Fr-s on Fortune Auto 500s

[Propaganda]

Get comfy, grab a snack. Gonna make this as informative as possible for anyone that's wondering.


First off, a bit of background about me:

I do a lot of driving/traveling/commuting, especially since this summer started. I picked up my car mid august and already have 7700 miles on it. I'm working temporarily in PA and my term is coming to an end, so I've been doing a lot of daily driving. I have been doing autocross for 2 and a half years. This next spring will be my third full season. I also drag race (for fun against friends at a local track) and the occasional spirited drive.


Quick overview:

I wanted to lower the car... I couldn't take the wheel gap any more. Springs wouldn't get the height I wanted, so I figured coilovers would be the best bet - I can go as low as I want and raise it up if need be. At first, I wanted KW v3s. Then I started looking into AST. I was dead set on the v3s... but then reality hit. I never had coilovers before. I was talking to friends, reading up on here and I realized I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the brands, and therefore I wouldn't be able to get the full potential out of a better (so to speak) system. I started talking to friends that had BCs and they said they loved them. But on forums, I only saw people that autocrossed with "cheaper" coilovers had Fortune Autos (that's what I saw, at least).... So I started thinking, maybe there was more to it. I saw that FT-86 Speed Factory had good success with it, and being that it was my first set of coilovers and I couldn't justify a higher cost anymore, I pulled the trigger. I PM'd FT-86speedfactory and Jeremy was quick to respond and help me out. He got the process rolling on a Sunday and had contacted FA first thing in the morning on Monday ......I got a package in the mail on Wednesday ...but I had to wait till Friday to put them in. Here is where I would post a pic of the box, but I remembered it's on my camera that's an hour and a half away. I ordered Fortune Auto v4 500s with Swift springs and the roller bearing upgrade. I kept the factory rates of 6k F/7k R since I do a lot of daily driving.

The installation was pretty straight forwards. I didn't take too many pics, so I can't write a detailed write-up. For that, please reference the DIY section. They're all pretty much the same process. Didn't take too long to get them in, but adjustments to get the drops even took the most time. Some of the most important things are to make sure all bolts/nuts/etc on the system are not loose and to set the preload to 1/4" on the fronts.


Total drop was about 1.65" front and rear. I'm on 225/45/17 bridgestone re-92sand the gap from tire to fender is 1.5cm. I also have an Ark Performance grip catback with test pipe, and ground clearance is pretty minimal now. I do scrape on speedbumps.


Pics from installation:

Here is the front left at max height... it's higher than stock, haha



And my tool for alignment. Not joking, it's straight up out of the late 60s and works great.



For now, I set the camber to -0.5 degrees in the front. Rears are not adjustable in stock form... I still need to get on that. I didn't check, since there's nothing I can do right now, but it looks like somewhere between negative 2-3 degrees. After is on the left, before on the right.




Anyway, here's some more pics of it

Before


After



The rear LCAs are a hair just above parallel to the ground.











Now on to how they ride...

The ride is what you would expect. It's stiffer and bumpier. I can't autocross till March or so, so this'll be more DD oriented. If you want a smooth ride, do not get these and stop reading now. Even on the softest damping setting and paired with 6k/7k springs, the ride is too bouncy and stiff. But that's not why I got these.

Even at >1.5" drop, the car feels much more planted and there is significantly less body roll from what I've seen driving around. Yes, I do the occasional spirited drive, but I haven't just yet. I have the damping set to the 5th softest setting, and that's comfy enough. As far as noise goes, they aren't noisy at all. However, over some bumps (think construction/small pot holes/changing from a road-bridge) there is a clunk sound, but it's perfectly normal, from what I've read and been told. It has to do with the tophats being metal... so it's a metal on metal sound. Even my friends w/ BCs had the noise, so it's not escapable with them.

Anyway, for autocross I'm pretty sure I will have to raise the car a bit. I also need to get some sort of camber adjustment for the rear. For the average person, I think this coil over system is too rough. But if you do autocross or like a more "track prepped" car, this is about what you would expect. I can feel the road a bit better, and the car just feels more solid overall. I can't wait till spring when I can slap my RS-3s on to see how they really perform.

So far for what I paid, I think I got a good deal. Jeremy at FT-86speedfactory has been great to work with, and the guys at Fortune Auto have been quick to help out, as well. It was a very smooth and painless process. I recommend either company. One of my friends was looking to buy a set for his 240 on black Friday, but FA sold out fast!

I wish I could write a more helpful review, but I just threw these on a few days ago. If you're ok with a firmer ride for a daily driver, by all means get these. If you autocross or are ok with the feel of a "track" car, get these. I can't wait to really test these out. The wait for autocross season is going to kill me. Just trying to be blunt and honest about this system for a DD use, if you just want to jump in the game. I recommend this more for people that have some sort of track experience or are at least familiar to how a car with stiffer springs and damping rides.



Also for anyone wondering, I have an Airaid intake as well, and am on powder coated tc1 wheels.

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

Glad we can help.

I'm digging the TC wheels.

[JoeBoxer]

Nice review, i'm pretty sure any coilover that doesn't use the factory top mounts will be too stiff for me i am waiting on the Eibach Street or Bilstein to come out. I think many people need to ride in a car with coilovers with camber plates before they buy them and make sure it's something they can handle.

[Propaganda]

Originally Posted by JoeBoxer

I think many people need to ride in a car with coilovers with camber plates before they buy them and make sure it's something they can handle.

This.

I knew it would be stiff, but I've never owned a car with them, so it was a huge bump up from what I was used to. The stiffest springs I've had were 315ft-lbs.... the softest of these is ~330ft-lbs, but also includes stiffer damping as well.

I'm not saying I hate it, by any means. Just was a abrupt change for me, but something I wanted.

[Captain Insano]

I wonder how much diff the swift spring upgrade makes for daily driveability with these coils. Sounds like they help but wondering how much. I am not a big coilover fan on DD vehicles anymore after running some on previous cars. Sounds like you got exactly what you want for your DD though so kudos.

[JoeBoxer]

If you are looking for camber correction i would recommend the SPC lower control arms, i have them and Turn In Concepts uses them as well. If you aren't in any hurry Esoteric Performance told me they are working on some just today. Not sure on price or eta on those though.

[jamal]

Originally Posted by Propaganda

I was dead set on the v3s... but then reality hit. I never had coilovers before. I was talking to friends, reading up on here and I realized I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the brands, and therefore I wouldn't be able to get the full potential out of a better (so to speak) system.

I hear this so much and it really bugs me. While you might not be able to dial in the damper settings to shave those last couple of tenths on track, you would absolutely notice the difference between your coilovers and a KW.

Also, I see you have that camber gauge on there with the wheel off and the car needs to be aligned at ride height on very flat ground. So hopefully you had a jack under control arm and measured fender to wheel center height and also got the car dead level. Otherwise it's going to be WAY off.

Originally Posted by Captain Insano

I wonder how much diff the swift spring upgrade makes for daily driveability with these coils. Sounds like they help but wondering how much. I am not a big coilover fan on DD vehicles anymore after running some on previous cars. Sounds like you got exactly what you want for your DD though so kudos.

I can't see how it would be much. It's just changing one spring for a slightly better one of the same rate. If the stock ones are somehow that bad what does it say about the rest of the parts?

[Captain Insano]

Why are swifts an "upgrade" then?? I thought it was for better DD characteristics but honestly don't know. I suppose you could ask for the swift spring rates in the reg fortune springs. That would be an interesting compare.

[Propaganda]

Originally Posted by Captain Insano

Why are swifts an "upgrade" then?? I thought it was for better DD characteristics but honestly don't know. I suppose you could ask for the swift spring rates in the reg fortune springs. That would be an interesting compare.

I thought it was because they use less material (less coils) so it was less weight?

[Captain Insano]

Just went and read the product review and I think u are right. How much weight??? Doesn't seem worth it but does make sense from a weight/purists perspective.

[Propaganda]

Originally Posted by jamal

Also, I see you have that camber gauge on there with the wheel off and the car needs to be aligned at ride height on very flat ground. So hopefully you had a jack under control arm and measured fender to wheel center height and also got the car dead level. Otherwise it's going to be WAY off.

Yeah, I had the rear under a jack and the front sitting on jack stands in my driveway. Every time I changed the height, i had to redo it. It was a time consuming process, haha. I don't have any straight on shots of the front, but it's only -0.5. You can tell it's barely angled inwards from vertical.

[dabocx]

Just ordered mine hopefully i can handle the stiffer ride, first time ill ever have a car with coils.

[ebphoto]

they have cheap modern versions of that camber/caster gauge...
..would definitely make alignments cheaper... just need to get toe adjusted unless you do that yourself as well?
pretty nifty tool.

[JoeBoxer]

Originally Posted by jamal

I hear this so much and it really bugs me. While you might not be able to dial in the damper settings to shave those last couple of tenths on track, you would absolutely notice the difference between your coilovers and a KW.

I agree here, jamal has some very good posts and insight i'm glad to have him here. While you may not tell a difference between a BC/Stance/FA you would definitely feel a difference with the KW as they are valved specifically to the car and with the stock upper mount the ride will definitely be smoother.