Anyone ever used these or heard of these coilovers? http://www.stratmosphere.com/mini_drivetrain.htm They just posted in the vendor announcements section and I was just curious if anyone has experience with them. Sorry they are Stratmosphere, not stratosphere.

 

Was just looking at them also, but for an r53, looks pretty low in the picture. Maybe Rally will know a thing or 2 one these. Im going to go do some searching.

 

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3166754

Good read

 

man i posted a thread about these coilovers in the drivetrain section haha

 

you get what you pay for...

I don't recommend any solution that compromises travel for ride height without damping adjustments to compensate. Lowering springs or coilovers that don't retain full travel on a car that has only 2" to begin with is going to cause serious stability problems any time you are not on a smooth road.

But if you just want to lower it and ride/control compromises aren't the highest priority, this is probably a better solution than just picking up lowering springs.

 

I think the best thing you can do is do some searching....especially over on vwvortex. Tons of people are using them. Some love them some hate them. It's definitely a situation where you get what you pay for. Do a little research around the web as lots of other cars have had VMAXX's for some time now

I think they're a great alternative to just lowering springs when you want to go lower. These aren't meant to be track coilovers by any means......but for around $600 I think they're a good option for someone looking to lower their ride more than normal springs on a budget.

 

I'm going to look into these. I don't track at all as most of you know, so that's not a problem for me.

The only thing that concerns me is what the guy a few posts up said about it taking away the travel...we don't have the best roads here in florida... So would this be a problem? Would it be better to go with the Megans?

 

I'd say do some more searching and reading up on what travel is.

Are there any numbers out there about the VMaxx travel yet? Just by looking at the pics they appear to be slightly shortened like the KW's to allow more travel at lower heights, but until we find out it's hard to say what kind of travel they have.

Most of the coilovers out there lose travel when you lower them and the ones that don't (Cross, megan, bc, ksport, m7 fronts) still have a limited amount of travel. That's what happens when you lower the car....you're probably gonna lose some travel.

 

The only problem I've found with "cheap" coilovers is that the spring rates aren't matched up to the dampers properly. Meaning that the shock isn't dampened properly to compliment the stiffness of the spring. This causes bouncyness and you lose the ability to withstand harsh bumps like potholes, etc. Also the wheel can lose contact with the road when you hit a sharp bump.

eg: I had a set of name brand coilovers with 8Kf and 6Kr spring rates and it rode like garbage. Bouncy and a lot of deflection. I upgraded to a higher end coilover set-up with 14Kf and 12Kr spring rates. Now my car rides like a dream. It's stiff, but with the dampers doing their job the car is totally streetable and controlable.

I'm not saying anything bad about the VMAXX's but for $600 don't expect too much. Especially when a good set of coils is $1500+

 

Very well put! My only addl. .02 would be the quality of the entire system. Do you REALLY want to be going HARD into a corner with a set of coilovers made, marked up, shipped and delivered to a vendor for less than $600? I mean seriously, if you want to put your car in the weeds on the cheap then these might be fine. But expect the ride quality, and performance and safety to be in line with the price. Caveat Emptor!

 

Please explain...

Seems like the ride quality....although possibly bad, would still be better than the H&R Springs you offer for use on Stock shocks for example. My bet would be that at the same ride height, the VMAXX's will have more travel while the ALTA+stock combo will be riding on bumpstops or close.

How would safety be compromised? The worst that could happen would be a blown strut which would result in a bouncier ride over time.....it's not like they are gonna crumble apart and fall off....sending your car spinning out of control. And a blown strut would happen with the H&R springs as well (ask me how I know )

Yah, they might not be the best quality....but it seems like some pretty strong accusations.

 

While my assertion MAY seem harsh I have been the unfortunate victim of an issue with a client and a set of cheapo coilovers several years ago. Essentially the cheap pot metal comprising the body of the strut, was unable to handle the cornering forces applied through the mount and thus SNAPPED off at that mount to lower control arm. The result was the body then slamming down again the suspension, tire, wheel etc. locking the whole thing up and spinning the car off the road, down an embankment and into a tree. Again, may NOT be applicable here, but I for one will only use coilovers made by trusted companies.

Now, on the other comment, I must beg to differ and I hope some of our satisfied clients will chime in behind me. But the ALTA Springs Manufactured by H&R are designed to work with the OEM struts or similar replacements of similar valving. The springs (like the OEM) are designed to work with the OEM jounce stoppers and are only trimmed in certain situations. The ride is slightly improved on freeway even with larger wheels and tires, and is firmer than stock in the twisties.

With that being said I do NOT consider them a replacement for coilovers! Coilovers are a step above a spring kit. But that is NOT what this thread is about so I am perplexed as to why you would ask me to defend them?

Regardless, THANK YOU for your comment. Always happy to drop in my $.02!

 

I brought it up simply as a comparison of ride quality. With the limited amount of travel our car comes with....much of the "harsh" ride quality comes from the fact that the car is bottoming out the struts. It just seemed odd for a suspension vendor to come into a thread and talk about the poor ride quality of another suspension setup while they sell and promote products with a less comfortable ride quality. Especially to bump both threads about these coilovers to imply that these could be fatal or hazardous to one's safety without any knowledge besides the cost.

Stock the R56 has 1.9" of travel....if the H&R springs lower the car 1.5" and are "designed to work with the OEM jounce stoppers"....you've left the car with .4" of travel. I simply brought this up because often people want to lower their non-track-driven daily drivers but they don't want to deal with the hassles and ride quality of lowering springs. With their low price and ability to go low, the VMAXX's offer a good option, and will offer IMPROVED handling over the lowering spring options.

I think the "May not" would be grounds for waiting before you posted such harsh accusation....especially against a fellow vendor. Coming from a vendor who happens to sell competing products it seems a bit sketchy.

Atleast wait for some information before making such bold claims that can potentially misinform people.

 

For those interested.....this is an incredibly extensive review of VMAXX coilovers by another VW owner. Be sure to scroll down...he posted about his impressions on the ride after installing them.

until a MINI owner bites the bullet and buys them, this are the only reviews we can rely on since they've been very popular among the VW crowd. It's better than nothing

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3166754

 

Adam,

I'm calling you out here for suggesting these are an inferior product without first hand knowledge.

Some facts about V-Maxx that can easily be found like I just did using Google.

V-Maxx is made in Holland

V-Maxx are TÜV certified

V-Maxx site http://www.hiltrac.com/v-maxxwebsitegb.html

Their catalog is very comprehensive for European models. They even have a Volvo application.

The price levels on the website show very similar pricing to the US price at 499 euros for the MINI coilovers.

Adam, you know if someone posted that an Alta/Perrin product might be suspect because of a price point you would be after them to prove it. I am doing the same. Prove these are of an inferior build.

 

I'd like to add that Stratmosphere has sent a set of the V-Maxx R56 coilovers to the NAM Alliance Magazine review team for a full test and review of the product. Given testing time and lead time for the Magazine it will be a few months till published.

 

Wonderful reasoning for talking smack about something you have ZERO experience with.

once upon a time, my cousin was driving a Hyundai Excel back to NJ and a wheel literally broke off. It was 1988. How is that bit of data relevant to the cars Toyota builds today? See how that works? ahh, good ole Adam. Glad to see your true colors come out here finally.



only satisfied customers may chime in?

 

I'm confused Adam, are the Coilovers $600 or $600.02?

 

Well these are interesting. I have FSD's with H-sports. I don't track my car and went that way to get a nice ride, good looks and a little better handling.

These sound interesting to me because I would love to be able to adjust my ride height while still maintaining a nice ride.

Longboard

 

Look I have NO issue with any of the rebuttal comments made in this thread. I never said I had first hand knowledge, just was SUSPECT of quality based solely on price. I have been wrong before and will be again. As I said it was my $.02 and nothing more.

The warning is to client to do their research on this or any other product prior to purchase. Hence the Caveat Emptor comment made in a post above.

I think all products should be tested by forum members and reported to the findings found. But, I am tempted to buy a set just to try em and report myself. They are SO cheap why not!

For me personally I will always handle something from a new mfr. with kid gloves. Especially being in this business for more than 12 years, I do have some background to base my opinions. I know what things cost to produce, ship, package re-distribute etc. Something that can be RETAILLED for $600 in this league of products should be questioned.

that's it and that's all main' (Bubb Rubb) plus its only in the moanin!

 

Its that WooooWOOOOOOOO!

 

if only. . .

 

Well then, please keep up the good work with your uniformed accusations I'm sure there are lots of products out there where people are really looking forward to hearing reviews and opinions based on zero information

Being "suspect" and implying that these are life threatening are on two very different levels.

Post showing suspect "The price is pretty low, I wonder if the quality will be an issue"

Uninformed accusation "I PERSONALLY wouldn't trust my family nor myself to trust my life to a $600 set of coilovers! A recipe for disaster in my opinion!" (Obviously a direct quote from the other thread about this product that you decided to bump to express your unfounded opinion)

 

ouch

lol

 

Why is everyone ragging on ADAMSALTAMINI....He IS allowed his own opinion. I personally would question the cheapo coilovers as well. Its my firm belief that you get what you pay for and find it usually to be true.