I'm finally VERY happy with my Megan coilovers!

Disclaimer #1: I make no claim that this type of alteration will make every Megan owner happy, but it's working extremely well for me!

Most of you already know the original version Megan front struts suffered from a lack of adequate travel. This resulted in bumpstopping and a jarring ride.....although some of us noticed this much more than others.....why some more than others is still a mystery to us all. Megan Racing's solution is a heavier spring and different bumpstop for the fronts. I hear this works, but I decided to try something slightly different.

Time for Disclaimer #2: I'm not smarter than anyone else pondering a solution to this issue, I just like to try different things, and I accidentally ended up with something I like a lot.

The Megans (some of us had trouble with) came with 5kg/mm (~280lb/in) springs front and 6kg/mm (~335lb/in) rear. With these springs I had only about .7" travel left in the front with the tires on the ground. The Megan solution spring is 8kg/mm (~450lb/in). There's no change for the rears because they seem to have plenty of travel. I decided I didn't want that sort of balance (8kg front and 6kg rear), so I came up with a compromise that changes the rear springs as well.

My version is 375lb/in (~6.7kg/mm) springs for both the front and the rear. I used MR's replacement bumpstops for the fronts.

The ride is drastically improved. In addition to quite a bit of local motoring, I've now made a couple of my round trip commutes in and out of Wash DC (bad roads and construction zones) and I haven't hit the bumpstops once. Piston travel was definitely the issue.

Disclaimer #3: Though I always thought I would be driving this thing in autoX and on tracks occasionally, it's still a street vehicle.....so far. My impressions are all from pushing it hard around my favorite local spots.

That said, the car is more balanced now than it's ever been. I have the kind of confidence inspiring "feel," balance and control I've been trying to get since I started playing around with it more than four years ago.

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edit: The Megan fix springs definitely have a rate of 8 kg/mm.....but I'm not so certain of the lb/in equivalent. I've never really trusted my kg/mm to lb/in conversion factor -- can't even remember where I found it -- but when I do the math it comes out at 448 lb/in (and I round up to an even 450 lb/in, as above). Michael (meb) and others have said they're 469 lb/in since Megan's first mention of the 8 kg/mm rate. I'm willing to bet they're 469 and my conversion factor is off. Clue me in if you can - I'd appreciate it - thanks!

 

cool.

do you mind if i ask what ride hieght and dampner setting your running?

 

I'll have to give you round figures on the ride height since they'll change slightly when I take it back in to have it realigned. I have the factory aerokit so I measured from the bottom side of the highest point on the wheel arches (doesn't change with the aerokit). I'm at ~24.5" at the front arch and ~25.2" at the rear arch. I didn't measure but I'm certain there's still room on the coilovers to drop at least another 1.5".

 

Almost forgot - I'll recheck the damper settings later.

 

thats good to hear. so where did you get these springs from? i still havent tried putting the replacements in yet becaue my car is away for winter. i still think it was a cobb job fix by megan, but what can you do.

 

I used Eibach springs. You can get linear Eibachs from quite a few vendors. I bought mine from Ground Control. You won't find on their site all the spring rates they have available - they usually list only the straight Eibachs there - if you call they'll tell you if they have what you want in their GC-spec Eibach line - you need to have the dimensions and know what sort of rates you're looking for - they all seem to be $59 per pair.
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edit: I can't believe I wrote $59 per pair! Don't know how I got that idea into my head but once it was in there it stuck.....for a while. These things are priced per spring, not per pair or as kits. I guess maybe if you're working on a bike you might only want one. Sorry to mislead.

 

By the way, an additional benefit of those Eibachs (for those who care about such things) is they're red springs. Also, the GC-spec Eibachs are slightly barrel shaped. It's not much -- nothing like the stockers -- but since one of my front dust boots was destroyed by being caught up under the original spring I figured a slight barrel shape might help.

For any of you who are still on the original Megan springs, how does the ride height I posted above (post #3) compare to yours? I have room for plenty of additional drop based on my taste, but I'm curious about how this setup might work for others, height-wise.

 

That is great to hear Kurvhugr, I did intall the front springs Megan sent and it's working well for me. But then again, I own a cabrio and the additional weight settles the front springs nicely. Now, the back is a completely different issue. I have to agree with your desicion of going with the slightly higher rate out back, as I always felt the back was too soft. I even email Steve about it but he never returned those emails (lets not get into that, please). I wanted to go with a 7kg out back but didn't know who carried it. Thanks for the info, I will definitely order me a set.

 

I think the barrel-shape spring will allow for more spring travel?

 

Yes, I forgot to mention that an MC (like I have) is a bit less front-heavy than an MCS, so 375 lb/in might not be ideal for an MCS.....I didn't think about the cabrio weight or weight balance. I say might not - remember, I'm just making this up as I go along. It appears that I may have guessed well when I chose 375 lb/in for my hard-top MC. If I had a hard-top S I might have gone with 400 in the front -- maybe. I'm not sure what I would choose as a rear rate if I had the 450 fronts from Megan. You'll want to consider the rest of your suspension system, like whether you have an uprated rear sway bar for example. I do, and that and the MC's weight balance are the main reasons I decided to go with matching front and rear rates.

Fortunately, I think Eibach make springs at nearly any weight you could need, in 25 lb/in increments. You just have to find a vendor that carries the particular rate you're looking for. GC carries quite a few and, as I mentioned, they have more than they list on their site, but Google (or your fav search engine) will easily find you other vendors.
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edit - I see you have a Helix swaybar - that's the same one I have...though it was RDR when I bought it.

 

So you think you could slam it still? That's one of Megan's strongest qualities and that would be great to keep it

Thanks for doing this work and sharing. Sounds like you are happy with it....i will look into it

So basically running 375 all around and the new bumpstops is enough? That's great news. I assume that when you say "MR's" springs that is just short for Megan Racing right(just want to make sure, so that i can begin looking into it)? How much do the new springs cost?

375 all around isnt a bad balance at all....atleast for our coopers. That is near where my old springs were and my Cooper performed great on the street and on the auto-x track.

Also...this is a lot to ask, so if its too much just say so....but is there anyway you could wind the coilovers down and take a side pic just to see how low it can go? You dont have to drive it around like that or let it settle. It's just so i can get an idea of how low it goes.....the other solution seemed to have problems with lowering it more than stock. Thanks

 

I'm embarassed to say I didn't actually ask them why their spec Eibachs have that slight barrel shape. It's definitely "slight" though. I didn't measure them before I installed them but the 2.5" ID springs (to match the Megans) might be 2.8" ID at their widest point -- maybe. I think this is unlikely to increase spring travel noticeably. I suspect it's meant to decrease the noise you hear if your springs bind.....shouldn't be a problem with the Megans.

 

I'd love to help you out, and it would be fun just to see the effect, but I don't have time to slam it and raise it again right now. If it helps, there's definitely enough thread room left to drop it enough to eliminate any vertical gap between my tires and the wheel arches...maybe even enough for a slight tuck (if my tires would allow it). And that's with slightly lower profile rims/tires. I use 225-45-16s so I have a little extra gap (6mm?) to overcome.

Also, I only preloaded the springs just enough to keep them tight, about 4mm. If you dial in more spring preload you gain the same amount of additional thread space for dropping. I have no idea what that does to the ride, etc, but I know Steve @ MR recommended a bit of preload with the 450 springs (you might want to hunt around brownflyer's old "urgent help needed" thread for specific numbers).

And yes, MR = Megan Racing.

I paid $59 per pair plus shipping from Ground Control - you might find them for less elsewhere.
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edit: Again, as I edited in post #6, I don't know how I got the idea in my head that they were $59 per pair - it's $59 per spring - not sold as pairs or kits - sorry to mislead.

 

thanks dude...i totally understand about the lack of time....i just figured it wouldnt hurt to ask.

it sounds like it wont let me lower it as much as i need.....so it looks like i will stick to the springs it came with. I like to tuck my tires a decent amount and i have 205/50/15s.....so it sounds like these 375's wont work.

 

Yup, higher spring rate means less drop space. Sorry this won't work for you but didn't you once say you're NOT having any trouble with the travel anyway? I say if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you drive so carefully because of the extreme (to me) drop that you're not experiencing the harsh, bumpstopping ride, then you probably don't need to mess with it.

You still might get something useful out of this experiment some day though. If you start to hit the bump stops, but only rarely, and you want to reduce the bumpstopping further, just pick a compromise spring rate. The original springs are 280 and you know about how much drop I can get with 375, so maybe try 300s or 325s.

I can't imagine being able to drive around here with as much drop as you must have right now. I think I'd be slowing down traffic while trying to avoid loose change on the pavement.

 

yah, i still havent really had problems. I just like to research all of the solutions people are coming up with just in case i start to have problems for whatever reason.
I may move up to 325s like you stated because I do have thread left on the coilovers. So perhaps i can manage to keep this ride height and help out a little up front.

I really respect you for sticking to this and solving the problem....and then sharing with everyone Definitely helpful

 

I try.

 

if i ever see you in the area youll have to give me a ride. I personally will never trust megan products again after basically throwing 1000 dollars in the garbage on their coilovers.

scooter

 

I think you'd be surprised - the difference is almost shocking (no pun intended).

 

How bad were yours? Were you hitting bumpstop constantly?

 

I have the Ledas. And they came with 250 lb/in in front and 325 in/lb in the rear and they are way too soft in the front. Softer springs require more range of motion (or wickedly stiff dampener settings) to keep from bottoming all the time. But 450 lb/in SOUNDS like a heck of a lot of spring for the front.....

Matt

 

Kurvhugr, could you be so kind and give me more specs on the springs you're running? This is what I'm comming out with:

375lb/inch, 7" height, 2.5"ID (this would be for the rear). Is this correct?

Thanks

 

Yes, that's what I'm using. The MR rears are 180mm which works out as ~7.09", so I figure 7" is close enough, esp since the spring is a higher rate anyway.

 

Awesome, thanks. I'm going to order me a set today...

 

For what it's worth, you could probably pick up some heavier springs for your front Ledas.....but you already knew that.

That's what I thought as well, thus my little experiment.

You know, there's some real irony here.....and I feel partly responsible.....

When the MR coilovers were first announced on this board the vendor (not MR) said the springs would be 400 lb/in front and rear. Some of us (myself included) said things like "hey, great design, but 400 lb/in sounds like way too much spring for street machines." He asked for suggestions, etc, etc, and we ended up with 280 and 335.....and now I'm finally happy with them at 375 and 375.....