Are Fortune Auto coilovers "legit?"
 

Do any casual HPDE/auto-x guys run the Fortune Auto 500/510 coilovers? The reason I ask is because they seem to have a pretty good reputation, and they are considerably cheaper than the KWv3's. I don't think I would benefit from the double-adjustability of the KW's, so that would likely be money wasted in my case. I'm interested in any feedback you guys have in real world scenarios.

I believe hammer is the authority on all things "legit" and whether or not they need to quit.

He stopped returning my calls after I upper-decked his solid gold toilet.

Found this. Dont know if it helps.

Thread

Well I guess that helps set my expectations for the response I'm likely to get to this thread. From the link you posted, it didn't sound like anyone had tried them and liked or disliked them, it just sounded like they were dismissed immediately. I'd like a little more info than that, but if no one's used them, then no ones's used them.

I think if you boil away all the sarcasm in that thread:

1. The shock dynos are unfavorable. That is basically the "skidpad" testing for shocks for people who know / care. If you had an all-season tire that pulled 0.8g on the skidpad, you wouldn't get many people wanting to use them in competition. Even if people didn't have first-hand experience, the objective data would be enough to base an assumption that the shocks would not be optimal for competition use.

2. As they have unfavorable shock dyno plots, their value becomes small. Proven choices can be had in the price range (used) of these shocks.

3. OEM Honda engineers don't suck. They damping on OEM shocks is actually pretty good for motorsport. Getting shocks with poor damping characteristics would be a downgrade from stock.

This ^^^.

Stock FTMFW!! I just bought a second set of lower mileage used OEM shocks for when my set of OEM wears out. I figure I want a little bit more experience/time on the stock shock setup before jumping to coilovers, and when I do, it'll likely be AST 4100s or 4150s (should be out by then).

As far as the "cheapest" coilover I'd consider over stock - KWv3. Anything less than that, and you're probably better off sticking with stock.

Don't even bother with single adjustable shocks. I've never run into a set that "works well" because there are so many possible setups that a set of shocks can go on. They always either have to much compression or not enough rebound at any given setting.

If you want to drop your car, then sure, get the Fortunes. Otherwise, get something that's tried and proven. I don't think there's a single serious driver in R&C that drives on coilovers that have a MSRP under 2k. There must be a reason....

The suspension I'm running is less than $2k. Honestly, I was surprised by the quality and am actually pretty dang happy with them. I took my V3s and put them on not knowing what to expect. I met a guy this weekend who is running the fortune auto coils this was at Gingerman. He was moving pretty dang quick too. The driver accounts for a lot of the car being fast on track. Sure, you can have lots of go fast parts, but at the end of the day, if you're not up to driving the car near the limits of those parts, then it's not going to make a huge difference in lap times.

Yes, there are a lot of people on this forum that have a lot more experience than I do. When it comes to tracking, I've started to become more of a run what you brung type of guy. I'd much rather be out driving than bickering with strangers on the finer parts of what part is fast on track and what isn't. I guarantee you that if I put on fortune auto coils and was able to go out and win a TTC Championship this year, people would still bash them.

As far as the double vs. single adjustable debate - IF you know what the adjustments do, are going to take the time to adjust them for each track (while understanding how the adjustments affect the cars handling) then sure, go for some double adjustables. If not, id say they can probably do more harm than good.

Are they proven? No. Are they a cheap option if you don't have tons of coin? I'd say so.

I realize that I'm probably asking to be spoon fed, but if anyone is feeling generous, it would be really helpful for me to understand where the problem points are in the 510's shock dyno. I've read enough about shock dynos to understand the information I'm looking at, but not what is considered "bad." I tried to find shock dyno test results for motons, kw's, or ohlins so I could compare, but I didn't have much luck.

Fortune Auto 510
http://www.fortune-auto.net/510%20series%20gen2.png


By the way, thanks for being so helpful so far. This thread has turned out much better than the one that murderedrsx linked to.