Obioban's 2005 IR/IR Coupe

[Obioban]

I am wondering why you did not just re-valve the Ohlins dampers to match the required flat ride spring rate. Does FCM do more than just valve the dampers to match the springs?

Jesse

Yeah, he does a bunch more-- they'll be pressurized and valved to my corner weights and spring rates, bump stop tuning,and I'm having him add his KBO (similar but I believe superior to Ohlin's DFV) and ripple reducer.

[D-O]

I am wondering why you did not just re-valve the Ohlins dampers to match the required flat ride spring rate. Does FCM do more than just valve the dampers to match the springs?

Jesse

[S14]

Pictures just came in from last weekends NJMSP event...

Awesome!

[Obioban]

Nice. I'll be paying close attention, might end up going with something like that too from FCM. Will you be posting updates here or in a separate thread?

I'm sure you saw, but Shaikh of FCM made an account and wrote some interesting posts in the E9X subforum. I'm curious to hear more about his experience with JRZ/MCS/etc and why he wasn't impressed.

I'll be making a separate thread, but whenever I make separate threads about things I do to my car I also post them in my journal... so here, too.

[r4dr]

I'm going to use the H&R coilovers, as those use a non adjustable bilstein shock, but are height adjustable (corner balancable).

I had quad adjustable, remote reservoir JRZs and Motons on our e36 race car and was never particularly impressed. Conversely, moving the Ohlins to be flat ride was an absurd improvement that blew my mind. So… going whole hog, and trying the shock setup to match.

Nice. I'll be paying close attention, might end up going with something like that too from FCM. Will you be posting updates here or in a separate thread?

I'm sure you saw, but Shaikh of FCM made an account and wrote some interesting posts in the E9X subforum. I'm curious to hear more about his experience with JRZ/MCS/etc and why he wasn't impressed.

[Obioban]

Pictures just came in from last weekends NJMSP event...

[Obioban]

Given that FCM only uses Bilsteins last time I checked, does this mean you're ditching your Ohlins setup completely? Are you going with revalved B6 shocks or something from the Bilstein motorsport catalog?

FCM's insistence on Bilstein dampers is a weird stance (heh) to me given I can't imagine something like 2WR MCS shocks not blowing them out of the water with the same amount of setup, but I'm definitely going to give him the benefit of the doubt as he is a pro in this field and I know fuck all comparatively, lol.

I'm going to use the H&R coilovers, as those use a non adjustable bilstein shock, but are height adjustable (corner balancable).

I had quad adjustable, remote reservoir JRZs and Motons on our e36 race car and was never particularly impressed. Conversely, moving the Ohlins to be flat ride was an absurd improvement that blew my mind. So… going whole hog, and trying the shock setup to match.

[r4dr]

So, I've been thinking about it for a while, but just put a downpayment on it so it's happening now.

Getting a FCM suspension setup. I won't be installing it until this winter (as I limit my car disabling projects to winter), but money has been spent... so it's happening...

Kind of excited, kind of scared.
(scared because I've never driven a car that drives better than my does since I went to flat ride... so hard to imagine better than the best I've ever driven. But excited because I only went to flat ride in the first place because of FCM, so... here's hoping their shocks work to match).

Given that FCM only uses Bilsteins last time I checked, does this mean you're ditching your Ohlins setup completely? Are you going with revalved B6 shocks or something from the Bilstein motorsport catalog?

FCM's insistence on Bilstein dampers is a weird stance (heh) to me given I can't imagine something like 2WR MCS shocks not blowing them out of the water with the same amount of setup, but I'm definitely going to give him the benefit of the doubt as he is a pro in this field and I know fuck all comparatively, lol.

[Sharocks]

Interesting. I just rode in my friends car with custom built Red Shift coilovers. Been thinking about moving the TCK DA's and going with them. Cost is unreal comparatively.

[Obioban]

I’m looking forward to your review on the FCM setup!

I'm probably going to make a thread detailing my journey through this, as I feel like a fair number of people are interested in FCMs offerings.

... but it'll be a slow burn of a thread. I won't be installing until the car is parked for the winter, and then I won't be driving it till the roads are clear of salt in the spring. So, realistically, we're ~9 months out on me driving on this setup.

[duracellttu]

So, I've been thinking about it for a while, but just put a downpayment on it so it's happening now.

Getting a FCM suspension setup. I won't be installing it until this winter (as I limit my car disabling projects to winter), but money has been spent... so it's happening...

Kind of excited, kind of scared.
(scared because I've never driven a car that drives better than my does since I went to flat ride... so hard to imagine better than the best I've ever driven. But excited because I only went to flat ride in the first place because of FCM, so... here's hoping their shocks work to match).

I’m looking forward to your review on the FCM setup!

[Obioban]

So, I've been thinking about it for a while, but just put a downpayment on it so it's happening now.

Getting a FCM suspension setup. I won't be installing it until this winter (as I limit my car disabling projects to winter), but money has been spent... so it's happening...

Kind of excited, kind of scared.
(scared because I've never driven a car that drives better than my does since I went to flat ride... so hard to imagine better than the best I've ever driven. But excited because I only went to flat ride in the first place because of FCM, so... here's hoping their shocks work to match).

[Obioban]

Are these the spring rates you're still running to this day? I end up with something similar up front when I play around with the flat ride spreadsheet, though on the softer side of 250-275F, 600R. I'm targeting 50-60 mph which spits out a 17-20% flat ride ratio. My concern is that the fronts are too soft, so I'm curious how you feel about running 325-350 up front. Stiff enough? Too soft?

I see a lot of people running 400/500 or something in that range and it just seems weird to me that 250-275 up front would be a noticeable upgrade from stock. Even though the numbers don't lie.

Yep, still running those rates. More than twice as stiff as stock is sufficient, IMO

Just read through looking for auto solutions shift kit install. Is it not in here or did I completely miss it? Mines been sitting in my trunk for way too long

Installed it 13 years ago, and didn't document it at the time. I remember it being a huge PITA, but it was before I had a lift... so might be easier now.

That said, I did let 2 friends install an AS SSK on my lift on a day I wasn't home. I got home ~midnight, and they were still working on the pin that's a huge PITA. I got to piss them off by trying once and getting it immediately after they had been struggling with it for hours upon hours

Which TPMS sensors did you go with?

Something generic... don't remember.

[8000RPM]

Which TPMS sensors did you go with?

[Slideways]

That page is part of the reason I keep putting it off lol. Since he says how frustrating the install can be. All the old threads from the other forum are gone so was hoping to find some tips or tricks from someone who has done it here. Have some YouTube videos saved but it’s not with the same shifter

The only frustrating part is aligning the pin for the carrier arm. A while back, someone suggested using a bolt that had a slightly smaller diameter than the pin to get the hole on the transmission and carrier aligned.