Coilovers help

[SeanR32GtSt]

I bought the car back in February of this year and it came with some coilovers. I can’t identify what brand they are seeing as they are written in Japanese. But my question is if they have adjustable dampeners to them. If I run over some rail road crossings over like 10km the ass end bounces quite a lot. 

[niZmO_Man]

Your last sentence should tell you to change them out to better suspension.

The tops look like old HKS but who knows what they are.

[djr81]

The look like APEXi N1 dampers.

[mlracing]

A'PEXi N1 Evolution dampers, yeah probably could use replacement.. so slide in my DMs we can sort 

[SeanR32GtSt]

23 minutes ago, mlracing said:

A'PEXi N1 Evolution dampers, yeah probably could use replacement.. so slide in my DMs we can sort 

I don’t want the same ones again If they don’t adjust

[GTSBoy]

54 minutes ago, SeanR32GtSt said:

I don’t want the same ones again If they don’t adjust

No-one in their right mind would replace Jap coilovers with Jap coilovers in the face of MCAs being available.

[SeanR32GtSt]

1 minute ago, GTSBoy said:

No-one in their right mind would replace Jap coilovers with Jap coilovers in the face of MCAs being available.

My point exactly. It’s a harsh ride and the bouncing especially if in throttle is quite dangerous. 

[niZmO_Man]

19 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

No-one in their right mind would replace Jap coilovers with Jap coilovers in the face of MCAs being available.

I went from Ohlins to TEIN to HKS

Although, Ohlins are nice for the road but too soft for track work. TEINs not stiff enough for track, too stiff for road, HKS just good enough to keep me somewhat satisfied. All second hand units of course

But yeah, slap some MCA street on

[SeanR32GtSt]

2 minutes ago, niZmO_Man said:

I went from Ohlins to TEIN to HKS

Although, Ohlins are nice for the road but too soft for track work. TEINs not stiff enough for track, too stiff for road, HKS just good enough to keep me somewhat satisfied. All second hand units of course

But yeah, slap some MCA street on

This is typically my weekend warrior or car show kinda car or if a real nice dry day I’ll take it to work. I live in the states and the city I work in has many many bumps and holes. Feels like driving on cobble stone on any normal suspension car non the less. 

[niZmO_Man]

Oh right. You guys have Fortune Coilovers over there I think, maybe that person can whip something up for you.

Or try Shockworks.

Perhaps MCA can send you a set (no idea if you have distributors there).

[SeanR32GtSt]

5 minutes ago, niZmO_Man said:

Oh right. You guys have Fortune Coilovers over there I think, maybe that person can whip something up for you.

Or try Shockworks.

Perhaps MCA can send you a set (no idea if you have distributors there).

I just checked with their web page and their products are a bit on the expensive side. But look like great quality. 

[niZmO_Man]

Sadly KW don't do a kit for R32 non-GTR (as far as I know), otherwise I'd suggest them.

Or maybe they do?

[SeanR32GtSt]

Just now, niZmO_Man said:

Sadly KW don't do a kit for R32 non-GTR (as far as I know), otherwise I'd suggest them.

Or maybe they do?

Apparently fortune does for a littl cheaper 

 

https://www.dsgperformance.com/fortune-auto-500-series-coilover-nissan-skyline-gtst-hcr32

[djr81]

2 hours ago, SeanR32GtSt said:

I don’t want the same ones again If they don’t adjust

First step is find out what spring rates you have there.  I cant find a listing for APEXi N1 in an R32 GTST but it could be me failing at google.  The rate "should" be written on the spring.  Maybe 5kg/mm front & 4kg/mm rear or 10/8 or who knows.  It is your start point.  If the rate isn't shown measure the wire diameter and count the number of windings.  That will allow an idea of what you have.

The ones in your post above are 12kg/mm & 8kg/mm which is stiff.  So if you want a decent ride you will be disappointed.

 

[SeanR32GtSt]

Just now, djr81 said:

First step is find out what spring rates you have there.  I cant find a listing for APEXi N1 in an R32 GTST but it could be me failing at google.  The rate "should" be written on the spring.  Maybe 5kg/mm front & 4kg/mm rear or 10/8 or who knows.  It is your start point.  If the rate isn't shown measure the wire diameter and count the number of windings.  That will allow an idea of what you have.

The ones in your post above are 12kg/mm & 8kg/mm which is stiff.  So if you want a decent ride you will be disappointed.

 

So I have to toss these in the bin and get a better set up?

[djr81]

If the dampers are worn out then yes as you cant/wont get them rebuilt.  You could maybe try and replace the dampers alone but to be honest it is just as cheap and a damn site easier to get a coil over package and be done with it.

But start with the spring rates, work out your budget and reconcile with the fact that if you ask a dozen people you will get a dozen different answers none of which will be even close to the same.

For example.

If you were to go with a Nismo S spec set of springs/dampers they start at 4 & 3 kg/mm (If I read it correctly) which is at the low end of the range.

MCA will spec something very different again and it varies with their intended use.

The ones you were looking at were 12 & 8kg/mm which is pretty stiff.

What you will mostly find is a front spring rate 1 or 2 kg/mm stiffer than the rear (MCA aside) and anywhere in a range from 5kg up to 12 or so.

If you want it for a road car then you should be in the single digits.  Whether it be 5 or more is really up to you.  But as I said - find out what your current spring rate is and go from there.

[GTSBoy]

3 hours ago, SeanR32GtSt said:

I just checked with their web page and their products are a bit on the expensive side. But look like great quality. 

Keep in mind that MCA's pricing is in Ozzy dollars.  Even with shipping to the US they shouldn't be too expensive, and they are top notch, known to work.  Using anyone in the US to supply could be a little riskier, simply because whilst they may have great quality, they might not have known setups for your car.  Or they could just be one of the typical rubber dogshit importers that claims to know everything about your car.

Either way, do a little research and only buy what is well known to work from well known & trusted vendors.  And don't let the existence of cheap coilovers set the "value" of a set of coilovers in your mind.  You still need to spend upwards of $2k (Ozzy) to get really good suspension.

[SeanR32GtSt]

The fortune auto brand seems comparable IMO to the MCA brand. 

[GTSBoy]

I'll confess to not knowing anything about Fortune Auto.  What's available in the US is of little consequence to import owners over here.  But....calling them a "brand" and calling MCA a "brand" may not be completely appropriate.  MCA's suspension development comes out of their own motor racing experience.  Rally and time attack.  As such, they're not just buying in Taiwanese made dampers and slapping perches and springs on them, like a lot of other "brands".  They actually develop the valve stacks for the application.  The extra input is the justification for the extra cost over K-sport or D2 or any of the other "brands".

[SeanR32GtSt]

6 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

I'll confess to not knowing anything about Fortune Auto.  What's available in the US is of little consequence to import owners over here.  But....calling them a "brand" and calling MCA a "brand" may not be completely appropriate.  MCA's suspension development comes out of their own motor racing experience.  Rally and time attack.  As such, they're not just buying in Taiwanese made dampers and slapping perches and springs on them, like a lot of other "brands".  They actually develop the valve stacks for the application.  The extra input is the justification for the extra cost over K-sport or D2 or any of the other "brands".

I watched a YouTube video of a gtr owner unboxing his fortune auto coilovers. Said they took about four weeks to deliver because they make them after you order them.