stagen
15+ Year Contributor
- 128
- 19
- Nov 28, 2007
-
Chippewa Falls,
Wisconsin
I haven't seen much of anything about these coilovers in the DSM camp, so I figured post my experience with these.
I'll start with ordering. I bought these through Strictly Performance, and I can't say enough good things about their customer service. I ordered over the phone, and within the next day or two the called to let me know that because of the low demand for the DSM units, some of the parts Feal needed were out of stock and were waiting for parts to arrive from the machine shop. I figured these were built to order as it was already, so I expected a bit of a wait. They called to give me an update at least once a week, and they were at my door after about a month. Great service.
Now the coilovers themselves. They were shipped directly from Feal and were well packaged.
The build quality looks great. One thing I notice is the lack of a brake line mount for the rear coilovers. Not a huge deal, they also sell a universal clamp on mount for brake lines. I just zip tied mine to the coilover body for now.
Installation was straight forward, everything lined up. The factory front brake line bracket needed to be spread open a little to fit around the larger coilover body. Unlike the stock front strut, the top bolt hole connecting the coilover to the spindle is slotted for slight camber adjustment. I just pushed it all the way in for as much negative adjustment as possible and torqued it to spec.
Out of the box they were set to the height I had planned on running so I left it there.
Now for my biggest complaint. After adjusting the front camber plates all the way negative, along with the slotted spindle mount, I could only manage about -1.7 camber. My aim is -2~2.5. Looking at the plate in the shock tower hole you can see that there is plenty more room for the camber slots to move inboard. There's far more adjustment to add POSITIVE camber than there is negative. I compared pictures of Ksports camber plate, and you can see the slots go inboard further.
I've sent an email to Feal about this do we'll see what they have to say. It might've just been machined improperly. Hopefully I can get a revised set.
Feal camber plate.
Ksports for comparison.
Now for the test drive. Since I'm waiting to borrow my friends SmartStrings, the alignment was a guesstimate, and driving was limited to a few blocks by my house. There is a bit of construction going on, so roads aren't the best. Even so, the ride quality wasn't too bad. Without making and dampning adjustments it rode better than the old Eibachs/GAB combo, and was less jarring than my Miata on Megan coilovers. So initial impressions are good. I'll update my results once I get an alignment and really push the car.
I'll start with ordering. I bought these through Strictly Performance, and I can't say enough good things about their customer service. I ordered over the phone, and within the next day or two the called to let me know that because of the low demand for the DSM units, some of the parts Feal needed were out of stock and were waiting for parts to arrive from the machine shop. I figured these were built to order as it was already, so I expected a bit of a wait. They called to give me an update at least once a week, and they were at my door after about a month. Great service.
Now the coilovers themselves. They were shipped directly from Feal and were well packaged.
The build quality looks great. One thing I notice is the lack of a brake line mount for the rear coilovers. Not a huge deal, they also sell a universal clamp on mount for brake lines. I just zip tied mine to the coilover body for now.
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Installation was straight forward, everything lined up. The factory front brake line bracket needed to be spread open a little to fit around the larger coilover body. Unlike the stock front strut, the top bolt hole connecting the coilover to the spindle is slotted for slight camber adjustment. I just pushed it all the way in for as much negative adjustment as possible and torqued it to spec.
Out of the box they were set to the height I had planned on running so I left it there.
Now for my biggest complaint. After adjusting the front camber plates all the way negative, along with the slotted spindle mount, I could only manage about -1.7 camber. My aim is -2~2.5. Looking at the plate in the shock tower hole you can see that there is plenty more room for the camber slots to move inboard. There's far more adjustment to add POSITIVE camber than there is negative. I compared pictures of Ksports camber plate, and you can see the slots go inboard further.
I've sent an email to Feal about this do we'll see what they have to say. It might've just been machined improperly. Hopefully I can get a revised set.
Feal camber plate.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Ksports for comparison.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Now for the test drive. Since I'm waiting to borrow my friends SmartStrings, the alignment was a guesstimate, and driving was limited to a few blocks by my house. There is a bit of construction going on, so roads aren't the best. Even so, the ride quality wasn't too bad. Without making and dampning adjustments it rode better than the old Eibachs/GAB combo, and was less jarring than my Miata on Megan coilovers. So initial impressions are good. I'll update my results once I get an alignment and really push the car.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
