Review: MeisterR GT1 Coilovers!
07-21-2016, 12:45 AM
#1
Review: MeisterR GT1 Coilovers!
I just want to post my review of the latest coilovers for the Z. 
MeisterR GT1 Coilovers
I recently purchase a 350Z after being absent from the scene for over a decade.
One of the thing I notice in my "new" car was that the ride was a little "choppy" for my liking on the ISC coilovers it had, especially on freeway where you want a bit of comfort.
So I talk to my local tuner Johnny @ JTran Studio to see what he recommend.
It seems that a new brand from UK have just started in USA, and JTran is a distributor for them.
I had a chat with a few other Z owners locally who ran the MeisterR ZetaCRD coilovers on their Z, everyone said it was miles better than what they had before both in ride quality or performance.
I decided to try the next level up from the MeisterR ZetaCRD, and that is the MeisterR GT1.
The MeisterR GT1 is their advanced 1-way adjustable system designed for fast road & track use.
They are designed to compete with top end suspension such as Ohlins DFV, which I thought was a pretty high bar to set.
The GT1 is fully height adjustable, 20 clicks damping adjustable mono-tube dampers, using precision CNC machined internals engineered and made in UK at their UK workshop.
The GT1 coilovers are all custom build in MeisterR USA workshop, and so it have a 3-weeks lead time for production.
They also comes with a lifetime warranty, which is one thing that sway me over to the GT1.
First Impression:
After a 3 weeks wait, the suspension finally arrives at JTran.
Took them out of the box for a few photo, and I think everyone at the shop including myself was pretty impress with the overall package.
The first thing you notice right away is the custom made spring cover.
I haven't seen something like this on any other coilovers on the market.
It was design to protect the damper, which tie nicely to the lifetime warranty.
JTran also pointed out a few unique feature of the GT1 coilovers that are visible on close inspection.
A unique progressive rate bump stop that are design to provide better ride quality, and the unique full metal jacket damper seal that are CNC machined in the UK.
Those unique parts as well as the internal are what make the GT1 coilovers different from anything else.
Installation
Installation was pretty straight forward as the entire suspension was pre-assembled out of the box.
Also easy as they were unbolting a coilovers off to put a new coilovers on.
There is also an extended cable included, so that makes adjusting the rear damper much easier.
I put the GT1 against the old ISC coilovers just for comparison, and you can immediately see how much more travel the rear damper have.
This should lead to better ride quality as there will be more movement before the rear damper hit the bump stop.
Ride height setting
After everything were installed, we set the ride height to be a little higher than before.
The main reason is I got a big curb leading into my garage, and a little extra ground clearance isn't going to hurt.
There are still more room to go lower, just not for me.
This is the height I settled with my Z
Road Driving Impression - Comfort
I started in the middle setting around -10 clicks from full hard on the front and rear and see how it feel.
Immediately I noticed how nice the steering feel and how well the damper respond to uneven road surfaces.
Especially when you hit a bumps in mid corner, the damper just soaks it up.
You feel it, you know you ran over a bump, but it doesn't upset the car in anyway even when under power.
On the 1-hour drive home, I did notice the freeway continuously ripple surfaces can get a little "annoying".
By no mean it is uncomfortable or harsh, but it feels like more comfort wouldn't be a bad thing.
So i start backing the damper to soft, and eventually reach what I like.
The setting is -18 clicks on front, -20 clicks on the rear... basically right down to full soft.
At this setting, the car still feel very controllable and is not under damped at all.
However, you can drive on the freeway for hours and wouldn't feel tired.
It is the most comfortable sport suspension i ever been on, and it certainly make OEM suspension from BMW M-Sport or Audi S-Line feel very harsh.
While it is comfortable, the steering is still direct and grip is still feel great.
Going off freeway onto sharp off ramp feels steady and predictable.
The only negative at this setting I can find is if I swerve the steering left and right at around 60mph, at the end of the swerve the car feels like it want to continue the swerve one last time before the car straighten out.
It isn't dramatic or dangerous, but something I did feel.
Road Driving Impression - Fast Road
After a few weeks of driving the Z and everything feels like bedded in, I decide to go down to my local "fast road" to see how the car react for spirited driving.
On the comfort setting, the car is still very controllable and that is good.
Once I got a chance to pull to the side, i decide go ramp the damping up full stiff to see how it react.
Setting is now Full stiff at the front, -2 clicks in the rear.
All i can say was WOW! It was like driving a different car in 30 seconds!
All the excess movement from the previous setting was gone, the car feel really planted.
The front end is direct, turn in was really sharp.
The rear also grip really really well under power.
You can really get on the brake to put the weight on the front for the turn in, and you can put the power down out of the corner without worrying the rear will suddenly break out on you.
I couldn't really drive it hard because it is public road, but certainly the drive was REALLY enjoyable.
Also, on this stiff setting the damper still handle the uneven road surfaces really well.
It is STIFF without a doubt, but IT IS NOT HARD... if that make sense.
Where before when you hit a pot hole at 50mph, you get a sharp "bang".
Now, hit the same hole at the same speed, you get a muffled "thud" instead.
The tires wasn't even fazed when I was full throttle in 3rd when it ran over that pot hole.
Conclusion
I got to say overall, the MeisterR GT1 certainly exceeded my expectation.
The range of adjustment from high comfort to high response was great, and you can really use the adjustment to influence how the car feel.
They certainly aren't the cheapest coilovers on the market, but defiantly a player if you are considering the likes of Ohlins, KW, and Bilstein.
Now that I am pretty comfortable with the setting, I will be looking forward to some track days / Auto solo where I can use the car in anger.
But the best improvement is that I can have a really comfortable ride when I head out to meet or want to have a nice drive, because bouncing up and down on a stiff suspension when driving in a straight line on the freeway is just pointless.
Once I arrive at a track, the car will be ready for some work 30 seconds later.
Just want to give a big thank you to Johnny @ JTran for sorting this suspension out for me.
Any other Z members around the Houston area, I hope get out to some meet one day.
Hope you guys enjoy the review.
MeisterR GT1 Coilovers
I recently purchase a 350Z after being absent from the scene for over a decade.
One of the thing I notice in my "new" car was that the ride was a little "choppy" for my liking on the ISC coilovers it had, especially on freeway where you want a bit of comfort.
So I talk to my local tuner Johnny @ JTran Studio to see what he recommend.
It seems that a new brand from UK have just started in USA, and JTran is a distributor for them.
I had a chat with a few other Z owners locally who ran the MeisterR ZetaCRD coilovers on their Z, everyone said it was miles better than what they had before both in ride quality or performance.
I decided to try the next level up from the MeisterR ZetaCRD, and that is the MeisterR GT1.
The MeisterR GT1 is their advanced 1-way adjustable system designed for fast road & track use.
They are designed to compete with top end suspension such as Ohlins DFV, which I thought was a pretty high bar to set.
The GT1 is fully height adjustable, 20 clicks damping adjustable mono-tube dampers, using precision CNC machined internals engineered and made in UK at their UK workshop.
The GT1 coilovers are all custom build in MeisterR USA workshop, and so it have a 3-weeks lead time for production.
They also comes with a lifetime warranty, which is one thing that sway me over to the GT1.
First Impression:
After a 3 weeks wait, the suspension finally arrives at JTran.
Took them out of the box for a few photo, and I think everyone at the shop including myself was pretty impress with the overall package.
The first thing you notice right away is the custom made spring cover.
I haven't seen something like this on any other coilovers on the market.
It was design to protect the damper, which tie nicely to the lifetime warranty.
JTran also pointed out a few unique feature of the GT1 coilovers that are visible on close inspection.
A unique progressive rate bump stop that are design to provide better ride quality, and the unique full metal jacket damper seal that are CNC machined in the UK.
Those unique parts as well as the internal are what make the GT1 coilovers different from anything else.
Installation
Installation was pretty straight forward as the entire suspension was pre-assembled out of the box.
Also easy as they were unbolting a coilovers off to put a new coilovers on.
There is also an extended cable included, so that makes adjusting the rear damper much easier.
I put the GT1 against the old ISC coilovers just for comparison, and you can immediately see how much more travel the rear damper have.
This should lead to better ride quality as there will be more movement before the rear damper hit the bump stop.
Ride height setting
After everything were installed, we set the ride height to be a little higher than before.
The main reason is I got a big curb leading into my garage, and a little extra ground clearance isn't going to hurt.
There are still more room to go lower, just not for me.
This is the height I settled with my Z
Road Driving Impression - Comfort
I started in the middle setting around -10 clicks from full hard on the front and rear and see how it feel.
Immediately I noticed how nice the steering feel and how well the damper respond to uneven road surfaces.
Especially when you hit a bumps in mid corner, the damper just soaks it up.
You feel it, you know you ran over a bump, but it doesn't upset the car in anyway even when under power.
On the 1-hour drive home, I did notice the freeway continuously ripple surfaces can get a little "annoying".
By no mean it is uncomfortable or harsh, but it feels like more comfort wouldn't be a bad thing.
So i start backing the damper to soft, and eventually reach what I like.
The setting is -18 clicks on front, -20 clicks on the rear... basically right down to full soft.
At this setting, the car still feel very controllable and is not under damped at all.
However, you can drive on the freeway for hours and wouldn't feel tired.
It is the most comfortable sport suspension i ever been on, and it certainly make OEM suspension from BMW M-Sport or Audi S-Line feel very harsh.
While it is comfortable, the steering is still direct and grip is still feel great.
Going off freeway onto sharp off ramp feels steady and predictable.
The only negative at this setting I can find is if I swerve the steering left and right at around 60mph, at the end of the swerve the car feels like it want to continue the swerve one last time before the car straighten out.
It isn't dramatic or dangerous, but something I did feel.
Road Driving Impression - Fast Road
After a few weeks of driving the Z and everything feels like bedded in, I decide to go down to my local "fast road" to see how the car react for spirited driving.
On the comfort setting, the car is still very controllable and that is good.
Once I got a chance to pull to the side, i decide go ramp the damping up full stiff to see how it react.
Setting is now Full stiff at the front, -2 clicks in the rear.
All i can say was WOW! It was like driving a different car in 30 seconds!
All the excess movement from the previous setting was gone, the car feel really planted.
The front end is direct, turn in was really sharp.
The rear also grip really really well under power.
You can really get on the brake to put the weight on the front for the turn in, and you can put the power down out of the corner without worrying the rear will suddenly break out on you.
I couldn't really drive it hard because it is public road, but certainly the drive was REALLY enjoyable.
Also, on this stiff setting the damper still handle the uneven road surfaces really well.
It is STIFF without a doubt, but IT IS NOT HARD... if that make sense.
Where before when you hit a pot hole at 50mph, you get a sharp "bang".
Now, hit the same hole at the same speed, you get a muffled "thud" instead.
The tires wasn't even fazed when I was full throttle in 3rd when it ran over that pot hole.
Conclusion
I got to say overall, the MeisterR GT1 certainly exceeded my expectation.
The range of adjustment from high comfort to high response was great, and you can really use the adjustment to influence how the car feel.
They certainly aren't the cheapest coilovers on the market, but defiantly a player if you are considering the likes of Ohlins, KW, and Bilstein.
Now that I am pretty comfortable with the setting, I will be looking forward to some track days / Auto solo where I can use the car in anger.
But the best improvement is that I can have a really comfortable ride when I head out to meet or want to have a nice drive, because bouncing up and down on a stiff suspension when driving in a straight line on the freeway is just pointless.
Once I arrive at a track, the car will be ready for some work 30 seconds later.
Just want to give a big thank you to Johnny @ JTran for sorting this suspension out for me.
Any other Z members around the Houston area, I hope get out to some meet one day.
Hope you guys enjoy the review.
07-22-2016, 07:37 PM
#3
Nothing much really.
We gave some feedback on a few minor improvement suggestion such as a "shorter" extension cable.
The standard cable provided is a bit long and would need to be cut down, a shorter one would make life and installation easier.
Other than that, pretty much bolt onto the car out of the box.
We gave some feedback on a few minor improvement suggestion such as a "shorter" extension cable.
The standard cable provided is a bit long and would need to be cut down, a shorter one would make life and installation easier.
Other than that, pretty much bolt onto the car out of the box.
07-23-2016, 01:20 AM
#4
Super Moderator
MY350Z.COM
MY350Z.COM
iTrader: (8)
What spring rates did they come with ?
07-24-2016, 05:18 AM
#6
350Z/370Z Tech Moderator
MY350Z.COM
MY350Z.COM
Nice, objective review.
Approximate pricing for people considering these? Given your comment "They certainly aren't the cheapest coilovers on the market, but defiantly a player if you are considering the likes of Ohlins, KW, and Bilstein." guessing in the 2k range?
Approximate pricing for people considering these? Given your comment "They certainly aren't the cheapest coilovers on the market, but defiantly a player if you are considering the likes of Ohlins, KW, and Bilstein." guessing in the 2k range?
Last edited by MicVelo; 07-24-2016 at 05:21 AM.
07-24-2016, 06:24 AM
#7
Trending Topics
07-24-2016, 10:49 PM
#8
Yea, I paid $1,995 for them as they are on an intro offer at the moment.
Will have a "test" with a few of the local guys who are running on the MeisterR ZetaCRD to see what are the difference.
Will be quite interesting as it will literally show the difference of the damper alone, as everyone is also running the same 10/8 springs rate.
But all in all, got to say the GT1 has been impressive.
The level comfort on the softer setting and the response on the stiffer setting are impressively good on either end.
What that mean is that you have quite a wide range to find anything you want in the middle.
I went down to one of my local shop asking about alignment, and they where interested also as they sell a lot of Ohlins DFV coilovers to the Evolution owners.
They are one of a few companies in the USA that rebuild the EVO SST gearbox.
I ask them to drive it around and let me know what they think, and they were really impressed with it.
They drove it around to a few place that they know it have a sudden bump in the middle of the road.
The owner said that this suspension felt really good, and took that bump without upsetting the car at all.
Every bit as good as the Ohlins they sell to the EVO, and if anything feels like what their stock 2015 Nissan GTR suspension is like on Comfort mode.
This was when I was still testing the suspension, so I was -10 clicks in at the front where I am riding at -18 clicks in at the front now just to show how much softer my preference are.
So some high bars there, and so far not a bad word from anyone who have try it which is also nice.
As you know, owners are after biased to what they have.
So having some unbiased feedback from knowledgeable people kind of helps reconfirm that it isn't just my own imagination.
Will have a "test" with a few of the local guys who are running on the MeisterR ZetaCRD to see what are the difference.
Will be quite interesting as it will literally show the difference of the damper alone, as everyone is also running the same 10/8 springs rate.
But all in all, got to say the GT1 has been impressive.
The level comfort on the softer setting and the response on the stiffer setting are impressively good on either end.
What that mean is that you have quite a wide range to find anything you want in the middle.
I went down to one of my local shop asking about alignment, and they where interested also as they sell a lot of Ohlins DFV coilovers to the Evolution owners.
They are one of a few companies in the USA that rebuild the EVO SST gearbox.
I ask them to drive it around and let me know what they think, and they were really impressed with it.
They drove it around to a few place that they know it have a sudden bump in the middle of the road.
The owner said that this suspension felt really good, and took that bump without upsetting the car at all.
Every bit as good as the Ohlins they sell to the EVO, and if anything feels like what their stock 2015 Nissan GTR suspension is like on Comfort mode.
This was when I was still testing the suspension, so I was -10 clicks in at the front where I am riding at -18 clicks in at the front now just to show how much softer my preference are.
So some high bars there, and so far not a bad word from anyone who have try it which is also nice.
As you know, owners are after biased to what they have.
So having some unbiased feedback from knowledgeable people kind of helps reconfirm that it isn't just my own imagination.
01-13-2017, 07:09 AM
#9
I've just joined you on the GT1 suspension, albeit over the pond in the UK
I need to adjust the height, end links tomorrow, then a geo but they're on!
I need to adjust the height, end links tomorrow, then a geo but they're on!
01-13-2017, 09:37 AM
#10
350Z/370Z Tech Moderator
MY350Z.COM
MY350Z.COM
Rob, can't wait to hear how they turn out after your Bilstein setup. Was impressed with Nocturnal's original review and these COs really sound pretty good.
01-16-2017, 02:49 AM
#11
Thank you for an awesome review!
I'm looking forward to hear from you when you get to try out the ZetaCRD, how they compare to GT1s and if they are any good.
And thanks for sharing! Never heard about these before and since I can get them from the UK they are instantly ~29% cheaper for me than anything imported from the states!
(import tax 25%+customs charges)
I'm looking forward to hear from you when you get to try out the ZetaCRD, how they compare to GT1s and if they are any good.
And thanks for sharing! Never heard about these before and since I can get them from the UK they are instantly ~29% cheaper for me than anything imported from the states!
(import tax 25%+customs charges)
01-16-2017, 03:20 AM
#12
I'll pop up a review as well but just to say the GT1's are absolutely fantastic, note my Bilsteins were installed back in Feb 2015, so not old and tired OEM struts.
Last edited by RobPhoboS; 01-16-2017 at 03:28 AM.
