do i need coilovers with adjustable camber???

[jfac952]

TLDR; should i get the FA 500s for the adjustable camber or a simpler coilover like the bilsteins or kw v1s? is the camber adjustment worth it or even necessary for a DD?

like many of you i have spent countless hours researching products and forums for my long overdue suspension upgrade. for a while i looked at spring and strut combos just to realize that a couple hundred more could get me a full on coilover. but i digress...

so here’s the thing: i like the simplicity and price of the bilstein and kw v1, but the fortune auto 500s seem like the complete package. damping adjustability is nice but i dont really deem it necessary for a DD. and look, i understand that having more features/adjustments will ultimately make things nicer to live with but again, im not tracking my car so the FAs would seem like overkill. my main concern is if i lower the car without camber adjustment is it gonna eat up the tires or cause fitment issues?

btw i run 17x8 +40 wheels and 205/40 tires (going 215/40 next summer)

 

[Shikari]

You're over thinking it Don't stress yourself out.

You don't need camber adjustment. There "should" be factory camber adjustment available on your car (typically it's the top bolt on the strut knuckle). Know that with Camber Plates you'll likely need to just a holt in the strut tower to enable damper knob to move.

As for coils, Bilstein, KW, Fa , whatever will be fine. I use BC BR at the moment and they're setup great out of box. I use them for Daily and AutoX with no complaints.

 

[Erick_V]

I use BC BR at the moment and they're setup great out of box. I use them for Daily and AutoX with no complaints.

+1 for BC BR's. They're a great street coilover and maybe not the best for autocross but I still manage to place pretty well in Tire class. If anything you could get camber bolts to even things out. BTW 17x8 et40 with 215/40 is a beefy setup for this car. Don't go too low though and you'll be fine

 

[Pablo Pistoffo]

You can get some camber using bolts in the fronts and plates on the rear if you want to use simpler coil overs. Have you thought about just getting a set of good lowering springs and shocks/struts? I was pretty happy with Swift / Bilstein B6 setup, but moved up to the FAs because I autocross a lot. One thing to consider is that the FAs have a slotted bolt hole to get some camber, to make the full use of the camber plates on top you'll have to cut your strut towers to expand the center hole.

Coils are great, but they do take time to dial in and require more maintenance, which may not be worth it if you aren't chasing tenths.

 

[LilPartyBox]

Unless you're gonna drill out the strut towers (for access) there's no real point in adding another point of failure. I run MeisterR coils with camber plates and one side got loose, only once, in the last 3 years with them. But it did get loose and that was the only time I ever "adjusted" the plate while correcting the issue. Otherwise they have been set it and forget it.

 

[ronmcdon]

I think it depends on how much camber you really want. I got some whiteline camber bolts recently, did a front alignment and got around -1.8 max. my memory fails me when it comes to the rear but as I recall it was between -0.5 to -1.0. for a daily driver I can't see the need for considerably more front camber or rear camber.

personally would be more worried about roll center being off, if the car is lowered a lot. but then again for a non track car not sure if that's as important.

 

[Dpro]

A lot of the serious track and autocross guys use my camber plates in the rear . They give you around 1.8-2.0 of negative Camber. It plants your rear in the corners like mad. It also raises the breakaway point. Of course I have coilovers with around the same amount of camber in front. The track guys are running 2.5 sometimes more in front. It‘s all a question of how hard and fast you are gonna drive your car.
I went coilover‘s to have a choice on the ride height vs being given a predetermined drop by lowering springs.
As far as roll center goes the majority of FiST owners even with coilover‘s do not lower their cars enough to warrant roll center issues.
Ya go on facebook and there are some on bags and a few stance heads. Though the majority are not like that.
I know as I was hit up to make camber plates that gave them like 3 degrees negative camber in the rear lol. I was like nope. My stuff is for serious drivers.

To the OP Fortune Auto’s are good coilover‘s as are MeisterR’s two brands who happen to stand out. MeisterR has BTC championships under their belt . Interesting thing is both companies are following the same design tech for their setups and both hand build certain models.

In the end lowering the car without camber adjustment is not going to give you so much negative camber it will affect your tires. Most any brand of coilover is gong to have the upperhole slotted my ST XTA’s did which by the way are pretty much KW V2’s with the cool outer housing coating. As ST is made by KW.

 

[VirtualRonin]

TLDR; should i get the FA 500s for the adjustable camber or a simpler coilover like the bilsteins or kw v1s? is the camber adjustment worth it or even necessary for a DD?

like many of you i have spent countless hours researching products and forums for my long overdue suspension upgrade. for a while i looked at spring and strut combos just to realize that a couple hundred more could get me a full on coilover. but i digress...

so here’s the thing: i like the simplicity and price of the bilstein and kw v1, but the fortune auto 500s seem like the complete package. damping adjustability is nice but i dont really deem it necessary for a DD. and look, i understand that having more features/adjustments will ultimately make things nicer to live with but again, im not tracking my car so the FAs would seem like overkill. my main concern is if i lower the car without camber adjustment is it gonna eat up the tires or cause fitment issues?

btw i run 17x8 +40 wheels and 205/40 tires (going 215/40 next summer)

I have MeisterR coilovers and in my experience, you don't need the camber plates unless you want more than 2 degrees of negative camber. You can get that by adjusting the bolts that attach the strut to the knuckle.

I've adjusted the camber plates on the MeisterR coilovers and they only get you about 1 degree of extra adjustment over adjusting the bolts.

More than 2 degrees of negative camber might help in the corners but you may also sacrifice some straight line traction due to less tire contacting the ground when your wheels are pointed straight.

I've auto-crossed and tracked my car several times over the past few years and have made several adjustments, trying to find the right balance suited to my driving.

My car is also a daily driver so 1-1.5 degrees of negative camber seems to be the best setting for all-around use, in my opinion. I now make all my adjustments at the bolts, not the camber plates.


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[lowda9]

Are the factory strut bolts cammed?

 

[VirtualRonin]

Are the factory strut bolts cammed?

No, they are not cammed. However, you should be able to get 1-1.5 degrees of negative camber from the OEM bolts by simply loosening them and adjusting the position of the knuckle.

If you want cammed bolts for a little more camber, Whoosh Motorsports has a few options for you.


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[lowda9]

No, they are not cammed. However, you should be able to get 1-1.5 degrees of negative camber from the OEM bolts by simply loosening them and adjusting the position of the knuckle.

If you want cammed bolts for a little more camber, Whoosh Motorsports has a few options for you.


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Whoosh Motorsports wtf. You can just get a camber bolt kit from any auto parts store.

 

[ronmcdon]

you probably could get it from any parts store. have had whiteline and spc camber bolts in the past and held up well. the H&R's look interesting. not sure if it realistically makes any difference what brand you get.

 

[VirtualRonin]

Whoosh Motorsports wtf. You can just get a camber bolt kit from any auto parts store.

Do whatever you want, just a suggestion


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[lowda9]

Do whatever you want, just a suggestion


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Not a fan of whoosh motorsports. They just resell alibaba parts under their whoosh brand name. Also for non whoosh branded items they hide part numbers, so you can't search it yourself.

 

[kevinatfms]

If you dont need the adjustability, grab a set of lowering springs and a quality set of dampers(Koni or Bilstein). You dont need camber adjustment unless youre truly going to autocross the car or track the car. Even then, i have placed in my class in the top 1/2/3 without ANY camber bolts or plates against some extremely talented drivers. Stock -1.3 camber up front and was rolling on Civic Si's and Focus ST's. The Fiesta works quite well if you know how to set it up in stock to lightly modified form.

So, if youre just daily driving it, find a good spring set and damper set. Install and get an alignment to correct the toe. They are much less of a headache than coilovers and 99% of drivers dont need the adjustability of coilovers or end up setting them up wrong.