specification that technically speaking, unless it is physically damaged (such as a bent / scored shaft), it will continue to operate forever… even under racing condition.

However, parts exposed to the element will wear over time so you really can't give a lifetime warranty on those, but the actual damper itself will continue to function for years, we are that confident of the quality.

The warranty means, if you go to Nurburg every weekend and a damper failed after a run 3 years later, we will rebuild it for free.

If you crash into the Armco and bent the rod, or run into the gravel and scored the damper shaft causing the damper to fail, then it isn't cover. Sounds pretty fair?

2. Upgrade from Zeta-S / Zeta-R / Europa to GT1 Coilovers:

We feel that some MeisterR owners would want to upgrade to the GT1 in the future. So we want to make an upgrade program for those who have purchased the Zeta-S / Zeta-R / Europa coilovers.

Our initial thought is, you can purchase a set of GT1 coilovers, and after installation you can send back your old set of MeisterR coilovers and we will refund you £350 (Around 50% of the purchase price) for your old set.

That way you get a brand new set GT1 in your hand, and there is no need to try to sell the old set of suspensions or wait for a rebuild.

So what do you think of the life-time warranty and the upgrade option with the GT1 Coilovers?

Do you have anything else that you feel could be beneficial to the end user.

We are always open to opinions and suggestions.

Jerrick / Edwin

[Whitenoize]

What's the advantage of the gt1 over the zeta coilovers for a road going starlet surely these are aimed at full race cars and how do you know they last forever they are brand new has anyone had a set fitted to a car for years it's a big statement to make

Edited November 6, 2014 by Whitenoize

[_shaun_]

Bought my Meisters brand new for my first starlet and only issue I had was how fast the powder coating came off the springs and rusted. Other than that they where spot on.

Personally for the price I doubt you would see much interest from the starlet market. People going for hardcore track suspension would be aswell sourcing d2 super racing coilovers which are cheaper and have a pretty immense spec sheet with them.

The warranty and discount for current owners is good to see tho.

[MeisterR]

While the outside of the GT1 look similar to the Zeta-R, the internal is completely different.

I'll try to name a few parts, but there are quite a lot:

1. GT1 Piston: Precision CNC Aluminium: there are quite a few feature in this piston, I will work put up the details later.

2. GT1 bump stop: Progressive rate bump stop design to come into play progressively to aid comfort.

3. GT1 damper shaft seal: CNC made in house using Ultrasound tested Austrian Polyurethane.

A normal damper will never exceed 40 bars of pressure, our shaft seal is rated to 400 bars.

This damper shaft seal is one main reason we offer a Life-time Warranty, because it is actually that good.

Like I said before, the life-time warranty is for the life of the original purchaser, but no limitation on time or miles.

The long as nothing is physically damaged such as a bent rod or a score shaft, we will rebuild it free of charge if oil leak because the shaft seal fail.

BAD have use this seal in Rally Cars that come back for a rebuild 5 years later and the seal look new.

This isn't something that can be bought off the shelf, that is why we make them in house.

We haven't done any back to back testing against the Zeta-R (also it is something difficult to quantify).

But we know the GT1 will out last the Zeta (or any other suspension for that matter) pretty much in a test of durability.

The GT1 use an ultra high heat index hydraulic oil from Millers, what that mean is the GT1 will not suffer fade issue no matter how hard you push the suspensions (BAD use the same oil in Rally cars).

All the internal of the GT1 are made in the UK (most of the bits are CNC machined… in Essex), and assemble at BAD headquarter in Essex also.

The GT1 are not design for race car, but a fast road car that is also competitive for track.

It is design to be a good all rounder that will be comfortable on the motorway, responsive on the country road, and competitive on the track.

The GT1 certainly isn't cheap, but for those looking for high end suspension like the Ohlins DFV, the GT1 are design to deliver, deliver a better job, and deliver that job at a lower price.

Jerrick

[Ollieh17]

Personally i think coilovers for a starlet are expensive enough at nearly £800. You'd have to be pretty mad about your starlet for that much. Sure a selecet few people would though

[Whitenoize]

Crazy money for a road car they cant feel or handle that much better to splash out that sort of money you can buy a starlet for that price and what if all the power coat falls off after 3 months like my last set of Meisters lol

Edited November 6, 2014 by Whitenoize

[jimmymac101]

Expensive yes but compared to the cost of coilovers for other cars that isn't bad!

Ksport coilovers for my ignis sport were £1200 new back in the day ( thankfully I never.paid that )

James

[MeisterR]

The GT1 are custom build to order, and for a performance suspensions of it's level it isn't bad at all.

If you look at a set of Ohlins DFV, it won't be cheaper than £2500 and it isn't even available for most make and model.

However, it is a road car that the GT1 will make the biggest difference.

A good road suspension that is responsive, but at the same time are able to absorb bumps over uneven road surfaces to retain traction is a much more difficult task than a race suspensions.

How much something is worth depends on the owners I guess.

Jerrick

[Ollieh17]

Expensive yes but compared to the cost of coilovers for other cars that isn't bad!

Ksport coilovers for my ignis sport were £1200 new back in the day ( thankfully I never.paid that )

James

Its stupid. Evo/subaru coilovers etc are cheaper. Starlets aren't rare cars like ignis sports and dont have a complicated setup. How companies can make coilovers £500 for one car and £800 for another with minor differences its beyond me

[Whitenoize]

Looking forward to sumone getting a set and getting some feed back no doubt sumone with more money that sense will buy a set lol

Edited November 6, 2014 by Whitenoize

[_shaun_]

Evos and scoobs are fairly common tho so I'd expect to pay abit more.

Needless to say I think these have probably missed the mark. Am looking for new ones over the winter and realistically it would either be the meister zeta-rs or top end I'd pay the £1500 for the top end d2s which where designed buy a starlet owner for his own rally car.

Obviously there a lot of R and D been done on these but I'd say around. £1200 would be tops retail on them in this market.

[Ollieh17]

So are starlets! They have a UK equivalent and theres a fair number of glanzas and gts around

[Whitenoize]

Evos and scoobs are fairly common tho so I'd expect to pay abit more.

Needless to say I think these have probably missed the mark. Am looking for new ones over the winter and realistically it would either be the meister zeta-rs or top end I'd pay the £1500 for the top end d2s which where designed buy a starlet owner for his own rally car.

Obviously there a lot of R and D been done on these but I'd say around. £1200 would be tops retail on them in this market.

who sells the d2,s Shaun I'm looking for a set of coilovers at the min can't find much info on them

[Ollieh17]

who sells the d2,s Shaun I'm looking for a set of coilovers at the min can't find much info on them

There was a set on tgtt a few months ago

[_shaun_]

http://www.toyotagtturbo.com/forums/showthread.php?108276-for-sale-D2-racing-quot-SUPER-RACING-quot-Rally-Asphalt-Gymkhana-3-ways-coilovers

You can also have them built to order from d2 aswell for the same price. They look and sound absolutely stunning just can't decide if they are worth paying £1500 for ha

[Whitenoize]

http://www.toyotagtturbo.com/forums/showthread.php?108276-for-sale-D2-racing-quot-SUPER-RACING-quot-Rally-Asphalt-Gymkhana-3-ways-coilovers

You can also have them built to order from d2 aswell for the same price. They look and sound absolutely stunning just can't decide if they are worth paying £1500 for ha

thanks for that worth a look I had d2,s on my b18 ek thought they wer amazing

[_shaun_]

Yea I used to run a set on a crx I had and where superb if a little harsh at times but they has been set to track race by the previous owner so where on stiffest setting.

Currently got BCs on this starlet and am not a massive fan and there getting on abit so will either go for the super race d2s or the basic Meisters

[Whitenoize]

By that post on tgtt looks like them d2 would have to be custom made? Normal d2,s are down to 600 for starlets tempted to just go for them they are stiff but it's a wkend car so don't really mind

[_shaun_]

I enquired about d2 brakes for the starlet and the guy said he can order these in all the tooling is done for them so there built to order same idea as the new Meisters

[MeisterR]

Quite different actually in the level of technology between the D2 and the MeisterR GT1.

The GT1 use far more advance technology than the D2.

We are looking at suspension that are design to compete with the likes of Ohlins, Nitron, Penske, etc.

I am pretty sure if you open up the internal of the D2, you won't find any CNC parts at all.

The D2 in the post is a 3-way suspensions, these have independent compression and rebound adjustments.

However, without a dyno, it is near on impossible to make any meaningful adjustments.

Also, we have seen a lot of 3-way suspension with "cross talk", and that is not something you want in a 3-way.

We do 3-way suspensions, but these are normally for professional level race car.

For a normal road car / occasional track car, a 3-way is an overkill and probably will yield lesser performance due to the difficulty in fine tuning the suspension quickly.

Also, harshness doesn't indicate performance.

One of the thing we constantly try to improve is compliancy, because that provide traction over uneven road surfaces.

That is what you are after from a high performance suspension, the comfort associated with the compliancy is icing on the cake.

Jerrick

[NewbieLewby]

Its stupid. Evo/subaru coilovers etc are cheaper. Starlets aren't rare cars like ignis sports and dont have a complicated setup. How companies can make coilovers £500 for one car and £800 for another with minor differences its beyond me

It's genrally because the tooling up cost for jigs ect is the same for most cars but in the case of less common cars the company making them is going to sell less than on common cars. The company's charge more to give them a greater chance of breaking even

[Ollieh17]

It's genrally because the tooling up cost for jigs ect is the same for most cars but in the case of less common cars the company making them is going to sell less than on common cars. The company's charge more to give them a greater chance of breaking even

Yeh i Understand the theory. How close coilover companies follow it is a different thing. Ive seen coilovers for cars id expect a lot smaller market for cheaper than a starlet. Lets be fair in modified car scene they arent one of the rarer ones