Megan Racing coilovers - with pics!
Nov 12, 2005, 10:23 PM
#1
Megan Racing coilovers - with pics!
I got my Megan Racing (MR) coilovers installed this week, and I thought I'd hop on here to throw up some pics and give a quick review for all those who are considering picking up a set of these.
First of all, special thanks to ZEUS, the man, for hooking me up with these coilovers!!
The install was fairly straight forward. Since I had tackled my suspension before when I installed my springs I was pretty familiar with the EVO's setup. Install from start to finish took me between 1-1.5 hours using the crappy jack in the trunk, 4 jack stands and hand tools.
Two quick notes for those who are gonna be installing these in the future, or probably any coilover for that matter:
- The front strut has two different bolts that bolt up to the wheel hub, a round bolt and a cam bolt. The cam bolt goes on the top and the round bolt on the bottom. Make sure you get them in the right spot or you could be scratching your head wondering why they won't both go in.
- DON'T remove both of the stock FRONT struts at the same time! (I learned this one the hard way.) The MR coilovers are not as tall as the stock struts and getting the coilovers back up through the top of the strut tower to bolt up took a little bit of floor jack creativity to lift the axle up high enough.
When my coilovers came, they were height adjusted to leave a wheel well gap that is similar to stock (more gap in the front.) After I finished up the install I ended up adjusting the fronts down another 3/4". The rears were already set exactly where I wanted them. Coming from the Hotchkis springs, I really liked where the height was set on those so I tried to match the MR coilovers with the height of the Hotchkis.
After the install I turned the dampers all the way to 0 and clicked them off where I wanted them, 16 front, 14 rear. Then I took 'er for a spin around the city to see what these babys could do.
Comparing the MR coilovers to the Hotchkis springs I had before (which IMO handle like stock) the car was less willing to roll when taking turns at moderate speed. The car felt so much more planted, and was begging for me to go faster. I was amazed at how much better the car felt around turns and just driving around in general. Today, however, was the true test. The wife test! LOL I loaded up the wife and kid in the car to meet up with friends for lunch. My wife commented that the MR coilovers were a much nicer ride than the Hotchkis setup I had. So score another one for the MR coilovers!
I can imagine that after corner balancing and an alignment that they can only get better. Monday I'll be at the shop getting that done.
Bottom line, these coilovers are leaps and bounds above springs. I wish I had avoided getting springs all together and just gone for these from the start. I couldn't be happier - a great set of coilovers for not a lot of money!!!
And now what everyone came here for, lol ... The pics:
Close-up of the front-
Here they are all lined up waiting to go in-
Out with the old, in with the new-
Took a quick break for a pic-
Front driver's side, wheel off-
A little closer on the front driver's side-
Rear driver's side, wheel off-
First of all, special thanks to ZEUS, the man, for hooking me up with these coilovers!!
The install was fairly straight forward. Since I had tackled my suspension before when I installed my springs I was pretty familiar with the EVO's setup. Install from start to finish took me between 1-1.5 hours using the crappy jack in the trunk, 4 jack stands and hand tools.
Two quick notes for those who are gonna be installing these in the future, or probably any coilover for that matter:
- The front strut has two different bolts that bolt up to the wheel hub, a round bolt and a cam bolt. The cam bolt goes on the top and the round bolt on the bottom. Make sure you get them in the right spot or you could be scratching your head wondering why they won't both go in.
- DON'T remove both of the stock FRONT struts at the same time! (I learned this one the hard way.) The MR coilovers are not as tall as the stock struts and getting the coilovers back up through the top of the strut tower to bolt up took a little bit of floor jack creativity to lift the axle up high enough.
When my coilovers came, they were height adjusted to leave a wheel well gap that is similar to stock (more gap in the front.) After I finished up the install I ended up adjusting the fronts down another 3/4". The rears were already set exactly where I wanted them. Coming from the Hotchkis springs, I really liked where the height was set on those so I tried to match the MR coilovers with the height of the Hotchkis.
After the install I turned the dampers all the way to 0 and clicked them off where I wanted them, 16 front, 14 rear. Then I took 'er for a spin around the city to see what these babys could do.
Comparing the MR coilovers to the Hotchkis springs I had before (which IMO handle like stock) the car was less willing to roll when taking turns at moderate speed. The car felt so much more planted, and was begging for me to go faster. I was amazed at how much better the car felt around turns and just driving around in general. Today, however, was the true test. The wife test! LOL I loaded up the wife and kid in the car to meet up with friends for lunch. My wife commented that the MR coilovers were a much nicer ride than the Hotchkis setup I had. So score another one for the MR coilovers!
I can imagine that after corner balancing and an alignment that they can only get better. Monday I'll be at the shop getting that done.
Bottom line, these coilovers are leaps and bounds above springs. I wish I had avoided getting springs all together and just gone for these from the start. I couldn't be happier - a great set of coilovers for not a lot of money!!!
And now what everyone came here for, lol ... The pics:
Close-up of the front-
Here they are all lined up waiting to go in-
Out with the old, in with the new-
Took a quick break for a pic-
Front driver's side, wheel off-
A little closer on the front driver's side-
Rear driver's side, wheel off-
Nov 13, 2005, 07:04 AM
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Originally Posted by Joe's_EVO8
Any guess on the long term reliability with these? Are there rebuild kits available? What is the adjustability with the height? Any "installed" pictures?
looks like two way height adj...
im sure the megan page will tell you the rest about them.
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Nov 14, 2005, 11:52 AM
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Nice write up. I am looking into a set of these myself and have posted some info on the other Megan coilover thread.
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=158014
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=158014
Last edited by ZK; Nov 14, 2005 at 11:59 AM.
Sep 14, 2006, 10:40 AM
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im planning on getting them next week for my 9(if it fits, which i think will), i wonder hows it been after 10 mos of use? will appreciate it if you give me your opinion. tnx
Feb 5, 2007, 04:40 PM
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Had a similar set of coilovers on my STi and like you said, def. feels more planted on smooth roads, but on broken pavement, these can get rough.
One thing i didnt like was there was only one knob to adjust rebound and dampening, so even though there where alot of "clicks" i could never really get them to react over broken pavement the way i liked.
Also, the car should sit alittle higher in the front unless you use some type of ball joint extender as the camber curve gets worse as the suspension geometry leaves its suggested operating range (alot lower than factory) This can cause diminishing returns, or, more body roll the lower you go. Also, bump steer is more pronounced
What i found to work is go alittle lower than stock (both front and rear) and dial in the stiffness 7 clicks away from full hard on the drivers side front, 8 clicks away on the others, unless you have passengers...
One thing i didnt like was there was only one knob to adjust rebound and dampening, so even though there where alot of "clicks" i could never really get them to react over broken pavement the way i liked.
Also, the car should sit alittle higher in the front unless you use some type of ball joint extender as the camber curve gets worse as the suspension geometry leaves its suggested operating range (alot lower than factory) This can cause diminishing returns, or, more body roll the lower you go. Also, bump steer is more pronounced
What i found to work is go alittle lower than stock (both front and rear) and dial in the stiffness 7 clicks away from full hard on the drivers side front, 8 clicks away on the others, unless you have passengers...