After some install hiccups I've finally gotten a set of Fortune Auto 500 coilovers installed on my '12 base model and thought I'd give a review. I picked up a used set off another forum member who reported that the set had about 25k miles on them. After purchasing them, I had them shipped directly to FA for a once over and to be dyno'd to see if they needed to be rebuilt. The customer service at FA was and continues to be great. $90 to have a factory tech look them over and put them on a dyno to verify their performance was well worth it to me. They offered to rebuild them for $250 before shipping back, but they were already in good shape and the tech said they didn't really need it at this point. It might have been worth the $160 difference for the peace of mind of knowing that they would be essentially new, but ah well.
Once I received the set, I noticed that the front dampers did not have place to mount the ABS and brake lines which was kind of a bummer. I contacted FA again and for $45 they sent me a bracket for the front dampers. Apparently this add-on works for the generation 4 (ones I have) and generation 5 dampers. Kind of expensive for a strip of metal, but they work so I just ran with it.
Installation
Install was mostly straightforward with a minor issue that I discovered with my stock rear spring perch. That wasn't on FA or on the coilovers though so no biggie. I torqued everything to FSM specs and haven't had any weird noises or anything. I'm not sure how much I lowered the car, but I'd say somewhere around an 1.25" in the front and maybe 1" in the back. I have an appointment for a corner balance in two weeks so I wasn't super concerned about getting it spot on since it'll be adjusted again I'm sure.
Performance:
With a base '12 I've got a few goodies installed already and can speak to the differences I've noticed as I've modded as a comparison to what these coilovers have done so far. First I added a set of hotchks sway bars - helped with body roll and slightly better turn in with the stiffer front bar. Upgraded to Nismo springs with stock base/sport dampers - somewhat stiffer ride and again slightly better turn-in and body roll. With these two upgrades, I could still notice some body roll and some general floatiness during high speed cornering... especially if there as a mid-corner bump. It would feel like the front and rear of the car weren't on the same page for a split second before settling out.
And what we've all been waiting for... first thing I noticed is that on the softest setting front and rear, the coilovers are smoother than what I had with the Nismo springs and quite possibly smoother than the base springs I started with. The car just seems to soak up the small bumps and makes the GF very happy when she's riding along - she wasn't a fan of the Nismo springs. When I crank the dampers to their full stiff setting, it is definitely stiffer than the Nismo springs alone and the car reacts to very small undulations in the road. I noticed this a LOT when driving at night as I could see the headlight cutoff line bouncing up and down a lot in the distance, but it was in a very controlled way. Just means that the car is stiff when it's set that way. I've settled for 3/4 firm in the front and 1/3 firm in the back and the car is totally streetable AND responds better. Let me see if I can explain... It now corners completely flatly and I really can't notice any body roll at street legal(ish) speeds. The turn-in is MUCH quicker - more so than with either the sway bars or the Nismo springs) and I can correct mid-corner more accurately than before. Weight transfer happens more quickly and the car just settles into a turn predictably and gives me more confidence when I'm going around a corner. I'll be tracking the car in the spring, but for now I'm 100% happy with how the set performs. Highly recommended!
