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Old 05-18-2009, 04:11 AM   #1 (permalink)
Phimosis
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Location: Oildale, CA
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Default Megan Racing Coilover shock install and first impressions

I know there was a thread for Megan Racing coil overs, but I wanted it to be clear that this is about a real install with real results. The other thread just seemed to bash Megan Racing without much substance. The other Megan Racing coil over thread on this forum is in fact what spurred me to buy these coil overs. Maybe a leap of faith, but I try to support SoCal businesses since I live there and the product actually looked good in the pictures.

I agree that Megan Racing brings products to market at a low price point and the fit and finish is not as nice as more expensive brands, but I am concerned primarily with performance, not reputation or "wow factor". If I were, I would be driving a Porsche Cayman S for $70,000.

Down to the nitty gritty. The shocks were $900. The install went fine. No modifications were needed. The length of the shocks was fine. Some people have suggested they are too long because they are designed for the G37. They are not. When I first set them up, the car was almost 3" lower than stock. I couldn't even get it off the rack because it was so low. Total low rider show car, but not driveable.

I raised it to 1.75" lower than stock (picture below) and drove it for a while. It sucked:


It scraped the exhaust on speed bumps. It scraped the air dam on little bumps under braking. The front tires scraped on the fender liners during cornering or braking.

Then it raised it to 1.30" lower than stock (picture below):


Now it looks good and rarely scrapes (no full profile picture yet). It does touch down the Stillen exhaust on big speed bumps, even when I go sideways over them. It doesn't scrape the fender wells.

On to the damping characteristics.... They have 33 levels of adjust with 0-8 recommended for race, 9-18 for auto-x or hill climb and 19-32 for street. I told my installer to set them up for 9 at all 4 corners. They messed up and gave me 9 from softest, which is actually 23. It was a little softer than stock. I changed them to 8. It was too stiff for road use. It was bouncy and tiring. Traction control light would go off on entry to corners before apex because it was "skittering" around. I changed all 4 of them to #12 and they are now a bit stiffer than the C6 Z51 Corvette or C6 Z06 suspension, but ideal for what I call agressive street driving. I've had adjustable Koni's on a supercharged Mustang Cobra, TRD non-adjustable on my lowered Yaris and Pfadt's on my C6 Corvette. The damping characteristics and spring rates are similar to the Pfadt's, but superior to the Koni's and TRD's I have had in the past.

If This coil over system operates for 20,000 miles trouble free, I would give it the highest rating possible. I definitely like it and my 370z handles better than my C6 Corvette did with the Pfadt coil overs. If this system gives me problems, I will report them promtly. The least negative camber I can get with stock adjustability at this ride height is -2.5 degrees rear, -2.0 degrees front.

Here's front and rear install pictures:




Cheers!

-Phim

Last edited by Phimosis; 05-25-2009 at 03:52 AM.
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