Megan Racing … well I have heard that they are like most ofther entry level coils. They are stiff.
Enjuku racing uses Megan coilovers (not necessarily by choice) on their Formula D cars.
I’ve heard a lot of good things about Zeal, but I don’t usually trust Forums as “feedback.” Way too many people simply want to justify spending what they did.
Abuse isn’t what destroys coilovers. With oil filled cartridges/dampers, every complete stroke shortens their life.
ALL COILOVERS MUST BE SERVICED
Just like regular suspension, they wear out.
Race cars do not face the same stresses as day to day driving.
A race car might see 100kms after an entire day at the track. Typically, you drive 200km to the track, 200 km back.
Drive on shit Toronto roads for a few KM and your suspension probalby strokes 1000 times.
And as for having to send your coilovers here or there … has anyone actually looked into getting them done locally? There’s tons of suspension places in TO. There’s a guy just down the road from me who is an authorized Bilstein suspension servicing joint. To rebuild a coilover, 99% of the time all they do is change the o-rings/seals and refill with oil.
If you’ve got an old Nissan or Toyota AE86, this is part of the regular service. Newer cars run gas-filled shocks which the average joe can’t refill.
In my crusty old Nissan manual, they even recommend different viscosity oils for heavy duty application. I ran mine with gear oil and whoa …
People should really look into getting custom suspension made.
There’s this company that MSSC has been looking into called Visiontech out of Quebec. They build custom coilovers with external reservoirs, adjustable dampening/rebound and stroke, height adjustability etc for about $2,000 cdn.
As for spring rates, it’s pretty simple.
Here’s a great link for all you S13/14 guys with spring rates for pretty much any possible configuration and even uber cheese stock rates.
http://www.onlydominican.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=471&sid=a330fbf90f5a284ec56bdc0e18130c57
KG/MM or lb/in is all the same. How much weight it takes to compress the spring X distance.
My new coilovers are an 8 kg/mm (450 lb-in)
It takes 8kg of weight/pressure to compress the spring 1 mm. Or, it takes 450 lbs to compress it 1 inch.
This is where preload comes into effect. If you were to install 450lb springs in a car that weighs 2,000lbs …
2,000lbs / 4 (per wheel) = 500 lbs
the car will drop 1 inch on the springs. The springs will no longer be 450lbs (except unless you’re airborn 
When you compress a spring, it increases the spring rate, just like cutting it (different reasons, but same effect)
This is why different spring rates in different cars have different effects.
My car has 8/6 (450/350) setup, but only weighs 2,400lbs. This same setup would “feel” softer in a heavier car. Look at Tein’s spring rates for big heavy turds like the SC400/Soarer. I think they’re about 16 in the front, but feel “cushy” by comparison.
In all honesty there’s no difference between “real” coilovers, sleeves and spring/damper combo beyond presentation.
True you have more adjustability, but this adjustability is very very very rarely done properly by the user beyond ride height. Beyond that, you’ll never really notice a difference on the street. On the race track, driving to the “extreme” you will, but at that point, all the lower settings seem a bit pointless.
99% of people with coilovers would be more than happy with good adjustable dampers and springs with decent spring rates, not crappy Eibach or ST springs with about 30% stiffer than stock rates. STs are about 200 lb-in … which is what, 2kg? These setups are purely for looks and maintaing stock driveability.
I had a 7/6 setup before with KYBs and CM springs, and it was very stiff but very streetable. I stepped up to the 8 because of the new engine (~400lbs) and because I wanted it slammed. Stupid cars came with 6" (no joke) fender gap from the factory, so 3" drop springs weren’t enough.
I could probably setup or at least help setup a GB for CM coils. They’re from Langley BC and even with the extra prototype cost (I had them made for the S12, we needed to sell 15 sets to get them to start production … after 10, they started them anyway and added them to the catalog) I got 4 to my door for $190 cdn tax and shipping included.
It would be great to get a few S13/14s together and do some testing of various setups, provided someone with half a clue how to set up suspension sets up all the cars.
People should really be buying big ass sways way before considering 12/10 coilovers. Running crazy coilovers with stock S13 hollow bars (or S14s without rear bars) is just … uhm … yeah.
