AKEP
05-28-2013, 06:56 AM
I haven't been able to find a decent review on these specific coilovers, so I decided I'd pioneer them myself and give this review of what I think about them.
So first things first, when I received these from Megan, they were fully assembled and basically ready to go. I checked the top nut and all that and there wasn't a thing loose on them. So I disassembled them and proceeded to grease up the parts they have highlighted on this FAQ right here. (http://www.meganracing.com/tech/faqs.asp?id=37&subject=CDK:%20Why%20do%20I%20hear%20noise%20from% 20coilovers?)
I also got the inverted rod end design, instead of the straight arms because I'm not planning on being that low. You can request for other arms if you want, they come from megan with inverted ends unless you ask for oem or straight arm designs. You can also purchase them at a later date if you decide to get lower/higher later on.
Lower bracket designs. (http://www.meganracing.com/tech/updates.asp?id=77&subject=Lower%20Bracket%20Design:%20DC5/EP3/EM2%20chassis)
These come with 12k and 16k springs, front and rear, respectively. At the last minute I got a sponsorship from Swift Springs USA and decided to go with the same spring rates, I might go with 10k in the front at another time.
You can put 65 mm ID springs on the front, but you will need to modify the rear plastic inserts (just cut the vertical lip off, but be mindful if you have thrust bearings installed, those could use a little lip for centering) and run 60mm ID springs as 65s wont clear the upper mounts lip. IF you want to modify all the plastic washers, you can run 60mm ID springs all around. At this time, I decided that if I'm going to run Swift springs instead of stock Megan springs, I wanna spoil myself a little more and get Eibach thrust bearings. (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/eib-trb250) I would spend the money on these and NOT the QA1 steel versions as the Eibach ones were just emmensly higher in quality, the def roll smoother and you can feel the difference in your hands. I'm not a pro on bearings but I can tell you now that I feel that the QA1's just felt like trash compared to Eibachs. You put these under the spring, on top of the plastic washer, above the lower perch. When you're adjusting the lower perch and adding preload/weight to that corner, these will make it so much easier to turn by hand. You can feel the difference between the QA1 and Eibach bearings at this point, the Eibachs make it SO MUCH EASIER. These also keep your springs from Torsion Bind, the binding noise from when you turn your car, from the spring twisting between the perches. Not to be confused with Coil Bind, which is when a spring is basically fully compressed to the point that coils are touching. The bearings make the spring an independent part of the coilover suspension, as they twist and compress in their own low friction space now, not to be interfered with perches or anything. You only need one per corner.
Now, since I had the dampers all taken apart, I decided to play with the damper itself and see how changing the dampening settings affected the piston movement. From full soft, the piston acts like a stock shock, you push it in, it pops out pretty quickly, very fast action. On full hard, they don't move at all. You could compress it, put it on full hard and it will hold the piston in.
As far as ride quality, I have the springs at as close to 0 preload as possible, set by the lower spring perch, and height adjusted by screwing the shock body into the lower bracket. I tried full soft and it was like stock ride, a little bouncy. I currently have it turned up to 12/12 and it's pretty solid all around. Once I get the front sway bar on (pending new turbo manifold/downpipe install) I will start to play with the damping a little more. So far, 12/12 is not intolerable at all, honestly it feels like I'm still on Tein S techs and stock shocks, but much less roll. So far, this is a lesson to me that springs do not make the ride harsh, it's the dampening. They control roll and pitch, not ride quality so much. I would def turn the dampers very soft on a road trip, feels like stock with no body roll.
So for now, I've only put about 50 miles on them and they're not bad. I have a bad disc or 2 in my back and I find these comfortable enough, coming from 100k miles on Tein S-techs and stock shocks, these are def an upgrade and still have the same ride quality as that +/-. Once I get more miles in I will update some more. The 12/16 setup feels very neutral. With an LSD the car pretty much just went where the wheels were pointed. I'm rolling on Rota Track R's wrapped in 225/50-16 Continental ExtremeContact DW tires all around and once warmed up, they are very sticky. My steering rod angles are flat right now, without the Tegiwa bracket, but I'm sitting higher than S-techs drop you, but lower than stock. About 2 finger gap or 1.5 inch gap all around. Once the bracket is in, I will lower the car a little more to keep those angles. With that, I do not have any play in my steering wheel, no creaking, no clunking. the response is crisp and light. I can now say that when the EPS kicks in, you can feel it actually hampering your ability to turn the wheel any faster. Makes me want to convert to hydro power steering.
I also have some pictures but I will upload those later.
My suspension mods are:
RSX-S Everything unless stated
Front Aluminum Type R LCAs with PCI Spherical Caster bushings (on the ep3, they make caster "normal" according to my alignment) - Yes they are installed the right way, I emailed Brian at PCI to confirm.
Kings Motorsport Inserts for EP3/02-04 RSX ball joints.
Hardrace Roll Center Adjusters w/custom castle nuts. (If you have DC5R LCAs get buddy clubs, as they have the right nuts for JDM LCA inserts. The threadings between the 2 are NOT interchangeable. 05-06 ball joints will fit the stock DC5R inserts, but you still need the JDM Nut to keep the insert from being ripped out of the LCA.)
OEM Knuckles/Axles/Tie rods/rear LCA/TA
Type R sway bar front/rear w/ DIY adjustable endlinks.
ASR rear subframe brace. (This is a VERY solid one piece brace, poops on progress's)
Tegiwa Steering Bracket Relocation (pending new manifold and downpipe install too)
DC5R Rear gussets and tie bar
Full Interior
Other then that, I am not running and chassis bracing.
Hope this was useful. Any questions you guys have I will do my best to answer/clear up.
>>PICS HERE (http://imgur.com/a/mDRYf#0)<<
So first things first, when I received these from Megan, they were fully assembled and basically ready to go. I checked the top nut and all that and there wasn't a thing loose on them. So I disassembled them and proceeded to grease up the parts they have highlighted on this FAQ right here. (http://www.meganracing.com/tech/faqs.asp?id=37&subject=CDK:%20Why%20do%20I%20hear%20noise%20from% 20coilovers?)
I also got the inverted rod end design, instead of the straight arms because I'm not planning on being that low. You can request for other arms if you want, they come from megan with inverted ends unless you ask for oem or straight arm designs. You can also purchase them at a later date if you decide to get lower/higher later on.
Lower bracket designs. (http://www.meganracing.com/tech/updates.asp?id=77&subject=Lower%20Bracket%20Design:%20DC5/EP3/EM2%20chassis)
These come with 12k and 16k springs, front and rear, respectively. At the last minute I got a sponsorship from Swift Springs USA and decided to go with the same spring rates, I might go with 10k in the front at another time.
You can put 65 mm ID springs on the front, but you will need to modify the rear plastic inserts (just cut the vertical lip off, but be mindful if you have thrust bearings installed, those could use a little lip for centering) and run 60mm ID springs as 65s wont clear the upper mounts lip. IF you want to modify all the plastic washers, you can run 60mm ID springs all around. At this time, I decided that if I'm going to run Swift springs instead of stock Megan springs, I wanna spoil myself a little more and get Eibach thrust bearings. (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/eib-trb250) I would spend the money on these and NOT the QA1 steel versions as the Eibach ones were just emmensly higher in quality, the def roll smoother and you can feel the difference in your hands. I'm not a pro on bearings but I can tell you now that I feel that the QA1's just felt like trash compared to Eibachs. You put these under the spring, on top of the plastic washer, above the lower perch. When you're adjusting the lower perch and adding preload/weight to that corner, these will make it so much easier to turn by hand. You can feel the difference between the QA1 and Eibach bearings at this point, the Eibachs make it SO MUCH EASIER. These also keep your springs from Torsion Bind, the binding noise from when you turn your car, from the spring twisting between the perches. Not to be confused with Coil Bind, which is when a spring is basically fully compressed to the point that coils are touching. The bearings make the spring an independent part of the coilover suspension, as they twist and compress in their own low friction space now, not to be interfered with perches or anything. You only need one per corner.
Now, since I had the dampers all taken apart, I decided to play with the damper itself and see how changing the dampening settings affected the piston movement. From full soft, the piston acts like a stock shock, you push it in, it pops out pretty quickly, very fast action. On full hard, they don't move at all. You could compress it, put it on full hard and it will hold the piston in.
As far as ride quality, I have the springs at as close to 0 preload as possible, set by the lower spring perch, and height adjusted by screwing the shock body into the lower bracket. I tried full soft and it was like stock ride, a little bouncy. I currently have it turned up to 12/12 and it's pretty solid all around. Once I get the front sway bar on (pending new turbo manifold/downpipe install) I will start to play with the damping a little more. So far, 12/12 is not intolerable at all, honestly it feels like I'm still on Tein S techs and stock shocks, but much less roll. So far, this is a lesson to me that springs do not make the ride harsh, it's the dampening. They control roll and pitch, not ride quality so much. I would def turn the dampers very soft on a road trip, feels like stock with no body roll.
So for now, I've only put about 50 miles on them and they're not bad. I have a bad disc or 2 in my back and I find these comfortable enough, coming from 100k miles on Tein S-techs and stock shocks, these are def an upgrade and still have the same ride quality as that +/-. Once I get more miles in I will update some more. The 12/16 setup feels very neutral. With an LSD the car pretty much just went where the wheels were pointed. I'm rolling on Rota Track R's wrapped in 225/50-16 Continental ExtremeContact DW tires all around and once warmed up, they are very sticky. My steering rod angles are flat right now, without the Tegiwa bracket, but I'm sitting higher than S-techs drop you, but lower than stock. About 2 finger gap or 1.5 inch gap all around. Once the bracket is in, I will lower the car a little more to keep those angles. With that, I do not have any play in my steering wheel, no creaking, no clunking. the response is crisp and light. I can now say that when the EPS kicks in, you can feel it actually hampering your ability to turn the wheel any faster. Makes me want to convert to hydro power steering.
I also have some pictures but I will upload those later.
My suspension mods are:
RSX-S Everything unless stated
Front Aluminum Type R LCAs with PCI Spherical Caster bushings (on the ep3, they make caster "normal" according to my alignment) - Yes they are installed the right way, I emailed Brian at PCI to confirm.
Kings Motorsport Inserts for EP3/02-04 RSX ball joints.
Hardrace Roll Center Adjusters w/custom castle nuts. (If you have DC5R LCAs get buddy clubs, as they have the right nuts for JDM LCA inserts. The threadings between the 2 are NOT interchangeable. 05-06 ball joints will fit the stock DC5R inserts, but you still need the JDM Nut to keep the insert from being ripped out of the LCA.)
OEM Knuckles/Axles/Tie rods/rear LCA/TA
Type R sway bar front/rear w/ DIY adjustable endlinks.
ASR rear subframe brace. (This is a VERY solid one piece brace, poops on progress's)
Tegiwa Steering Bracket Relocation (pending new manifold and downpipe install too)
DC5R Rear gussets and tie bar
Full Interior
Other then that, I am not running and chassis bracing.
Hope this was useful. Any questions you guys have I will do my best to answer/clear up.
>>PICS HERE (http://imgur.com/a/mDRYf#0)<<