Megan racing coilover

[SubieNate]

I didn't buy a $35k car because there aren't any $35k cars that I want. I've been wanting this car since I saw the first concept. Also, that would obliterate any chance of modding. Which I enjoy.

There's a difference between keeping costs down and cutting corners.

As is, I'm saving my money and modding slowly so that I can do it right. I don't need coilovers, and neither do any of you on this forum who aren't competing professionally. Because it's a want, and not a need, there's no rush. I see people putting tons of money into 15 different mods right off the bat, all of which are less than optimal. A better approach is to learn the car, mod as you go, and really appreciate the quality of the improvements you make.

The car handles great stock, and to the average person, looks pretty darn good. We aren't starting with a grandma car that needs a lot of help to look and drive nicely. I for one, wish to respect the awesome engineering work Tada San and his team did on this car by not screwing it up with subpar modifications.

Cheers
Nathan

[boredom.is.me]

Originally Posted by SubieNate

...I've been wanting this car...

Do you notice that you just defeating your "budget" argument?

[SubieNate]

Originally Posted by boredom.is.me

Do you notice that you just defeating your "budget" argument?

How so? It's within my personal budget, I want it, and unlike mods, I'm not compromising anything in choosing it. Part of being an adult is getting to have things you want. Another part is acknowledging that it may not be the right time to purchase something we want, because we can't afford something that meets a minimum quality requirement.

I never said everyone needs to buy Penske coils for this car. But taking a brand new car that has been very well engineered from the ground up to be a fantastic handler and slapping on a set of $800 coils that have been thrown together only to make money with dampers of unknown quality and even more unknown force/velocity curves and guaranteed inconsistency from damper to damper and spring to spring makes very little sense to me.

[boredom.is.me]

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.

I didn't buy a $35k car because there aren't any $35k cars that I want. I've been wanting this car since I saw the first concept.

Originally Posted by SubieNate

How so? It's within my personal budget, I want it, and unlike mods, I'm not compromising anything in choosing it. Part of being an adult is getting to have things you want. Another part is acknowledging that it may not be the right time to purchase something we want, because we can't afford something that meets a minimum quality requirement.

See this, your personal budget isn't everyone else's personal budgets or else we would all have Grams Lights, Rocket Bunny kits, and $4000 coilovers. Ya, it's called compromises. If you don't want someone to do something to their car, then you buy them the parts. Otherwise, leave them be.

[SubieNate]

Originally Posted by boredom.is.me

See this, your personal budget isn't everyone else's personal budgets or else we would all have Grams Lights, Rocket Bunny kits, and $4000 coilovers. Ya, it's called compromises. If you don't want someone to do something to their car, then you buy them the parts. Otherwise, leave them be.

The Rocket Bunny kit is poorly designed from an aero standpoint anyway.

I understand your point. And I'm not trying to say that anyone who buy's Megans or other low end coils is an idiot. But I can't help but try to inform those that haven't made purchases yet. I'm very much a function>form person, so it's hard for me to understand purposefully hurting the performance of the car, even if looks are your main goal.

There are budget options that work well and are an improvement over stock. With bump travel extenders the Koni's could probably be lowered more. The Ground Control street system is $1300 and would be excellent for someone wanting a drop at a reasonable cost. Good Koni dampers, and the springs can be setup to give you a pretty decent drop. If you talk with GC they can probably weld the mounting flanges on a bit higher so that you get a bit more bump travel.

The Feal 441's are probably another option that outperforms others in their price range.

For wheels, Enkei makes a number of options that look good and don't break the bank. It doesn't have to be knock offs from America's Tire or Volks, there are options in the middle that do very well.

As this platform develops, more and more good options will become available at every price point. I hope to encourage people on this forum to think about the modifications they do to their cars and about the ramifications of those modifications. If something cheap breaks down 6 months from now, is it really going to save you any money in the long run? Are rattling spherical bearings going to bother you or not? Will you be disappointed when you can't get your car to feel the same when turning right/left because the dampers adjustment ranges don't overlap very well?

It seems that so many people get bit by the modification bug and immediately rush off and buy whatever they have the cash for at that moment.

My last car was a 99 Impreza L wagon. The stock suspension was designed for grandma. I came up with a plan I thought would work well, and just went for it, without really doing any real testing into the exact benefits of each mod. I ended up with a car that handled MUCH better than stock, but that wasn't really all that difficult was it? With this car, everything is at such a high level stock (1g on the skidpad with the right tires, STOCK!) that I'm putting in a ton more effort to learn the ins and outs of it's suspension, and suspension tuning in general, before I **** around with anything. Because when you start somewhere really good, it's a lot easier to end up with something that's not any better, or worse.

Cheers
Nathan

[Accurate Race Shop]

From my personal experience with the Megan coilovers they are a huge step up from stock. They stiffened the car up and really made it feel like a big go kart. I have almost got them the best they can get and the car is a little pushy and slow on the switch backs better than stock but worse than more expensive suspension setups. They were not my first choice my wife bought them for me as a gift and I have been pleasantly surprised from my very low expectations. I have had friends that have ran Megan for years and loved them and met guys that had them blow out in six months. They are cheap you get what you pay for but they are not a horrible product just make sure you mail in that warranty paperwork.

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[SubieNate]

I dislike the go-kart comparison.

Go-karts have no suspension. That means their tires unload and load extremely quickly. With the right driver on a perfectly smooth surface, it means they transition fast and can get from maximum grip in one direction to the other very quickly, making for good use of their limited power.

In a car, on less than perfect surfaces, having a bump-travel deficiency means the tires can't follow the road as well and you lose grip which makes the car less predictable and handle worse in both performance driving and emergency situations. Yes, with grippy tires and stiff springs with little bump travel (or even riding on the bump stops) the car is going to turn in and bite like nobody's business. But what happens when you hit a bump mid corner and your outside rear tire runs out of travel, sending the effective spring rate to infinity? It shocks the tire, you loose grip and spin out. These types of unpredictable behaviors are common with lower priced coilovers and cheap lowering springs. Most people don't get all that close to the limit on the street, so they don't notice. But take it to the track, or get into a true emergency situation on road, and those characteristics are far from desirable.

To be fair, there are systems that are far worse than Megans. But there are also systems far better, some of which don't cost a whole lot more.

Cheers
Nathan

[timerbob]

If Megans are in your range, how about Tanabe's?

[Accurate Race Shop]

Originally Posted by SubieNate

I dislike the go-kart comparison.

Go-karts have no suspension. That means their tires unload and load extremely quickly. With the right driver on a perfectly smooth surface, it means they transition fast and can get from maximum grip in one direction to the other very quickly, making for good use of their limited power.

In a car, on less than perfect surfaces, having a bump-travel deficiency means the tires can't follow the road as well and you lose grip which makes the car less predictable and handle worse in both performance driving and emergency situations. Yes, with grippy tires and stiff springs with little bump travel (or even riding on the bump stops) the car is going to turn in and bite like nobody's business. But what happens when you hit a bump mid corner and your outside rear tire runs out of travel, sending the effective spring rate to infinity? It shocks the tire, you loose grip and spin out. These types of unpredictable behaviors are common with lower priced coilovers and cheap lowering springs. Most people don't get all that close to the limit on the street, so they don't notice. But take it to the track, or get into a true emergency situation on road, and those characteristics are far from desirable.

To be fair, there are systems that are far worse than Megans. But there are also systems far better, some of which don't cost a whole lot more.

Cheers
Nathan

I have noticed a few little issues I have had a lot of people help me adjust them to get them the best they can be. The biggest complaint we all seem to have is the spring rates on the front. They are 448 in the front and 336 in the rear. I often find myself out driving the front of the car leaving the back struggling to keep behind me. We are now dropping in new coils with a 370 in the front and a 350 in the rear. I have the cash to replace them but I really want to find a way to make them a solid track suspension and post the entire setup and cost for people on a budget. I hear Megan racing holds up like a champ over time so it I can get it all fine tuned I think we can have a good setup for enthusiast for under $1000. If this next step doesn't work I'm replacing them with ohlins and calling it a lost cause.

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[Drftfan]

I am also going to come to Megan's defense. I had them on my s13 and they were great. Unless I am seriously thinking about tracking my car only then would I start looking at more expensive coilovers.
Back before my s13 I had an s14 240 that I put Ksports on. Even with the sh*t install my mechanic had done they also were great.
The last car I put coilovers on was my audi tt I had. Used vmaxx for those. They are the cheapest coilovers pretty much anywhere and they also worked very well.
For a standard street car I personally would NEVER drop $2,000 on a set of coilovers.

[Accurate Race Shop]

Originally Posted by Drftfan

I am also going to come to Megan's defense. I had them on my s13 and they were great. Unless I am seriously thinking about tracking my car only then would I start looking at more expensive coilovers.
Back before my s13 I had an s14 240 that I put Ksports on. Even with the sh*t install my mechanic had done they also were great.
The last car I put coilovers on was my audi tt I had. Used vmaxx for those. They are the cheapest coilovers pretty much anywhere and they also worked very well.
For a standard street car I personally would NEVER drop $2,000 on a set of coilovers.

I have dropped some serious money into suspension but on more expensive cars. Megan also allows you to select your valves and will sell you a new valve kit. This flexability has drawn me to them because they have people who's whole job is to tell you the best setup for your car and what valves you should choose. I have been very pleased with their customer service and with over 10k miles on mine they are proving to be rather reliable. The ability to select valves based on what your going to do with the car is nice as well as being able to select different springs. Most of this happens at no extra charge from my experience. I suggest to anyone to at least give them a call before making your final decision.

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[Drftfan]

Jasper can you post pics of your car?
And how do you like the street series? Like I had said I had the race series and they worked great but it obviously was a stiffer set up. I am planning on getting the street series this time around.
Yeah I don't understand why people tend to bash the lower cost coilovers. Personally I don't care. If they do the job I could care less what brand name is on them. I have been in the tuner scene since the 92-95 civic was still being sold by Honda. I have seen things go from doing stupid things like cutting springs (I never did) to dropping your car on simple lowering springs to coilovers entering the market in much greater numbers.
I advise anyone looking at coilovers to do your research and don't rely upon what so and so says on forums how this sucks or that sucks. Make up your own mind.

[Accurate Race Shop]

Originally Posted by Drftfan

Jasper can you post pics of your car?
And how do you like the street series? Like I had said I had the race series and they worked great but it obviously was a stiffer set up. I am planning on getting the street series this time around.
Yeah I don't understand why people tend to bash the lower cost coilovers. Personally I don't care. If they do the job I could care less what brand name is on them. I have been in the tuner scene since the 92-95 civic was still being sold by Honda. I have seen things go from doing stupid things like cutting springs (I never did) to dropping your car on simple lowering springs to coilovers entering the market in much greater numbers.
I advise anyone looking at coilovers to do your research and don't rely upon what so and so says on forums how this sucks or that sucks. Make up your own mind.

Here is my car. I like the street series they are really stiff for a daily driver I would call Megan and ask about a more daily driver setup if you are not looking to track the car. I have just gotten into import cars this is my first one in years and it is much more brand oriented than muscle even though muscle cars have some if the most legendary aftermarket brands like elderbrock and holley. I get what works on my cars not what has the coolest logo. But I'm building a track car not a show car I go to the charity shows with the club like the one in the pic because they are for a good cause but I'm not really competing to win because I have a usable track setup instead of a crazy low show setup.

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[Drftfan]

I like it. Good job