Review: MCA Blue Series Coilovers
12-16-2014, 07:24 AM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 124
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Review: MCA Blue Series Coilovers
Greetings fellow s2ki-ers,
I'd first like to start by thanking Josh Coote from MCA Suspension (http://www.mcasuspension.com) for his patience and time in helping me decide what set up would best suit my needs before I placed my order, and also the great communication and customer service before placing the order, while the coilovers were being built and also after delivery. I hope that with this review, I can let more people (particularly Aussies) know about a great option for coilovers closer to home. I found these guys while looking for a set of coilovers to replace my old (almost 120,000km) factory shocks, lower my car slightly and also improve handling in the twisties.
A little background on the company from my own research:
In short, a quick Google search about these guys would reveal that they are no stranger to motorsports and building top of the range suspension components, with the added advantage of being an Australian company able to offer efficient support to their domestic customer base.
Why I chose MCA:
Even in light of all the above, with only 1 set of MCA coilovers installed in an S2000 ever prior to mine and thus no review or feedback about them readily available, I was naturally pretty hesitant about forking out the cash without knowing what to expect. Alternatives in my price range ($1500 delivered) were brand new BC Racing BR coilovers, Buddy Club N+, Tein Street Flex, K-Sport, etc etc, but I picked MCA since they were local and I could just drop by for pickup, and also if I ran into any problems, it would be easier to deal with than an overseas company.
I firstly looked up reviews for MCA stuff on other platforms (particularly Silvias, Evos, Subarus and the GT86) and found every community highly recommended them. After a quick chat with the owner of the only S2000 running MCA suspension at the time (they used his car to as a base to develop and test their setup for the S2000 earlier this year) and hearing his favourable thoughts, I figured it was time to have a chat with MCA themselves to see what they could offer.
Long story short, I messaged MCA directly on Facebook and to my surprise they replied pretty much straight away and offered to put together a production-spec set of Blue series coilovers for AUD$1500 with parts they had leftover, a few months before their production stock actually arrives from the machine shop. After more discussion on my intended use and what I was looking for, we settled on spring rates of 10kg/mm front and 8kg/mm rear, and I placed my order via bank transfer.
The other S2000 already running MCA Blues has spring rates of 9kg/mm front and 7kg/mm rear, and actually switched out KW V3's in favour for the MCAs due to better ride quality on the street. I was also told by MCA that the 9kg-7kg spring rates were tuned for comfort on the street while still being capable in the twisties, but I chose to go with 10kg-8kg as mine is pretty much a weekend twisties car and I don't mind a firm ride.
After a couple of weeks of waiting (they had to be re-anodized to production colour), I finally get the OK to go pick them up!
Build Quality and Install:
An hour drive each way from South Brisbane up to Sunshine Coast to pick these up, and also have meet with Josh in person at their workshop. He was more than happy to hang around and have a chat about their products, tips for setting up and also suspension in general. Got home, took them out of the box and snapped some pics straight away. Build quality on them is excellent with a very nice, durable looking black finish and very solid, precisely machined parts. He did note that the brake line holder on the front shocks will be 'more factory looking' in the the production model, and he made do with what they had which I'm absolutely OK with.
They are 12-way adjustable dampers, and already set to his recommended settings before leaving the workshop. They also came with documentation on the recommended ride settings, installation and tuning tips and a diagram showing the individual parts on the shocks.
A few days later, they were DIY installed with a friend without *too* much trouble (nothing to do with the coilovers themselves, rather not realizing we should've jacked up both sides before trying to yank the factory shock out like idiots), followed by alignment to -1.2 degrees camber on the front wheels, -2.2 on the rear, 0 toe in front and 1mm total toe in rear.
Factory Ride Height (measured before install, bottom of rim to guard):
Front - 595mm
Rear - 590mm
Adjusted Ride Height (measured after install, adjustment and alignment):
Front - 563mm
Rear - 572mm
So I lowered about 32mm on the front and 28mm on the rear (approx 1.25" and 1.1" respectively). Wheels are 17x7.5 +40 front, 17x8.5 +50 rear running street tires (Hankook s1 evo2 front, Federal 595SS rear), and my guards have not been touched. The height is adjusted by unlocking and raising/lowering the lower spring perch, with no necessity to 'pre-load' the suspension unlike BC BRs.
Handling and Ride Quality Impressions:
Before the very first drive, we set the height on all 4 corners to be exactly the same, and found that each corner lowered itself after driving around the block by approximately 10mm. I raised the rear up by the 10mm after that, as we were running into excessive rubbing in the rear going over bumps and cornering, but I chose to leave the fronts as they were. However, even after raising the rear to its current height, I still ran into minor rubbing when going over particularly bad bumps or dips (maybe 2-3 times every drive) so I'm looking to get my guards professionally rolled.
At Josh's recommended settings (about halfway stiffness on every damper, visible in one of the photos above), the ride felt slightly firmer than stock but still handled bumps without any bounciness or harshness save for when I rubbed my rear tires on the flat lip inside the guard. I haven't sat in an S2000 running higher end street coilovers such as PSS9's so I can't compare with those directly, but I would say the ride quality felt comparable to OEM, and even better on the highway. Over badly surfaced roads, the bumps and depressions were slightly more noticeable but felt more like a massage than constantly crashing up and down. This was expected with the spring rate I chose over 9kg-7kg, which I'm sure would've been much more compliant for daily driving.
Taking low speed chicane-like obstacles on the street felt composed and more responsive to turn-in, and also on higher speed long sweeping corners (~70km/hr), the car felt much more planted throughout and felt like it settled into corners much faster and better than stock.
I took the opportunity to go on a mountain and countryside run (Base of Mt. Nebo to Cormorant Bay, Wivenhoe) with some local S2000 owners and the car felt great all the way. I did however felt the need to set my dampers to full hard in the rear, 2 clicks from full hard in the front to avoid excessive rubbing in the corners, and to my surprise the ride quality hardly felt any worse on the street. The travel felt tighter and more controlled and occasionally felt a little bouncy, but was still perfectly livable for my standards and also almost entirely eliminated my rubbing problem, even in the corners and hitting bumps/dips in the road. I did have one moment of particularly aggressive steering input in a sharp right turn and the car did not flinch or feel like it was going to kick out at all, which is a plus.
Final Notes:
One thing I'd like to note is that prior to this, I've only ridden in S2000s with either stock suspension or BC BR coilovers (and a DC5R with Buddy Club N+) so I'm using them as a basis for my comparison. As you can see there's nothing super high end on the list so to those who do have access to more expensive setups, I apologize if my claims seem to be extravagant - it's simply much better than the stock suspension I'm used to.
I will however point out that the BC BR coilovers also rode very nicely on the street, maybe even a little more comfortable than mine on half hardness, although I don't know what setting/spring rates they had and the car had its guards rolled so there were no rubbing issues like on mine currently. With the Swift Spring upgrade, I'd imagine the BC BRs would also be a another competitive option to consider in this price range. The Buddy Club N+ on the DC5R however rode super stiff and was pretty crashy at dealing with bumps at speed, but that's just in my limited experience.
Overall I'm very satisfied with my purchase and feel like they're a solid option for customers in Australia, who are keen on having the advantage of dealing with a reputable local company and supporting a local business producing high quality parts. For $1500, these are a great upgrade over old stock suspension, and leaps and bounds ahead of a lot of the crap you see being sold nowadays on eBay for much less.
For our overseas brethren, MCA do deal with international customers although for the price you'll be looking to pay for shipping, it may be more worth it to consider springing for the more expensive MCA Red series which I was told by Josh, are "a full custom assembled shock with a custom, more expensive and sophisticated style of valving to suit whatever your specific needs are and they're dyno tested/tuned also." Reading from other forums discussing MCA coilovers, they appear to rival shocks like KW V3 directly with many people opting for MCA Reds, although they do seem to lack in double adjustability in comparison.
I'm fairly confident that with 9kg-7kg springs and the right settings, these MCA Blues would ride just as if not more comfortable than stock on the street. I will update this thread as I get the opportunity to ride in a larger variety of coilovers to compare, and also after getting my rear guards rolled so I can experience them properly at anything lower than full stiff in the rear.
(Stock height in front, me at the back)
*UPDATE*
Guards finally rolled and they ride like a dream at half hardness or less. Tempted to say more comfortable than stock. Very compliant as you'd expect 2 clicks from full hardness, yet still handles great with less body roll than OEM suspension as you'd expect with the stiffer springs. On the downside, the rear pair did develop a squeaking sound that I can recreate by rocking the rear of the car up and down by pushing down on the bootlid, so I'll be bringing them back for him to investigate and rebuild free of charge (if needed). It's not loud enough to be heard over road noise past 25km/hr or so, but below that it's enough to drive me nuts especially in car parks and whatnot.
Tried silicone lube to no avail.
*UPDATE 2*
Drove the car back to MCA after emailing them about the issue. Spent about 3 hours test-driving and troubleshooting/fixing the squeakiness which turns out was coming from all 4 corners (I just couldn't hear the fronts from inside the cabin). Took each of them apart, greased the front coilovers' shaft seals as they weren't greased during assembly (they were a new kind of seal and he didn't expect they needed grease), added a dust cover and reassembled them. The rear coilovers got new seals from a different manufacturer. Seems to have worked as they were dead quiet on the way home. Here's hoping the 'fix' lasts! Great service tho - wasn't charged a cent.
Other Blues owners have reported the same issue, and my mate with an Evo 6 has the exact same noise as well. No functionality impact, just squeakiness as the shock moves up and down. Expecting new sets to be revised, tho current owners will probably need to post them back for him to grease up.
Guards finally rolled and they ride like a dream at half hardness or less. Tempted to say more comfortable than stock. Very compliant as you'd expect 2 clicks from full hardness, yet still handles great with less body roll than OEM suspension as you'd expect with the stiffer springs. On the downside, the rear pair did develop a squeaking sound that I can recreate by rocking the rear of the car up and down by pushing down on the bootlid, so I'll be bringing them back for him to investigate and rebuild free of charge (if needed). It's not loud enough to be heard over road noise past 25km/hr or so, but below that it's enough to drive me nuts especially in car parks and whatnot.
Tried silicone lube to no avail.
*UPDATE 2*
Drove the car back to MCA after emailing them about the issue. Spent about 3 hours test-driving and troubleshooting/fixing the squeakiness which turns out was coming from all 4 corners (I just couldn't hear the fronts from inside the cabin). Took each of them apart, greased the front coilovers' shaft seals as they weren't greased during assembly (they were a new kind of seal and he didn't expect they needed grease), added a dust cover and reassembled them. The rear coilovers got new seals from a different manufacturer. Seems to have worked as they were dead quiet on the way home. Here's hoping the 'fix' lasts! Great service tho - wasn't charged a cent.
Other Blues owners have reported the same issue, and my mate with an Evo 6 has the exact same noise as well. No functionality impact, just squeakiness as the shock moves up and down. Expecting new sets to be revised, tho current owners will probably need to post them back for him to grease up.
A little background on the company from my own research:
Based on the Sunshine Coast (QLD, Australia), MCA Suspension (Murray Coote Automotive) is a small, father and son business specializing in building track and racing focused high end suspension solutions.
Prior to the introduction of their entry and mid level series coilovers (Blue $1500 and Red $2600 respectively), MCA dealt with not only racing as their own motorsport team in WTAC, but also in developing suspension solutions for other motorsport teams across the world. Their most well known achievement so far has been taking out 3rd place overall in World Time Attack Challenge 2012 as fastest RWD with their S13 'Hammerhead', running their Gold Series suspension.
They have since expanded their target audience with the Blue and Red series to accommodate a larger variety of vehicles and applications, including just recently, the Honda S2000.
Prior to the introduction of their entry and mid level series coilovers (Blue $1500 and Red $2600 respectively), MCA dealt with not only racing as their own motorsport team in WTAC, but also in developing suspension solutions for other motorsport teams across the world. Their most well known achievement so far has been taking out 3rd place overall in World Time Attack Challenge 2012 as fastest RWD with their S13 'Hammerhead', running their Gold Series suspension.
They have since expanded their target audience with the Blue and Red series to accommodate a larger variety of vehicles and applications, including just recently, the Honda S2000.
Why I chose MCA:
Even in light of all the above, with only 1 set of MCA coilovers installed in an S2000 ever prior to mine and thus no review or feedback about them readily available, I was naturally pretty hesitant about forking out the cash without knowing what to expect. Alternatives in my price range ($1500 delivered) were brand new BC Racing BR coilovers, Buddy Club N+, Tein Street Flex, K-Sport, etc etc, but I picked MCA since they were local and I could just drop by for pickup, and also if I ran into any problems, it would be easier to deal with than an overseas company.
I firstly looked up reviews for MCA stuff on other platforms (particularly Silvias, Evos, Subarus and the GT86) and found every community highly recommended them. After a quick chat with the owner of the only S2000 running MCA suspension at the time (they used his car to as a base to develop and test their setup for the S2000 earlier this year) and hearing his favourable thoughts, I figured it was time to have a chat with MCA themselves to see what they could offer.
Long story short, I messaged MCA directly on Facebook and to my surprise they replied pretty much straight away and offered to put together a production-spec set of Blue series coilovers for AUD$1500 with parts they had leftover, a few months before their production stock actually arrives from the machine shop. After more discussion on my intended use and what I was looking for, we settled on spring rates of 10kg/mm front and 8kg/mm rear, and I placed my order via bank transfer.
The other S2000 already running MCA Blues has spring rates of 9kg/mm front and 7kg/mm rear, and actually switched out KW V3's in favour for the MCAs due to better ride quality on the street. I was also told by MCA that the 9kg-7kg spring rates were tuned for comfort on the street while still being capable in the twisties, but I chose to go with 10kg-8kg as mine is pretty much a weekend twisties car and I don't mind a firm ride.
After a couple of weeks of waiting (they had to be re-anodized to production colour), I finally get the OK to go pick them up!
Build Quality and Install:
An hour drive each way from South Brisbane up to Sunshine Coast to pick these up, and also have meet with Josh in person at their workshop. He was more than happy to hang around and have a chat about their products, tips for setting up and also suspension in general. Got home, took them out of the box and snapped some pics straight away. Build quality on them is excellent with a very nice, durable looking black finish and very solid, precisely machined parts. He did note that the brake line holder on the front shocks will be 'more factory looking' in the the production model, and he made do with what they had which I'm absolutely OK with.
They are 12-way adjustable dampers, and already set to his recommended settings before leaving the workshop. They also came with documentation on the recommended ride settings, installation and tuning tips and a diagram showing the individual parts on the shocks.
A few days later, they were DIY installed with a friend without *too* much trouble (nothing to do with the coilovers themselves, rather not realizing we should've jacked up both sides before trying to yank the factory shock out like idiots), followed by alignment to -1.2 degrees camber on the front wheels, -2.2 on the rear, 0 toe in front and 1mm total toe in rear.
Factory Ride Height (measured before install, bottom of rim to guard):
Front - 595mm
Rear - 590mm
Adjusted Ride Height (measured after install, adjustment and alignment):
Front - 563mm
Rear - 572mm
So I lowered about 32mm on the front and 28mm on the rear (approx 1.25" and 1.1" respectively). Wheels are 17x7.5 +40 front, 17x8.5 +50 rear running street tires (Hankook s1 evo2 front, Federal 595SS rear), and my guards have not been touched. The height is adjusted by unlocking and raising/lowering the lower spring perch, with no necessity to 'pre-load' the suspension unlike BC BRs.
Handling and Ride Quality Impressions:
Before the very first drive, we set the height on all 4 corners to be exactly the same, and found that each corner lowered itself after driving around the block by approximately 10mm. I raised the rear up by the 10mm after that, as we were running into excessive rubbing in the rear going over bumps and cornering, but I chose to leave the fronts as they were. However, even after raising the rear to its current height, I still ran into minor rubbing when going over particularly bad bumps or dips (maybe 2-3 times every drive) so I'm looking to get my guards professionally rolled.
At Josh's recommended settings (about halfway stiffness on every damper, visible in one of the photos above), the ride felt slightly firmer than stock but still handled bumps without any bounciness or harshness save for when I rubbed my rear tires on the flat lip inside the guard. I haven't sat in an S2000 running higher end street coilovers such as PSS9's so I can't compare with those directly, but I would say the ride quality felt comparable to OEM, and even better on the highway. Over badly surfaced roads, the bumps and depressions were slightly more noticeable but felt more like a massage than constantly crashing up and down. This was expected with the spring rate I chose over 9kg-7kg, which I'm sure would've been much more compliant for daily driving.
Taking low speed chicane-like obstacles on the street felt composed and more responsive to turn-in, and also on higher speed long sweeping corners (~70km/hr), the car felt much more planted throughout and felt like it settled into corners much faster and better than stock.
I took the opportunity to go on a mountain and countryside run (Base of Mt. Nebo to Cormorant Bay, Wivenhoe) with some local S2000 owners and the car felt great all the way. I did however felt the need to set my dampers to full hard in the rear, 2 clicks from full hard in the front to avoid excessive rubbing in the corners, and to my surprise the ride quality hardly felt any worse on the street. The travel felt tighter and more controlled and occasionally felt a little bouncy, but was still perfectly livable for my standards and also almost entirely eliminated my rubbing problem, even in the corners and hitting bumps/dips in the road. I did have one moment of particularly aggressive steering input in a sharp right turn and the car did not flinch or feel like it was going to kick out at all, which is a plus.
Final Notes:
One thing I'd like to note is that prior to this, I've only ridden in S2000s with either stock suspension or BC BR coilovers (and a DC5R with Buddy Club N+) so I'm using them as a basis for my comparison. As you can see there's nothing super high end on the list so to those who do have access to more expensive setups, I apologize if my claims seem to be extravagant - it's simply much better than the stock suspension I'm used to.
I will however point out that the BC BR coilovers also rode very nicely on the street, maybe even a little more comfortable than mine on half hardness, although I don't know what setting/spring rates they had and the car had its guards rolled so there were no rubbing issues like on mine currently. With the Swift Spring upgrade, I'd imagine the BC BRs would also be a another competitive option to consider in this price range. The Buddy Club N+ on the DC5R however rode super stiff and was pretty crashy at dealing with bumps at speed, but that's just in my limited experience.
Overall I'm very satisfied with my purchase and feel like they're a solid option for customers in Australia, who are keen on having the advantage of dealing with a reputable local company and supporting a local business producing high quality parts. For $1500, these are a great upgrade over old stock suspension, and leaps and bounds ahead of a lot of the crap you see being sold nowadays on eBay for much less.
For our overseas brethren, MCA do deal with international customers although for the price you'll be looking to pay for shipping, it may be more worth it to consider springing for the more expensive MCA Red series which I was told by Josh, are "a full custom assembled shock with a custom, more expensive and sophisticated style of valving to suit whatever your specific needs are and they're dyno tested/tuned also." Reading from other forums discussing MCA coilovers, they appear to rival shocks like KW V3 directly with many people opting for MCA Reds, although they do seem to lack in double adjustability in comparison.
I'm fairly confident that with 9kg-7kg springs and the right settings, these MCA Blues would ride just as if not more comfortable than stock on the street. I will update this thread as I get the opportunity to ride in a larger variety of coilovers to compare, and also after getting my rear guards rolled so I can experience them properly at anything lower than full stiff in the rear.
(Stock height in front, me at the back)
12-16-2014, 07:39 AM
#2
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 124
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Reviews and stuff on other forums that helped form my decision to go for these coilovers, for those interested in doing more research:
http://nissansilvia.com/forums/index...owtopic=539252
http://www.86forums.com.au/index.php...ers-on-our-86/
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36454
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37468 <-- KW V3 vs MCA Red opinion poll
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1514863
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...4&postcount=16 <-- this one is particularly good.
http://forum.jdmstyletuning.com/show...-GDB%29-review
http://nissansilvia.com/forums/index...owtopic=539252
http://www.86forums.com.au/index.php...ers-on-our-86/
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36454
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37468 <-- KW V3 vs MCA Red opinion poll
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1514863
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...4&postcount=16 <-- this one is particularly good.
http://forum.jdmstyletuning.com/show...-GDB%29-review
12-16-2014, 03:16 PM
#4
Registered User
All in all, I think these measure up to the KWs, which I've now sold, especially if you like your car a bit more crap-road-friendly.
12-19-2014, 12:00 AM
#6
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 124
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The Red series are more expensive by $1100 or so and are more focused towards race use I believe, with more complex construction and more bells/whistles. There has yet to be a Red set fitted to an S2000 so far though.
http://mcasuspension.com/red-series/
http://mcasuspension.com/red-series/
Trending Topics
12-20-2014, 10:37 AM
#8
I'm thinking about ordering a red series set for my S14 or AP2. The red series have the same valving and competition shock oil as the high end gold series race coils (somewhere between $4000-$5000, I think).
In S-chassis and Evo world, MCA are at the top level. Various cars in World Time Attack using them and placing very high.
For the money, even in the US, the red series, especially, seems like a very good deal. Cheaper than Evasive Eibach or Tein sets and easily as good.
In S-chassis and Evo world, MCA are at the top level. Various cars in World Time Attack using them and placing very high.
For the money, even in the US, the red series, especially, seems like a very good deal. Cheaper than Evasive Eibach or Tein sets and easily as good.
12-20-2014, 10:26 PM
#9
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 124
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'm thinking about ordering a red series set for my S14 or AP2. The red series have the same valving and competition shock oil as the high end gold series race coils (somewhere between $4000-$5000, I think).
In S-chassis and Evo world, MCA are at the top level. Various cars in World Time Attack using them and placing very high.
For the money, even in the US, the red series, especially, seems like a very good deal. Cheaper than Evasive Eibach or Tein sets and easily as good.
In S-chassis and Evo world, MCA are at the top level. Various cars in World Time Attack using them and placing very high.
For the money, even in the US, the red series, especially, seems like a very good deal. Cheaper than Evasive Eibach or Tein sets and easily as good.
Definitely have a chat with MCA though, they'll let you know exactly what they can do for you. The customer service itself is worth whatever premium there is over the cheaper options, and the Reds are cheaper but just as good as the likes of KW V3, then it's a no brainer for me.
12-23-2014, 09:21 AM
#10
Originally Posted by MaximumAttack' timestamp='1419104226' post='23443316
I'm thinking about ordering a red series set for my S14 or AP2. The red series have the same valving and competition shock oil as the high end gold series race coils (somewhere between $4000-$5000, I think).
In S-chassis and Evo world, MCA are at the top level. Various cars in World Time Attack using them and placing very high.
For the money, even in the US, the red series, especially, seems like a very good deal. Cheaper than Evasive Eibach or Tein sets and easily as good.
In S-chassis and Evo world, MCA are at the top level. Various cars in World Time Attack using them and placing very high.
For the money, even in the US, the red series, especially, seems like a very good deal. Cheaper than Evasive Eibach or Tein sets and easily as good.
Definitely have a chat with MCA though, they'll let you know exactly what they can do for you. The customer service itself is worth whatever premium there is over the cheaper options, and the Reds are cheaper but just as good as the likes of KW V3, then it's a no brainer for me.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
rexer200
UK & Ireland S2000 Community
38
06-08-2016 04:53 PM