DSG Edition FA500's
 

Hello everyone I want to keep this as quick and straight forward as possible so if you got any specific questions please PM me or @Jason@DSG I am also not going to do the whole back story bit lol.

So I ordered these back in mid-November got them early january. They are packaged nicely and sat in my room for the winter. A little over a week ago I finally got these on my car and WOW they completely changed the car. (to be fair I also did some chassis bracing at the same time but I did leave the alignment within stock range and stock height as I am on winter tires still.) As soon as I drove the car out of the shop I could feel how amazing it now felt. They are much stiffer, but I wouldn't call it stiff, more or less "Firm" would be the best word. I was amazed how quick they react to the road. I started with rebound on 5 and it was nice around time and better then stock on the highway as far as comfort goes (IMO) but I found going over train tracks it was a bit harsh until I stepped the rebound up to 12 clicks from soft, at 12 clicks the springs are incredibly well mannered and controlled. As far as performance goes they greatly improved the cornering ability with my winter rubber to the point I was shocked and didn't think was possible. They really nailed it with these coilovers. The comfort is much better then I expected and the performance so far has been exactly what I was looking for. The nice thing about fortune auto is you can call them and actually talk to real people who know what they are talking about. They can also be revalved and rebuilt in the USA so that was a big plus for me. There is also the option to upgrade to the 510 or even dreadnought series if you wanted to. Then there is @Jason@DSG who is an all around awesome guy who was there to help me whenever I needed it. (anyone in Canada they can do a no duty or import fee shipping option :thumbsup: )

TL;DR

Comfort 8/10 (for an average person they are 10/10 for what I was looking for)
Performance 10/10 (so far still on winter rubber)
Quality 9/10
Support & communication 10/10
Value 9/10


Here is what it looks like new:
Attachment 133765

installed on the front (stock height)
Attachment 133766

installed on the rear (stock height)
Attachment 133767

Here is how I adjust them at the rear. I did modify the rear adjuster extenders to achieve this but it only took all of 2 minutes to do both sides.
Attachment 133768



Update:



Hey guys, just a quick update. Got my summer wheels on about a week ago and it feels superb. I am on 17x8 (only weigh 18 pounds) rims with 225/45R/17 Nitto NT01's. I almost want to say they feel better with the summers then the winters but that is likely due to the lighter wheels or placebo effect haha!!

Living with these coils is easy, I forget I have them for most of the drive on my way to work (mainly 100+ km/h highway) They are stiffer for sure in parking lots and speed bumps but I got used to it real quick and still love the feel the car has

Performance:
With the tires I am running the amount of grip is absolutely ridiculous! I need to take my car to the skid pad to find out how many G's it can pull because I have taken a few empty exit ramps hard enough to slightly upset stomach from the lateral G's hahaha!! Now that being said these are 100 tread wear tires so most of the grip is from them, but the OEM suspension would have been so easily overloaded and these coils seem almost perfect for the tires. A slightly higher spring rate might be a better choice for these tires if it was a track car, but I use mine as a DD .

Now the bad: There is not nearly enough camber adjustment with just the top hats on these I had to buy camber bolts to get -2, with the bolts they maxed out at -3 (I did the alignment myself with the help of a tech cuz I work a dealership so I got to play around with it) I also have a slight noise coming from the back 2. They have done it since day 1 and sounds the same on both side. You only hear it on low speed bumps at like 10km/h and it sounds like a normal noise to me. I think it has to do with having solid tophats.


Overall I am 100% satisfied with them and would recommend them to anyone looking for a mid range coilover.

Interesting take on these! I was actually looking into getting these after considering that the Ohlins were way too expensive.

I'm interested to see your monthly reviews since that's what counts. Do you use your car as a daily driver, track, or etc?

Yeah I will have to report back after I do some more miles and get my summer wheels on so I can really test them out. Car is a DD with a mix of city and Highway. I spend about 30 minutes each way commuting. In the summer I do plan on heading to castrol speedway for a real track test of these as I haven't seen one yet.
Hahaha yeah I was worried about that at first but the adjusters I have flex so I thought it would be alright, then I realized that I dont use my trunk lol!!!

Great. I'm thinking about possibly getting a used set of Ohlins (15K Milesfor around $2500, but if these are better, then I might just go for these in preparation for supercharger this year.

These are certainly not better than the Ohlins. These are entry level coils with a few upgrades on them.

I have never rode on ohlins but I would suspect this to be true haha! I would certainly hope ohlins are better at twice the price hahaha!

Make sure they are the first gen ohlins. The new ones they sell are too soft now

just curious, what would've allowed the quality rating to be a 10/10 instead? (putting the end cost/price aside)

With that said, what scale are we using to measure the Fortune's? How do the 8,9,10/10s translate to a set of Ohlins?

Different scales bruv. One is set in terms of cheap, entry level coils and the other is set in terms of more expensive, more advanced, better coils.

Plus, I'm sure if Ohlins developed an air cup system, they wouldn't leave the R&D to some schmuck from this here forum.

To get a 10/10 they need to have that WOW factor like a polished shock body or something over the top like that. Quality is based on the feel of them in my hand not the performance of them

My scale is on 1-10 for an entry level coilover and for what they are I am absolutely blown away with them at the price point. I would buy these again in a heart beat.


Like cole said, different scales but I have never been on ohlins or JRZ ect so I cant compare them. I have rode on many other cheap coilovers in other peoples cars though.


and yeah.... Fortune Auto really dropped that ball on the air cup thing.

I bought these at the same time, but installed them earlier (January). I'm still not posting a review (not until after RA and at least one autox event); but if I had to review now, my experience does not match. If I had to do it over again I'd have spent more to get something better; but then again, I'm not ready to review these yet.

I just don't think they can be rated on quality after 90 days.
Comfort is a 6/10 at best.
Performance is actually good however; and I'd give the same score to DSG/FA for communication and support.
Value can't be stated until quality can be stated.

just my 2 cents; look for my review around the six month mark.

EDIT: To be clear, I have these for different reasons than go_a_way1 and my experience will vary greatly in that regard.

My idea of comfort is a firm controlled ride and you have to remember these are 7k/8k spring rates, thats a huge increase over stock so they are going to be way stiffer. You cant buy something like these and expect stock ride comfort haha!! What makes you think they are uncomfortable? have you played with dampening that makes a big difference

edit: and thanks for sharing your experience! I am all about honest reviews

I was also unimpressed with mine though. Very bumpy no matter what.

Thanks for the reply @go_a_way1. Another reason I have not purchased coilovers, lowering springs, etc. is that I am VERY pleased with the factory ride. I'd love the in between road and track setup. However, there will always be compromises.

Edit: In terms of price point.

Yeah these are stiff enough that if you hit a good bump at good speed your butt will lift off the seat. I have had this happen to me once already hahahaha!! If you are looking for a stock like ride these are not for you. They are much more firm but well mannered so they dont feel harsh. Your best bet would be to spend big $$$ or just stick to RCE yellows and bilstiens if you want a factory like ride that will preform well.

I have not been able to get the ride 'controlled'. While i'm able to make it stiff (but more random), or soft (and very bouncy); they aren't balanced. When I get another warm spell and more time with them; this may change.

I'm fine with the soft and bouncy, the the stiff side is currently unacceptable. It just seems to leave them randomly bouncy. After two weeks, I redid the rear pre-load and it has been better.

Again, for me, it's that the jury is still out on these.

Try 12 clicks all around. Thats what I found is good so far. I haven't gone any higher. I find when it was on 5 clicks it was less comfortable over large bumps and crashsy but when its firmer the springs are better controlled and large bumps such as train tracks are much more manageable

I have also come to accept that I don't track as much as I think I do. In my head I'm this trackster guy that's out there racing the world. Reality is that I only go a few times a year. In my case, I'd probably be better off with some RCE's Koni struts, alignment and possibly swaybars for fine tuning. I think that would give me the best setup for like 90% street:10% track compromise at a relatively good price point.

Edit: Wrote this before I read your reply. Seems like we are on the same page :thumbsup: @go_a_way1

That's not just a function of spring rate... I'm on much higher spring rates and rarely even send the tool box in the trunk flying in this manner... It's happened, but it was a really bad bump - speed bump size (and preferable to being crunched by the idiot in the car next to me.)

Also a different price point.

hahaha I was going about 130kph and hit a nice sized dip in the road, thats how I got my butt to lift off. Could have been avoided but I was testing in the name of science

Edit: Also I am sure price point does make a big difference but thats above what I need for my car haha!

May i ask of ur alignment settings? I cant get -3 in front for camber with mines

I just had my alignment done, front is -2.5 and back is -2.0 (sigh, no LCAs). I went with 0 toe for now.

Before you adjust camber, set the top hats to as positive as they go, then get as much camber with you can with adjusting the mount (camber bolts if you have them). After that -3 should be easy.

I dont think setting them all the way positive first is going to change anything as they only have so much play in the mounting points. But i did camber it as much as i could before i torqued the nuts. Thanks tho. How far are u away from being maxed out on ur top hats?

Hadn't popped the hood since the alignment, went and checked, not enough to go to -3; I'd have to add camber bolts.

For now I am still factory spec and height. it didnt look like I was going to get -3 just from eyeballing it I would guess I would only get -2 max the way it sits now if I lower it, but I do have camberbolts (not installed) they were always part of the plan. I also got LCA's for the rear so I got some wiggle room there.

Thanks i ordered bolts

This isn't a comment on FAs but rather on coilovers (or any suspension in general)....but I highly recommend waiting until you have your winter tires off before testing/tuning/judging your shocks. Tires obviously make a huge difference in handling but also in ride. We always try to do our testing and baseline settings on the tires that we expect our customers to be running.

Even going from one summer tire to another we often find ourselves making an adjustment...so going from squishy sidewall winters to performance summers is a seriously big change.

- Andrew

Please define entry level. Just because Fortune Auto has a good price-point doesn't make them entry level in any way. They're hand-built and fully customizable in the US. Nothing against Ohlins since we also sell them, however these stand up to Ohlins no problem and are leaps and bounds ahead of entry level coils (ie. BC, ISC, etc.)

Very good point haha!! I am going from blizzaks to Nitto NT01's so its going to completely change, but once I try those as well I will come back and update the thread. I didnt buy these coilovers for comfort but I was very impressed with the ride on my winters

I can attest to that from the number of ride alongs I have been on in my quest for suspension. I have never rode on any of the top tier stuff so no comment on them

Proving this even further, Fortune does have an entry level brand they just released called Prime Suspension to compete with the BC/ISC type coilovers.

@Racecomp Engineering @Jason@DSG @sosick @LOLS2K @GeorgeJFrick

Hey guys, just a quick update. Got my summer wheels on about a week ago and it feels superb. I am on 17x8 (only weigh 18 pounds) rims with 225/45R/17 Nitto NT01's. I almost want to say they feel better with the summers then the winters but that is likely due to the lighter wheels or placebo effect haha!!

Living with these coils is easy, I forget I have them for most of the drive on my way to work (mainly 100+ km/h highway) They are stiffer for sure in parking lots and speed bumps but I got used to it real quick and still love the feel the car has

Performance:
With the tires I am running the amount of grip is absolutely ridiculous! I need to take my car to the skid pad to find out how many G's it can pull because I have taken a few empty exit ramps hard enough to slightly upset stomach from the lateral G's hahaha!! Now that being said these are 100 tread wear tires so most of the grip is from them, but the OEM suspension would have been so easily overloaded and these coils seem almost perfect for the tires. A slightly higher spring rate might be a better choice for these tires if it was a track car, but I use mine as a DD .

Now the bad: There is not nearly enough camber adjustment with just the top hats on these I had to buy camber bolts to get -2, with the bolts they maxed out at -3 (I did the alignment myself with the help of a tech cuz I work a dealership so I got to play around with it) I also have a slight noise coming from the back 2. They have done it since day 1 and sounds the same on both side. You only hear it on low speed bumps at like 10km/h and it sounds like a normal noise to me. I think it has to do with having solid tophats.


Overall I am 100% satisfied with them and would recommend them to anyone looking for a mid range coilover.

LOL I ended up bending one of mine slightly :lol:

BC is also (claimed) hand built to order, what's your point? Just because they have the DSG name on them doesn't make them a heaven sent.

How do they stand up to Ohlins, and what factual information do you have in regards to that?

I have two autocross events this weekend, and i'm continuing to reserve judgement until Sunday night. As previously discussed, if forced to write a review now, it would be neutral.

I cant wait to read your take on them :cheers: