Megan racing coilover

[Itssrayyxd]

Originally Posted by peteralfonso

@Itssrayyxd just a tad bit more info:

My friend with a stock FRS came over to keep me company while installing some parts, we took a ride to Advance Auto Parts to pick up a socket and the first thing he said was "Man your car rides way smoother than mine!". Made no sense to me because I couldn't remember what stock suspension felt like. Sure enough we took his down the road and it feels like garbage compared to mine.

I know since everyone bashes Megan anything I say is pretty much irrelevant but if you want to make your own opinion on these you wont regret spending the money, you can't beet $840 shipped.

Ahhh thanks. I'm still open to any opinions.

[subaruatheart]

I'm having them installed on my car tommorow (Street Series), I'll let you know as well.

[subaruatheart]

Originally Posted by SubieNate

Apparently you haven't been exposed to much.

Completely wrong spring rates for this chassis. The natural frequency balance front to rear is going to be completely off. Can you say understeer? Also, you shouldn't just slap different spring rates on the same damper and try to adjust it out, especially on a single adjustable system.

Of course it makes a difference. The problem is that difference is highly non-linear and varies from damper to damper. So your front right at 15 clicks could be completely different than the left at 15 clicks. This is a problem common to almost all needle valve adjusted dampers, but is especially bad on budget systems.

Again. Wrong spring rates for this car.

To OP-Mike and Andy are right. Damper quality is THE single most important thing for having a suspension system that rides well and performs well. And it's exactly where most budget systems fall flat on their faces. Highly non-linear adjustments, performance that varies greatly from damper to damper, performance that changes significantly as the shock body/fluid/gas changes temperature, performance drop off as the shock [easily] overheats. Head over to NASIOC and read about the kind of issues people have had with Megan/BC (Same company originally, I don't know now) products.

Cheers
Nathan

What is the correct spring rate for this car?

[SubieNate]

Originally Posted by subaruatheart

What is the correct spring rate for this car?

Depends on what you want to do. But definitely not 2k softer in the rear. The multilink design has a different motion ratio than the struts up front which means that a 6k spring in the rear actually acts like something even softer than that. I'll quote @Racecomp Engineering's Andrew:

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

Basic tech info: spring rates, rear suspension, motion ratios, and you.
I wrote this before on an EVO messageboard and it helped a lot of people figure out what to aim for and motivate them to educate themselves on suspension. I thought it would help here too so I modified it a little and here you go. Multiply 1 kg/mm by 56 to get the rate in lbs/in.

-------------------------------------------

Suspension Tech: Motion ratio and choosing spring rates

First, if you don't really care about performance or ride quality and just want a drop, close the thread now and don't sweat it too much.

But if you do care about performance and function, it helps to know what's going on! So keep reading.

Second, I'm not going to spell out exactly what are the "best" spring rates. There are many factors at play that it's impossible and wrong to say what's best for everyone and every application. Ideally you'd have a suspension tuner design a suspension for your specific set-up, needs, and preferences. It's also a little early for that IMO and many of us are still testing things out.

Third, I'm also not going to talk about specific brand names. This is just intended to be a rough guide for people looking at and comparing spring rates for springs and coilovers. Really this is one stepping stone for you to read more authoritative material on suspension.

------------------------------

We often see spring rates that are just plain wrong with several brands of off the shelf coilovers for a variety of cars. It does not necessarily mean the coilovers are bad, but the springs should be swapped out if performance is the goal.

Basics

1. Too stiff. You don't need crazy 14 kg/mm spring rates on narrow street tires. You don't have enough grip to generate enough body roll to need super stiff spring rates. You'll likely be overheating and overloading your tires very quickly. With R Compounds and sticky street tires you will end up on the firmer side of things but there is still much to test for the BRZ/FRS.

Autocross sometimes makes things a bit more interesting and firmer than usual often feels good to some people. Aero also changes thing, as does driver preference, and swaybar sizing. That's a topic for another thread.

2. Secrets. I strongly disagree with the practice of vendors or companies keep their spring rates secret. It isn't a secret sauce, it's just physics. Many get it wrong, but it's not magic and it's up to them to prove they got it right. Physics. Even if you're not a suspension nerd, non-disclosure agreements and secrecy should be a red flag. I really must know the spring rates for a set-up as it's the foundation for everything and I would refuse to purchase anything when that's not provided. Physics.


Failing to account for the motion ratio

Sometimes you see spring rates for a set of coilovers and it's something like 7kg/mm front and 5kg/mm rear. Makes sense, since the BRZ/FRS is a little front heavy right so we can make the rear a little softer? Well actually there's another factor at play.

The BRZ/FRS has a multi-link rear suspension. The rear spring is mounted inwards on the control arm just a little bit. Unlike the front strut which is mounted at the hub, a 5 kg/mm spring rate in the rear does not mean a 5 kg/mm rate "at the wheel". Essentially the rear control arm is a moment arm....placing the spring inwards towards the pivot point means it needs to be stiffer to have the same effect as it would if it were mounted at the end of the arm or at the hub. Sometimes you'll see people mention the "motion ratio." For the front BRZ/FRS with the strut based suspennsion, it's close to 1. For the rear, it's around 0.75.

To get the "wheel" rate of the spring, or the spring rate at the wheel, you multiply the spring rate by the square of the motion ratio.

So that 7k/5k is really more like 7 kg/mm front and 2.8125 kg/mm rear.

Is that bad? Well, if it's not what you were planning on then, yeah, that's not good. It has it's advantages and disadvantages. Some of these can be tackled through swaybars and alignment settings but my philosophy is to get the spring rates right first as a foundation. Softer rear rates CAN work.

Sooo....this doesn't mean that you should go stiffer in the rear, or that softer in the rear is "bad." But it's just something for everyone to understand when looking at spring rates for the various springs and coilovers out there. I'd encourage everyone to read up on what springs actually do for the car and how changes affect a car. I do plan on writing on a few more topics eventually but uh....we've been a little busy lately.


- Andrew

Now. As Andrew said, softer in the rear isn't necessarily wrong every time. This is where my personal opinion comes in. This car already understeers with the stock Subaru rates, which are still stiffer (slightly) in the rear. So my personal opinion is that the lowest you'd want to go in the rear is an equal rate to the front, as is the case with the RCE Yellows. That opinion is based on basic principles of proper wheel rate and natural frequency balances front to rear for a neutral handling car.

Additionally, Megan uses some combo of 8k/6k on this car, the STi, and the EVO X, (probably more) which leads me to believe that these rates are convenient for them to buy in bulk for multiple platforms as opposed to tuned properly for this specific car.

[peteralfonso]

Originally Posted by subaruatheart

What is the correct spring rate for this car?

Originally Posted by peteralfonso

As far as spring rates go, the Street Series give you 8k up front and 6k in the rear. You can call Megan and get whatever spring rates you want though at no additional cost. Stock spring rates are 2.3k up front and 3.8k in the rear just for your reference. So for example, you can call Megan up and request 8k in front and rear and they would gladly do it, up to you.

As I mentioned, I would have requested the 8k in the rear as well as the front if I had known Megan would do it for free. I found out they would do this after I installed them and since I don't plan on ever touching the track or taking my car to it's limits its not a big priority to me.

[SubieNate]

Track or not, I don't see why anyone would buy a car that has been universally praised for it's handling and then put coils on that have a negative impact on that... Even at 8k/8k Megan does not have the damper technology to truly improve on this car's performance, especially if ride comfort is at all cared about.

To each his own I guess.

Nathan

[Mr.Jay]

I have never had Megan coilovers but I did buy camber kits from them to use with my Apex'i Coils and I can say that for the 5 months they were on my car it wasnt too bad but when I parted my car all the bushings that came with the Megans were cracking and in worst condition than the oem ones I originally removed.

I think they are fine if all you want is the look but the quality is deff sub par from what I have seen. I would worry about having to replace/rebuild them after a while.

good luck tho like I said never used their coils so it might be different as well as I parted out my car about 5 years ago now so things might of changed

[naikaidriver]

Originally Posted by Mr.Jay

I have never had Megan coilovers but I did buy camber kits from them to use with my Apex'i Coils and I can say that for the 5 months they were on my car it wasnt too bad but when I parted my car all the bushings that came with the Megans were cracking and in worst condition than the oem ones I originally removed.

I think they are fine if all you want is the look but the quality is deff sub par from what I have seen. I would worry about having to replace/rebuild them after a while.

good luck tho like I said never used their coils so it might be different as well as I parted out my car about 5 years ago now so things might of changed

You should check out the thread about their exhaust. From what I have seen, it hasn't.

Shame too. My wife's name is Megan and it would have been pretty cool to have parts on it from a company called Megan Racing. Just from what I have seen and heard around here and at the track, I will never install any of their products on my cars.

Scott

[Mr.Jay]

Originally Posted by naikaidriver

You should check out the thread about their exhaust. From what I have seen, it hasn't.

Just did and you are right its pretty terrible

look at the pics in that thread the clearance wasn't even factored into R&D at all it hangs soo low

either way I am a believer tho that people should buy what they want however they should educate themselves or at least be prepared to fix/replace what they selected

Having a big name or a name in the industry really means nothing considering AP has made a bunch of crappy products, HKS/Fujitsubo exhaust has rusted thru, Airaid intake loses HP etc etc

[CSG David]

Originally Posted by Mr.Jay

Just did and you are right its pretty terrible

look at the pics in that thread the clearance wasn't even factored into R&D at all it hangs soo low

either way I am a believer tho that people should buy what they want however they should educate themselves or at least be prepared to fix/replace what they selected

Having a big name or a name in the industry really means nothing considering AP has made a bunch of crappy products, HKS/Fujitsubo exhaust has rusted thru, Airaid intake loses HP etc etc

Education is key. Knowledge is power.

[UnOvertime]

I rode in @peteralfonso FR-S today and I felt the ride was smoother than mine, which is only on RCE yellows. I love the way my car feels and it has the right amount of drop for me, but it was not what the OP wanted. The Megan's might have problems down the line when it comes to being rebuilt, but for the budget minded (and budget is different to every person) they at least have to be discussed.

Yes every person would probably love to have a set of R1's, Ohlins, or KW V3's, but it just isn't in everyone's budget or needs. If budget matters then you have to consider them. This forum is all about knowledge and sharing that, some people will have good luck with a certain brand and others simply will not.

[SubieNate]

I'm not really buying the whole "budget" thing on a $25k brand new car. If you want to mod and you can't afford to do it right on a brand new car, buy something used for half the price and mod it right.

[Accurate Race Shop]

Originally Posted by Huehuecoyotl

I watched a car with the megan setup, on the track today

while I am sure its great for the street, it fell way short at the track, looking at how the car cornered, I didnt drive it- but just looked less than optimally sprung/dampened

you get what you pay for

Yeah mine are ok and for the price hard to beat. Also with a little setup they could be a lot better. They well never feel like the penske shocks on my wife's car but I am trying to keep this car cheap so I can do more to the Maserati and my Bronco. These will probably be replaced with koni shocks and springs when they give out. Or I get tired of them. And I will be the first to admit you get what you pay and for what I use them for they work for me. If I get into time trials these bad boys are not staying on the car but for just having fun they work fine.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

[UnOvertime]

Originally Posted by SubieNate

I'm not really buying the whole "budget" thing on a $25k brand new car. If you want to mod and you can't afford to do it right on a brand new car, buy something used for half the price and mod it right.

That argument holds no weight. If you can "mod" a 25k car with 10k worth of parts why didn't you buy a 35k car?

Also what is affordable to some is not to others. I hear people with $500+ car payments on the twins act like it is nothing and for me that is absolutely crazy and I would NEVER pay that much a month. If you have the money by all means go for it, but no harm in trying to keep costs down.