Fr-s on Fortune Auto 500s

[Propaganda]

I'm not trying to promote KW or any other suspension here or bash Fortune or any other, so let's try to prevent that before it starts. There are other threads for that

Originally Posted by 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.

Well I already had that available, so I used it. Don't fix it if it ain't broke (yes I know that modern tools can be better). From what I saw, toe wasn't affected. I still plan to do a proper alignment after I get camber adjustment for the rear. This is mostly temporary.

Originally Posted by JoeBoxer

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 have a smoother ride.

After reading his and your posts, I would have to agree with you both. What I meant by my statement was that since this is my first set ever, I wouldn't really know the difference.... I'd have nothing for comparison. If it's your child's first time driving, why let him/her go out in a brand new Ferrari if he/she doesn't know what he/she's doing? I figured for my first experience, I'd get an entry level system. Did I make the right choice? Will I keep these after 1 year, 2 years, or more? Only time will tell. I didn't buy these with comfort in mind, so I knew that going in. For now, I'm happy with them. Just wish it was closer to March.

[JoeBoxer]

I gotcha, i think you made a good choice for your needs and you are happy with them which is the most important part. Buyer's remorse is a crappy feeling just glad to hear you don't have it

[Propaganda]

OK, so I've had these on for about 2 weeks now and added about ~400 miles. I've definitely gotten used to the increased stiffness, but I think it was also due to the fact that I hadn't driven a car with a modified suspension in about 5 months prior to installing these and was driving around in my mom's lexus and dad's pick up truck (since I sold my car)

Anyway, the ride isn't that harsh; there definitely is worse. Still, I would recommend doing research before just jumping in to these and expecting a nice ride. I have the damping set to mostly soft and am enjoying the ride. However, I still do slow down/avoid bumps wherever possible.

Right now the car is not set up for track use at all. Front camber is at -0.5 degrees and rear is pretty bad (by DD standards). I have not corner balanced the car and have damping set equal between F/R. I ordered a set of Cusco rear control arms, again through FT-86speedfactory (great response time from them). They arrived today, but I won't have time to install them until 15th. I'll get a proper alignment (minus corner balance) so I won't eat up tires. Once autocross starts up again, I'll go a bit more aggressive with the alignment and damping settings. Despite not being properly aligned or set up for track use.... the car feels MUCH more responsive, stable, and capable. The difference is noticeable, and I am expecting good times this season, especially paired with a nice set of tires.

[jdzumwalt]

I smash through bumps with my KW's. I only have to look out for big dips that can affect my scraping the front end. But the car is never harsh. I'm old (37) and have had plenty of lowered cars I will settle for nothing less than KW.

[Propaganda]

Originally Posted by jdzumwalt

I smash through bumps with my KW's. I only have to look out for big dips that can affect my scraping the front end. But the car is never harsh. I'm old (37) and have had plenty of lowered cars I will settle for nothing less than KW.

Good for you.


But that's also one reason why I avoid bumps and whatnot; to avoid scraping.

[dabocx]

Hoping mine get here soon i really want to try these out.
I have a track day coming up soon.


Can you adjust height while they are mounted?

[Propaganda]

Originally Posted by dabocx

Hoping mine get here soon i really want to try these out.
I have a track day coming up soon.


Can you ajust height while they are mounted?

Yep. That's how I made sure the drop height was even all around

[Propaganda]

Figured I might as well update this some...

Had these on for a couple thousand miles now and love them. Compared to some of my friends that have BCs (on an STI, WRX, and Mazda 3) they do ride stiffer.

Had my car properly aligned back in mid December. I'm running -1.4 degrees of camber all around, 0 toe and 6 degrees caster. I also added a set of Cusco adjustable rear lower control arms and an FT86 Speedfactory strut tower tri-bar (all things suspension-related). I'm also driving on 225/45/17 Hankook RS-3s.

I had my first two autocrosses this past weekend after I had modded my car. First day was a test and tune, and 2nd was a points event. First day started out rainy but got dry, and unfortunately the points event was raining for my run group. I ran about 10 seconds slower that day - I could barely get traction. But from what I ran on the first day, the car felt amazing and there was minimal body roll. It was able to transition from turn to turn with ease. I can't wait till the next event... but I just hope that it doesn't rain. That was depressing. I finished right in the middle of the pack of about 70 drivers.

[Propaganda]

Been a while since I posted in this (or anyone, for that matter haha)

OK, so I have had these for about a year and a half now, with somewhere around 15,000 miles on them. Since initial install, I have learned a whole lot more through trial, error, and reading. These coilovers are still "budget," but are pretty decent "budget" ones at that. I kind of knew what to expect, and they have performed right around that.

Anyway - in regards to the stiffness and bounciness.... I was initially riding with the rebound compression set to full soft (open jet). I started playing around with it more as I started autocrossing and driving around down at school, that if I changed if I started closing it, the ride was much nicer. I still don't fully understand this, haha. Anyway, going from 0 to 5 clicks ( 0 <= x <= 15 ) made it ride nicer over bumps and around town.

Performance:
Autocross and taking turns at speed are so much more enjoyable. I had made the mistake of throwing all my mods and tires on before I started autocrossing. Needless to say, it was a steep learning curve. I eventually started getting the hang of it and was able to start placing top 10 PAX consistently, and within the top 25% RAW (of 70+ drivers on average, sometimes upwards of 90, usually with a few karts). I still have room for improvement, I won't deny that haha.

Reliability:
Well, driving for 15,000+ miles and through two winters will take its toll. After the first winter, I started hearing and feeling some resistance when turning the wheel (especially at a stop), which was accompanied by a lovely "twang twang" sound..... Long story short, the salt dried out the grease in the thrust bearings. I don't know how many of you are familiar with FA, but they redesigned their thrust bearings about a year ago, and for good reason.




LOL. ummmm.

About 4 months prior, I had taken them apart and reapplied more grease. That solved it for about two weeks. The pictures above were taken at time of install for the NEW bearings, in November.





As you can see, there is a vast improvement. This design is much more like an OEM part. It performs like one. I'm through another winter now, with these on and they still are like they were on day 1. No sound, and a nice, smooth steering feel.


Overall, I have been happy with these coilovers and am still glad I purchased these over BC or Stance, after talking to several people. Other than the thrust bearings rusting out (simple fix) I have had no issues with these and I still plan to keep them, DD, and autocross on them. I have plans for the car years down the line, but that is a big change in direction and most everything I currently have on the car will get replaced, lol. But that will be many years from now.

[JerryMichaels7]

I just installed 510s with 8k/9k, running full soft. Will have to try 5 clicks in or so and see how they ride. No alignment yet and i know its bad.