Megan coilovers revisited
11-23-06, 01:17 AM
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Megan coilovers revisited
I bought the Megans for my SC400 a couple of months ago. Got them installed on a Friday before I was to leave from Eugene, Orygun for San Diego. I was let down because I received no instructions and I had never seen a coil over before. When I was done with the installation the front was darn near on the ground. The rear was about the right height but was so hard it nearly was breaking my back. Playing around with the 32 position shocks I ended up with both front and rear on position 16. It was flat in a hard turn but the ride...
While in LA I went in to the Megan shop for some help and an explanation of how to set up the shocks and springs. I learned that the preload on the springs was really only to adjust them till the spring was captured. Screwing the shock out of the bottom element was the ride height adjust. Simple enough, I guess. I also expressed reservations that the rear spring was ever going to be soft enuff to ever be tolerable. The Megan rep was sympathetic but also said he thought I was wrong. Still, he GAVE me a set of softer springs that had been just installed to check fitment for a day. The price was right. Not having a shop in the trunk I asked for a referral to a shop that could install the new springs and adjust all four corners for the trip home. Megan sent me to a shop called AK1 MOTOR SPORTS in Walnut. It was 3 PM and a call to AK got the rep an assurance that they would do everything they could to get me taken care of that day. I don't know where you come from but anywhere I have been "dropping" in to have all four corners pulled at 3:30 is a tall favor.
Rolled into AK1 at 3:30 and was assured that after the TT I would get the rack. They also had a Bimmer in the air and it also had a wheel hanging down without a bearing. It evolved that neither car had the correct parts delivered and the wait time escalated. The mechanic finished me up at 7:45 and everyone apologized. He readjusted the ride height on all four wheels due to a misunderstanding so I guess they did it twice and still they were consoling me. I arrived at AK1 having only had three hours of sleep in two days. I passed out on their waiting room/ TV room/ local hangout couch and slept for a few hours. When I regained consciousness the office staff was eating Chinese take-out. The manager insisted I join them and handed me an order of spring rolls that were the best I have had in a long time. Come bill time Chris, the owner, gave me a bill with 25% of the price they quoted me knocked off. He said it was for the wait. I told him that as far as I was concerned he had fed me, housed me and took me in when it was dark and lonely. I added the 25% back in and suggested beers for the shop. They found an alignment shop that would take me at 8:15PM and sent me down the road. I recommend AK1. The mech said they get everything out every day that Chris takes in and that sometimes means they are there till midnight if the customer wants to wait or the next day is jammed up. Superb group.
The alignment was uneventful and things are now perfect. Corners flat and rides well in almost every situation.
The AK1 shop used to do the fitment work for Megan and they are savey to the product. Chris said that Megan had some quality problems when they were starting up but that was past and those issues were resolved. He assured me they were not top of the line equipment for serious competition but that they were a good performing product and well worth their price. With a couple thousand miles on them now, I have to agree.
So, Megan was nice to me and generous, AK1 was as helpful as they could be and I got fed, the alignment shop was really pro and had state of the art equipment. I like California. And LA is supposed to be the pit of the entire state....NOT!
Megans for $900.....bargan.
John
While in LA I went in to the Megan shop for some help and an explanation of how to set up the shocks and springs. I learned that the preload on the springs was really only to adjust them till the spring was captured. Screwing the shock out of the bottom element was the ride height adjust. Simple enough, I guess. I also expressed reservations that the rear spring was ever going to be soft enuff to ever be tolerable. The Megan rep was sympathetic but also said he thought I was wrong. Still, he GAVE me a set of softer springs that had been just installed to check fitment for a day. The price was right. Not having a shop in the trunk I asked for a referral to a shop that could install the new springs and adjust all four corners for the trip home. Megan sent me to a shop called AK1 MOTOR SPORTS in Walnut. It was 3 PM and a call to AK got the rep an assurance that they would do everything they could to get me taken care of that day. I don't know where you come from but anywhere I have been "dropping" in to have all four corners pulled at 3:30 is a tall favor.
Rolled into AK1 at 3:30 and was assured that after the TT I would get the rack. They also had a Bimmer in the air and it also had a wheel hanging down without a bearing. It evolved that neither car had the correct parts delivered and the wait time escalated. The mechanic finished me up at 7:45 and everyone apologized. He readjusted the ride height on all four wheels due to a misunderstanding so I guess they did it twice and still they were consoling me. I arrived at AK1 having only had three hours of sleep in two days. I passed out on their waiting room/ TV room/ local hangout couch and slept for a few hours. When I regained consciousness the office staff was eating Chinese take-out. The manager insisted I join them and handed me an order of spring rolls that were the best I have had in a long time. Come bill time Chris, the owner, gave me a bill with 25% of the price they quoted me knocked off. He said it was for the wait. I told him that as far as I was concerned he had fed me, housed me and took me in when it was dark and lonely. I added the 25% back in and suggested beers for the shop. They found an alignment shop that would take me at 8:15PM and sent me down the road. I recommend AK1. The mech said they get everything out every day that Chris takes in and that sometimes means they are there till midnight if the customer wants to wait or the next day is jammed up. Superb group.
The alignment was uneventful and things are now perfect. Corners flat and rides well in almost every situation.
The AK1 shop used to do the fitment work for Megan and they are savey to the product. Chris said that Megan had some quality problems when they were starting up but that was past and those issues were resolved. He assured me they were not top of the line equipment for serious competition but that they were a good performing product and well worth their price. With a couple thousand miles on them now, I have to agree.
So, Megan was nice to me and generous, AK1 was as helpful as they could be and I got fed, the alignment shop was really pro and had state of the art equipment. I like California. And LA is supposed to be the pit of the entire state....NOT!
Megans for $900.....bargan.
John
11-23-06, 05:23 PM
#5
I bought the Megans for my SC400 a couple of months ago. Got them installed on a Friday before I was to leave from Eugene, Orygun for San Diego. I was let down because I received no instructions and I had never seen a coil over before. When I was done with the installation the front was darn near on the ground. The rear was about the right height but was so hard it nearly was breaking my back. Playing around with the 32 position shocks I ended up with both front and rear on position 16. It was flat in a hard turn but the ride...
While in LA I went in to the Megan shop for some help and an explanation of how to set up the shocks and springs. I learned that the preload on the springs was really only to adjust them till the spring was captured. Screwing the shock out of the bottom element was the ride height adjust. Simple enough, I guess. I also expressed reservations that the rear spring was ever going to be soft enuff to ever be tolerable. The Megan rep was sympathetic but also said he thought I was wrong. Still, he GAVE me a set of softer springs that had been just installed to check fitment for a day. The price was right. Not having a shop in the trunk I asked for a referral to a shop that could install the new springs and adjust all four corners for the trip home. Megan sent me to a shop called AK1 MOTOR SPORTS in Walnut. It was 3 PM and a call to AK got the rep an assurance that they would do everything they could to get me taken care of that day. I don't know where you come from but anywhere I have been "dropping" in to have all four corners pulled at 3:30 is a tall favor.
Rolled into AK1 at 3:30 and was assured that after the TT I would get the rack. They also had a Bimmer in the air and it also had a wheel hanging down without a bearing. It evolved that neither car had the correct parts delivered and the wait time escalated. The mechanic finished me up at 7:45 and everyone apologized. He readjusted the ride height on all four wheels due to a misunderstanding so I guess they did it twice and still they were consoling me. I arrived at AK1 having only had three hours of sleep in two days. I passed out on their waiting room/ TV room/ local hangout couch and slept for a few hours. When I regained consciousness the office staff was eating Chinese take-out. The manager insisted I join them and handed me an order of spring rolls that were the best I have had in a long time. Come bill time Chris, the owner, gave me a bill with 25% of the price they quoted me knocked off. He said it was for the wait. I told him that as far as I was concerned he had fed me, housed me and took me in when it was dark and lonely. I added the 25% back in and suggested beers for the shop. They found an alignment shop that would take me at 8:15PM and sent me down the road. I recommend AK1. The mech said they get everything out every day that Chris takes in and that sometimes means they are there till midnight if the customer wants to wait or the next day is jammed up. Superb group.
The alignment was uneventful and things are now perfect. Corners flat and rides well in almost every situation.
The AK1 shop used to do the fitment work for Megan and they are savey to the product. Chris said that Megan had some quality problems when they were starting up but that was past and those issues were resolved. He assured me they were not top of the line equipment for serious competition but that they were a good performing product and well worth their price. With a couple thousand miles on them now, I have to agree.
So, Megan was nice to me and generous, AK1 was as helpful as they could be and I got fed, the alignment shop was really pro and had state of the art equipment. I like California. And LA is supposed to be the pit of the entire state....NOT!
Megans for $900.....bargan.
John
While in LA I went in to the Megan shop for some help and an explanation of how to set up the shocks and springs. I learned that the preload on the springs was really only to adjust them till the spring was captured. Screwing the shock out of the bottom element was the ride height adjust. Simple enough, I guess. I also expressed reservations that the rear spring was ever going to be soft enuff to ever be tolerable. The Megan rep was sympathetic but also said he thought I was wrong. Still, he GAVE me a set of softer springs that had been just installed to check fitment for a day. The price was right. Not having a shop in the trunk I asked for a referral to a shop that could install the new springs and adjust all four corners for the trip home. Megan sent me to a shop called AK1 MOTOR SPORTS in Walnut. It was 3 PM and a call to AK got the rep an assurance that they would do everything they could to get me taken care of that day. I don't know where you come from but anywhere I have been "dropping" in to have all four corners pulled at 3:30 is a tall favor.
Rolled into AK1 at 3:30 and was assured that after the TT I would get the rack. They also had a Bimmer in the air and it also had a wheel hanging down without a bearing. It evolved that neither car had the correct parts delivered and the wait time escalated. The mechanic finished me up at 7:45 and everyone apologized. He readjusted the ride height on all four wheels due to a misunderstanding so I guess they did it twice and still they were consoling me. I arrived at AK1 having only had three hours of sleep in two days. I passed out on their waiting room/ TV room/ local hangout couch and slept for a few hours. When I regained consciousness the office staff was eating Chinese take-out. The manager insisted I join them and handed me an order of spring rolls that were the best I have had in a long time. Come bill time Chris, the owner, gave me a bill with 25% of the price they quoted me knocked off. He said it was for the wait. I told him that as far as I was concerned he had fed me, housed me and took me in when it was dark and lonely. I added the 25% back in and suggested beers for the shop. They found an alignment shop that would take me at 8:15PM and sent me down the road. I recommend AK1. The mech said they get everything out every day that Chris takes in and that sometimes means they are there till midnight if the customer wants to wait or the next day is jammed up. Superb group.
The alignment was uneventful and things are now perfect. Corners flat and rides well in almost every situation.
The AK1 shop used to do the fitment work for Megan and they are savey to the product. Chris said that Megan had some quality problems when they were starting up but that was past and those issues were resolved. He assured me they were not top of the line equipment for serious competition but that they were a good performing product and well worth their price. With a couple thousand miles on them now, I have to agree.
So, Megan was nice to me and generous, AK1 was as helpful as they could be and I got fed, the alignment shop was really pro and had state of the art equipment. I like California. And LA is supposed to be the pit of the entire state....NOT!
Megans for $900.....bargan.
John
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11-23-06, 08:22 PM
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so it rides pretty harsh eh? ive driven a handfull of 240s with megans and am contemplating them for the s13 but im thinkin they will be too stiff for the sc as a daily... nice write up !
12-03-06, 12:10 PM
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I'd seriously look into Stance coils if I were you. The buddy I race with has them on his S13, and they are amazing. Much more beefy than the Megans, way better damping, etc.. Much higher level of coilover imo, almost on the same level as JIC FLT-A2s, and those are a serious coil. Check them out, they have them for the SC as well http://www.stancesus.com/applications.php
12-03-06, 10:15 PM
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I'd seriously look into Stance coils if I were you. The buddy I race with has them on his S13, and they are amazing. Much more beefy than the Megans, way better damping, etc.. Much higher level of coilover imo, almost on the same level as JIC FLT-A2s, and those are a serious coil. Check them out, they have them for the SC as well http://www.stancesus.com/applications.php
12-09-06, 04:56 AM
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I'd seriously look into Stance coils if I were you. The buddy I race with has them on his S13, and they are amazing. Much more beefy than the Megans, way better damping, etc.. Much higher level of coilover imo, almost on the same level as JIC FLT-A2s, and those are a serious coil. Check them out, they have them for the SC as well http://www.stancesus.com/applications.php
9/6 is the spring rate for my D2 coilovers on my car (96 Maxima), which rides butter smooth. Curb weight of my car is much lighter than that of sc300. Maybe the stiffer spring rate is needed for the heavier car?
12-09-06, 05:15 PM
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Then why a 12k/8k spring rate for the Civic, 10k/11k for the integra but the s2000 (which I'm sure is heavier than the civy and teggy) has a 9k/9k spring rate?
I know racing coilovers have a much higher spring rate, maybe the coilovers with those high spring rates are the racing coilovers?
I'll check around and see what other companies who have Coilovers for the SC offer in spring rates.
12-09-06, 07:08 PM
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Hmm.. I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think it's b/c Civic and Integra are FWD, and as such are more adversely affected by front/rear weight transfer than a RWD car.