How much faffing around is there with the B14 kit in setting ride height? I just want to fit and forget.

For my weitec coilovers I had them set initially at about -20mm so very similar to the eibach's that were coming off. After about 1,000 miles they'd settled a bit so I had jkm re-set them and re-check the alignment. From that point they COULD have just been "fit and forget" as you say were it not for the fact that i'd chosen a ride height that was just a little too low for my liking (-45mm). I got them to raise the car 10mm and they've been at that height ever since.

If you wanted to you could raise the car up when there's snow on the ground to give you some more clearance, and I did also consider bringing the rear up a bit for our family holiday in france (lots of people/full boot etc) so it sat more level when fully loaded but in the end I didn't bother.

If I remember the conversation correctly with the jkm guy, he'd said that a minor change to a lower height is normally possible without affecting the alingment, but if you are changing the height significantly or any increase in ride height you should also factor in checking the alignment too.

HTH.

I'm thinking of setting mine -10mm from the heighest setting which will give me the option to adjust 10mm either way when they're on the car.

Just bought the B12 kit that Damian mentioned ...just need to await the arrival of the car to put it on

Sounds like a B12 kit is more what I am looking for, has anyone fitted and got pics of the lower version of the too?

Just bought the B12 kit that Damian mentioned ...just need to await the arrival of the car to put it on

Have your numbers come in? the amount of stuff your buying and you haven't even got it yet

Have your numbers come in? the amount of stuff your buying and you haven't even got it yet

:p lol Not quite...I've been saving for a few years knowing that I was clocking up space ship miles on the current car plus I got left a small amount. Alas, I've all but blown the lot on mods again!

Just bought the B12 kit that Damian mentioned ...just need to await the arrival of the car to put it on

Ha ha.. me too. I have a pile of parts I'm accumulating for the new car - drives my wife nuts, spending money on a car I don't even have yet.

Sounds like a B12 kit is more what I am looking for, has anyone fitted and got pics of the lower version of the too?

What "lower version"? Have I missed something?

When I searched online for a b12 kit, I found two,one was called sportline I think, and was lower than the standard kit. Venom motorsport and demon tweaks were where I found them, but haven't made a serious search yet because I don't have the cash yet.

When I searched online for a b12 kit, I found two,one was called sportline I think, and was lower than the standard kit. Venom motorsport and demon tweaks were where I found them, but haven't made a serious search yet because I don't have the cash yet.

Ok, understand; B12 kit uses eibach springs, these are made for a whole bunch of other cars in two flavours, "pro" which is a small drop, and "sportline" which is a bigger drop. Unfortunately for the octavia eibach only makes the "pro" spring kit so hence there's only one type of B12 kit using these pro springs, with just a 20mm drop.

B6's for me roads up here are awful and the speed bumps are bumps but mountains.

Ok, understand; B12 kit uses eibach springs, these are made for a whole bunch of other cars in two flavours, "pro" which is a small drop, and "sportline" which is a bigger drop. Unfortunately for the octavia eibach only makes the "pro" spring kit so hence there's only one type of B12 kit using these pro springs, with just a 20mm drop.

OK. Is that a 20mm drop from standard, or from the VRS height? It's not much, but then I'd be buying it for better cornering grip and handling balance. Perhaps the B14 coilovers is the way to go...

OK. Is that a 20mm drop from standard, or from the VRS height? It's not much, but then I'd be buying it for better cornering grip and handling balance. Perhaps the B14 coilovers is the way to go...

From the vRS height.

Actually, just re-checked the description on the dpm site, and the eibach pro's are listed as -30mm (from std) so in fact on a vRS which is already 15mm lower than a regular octy you'd get only a 15mm drop.

Well finally the day came (17 May) to collect my new Octavia vRS. Having driven to the dealer in my Clio Cup, the immediate comparison i made was obviously with that. first impressions are that the skoda felt considerably softer than the clio, however whilst the clio was firm it always felt like the the wheel movement was being fully kept in check by the dampers, whereas the skoda felt like for every bump the wheels passed over they moved up and down twice whilst the dampers figured out what to do. I drove 200 miles (52.5mpg!!) to my folks place where i fitted the B12 kit. It was obviously a pleasure to work on a brand-new car (no rusty bolts etc) and the job was done in 3 hrs, so any garage charging for 5 hrs work is ripping you off for certain.

Ride height - It was immediately apparent that the front had dropped, and now looked level with the rear which didn't look to have dropped much at all. The ride height appears to have since settled further and i would say that now after 1200 miles the car has dropped by approx 20mm at the front and 10-15mm at the rear, which is not quite as much as i would have liked.

Ride - what a relief! the car feels slightly firmer than standard, but due to the feeling of greater wheel control the whole thing feels much more 'together' than standard meaning that in overall comfort terms i would say its no less comfy than standard, and certainly anyone who is concerned about the wife and kids reaction to a proposed suspension swap need not worry with the B12 kit, they won't even notice!

So in general i would say that the B12 kit will give you standard car levels of comfort, but with damping of a noticeably higher quality than standard. It also gives you a better, but not radical, aesthetic improvement.

After fitting I had a Hawkeye 4 wheel alignment done and it did require some small adjustments and so I feel it was well worth doing.

Overall I would highly recommend the B12 to anyone who values handling over looks.

In the excitement of getting the kit fitted i completely forgot to take before and after measurements of ride height or photo's of the installation.

Regards,

Phil

good write up, thanks!

Nice one Phil, mine on the way from Germany as we speak.

P

Did you ever get these supplied and fitted as I remember somebody talking about getting the kit delivered from Germany.

Ta

I posted on another topic a few weeks ago, the wrong kit was supplied (50mm vs 55mm I needed).

This was only discovered when they were being fitted so I've had the rears on for a few weeks (this alone made a huge improvement).

Lighting Tuning were shockingly bad at resolving the issue and I had to contact their supplier directly to get any joy after a month of them messing me about promising the correct front dampers would be shipped imminently.

I'm expecting the correct dampers to be shipped today but wouldn't recommend Lighting Tuning to anyone.

P

Ta good to know.

I'm still debating just keeping the original springs and OEM dampers or to do the lot with a B12 kit and just run the car for a while longer.

The rear shockers are fine, so it's a case of working out what to do re droplinks and bushes and make sure the whole thing is well sorted if I'm going to keep it.

I posted on another topic a few weeks ago, the wrong kit was supplied (50mm vs 55mm I needed).

This was only discovered when they were being fitted so I've had the rears on for a few weeks (this alone made a huge improvement).

Lighting Tuning were shockingly bad at resolving the issue and I had to contact their supplier directly to get any joy after a month of them messing me about promising the correct front dampers would be shipped imminently.

I'm expecting the correct dampers to be shipped today but wouldn't recommend Lighting Tuning to anyone.

P

have you fitted them yet and what does it feel like.

Very happy with them, rear feels more planted, ride feels more comfortable than standard, go for it

good to know you're happy with them.

I'm correct in saying you replaced nearly new OEM with B12?

good to know you're happy with them.

I'm correct in saying you replaced nearly new OEM with B12?

40k miles when I changed but no faults with the OEM ones that I was aware of.

Anyone that has these fitted that is local to the Heathrow area or at castle Combe next Saturday any chance I could have a sit in ride.

Really want to improve the octavia but I cannot let it go to harsh due to a family members medical condition

Thanks

There is a Group Buy on for these at the moment

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/245050-bilstein-b12-group-buy-confirmed/