Stance Vs Kw3 vs Fortune Autos?
 

anyone run these? Any opinions on which is better?

I've heard great things from both Stance and Fortune Auto's on S13's and S14's and Kw3 are sworn by a lot of members on here.

I doubt you could go wrong with either just wondering if anyone had any experience with multiple coil overs.

what's your budget? what are you looking for in a coilover?

Yeah these are all really different, it's not apples to apples.

Budget, car uses, goals for suspension - what kind of adjustability do you want/need?

I don't have experience driving on anything but the KW's, but I know for sure I've never had a complaint on KW V3's since I've been in the business... Considerably more performing then stock, that's given of course, but after the several spring kits I've been on, few different coilover sets as well, I landed at KW's, and stuck with it, and now it's the only coilover I'll put on my cars.

There's a ton of reasons why, but most guys will agree it's the most streetable kit with good performance (at least in my opinion).

KW V3s are deff the standout in that group but also for good reason considering they are much more than the others

kw3>stance>fortune

KW V3 will most likely be the best street/track setup out of the 3.

my s14 has stance's. i dont like them and the front damper adjustments seized. not to mention there on the bottom of the damper. that just made adjustments a breeze when they did work -_-.
im planning on fortune autos for the frs

From what I've read, I'd put the FA's over STANCE any day. STANCE just seems like an expensive BC to me.

I think KW's are in a different league than either of those though.

If money is no object then yeag the V3's all the way. I just find it lame that they don't come with camber plates (or am I wrong)

definitely KW is the better choice versus fortune auto and Stance but at the same time they have about a 1000 dollar price difference, all depends on what youre looking for and how much you wanna spend

They don't come with camber plates. Many (but not all) higher end european coilovers do not by default but may have the option.

Some choose to run the KWs with stock rubber tophats for comfort and longevity sake. Others don't want to run the often crappy camber plates that come with coilovers and want to run their own higher quality stuff (like Vorshlag plates which also add caster).

It would be nice if KW had the option for a camber plate pre-installed, but that is a service we offer at RCE. Assembled/torqued/adjusted with either stock top mounts or camber plates. Put them on and have fun. :)

And yeah, the KW's are great. We're working on our RCE Tarmac 2's, which are built by KW but we've still got some work to do.

- Andrew

We were discussing rates in another thread, i know the KW is around 6k/7k will the Tarmac's be a little stiffer?

Its for a daily driver with some spirited driving(cornering, Auto x) and drifting fun! I don't think price will be a problem. So Sounds like Kw3s or FA. I thought Camber plates are important for alignment and gives you more of a range to control when lowering your car?

Do you guy have a Tarmac 2 thread around here somewhere? I'm highly interested in them. I'm debating between Tarmac 2's and Yellow springs.

I am not sure why you keep on bringing Fortune Auto back :)

I am also cross shopping coilovers at the moment and I thought I'd share some of the brands I am considering.

RSR i-coilovers: These are roughly $1800 to $2000, price range wise they are just a tad below the KWs.

Eibach Multi Pro R1: They will be roughly $1600, monotube design

Eibach Multi Pro R2: About $2000 to $2200, external resevoir, too much adjustability IMO.

If price is TRULY not a concern like you were saying, I would opt for the Ohlins which are rumored to be between $3500 to $4000.

All the coilovers that I mentioned above do not "cater" to the "HELLAFLUSH" crowd. They are performance oriented, unlike some of the brands that you have mentioned who's primary concern is flushness and lowness.

Brian

Another option that seems appealing right now are the GC coilovers. It will be interesting to see how they stack up against the KW's as they do offer a lot of bang for your buck seeing as they come with camber plates and a front strut bar as well.

We'll start at 7k/7k but have options on spring rate.

No thread just yet. We want to have a better idea on ETA first. :)

- Andrew

With KW's and stock tophats you can still get a lot of camber. You simply adjust at the lower mount instead of the tophat. Camber plates will let you adjust in a ton of camber (if you want it) and are an all-metal design, which of course can have some drawbacks to the OEM rubber mounts on the street in terms of noise and harshness.

A good quality camber plate is a very good addition for a car that sees the track or autocrosses but isn't a necessity for a street car. There are positives and negatives.

- Andrew

Like someone else mentioned, I wouldn't discount the Ground Control setup which uses Koni inserts in the front and a Koni shock in the back. They also sell them with camber plates.

If the GC's can be specced with an 8011 (I think that's it) level damper like the Zyzzx coilovers that were available a while back for the Impreza that'd be a pretty killer combo.

I would love for a professional driver to take cars out and give input on the strengths and weaknesses of the various systems.

KW, AST, Ohlins and the GC setup are at the top of my list.

Nathan

I'm assuming that most of what you've read was from the internet. And the internet is not exactly a reliable source of information.

You basically have two choices when it comes to coilovers. R&D and good damping, or a bunch of "features."

So would you rather have double ride height adjustability, camber plates, and "32-way" adjustment, or good parts that are going to perform and ride well and last for years without issue.

I think the ultimate question is what do you plan to do with your car and how much you are willing to spend.

I was actually pinging folks here for coilovers for my Supra. Though 2K for some KW V3's seems fair, I can't justify it since I won't be tracking my Supra.

But if you want an entry level coilover that won't break your wallet, I would suggest talking to these guys. Ain't nothing wrong with the lower tier stuff if you have good valving and Swift springs.

http://rallyracingsuspension.com/page1.html

An example of suspension rankings would be something like this.

Higher tier
-Ohlins
-JRZ
-Moton

Mid
-KW VW
-HKS Hipermax
-Cusco

Lower tier
-Megan
-BC
-K Sport
-Stance
-Fortune Auto

They can't put anything on the Internet that isn't true!

I'm a French model. Bonjour!

I'm still waiting to see the Bilstein PSS, the Eibach Street series is also an option I actually prefer to use factory top mounts so not having them isn't an issue for me.

Loved PSS9s on Audis and BMWs

KWs are the shit.

Stance is pretty damn good, but not as good as KWs-nor, would I expect them to be at half the price.

Fortune Auto IS shit. Dampening adjustability sucks, camber adjustability sucks. In short, they suck.

KW3s are obviously going to be the best but the price is much higher.

FA seems to depend on who ask, some people praise them and some people just hate them.

FA can't be TOO bad if FT-86 speed factory is damn near STIs with KWs on them....

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22096


After driving in HPDE as an enthusiast and instructor for years now - FA, KW, and GC are on my list.... Why?


FA I had on my S13 SR car, and after proper adjustment this old ass car that'd have expected to be creaky, rode better than my E46 M3 did (on stock suspension). Had a lot of adjustment and seems to be of good quality. I had no issues, nor complaints.

GC I had on my E36 M3 and LOVED. Easy company to deal with too. The also come with camber plates AND the strut bar for about $2200 IIRC, slightly more expensive than KW but you get a little more too.

KW because they were one of the few companies first to market and did REAL research, not just slapped on Impreza based stuff and called it good. However I've NEVER owned coilovers from them previously.


At the end of the day FA looks like the best deal. I like the idea of bang for buck. More importantly, I'll be tracking the car 6-10 times a year but I know I'm not and never will be a race driver, so I probably will never note the difference between them and KW/GC, and therefore I'll feel like I'd have wasted money.
If you're an EXCELLENT driver, you might notice a difference... And even then... you'll have to decide if its worth 2x the cost.

I have no opnion on BC, Stance, K-Sport, Megan as I've never used them before - I have nothing against them but I prefer to never speak about products with which I do not have personal experiences with (something I wish many more would do).

None of the competitive drivers I know in person would touch stance stuff.

Show me a shock dyno for stance coilovers that shows that the shock was properly valved and I'll reconsider. Until then, in my book they're just fancy BC's.

Nathan

I hear this so often and I have to say it really bugs me. For a track car, sometimes it's just important for the suspension to be stiff because it will make the car more responsive and prevent excessive roll to keep a good contact patch. In this case having pillowballs that clunk and an uncomfortable ride on the street aren't as important. Until you are really serious about it and want to get every last second out of the car $3-5k worth of dampers might not do you a lot of good, especially if you have a bunch of adjustments you don't know how to setup.

Then you have your mostly DD car. IMO this is where it's worth it to spend a little more money on something like the KWs. Otherwise it's not going to be long before you get tired of the harsh ride and clunks.

The KW V3 isn't even made to be a pure track/racing coilover. The clubsport is a better choice for the track which comes with stiffer springs and a little bit different valving, and then there's real motorsports stuff above that.

For me the categories go like this:
-Cheap stuff (megan, stance, bc, etc)
-Good stuff (KW Variant x, AST4100, JRZ RS1, Bilstein, HR, Koni, GC...)
-Motorsports stuff

My reasoning is a corner case. My MKIV is completely OEM and just looked like it rolled off the assembly line. As of Sunday, it only has 55,461 original miles since I have been taking it out for a little spin on the weekends. I bought it b/c of the rare factor and often second guessing even putting wheels on it.

I had R6 with Ohlins TTX and 25mm cartridges and a 6RR in full race trim with a Penske triple clicker rear shock. So I don't really see the effort of putting mid tier suspension on a car that will see less than 30% of the track.

Car are nice to have and boot around but are kind of boring once you ride a moto; especially on the track.

This is spot on... and lets not forget Stance's customer service.

The only good things I've heard about fortune autos are with the broadway coilovers that they supply the dampeners for. And those have such high spring rates that they're really not good for anything but slamming your car to the ground with minimal rubbing.

You guys have put FAs an FR-S/BRZ already? Or any of the coilovers for that matter?

Are you opposed to a nice spring/strut combo for any reason? A set of Koni's and nice springs might work out well. I would also look at the HKS coilovers, i just did a little quick research and they are recommended pretty often.

What I don't get is the KW V3's are DOUBLE ADJUSTABLE...non of the other suspensions mentioned have independent rebound and compression control this is very important for both ride quality (aka don't need a kidney belt to DD your ride) and increased traction (kick alla u friends buts when you go to the track day)..I own a chassis/ suspension shop and if you don't have the adjustability you cant find the sweet spot that fixes the problem you are addressing.

One problem is that there aren't any good struts for sale. When the Konis do come out, the fronts will be inserts at first.

He is looking for a MK IV Supra also...

Eibach and KYB AGX's are what most folks run. I'm not opposed to any aftermarket suspension. I know that a suspension upgrade would include a lot of testing and tuning before it handles well.

Since this car is "unmolested", I feel more compelled not to do anything aftermarket. It had the original ND spark plugs even though Nippondenso changed their name back in the late 90's. If it was a BPU, then I wouldn't hesitate.

The Hipermax III and KW V3's are great suspensions. The only drawback with HKS is that it's more difficult to find a shop to service them. Ever since they bailed out of the US, most owners were left sending them back to HKS Japan or going with a different setup.