Gsedan35

iTrader: (10)

Shaking the box:

Everything was carefully packaged and in good order.





I really can't comment on the install direction's as the only thing I looked at was about dampning settings. I've done these suspenision's so many times I just unwrapped everything and installed the parts, zero issues.

About min and max ride height ranges:

The following specs are vs oem 350Z rideheights and front preload settings were not raised or altered.
Front: Max height -.25"
Front: Min height -2.25"

Rear: Max height -.5
Rear: Min height -2.25

How to change ride height after install:

For the front I found that if I unbolted the sway bar end links, that enough pressure was removed from the springs that I could grab the entire shock/spring assembly and turn it and lower that front corner. Before I started turning I used a pencil to put a mark on the threads to know when I got the amount I wanted.

For the rear, unless your willing to place a thin film of grease on the rubber isolation pads that the springs sit on, you will not be able to spin the adjustment collars unless you take the following steps.
1. Unbolt shock
2. Unbolt control arm below lower shock mount and lower control arm with floor jack until enough tension is released as to allow the adjustment collar to spin on the rear spring.

****************************************************

Ride and drive impression's:

I felt it would be a good idea for me to reinstall my oem 2003 350Z suspension on the car in advance of receiving the coilovers so I could have that suspension fresh in my mind before writting this review.

Dampning settings: This needs to be explained. The coilovers have range of 32 level's. They adjust from the top with very clear click's on the dial. When I was handling the rear dampners I noticed that they compressed rather easily by hand. Because of this I ened the review process on rather high settings. 0 is the firmest, 32 being the softest. I set the dampners at 9. I did end up running the suspension at a wide range of dampner settings for testing purposes.

Ride & Drive:

Dampners set at 24.

This would be the setting of choice for those wanting comfort vs chassis control. Though rear dampning is not exceptable at this low setting IMO. Sharp impacts are less intrusive in spite of the pillowball upper mounts used front and rear. Overall sensation when you ask the car to hussle is that the suspension is underdampned to improve ride quality.


Dampners set at 9

Noticeably firmer then the pervious setting of 24. Impacts are felt more and the car is much more lively to the game of carving corners. Rear dampning is still not quite where it should be however. Steady state freeway driving does see some slight bounce issues, simular to what I have seen written in Tein basic reviews. I did detect a certain amount of underdampning.

Dampners set at 4

Firmer then the previous setting of 4, this show's that these coilovers do have quite a large adjusment range. The catch is, impacts are not only felt quite sharply, but with a uncomfortable amount of "thup" noise, expecially on tar strips. This was the most entertaining setting for driving quickly with the best amount of chassis control. Though impact harshness is a issue, mainly noise related.

"Rides like stock", notice that this term is absent from this review, at no point do the stiffer springs allow this to happen. And I flat out REFUSE to make the dampners that much like jello to try and get it. If you want like stock ride qulity pick a system with spring rates closer to oem.


Summary:

A low price fully featured coilover system that will appeal to those wanting full length adjustment and the ability to set ride height without effecting spring preload and these coilover's will also give them adjustable dampner's with a wide adjustment range. Often review's overlook issues related to dampning, or fail to catch them. For the performance oriented, the Megan Racing coilover isn't quite equpped with the dampning level's that it should have, though they are still far superior then the oem 2003 350Z suspension

Alberto

iTrader: (14)

Glad you liked the product, but I would NEVER run anything Megan Racing on a Z/G. I bought a MR rear STB for my other car, it is a worthless POS, the welds broke after a few days I had to reweld it so I would personally be weary of running a suspenion from such a new company. Ive also heard of several MR test-pipes breaking at the flanges.

palepony

iTrader: (8)

thank you for your review

also thank you for your focus on proper damping.
curious you did not talk about the choice of spring rates (10kg and 8kg).

EDIT - my error, i thought the springs were located on the shock body vs the OEM location

i am also not interested in buying these, but more interested in your review process

pp

dklau33

iTrader: (17)

+1

I'd really be interested in a review as well on the 10/8 kg setup from Buddy Club where the rear spring is on the shock body.

palepony

iTrader: (8)

dklau
sorry, my error, the springs appear to be in the OEM location

Mike Wazowski

iTrader: (113)

very nice write up

Gsedan35

iTrader: (10)

Concering the 10Kg/8Kg spring rates. Though it goes without saying that the valving is setup to push the envelope on dampning for the sake of delivering as much ride comfort as possible. At no time did I feel that the spring rates were to little or to much. At the limit behavior in slow speed corners was dominated by moderate understeer. As corner speed's picked up the amount of understeer went down. The throttle was amendable to help place the car when you wanted to without any tendency to misbehave. Traction while comming out of the hole was quite good. At no time did I adjust my sway bars in any effort to reduce slow speed understeer, I wanted to keep that aspect consistent from start to finish.

In a sense I guess I didn't focus on spring rates since I do not feel that the buyer of the product will focus on the aspect of the product. If they do, then that's the person that will likely be better served with a more expensive product that does a better job with it's valving science. For about $900 they do a commendible job given their specs on the whole. A back to back drive vs Tein basics would be very interesting.

VeilsideZ33

how much are they?

Gsedan35

iTrader: (10)

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread.php?t=142887