Hi Guys,

I'm looking to canvass opinion on the added benefit my car will get from switching my OEM dampers for Bilstein B8's, there's a lot of referencing and word of mouth of these being good shocks but I am, looking to hear from people who have had these fitted to the mk2 Fabia 5J platform or similar.

As some of you will know, my car currently is lowered 40mm on H&R Springs. These have been a great improvement on handling and most of the time give no worse ride quality than when on full OEM set up and with a RARB from H&R now also installed I am happy with the car's handling. More than anything I want to know what people who have these fitted in conjunction with lowering springs have to say about ride quality vs stock dampers and lowering springs. Approx cost to purchase and fit these will be £500.00 so I need a sense of cost/benefit.

As much detail as you can give would be great, have heard a few members with lowering springs thinking about this upgrade so I'm hoping there will be good interest in this thread. Can anyone answering specifically try to give thoughts on crashiness and bounciness (technical terminology)

Who would have thought the delivery mileage thread would be getting more interest than this

I've had this done on my estate and I'm really pleased with it

Front is lowered by 30mm, rear by 20mm, so it gives a slightly nose down profile

Ride quality hasn't suffered at all as far as I can tell, and handling, as you can imagine, is much sharper, but it would be sharper still with a stiffer RARB

I'm very glad I had it done, but I was going from stock Elegance suspension, which is very roly

So from the softer Elegance to the B12 kit you feel the ride comfort has been retained more or less and with the gains in handling you mention. That is really good to hear as I imagine my vRS when stock was loads crashier than your Elegance.

I imagine wheel and tyre combo's are a factor here

The ride change is more noticeable going from 205/45/16s to 205/40/17s, the latter being much more crashy over bumps and potholes

Sparkly, as you know I've done this to my Monte Carlo and previous vrs both with the same set up! Handling is much tighter and ride comfort doesn't suffer on some roads it can be a bit bouncy, but it is to be expected seeing as you're 40mm closer to the road lol

the B8's are IMO a good purchase and with the rear bar as well should be very good!

Sean, whereabouts in Manchester are you based?

.........wondering if you'd consider giving me a two minute taxi ride so I can "try before I buy"???

Brimma, I have been thinking I might need to actually switch down to some "16's aswell as the B8's to really get where I want to be. By Christ Briskie has done nothing but bad things to my wallet.

In Leigh, between Bolton and wigan, That's fine with me buddy! Pm me and we will sort something out