Starting Point
I have had coilovers on my car since 2004 – in 2005 I installed JIC FLTA2’s then – the flagship coilover for JIC Magic. after 10 years and 60k miles they have started to make some noises as well as the pillow ball’s just getting a bit noisy for my taste.
I always wanted a 2 way adjustable coilover that’s height and preload adjustable. I wasn’t sure what brand to get, but my friends had been big fans and users of Fortune Auto coilovers. I called them up and their ability to do everything custom is awesome, i told them what i wanted, and many weeks later i had custom spring rates, custom valving, on both rebound and compression – complete with shock dyno graph of my shocks! very very cool.
Where I ended up
I did the 500 piston, and it is incredibly compliant on the road, incredibly comfortable, way more than the JIC’s
Mounting the remote reservoir was a giant PITA, I mean huge. I had to cut a hole in the flange for the front wheels where i could get a worm clamp through it and tie it down. I just couldn’t get it to fit anywhere else.
I was surprised that when I played with the heights before the install and set overall length the same as the JIC’s – that didn’t go well – I had to lower all four corners
The end result was astounding. The quiet ride from the better pillow mounts and lower bushing was incredibly welcome but also the amazing adjustable of both dampening and rebound to tailor the ride to your exact specifications. There is no way of softening the price blow, but sometimes they do go on sale.
Over time, the bushing have worn out and I am coming up on the time to rebuild the coilovers, I am not sure if I need to send them the Dynos of what I do have, but I will certainly report back on what I find.
