Suggestions for Dual-Purposed Coilovers for Tracking and Spirited Driving

[Tbonem3]

AST not up to par as far as value for money or just overall?

Right, better than the ubiquitous pss10 and kwv2s, but not ohlins/mcs/jrz despite the higher cost. At least from what I've read on m3f/nam3/m3post

[IamFODI]

My impression:

JRZ/AST/MCS aren't "better" than Öhlins or Bilstein in some overall sense; they're really just niche. They have their own unique approaches to damper design and valving, and sometimes people are willing to pay a premium for that.

Öhlins and Bilstein are much bigger companies with a lot more resources. That means more thorough development and/or better quality control – thus, more consistency, fewer weird quirks, longer damper life (especially with Bilstein), etc.

The more you want a quality damper, the more you want Öhlins or Bilstein. JRZ/AST/MCS are for the rare cases when they offer certain characteristics that you can't easily get anywhere else.

FWIW.

[Bry5on]

Does the MCS strut have more travel than ohlins? That alone is a good enough reason for most dual purpose setups to choose MCS over ohlins. Would be nice if ohlins could add an inch of travel so you could run softer springs and/or recover some droop travel.

[Tbonem3]

Does the MCS strut have more travel than ohlins? That alone is a good enough reason for most dual purpose setups to choose MCS over ohlins. Would be nice if ohlins could add an inch of travel so you could run softer springs and/or recover some droop travel.

I bet it does, though most ppl run stiffer springs with MCS so there's not much travel action anyways.

[9kracing]

Has anyone tried the Mfactory coilovers?

He mentions they are "flat ride" for you guys that care about that. For $1500 they seem like a great option. Swift springs and custom spring rates.

After countless hours of research into the various coilover setups currently available on the market, we noticed that there is a gap in the market for a performance coilover kit that is:

1) Designed and Engineered in the United Kingdom by British Engineers
2) Offers a 100% Bespoke solution, at an affordable price point
3) Offers premium features and technology that is applicable to real-world applications
4) Utilises premium quality service components (i.e Valving, Oil Seals, Damper Fluid, Bushings and Springs)

Specifications

• Forged 6061-T6 Hard Anodised Aluminium Front Upper Mounts
• - Strong and Lightweight, our Forged Upper Mounts are Hard Anodised for superior Corrosion Resistance

• Forged 6061-T6 Hard Anodised Aluminium Rear Upper Mounts (Where Applicable)
• - Strong and Lightweight, our Forged Upper Mounts are Hard Anodised for superior Corrosion Resistance

• High-Tensile Carbon Steel Front Camber Plate with Anti-Slip Coating
• - CNC-Machined High-Tensile Carbon Steel supports more load than lesser-quality mounts
  - Camber Angles can be adjusted precisely to your driving needs (MacPherson)

• Oversized PTFE-Lined Japanese Spherical Upper Mount Bushing
• - Increases shock articulation and prevents coil-bowing
  - Higher load rating for increased durability
  - Minimises knocking noise associated with lesser-quality bearings

• Forged 6061-T6 Hard Anodised Aluminium Spring Perches with covered Thrust Bearings
• - Strong and Lightweight, our Forged Spring Perches are Hard Anodised for superior Corrosion Resistance
  - High Quality covered Thrust Bearings remove rotational stress from the upper mount and is sealed from the elements
  - Unlike our competitors that use regular Radial Ball Bearings on their upper perch only, our dual Thrust Bearings rotate in parallel to the upper mount and will not cause catastrophic chassis damage should it fail

• OPTIONAL 65mm ID Cold-Wound Japanese HS5.TW Steel Linear Springs from SWIFT - $250 Upgrade
• - Made in Japan by Tohatsu Spring Company, SWIFT Springs are made from the highest quality Japanese-grade spring steel, using proprietary manufacturing processes. These are the Home Performance Coilover Spring on the market, providing an industry leading +/- 3% deviance from rated load over the entire stroke, and are backed by SWIFT's Lifetime Warranty against Spring Sag
  - Although more expensive, we believe the increase in performance more than offsets the marginal increase in costs

• OEM-Balanced Spring Rates
• - The majority of budget coilovers currently on the market offer default spring rates that deviate from the oem-balanced spring rates
  - By not accounting for Motion Ratio Calculations and just replicating race-car setups, this results in a very unbalanced and uncomfortable ride on a Street Car

• 52mm OD Cold-Drawn Japanese SAE 1020 Seamless Carbon Steel Shock Body
• - Offers superior physical properties and strength-to-weight ratio over lesser manufacturing processes

• Black-Zinc Plated Fully-Threaded Shock Body with 250hrs of Salt-Spray Testing
• - Offers superior corrosion-resistance

• Forged SAE 4140 Chromoly Steel Piston Rod
• - Monotube shocks, although offering increased performance over Twintube shocks, have an inherent weakness; a load-bearing Piston Rod
  - Our over-engineered solution to the problem, with only a marginal increase in manufacturing costs, is our proprietary Chromoly Steel Piston Rod. We are the only company to manufacture this type of Piston Rod, and is currently used by several high-end European brands under a "transfer-of-technology" agreement
  - Offering a substantial increase in tensile strength over lesser-quality rods, not only does this keep costs down, it significantly increases product safety

• 4mm Rebound Adjustment
• - Our Coilovers allow up to 4mm of Rebound Bleed Adjustment, allowing you to fine-tune your vehicle comfort and handling
  - Proprietary Bleed Needles and Jet Valves from the USA are used which significantly increases fluid control sensitivity between adjustments
  - Unlike the majority of coilovers on the market, we do not determine our adjustment range by "number of clicks" but rather, how much bleed is used i.e 4mm bleed = minimum Rebound Force. 0mm bleed = maximum Rebound Force. Typically, it takes at least 0.5mm of bleed to "feel the difference" between adjustments

• 44mm OD Forged 7075-T6 Hard Anodised Aluminium Double-Digressive Piston
• - Our Double-Digressive Piston is over-engineered for superior strength, with anti-stiction and anti-friction properties
  - At lower shock speeds (Cornering), our Double-Digressive Piston maintains a higher damping force, offering increased responsiveness and stability
  - At higher shock speeds (Bumps), our Double-Digressive Piston maintains a lower damping force, offering increased comfort and control

• Sandvik 20C Carbon Steel Shims
• - Only the finest Swedish Sandvik 20C Carbon Steel Shims are used, which are specifically designed for use in shock absorber valving
  - Offers superior fatigue strength over the cheaper Taiwanese spring steel shims which lose their elasticity after only 12 months of normal use
  - Offers superior surface finish and dimensional tolerances, increasing fluid control sensitivity and smoothness
  - Although 10 times the cost of the cheaper Taiwanese spring steel shims, these premium shims ensure the consistency of our valving over extended periods

• Viton Performance O-Rings
• - Upgraded O-Rings offering better performance and durability than lesser-quality Rubber O-Rings

• Fully-Threaded Forged 6061-T6 Hard Anodised or High-Tensile Carbon Steel Lower Mount
• - Threaded Lower Mounts allow you to precisely set the amount of required bump travel according to your vehicle modifications

[AntRyv]

Following this 9kracing , curious if anyone has tried/tested them before

[cobra]

I don't really see anything that sets them apart from what else is already out there, in terms of data, reputation, or tuning methodology. When they say "Only the finest Swedish Sandvik 20C Carbon Steel Shims are used" it reminds me of one of those watch or cutlery ads in a magazine.

[bmwfnatic]

Seems like a nice collection of a bunch of buzz-words to me.
Needs to be paired with a fat front sway, running these with the factory sway and such weak front springs will feel weird I think.

[9kracing]

I don't really see anything that sets them apart from what else is already out there, in terms of data, reputation, or tuning methodology.

https://www.teammfactory.com/whyus

You've never heard of Mfactory?

When you start comparing these to similarly priced coilovers like Megan Racing and BC, they aren't even in the same league.

[9kracing]

Needs to be paired with a fat front sway, running these with the factory sway and such weak front springs will feel weird I think.

They are custom spring rates. So, pick what you want.

[IamFODI]

When you start comparing these to similarly priced coilovers like Megan Racing and BC, they aren't even in the same league.

Maybe.

Even if true, I'm not sure it says much. There's more than one league between Megan/BC and good coilovers...

[IamFODI]

I don't really see anything that sets them apart from what else is already out there, in terms of data, reputation, or tuning methodology. When they say "Only the finest Swedish Sandvik 20C Carbon Steel Shims are used" it reminds me of one of those watch or cutlery ads in a magazine.

^ This.

I feel like you can tell how good a damper/coilover manufacturer is by how much of their bragging is about provenance and development vs. features. The better they are, the more they talk about provenance and development. The worse they are, the more they focus their brags on features.

[9kracing]

I've known Dave for 20 years, dude is the real deal. Is there another coilover manufacturer that tells you where everything is made?

At YCW Suspension, we like to keep things transparent and go against the grain when it comes to telling the truth about our R&D, manufacturing and sourcing processes:

British Engineering

• All of our prototype mounts are, in collaboration with our partner facility in Preston, designed and machined in the UK by British engineers
• All of our prototype components are designed in-house using Solidworks 3D CAD software by British engineers

Japanese Precision

• All of the coil springs that we offer are manufactured by Tokyo Hatsujyo Manufacturing Co.,Ltd (i.e Swift Springs). We do not use the vastly inferior Yang Min Enterprise/Triple-S springs from Taiwan that the majority of budget manufacturers use
• All of our standard self-lubricating teflon-lined spherical bearings are supplied by NSK
• All of our premium spherical bearings are genuine NMB brand. The cost of these alone are more than what some full coilover kits sourced from China/Taiwan cost!

Taiwanese Manufacturing

• All of our aluminium-based development mounts and specialist components are machined in-house at YCW Engineering
• All of our steel-based development mounts, damper bodies and piston rods are manufactured for us by our partner facility in Taiwan
• All of our rubber bushings are manufactured for us by Hardrace
• All of our valving shims are machined in-house at YCW Engineering using genuine Swedish Sandvik 20C Carbon Steel

[IamFODI]

I've known Dave for 20 years, dude is the real deal. Is there another coilover manufacturer that tells you where everything is made?

You're absolutely right that this most likely puts them comfortably ahead of Megan, BC, and the other crap-tier brands. And that MFactory's rep is solid.

It's not hard to get premium components. What's hard is designing the behavior of the damper, matching it to an application, and ensuring that it makes the car behave well even in weird edge cases. That's why development – not just components, and sure as hell not features – is what differentiates the good brands from the rest.

For $1500 a set even with all these super-premium components, and with nothing to say about their development other than where it takes place, it seems highly unlikely that they can compete with the brands that we know are worth buying (Bilstein, Öhlins, TCK, MCS, FCM, etc.). But hopefully time will tell.

Given that you've known Dave for a long time, maybe you can invite him here to talk about these coilovers. Unlike other forums, we don't ask businesses to pay to sponsor the forum. All we ask is that they contribute some combination of genuinely new/novel products, real and interesting background info, and/or significant price reductions in group buys. If he really has something to offer, I'm sure he can find an audience here.

[T-Rex]

I love it. I still haven’t gotten the car on a track, but it feels great on twisty roads. The car feels balanced with the 336/630 lb/in springs and front Hotchkis sway bar. The only issue I currently have is a front end clunk at parking lot speeds, which I suspect is just the TMS monoball FCABs. Also something good to know is that the orange anodized Vorshlag camber plates that 3DM uses are non-M3 plates, meaning that your camber range will be about -2.5° to -4.0°. If I had known that, I would’ve just gone with the red M3 Vorshlag camber plates.

The car feels a bit stiffer (not in a bad way IMO) than my blue M3 with PSS10s and stock seats. And maybe slightly stiffer than my 981 Cayman with the X73 sport suspension.

I would still recommend Ohlins R&T to anyone who can afford them. Thru 3DM it’s a great value since you can get custom spring rates like I did, and they arrived preassembled/ready to install.

Super helpful, thank you! I've been considering reverting my E46 back to daily duty now that I picked up a GT4 (and want to remove a car from the fleet), and also have the Hotchkiss front bar. Would you daily them? I'm on GC with 440/550 right now, which is a bit much for LA roads day to day.