Hey everyone. Here is my ongoing review on the Megan Racing coilovers. The first two posts were put on Freshalloy and copied here (there was a thread inquiring about them, so I replied).
Day 1:
[Talk about whether or not Megan Racing coilovers are D2/KSport coilovers due to price similarities]
They 100% aren't the same.
Here's the Macpherson mount that Asad is talking about [Welded steel versus KSport's cast aluminum].
The MR coilovers make the KSports (which I currently have) feel like a toy. One of my KSports was bent (yea, seriously) [not the case.. explaination later], so I picked up this set of MR coils. Once installed I'll be writing a review on these things.
Here are some pros that I can gather just by look/feel.
Steel [macpherson] mounts. Pillowball mounts front AND rear. One springrate (8/6) to eliminate many of the poor-valving complaints of d2/ksport. A full dust cover versus my ksport's 1.5" dustcap. No aweful clip for the brake line getting bolted on (it's in the pic and attached to the mounting bracket). What *looks* like more height adjustment (which is good, because KSports wouldn't let me get back up to stock height if I wanted. I was tucking some 18s). Some of the better parts to these are the 32-stage dampener clicks 32 times, rather than the ambiguous turning of the ksports, and no definative notches. People started labling them as 3/3.5 turns from far left. And the dampner adjuster allen keys are always attached to the strut, rather than the 8" key that floats around, and you get sad when one bends, ala ksport.
Here's a couple more teaser pics. Sorry my camera sucks hard. When I do the review and install, I'll be using a friends camera.
I'm sure I'll get Matt's opinion of these, ride-quality wise, and probably a few other peoples. As well as a direct comparison to my KSports (not hard to beat. I'd rather have a spring/shock combo than those things), a friend's s14 with Tanabe somethings, and a friend's s13 with tien basics. Give me about a week for a full review.
-Jeff
Day 2:
The one issue that I had during the install was the lower macpherson strut mount bolt holes. Sadly, they were too close by 1/8", so I had to dremel out the hole into an oval to mount them up. I plan on calling up Megan Racing and Underground to inform them of this tomorrow morning.
Initial impressions of driving around are that they are very comfortable for 8/6 rates, with very little bounce. The KSport clunk is not in these coilovers, even when I severely preloaded the springs.
Also, the KSports claimed 0-4" drop. The 0" drop is a flat-out lie. I was a full 2" lower with the KSports maxed out. The Megan Racing coilovers, however, go to true 0", if not raising the car a bit. I'm no longer tucking wheels, and actually have some suspension travel.
The main issue I had with the KSports is that they have the camber adjustment on the mounting plate, and then a slotted bolt-hole on the upper spindle mount. This, on my driver's side, refused to stay in the correct, furthest out point, and always slid back, creating -4* camber on my driver's tire, and caused it to rub the spring. I ended up adding a spacer so when (not if) it happened, I wouldn't destroy the tire. I don't know why there were 2 camber adjustments on the KSports.. but it wasn't good in my opinion. Before I sell them to a friend, I'm going to find textured nuts for the macpherson mounts, and hopefully he won't get the same camber slide.
And you know I can't compete with Alex and his techno-toys [who in a month will shock-dyno these coilovers]. I'm just a regular guy with a car and a buttdyno.
-Jeff
PS: I'll be updating this as I continue to drive and compare, as well as get opinions of other suspension gurus. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.