I just got mine on the car two nights ago. Other than the work involved with getting the fronts in (my car has a lowered front sub frame that makes getting the "long bolt" out impossible without dropping the frame-I pulled the lower ball joint out of the control arm instead) the install went very smoothly. I didn't see a set of instructions in the package describing how to put the NB mounts together but it’s pretty self-explanatory if you just look at the 4 parts involved and use your brain. The only change I made was to use a set of rubber upper spring locators from my old ground controls as opposed to the blue aluminum ones that come in the kit. I wanted to avoid any noise the metal ones could possibly transfer to the chassis and felt the slight compromise in total stiffness was worth it.

Setting the ride height was a bit of a process only because I'm not used to the concept of helper springs. The first two attempts came out very low until I realized how compressed the helpers need to be even at full droop. Once that was figured out I was able to quickly dial them in to the same 12.25 front/ 12.5 rear I had the car set to before. This translated to the front perches being set almost to the top, the rears I set at 4.5 " from the bottom of the threaded area. I'm pretty sure I'll have to fine tune it after they settle but it looks pretty good for now. To keep things consistent I set all four to the maximum stiff setting during installation.

So far they feel comparable to the Konis I had on it before with a bit more stiffness in the rear (which was my goal). The car seems to be braking much flatter. I "think" I hear a bit of slight clanking in the rear which may be the helpers and extra perches between them and the main springs. I've heard of this being a small issue with helpers before and honestly its hardly worth mentioning. It's been raining since I got them on and the car is still uninspected so I've only really had the drive from my parent's garage to home to feel them out. I hope the weather lets me take it out this weekend and get a chance to better evaluate them.

The only concern I had was that one of the front adjustment ***** only seems to have about 3 "clicks" of movement when the other three have a lot more. Full adjustment on the rears and one of the fronts takes two full turns of the **** the one front only takes about 3/4 of a turn. Is this an issue? have them all turned to stiff and most likely they will stay that way so as long as "stiff" is "stiff" I really don't care about the rest of the range unless this is going to throw off my left/right balance somehow.

Over all great product at a great price, I'll write more when I get a chance to put them through their paces.


-Jason

 

 

OK, the VMaxx's have been on for about a week. Here's my impressions:

Keep in mind that this is all comparing them to the only other two systems I've had on V8 cars, FCM custom Bilstiens and the set of Konis with GC sleeves I had on the car last. I've also had the Monster Miata front springs to the back with a set of AGX's on the car but that setup isn't even worth talking about in my opinion.

Installation:
I installed the coilovers with the adjustment turned to full stiff on all four corners. I used the formerly improperly assembled NB mounts the car already had with new OEM bushings and washers. The previous owner tried to use NA shocks with NB mounts by pretty much just not using the bushings. The only change I made to the system was to replace the included aluminum upper spring locator with the rubber ones that were on the konis. I could see the aluminum ones transferring NVH to the car and really wanted to avoid that. I felt the slight decrease in overall stiffness (if there even is one) was worth it. Installing the rears was a piece of cake, the fronts were a PITA. My front K-frame is lowered just enough that the "long bolt method" of removing the upper bolt through the sway bar mount will not work. I had to unbolt the lower ball joint and then assemble the shock mount after it was installed in the car.

Driving:
As far as actual spring rates you can hardly tell the difference between the Konis and the VMaxx. The car feels no more soft or stiff than it did before. I do notice a little less dive on braking and squat on acceleration but that would be the slightly higher rear springs doing their jobs.
I do notice a lot less "bump and Jar" which I'll attribute to the actual functioning upper bushings I now have. While better than before, the bushings still are no where near the level of FCM's. I may drop the $150 or so on the parts needed to upgrade the mounts to his spec at some point and see how they feel.
The other BIG difference I notice is the constant contact with the road. I had the opportunity to take the car up to 90 mph or so on some straight, yet undulating, roads we have out here. In the past the undulations would cause a momentary lack of traction which was completely gone this time. I also notice this over potholes at slower speeds. I have to assume this is the helper springs in action.

Overall I would say this set up is comparable to a set of Koni yellows on full stiff with a set of 500/350 springs and some type of helper spring. That's pretty cool considering the Koni setup I had (without helper springs) would cost about $1100 to replicate and the VMaxx set up came in at $850 shipped. Keep in mind nether of those two setups comes close to the perfect combination of track worthiness and daily driving comfort FCM was able to achieve for $1600. I would consider that the logical next step up from this. IE:

V8 suspensions from cheap to expensive:

Monster Miata springs on stock or AGX shocks - Free with kit
Monster Miata springs on Bilstein or Koni shocks - $500 - $600
VMaxx track pack - $850 - $950
FCM Elite - $1800
*after this I have no personal experience-I'm relying on what I've read here*
Eida Club Sport-$1900 (sort of ups the game for FCM with his new pricing)
Higher grade Eida/Afco/ ect.

Honestly I'd say the Eida's would be my next step unless Shaikh can talk me out of it when the time comes (two to three years from now).

BTW, if anyone wants my Konis and GC perches/springs they could be yours for the above mentioned $1100...just kidding, the first $650 takes them

-Jason

 

I know this thread is old but I was wondering how they have perfomed over the last 8 months?

Anyone else confirm or have diff opinions?

I can't spend any money right now, but i like to dream....

 

So...it's been a little over a year, 7000 or so miles and about 600 track miles since I added this suspension so I thought it may be time for an update.

I'm still happy with the system for the money I paid for it. I really do still consider it a "minimum" adjustable coil over kit and no where near the level of the $1800 + options out there but still well worth the under $1000 it costs.

The biggest thing I discovered this year is that they are not ment to run without a rear sway. Since running FCM suspensions I have deleted the rear sway with good results. Adding it back to this system changed the whole dynamics of the car. Turn in, braking, wheel hop, everything was better. I think the rears just can't handle working on their own and need the ability to work together. I also ended up replacing the tie rod ends with 93LE bits which made just as big an improvement on the front. Those two changes, coupled with a better alignment have convinced me I can survive a few more years on these coil overs before I need to upgrade them to something twice the price. Originally upgrading the suspension beyond them was next on the list, now I am looking at power/drive train upgrades first. Upgrading beyond them is still on the list but not unti after rebuilding the differential, transmission and adding aluminum heads.

Highly recommended for street v8's, a worthy temporary cost conscious option for track v8's
-Jason

 

Good to know. Being that my build will mostly be street, really thinking this is the direction I'll go.

Jason