- First Name
- Evan
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2021
- Threads
- 45
- Messages
- 707
- Reaction score
- 1,137
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Car(s)
- 21 Nitro Yellow A90 Supra, 10 Honda Fit Sport 5spd
- Thread starter
- #1
Hi everyone, now that I have had my Fortune Auto 510 coilovers installed and have a few events on them I felt that it was time to write a review.
First, a bit of background. My car is on stock power with zero aero. It is 60% track car 40% street and I primarily drive at Pitt race along with some autocross and an event or two at Nelson Ledges. I've driven on track (and on the street) with completely stock suspension, Eibach US springs, HKS HAS springs, and now with Fortune Auto 510s + front LCA spherical bushings. As for my driving experience, I am relatively new to track driving although I have had a few years of autocross. At this point currently I have 11 track events on my Supra. Additionally, while I have driven a couple cars on coilovers, I have never personally installed or owned a vehicle on coilovers.
After putting 6 events on the HKS HAS setup, I knew I needed to go with something stiffer but with better low-speed compression as I felt like there was still too much dive and squat upon accel/braking and I felt like I always had to wait for the body to roll and for the car to take its set while going through the S's at Pitt race. It was annoying because I knew I could exploit the grip of the Nankang CRS but I had to give up so much time waiting for weight to settle. At this point, I started shopping around and asking a handful of members what my options would be. These inluded:
All seemed like decent options, however each had their flaw whether it be price point, durability concerns, or the requirement of a separate component to fully exploit the coilover. the Ohlins were my original pick although they were built to use the OEM tophat. If I wanted to add additional camber I would have to also purchase an adjustable LCA like Verkline or SPL. The SPL arm has had NUMEROUS failures and the Verkline arm, while seemingly better quality was much more expensive. If I went the route of adding a camber plate, I would have to have a machine shop make an adapter to utilize the Vorshlag camber plates which seem to have problems of their own. It's these points that made me steer clear of the Ohlins as an option.
The KW2 ways were attractive as they were the cheapest option that allowed for independent Rebound and Compression adjustments AND included a camber plate. However, after doing more research there seemed to be a handful of instances of KWs blowing seals or leaking in one form or another in relatively short timespans. Not to mention the repair period for KWs seems rather long.
The other options, MCS and JRZ, seemed to be the only way to go as they have a great reputation in the track circles and seem incredibly durable. That being said, as a relatively new driver to track driving I could not justify the price as I know I would definitely not be able to extract the level of performance out of them that I would be paying for. Maybe down the road, but for now they seemed unnecessary.
Another option on the budget side of things is S3. While they seemed relatively stout and put through their paces by Mike Reyes of Boss Boss Racing, I was hesitant as there didnt seem to be a lot of widespread adoption and thus I could not verify longevity with multiple data points.
Finally, I was left with Fortune Auto. At the time of researching, I was not aware of any other A90 supra running their coilovers, so I had to look to other FA owners, especially those with BMWs and similar platforms to our own cars. After various threads and reading, the 510 line seemed to be very well regarded, and their name is plastered all over events like Gridlife. Putting the marketing and sponsorship aside, seeing their widespread adoption and general good feedback from various owners had me feeling much more confident. Not to mention their price point is quite attractive and is slightly below the Ohlins while being pretty much optioned out (I.e. Swift springs, helper springs, and rear spherical heim joints). Lastly, and possibly most important, is their location and cost of rebuild/revalve. FA is much closer to my location which would (hopefully) cut down on shipping cost and turnaround time. Additionally, FA's coilovers are modular which would give me a great upgrade path as I develop the car and myself as a driver. At this point I just needed to figure out what spring rates to choose from and/or to see if there were any shops selling custom sets developed specifically for the A90 Supra. It was then that I found RMC Motorsports in Las Vegas.
I contacted RMC and spoke directly with Sean Mullen who was awesome to work with and was extremely informative both during the order and install process (I will get to this later). Sean informed me that their shop car had been running their own set of FA 510 coilovers (with custom rates, Swift springs, helper springs, and spherical rear heim joints) for a good period of time and that they had done exceptionally well on bumpy track surfaces and eats up curves. RMC had settled on a certain spring rate front and rear that allowed for this level of performance on track while also being tolerable on the street.
NOTE: RMC does not disclose the spring rates they have chosen as they have put quite a lot of development time in this setup. However, upon receiving your coilovers the spring rates are marked on the springs themselves. I WILL NOT be disclosing these rates as I would like to respect the time/effort spent on this setup. Rest assured if you speak to Sean and discuss your setup, you will not be disappointed.
After a few messages back and forth, I placed my order with Sean/RMC and waited approximately 6 weeks for my coilovers to arrive! Overall, the total cost of my setup was $3,641 USD Including shipping to PA. This price includes the shocks themselves, camber plates, Swift springs front and rear, swift helper springs, rear heim joint upgrade, and a set of suspension signal cancelers.
The coils arrived in great condition in the typical Fortune Auto box you have probably seen before
I got to work removing the HKS HAS setup and installing the FA510s (albeit with a broken hand) and overall, the install process went very smooth despite the handicap and a couple of small hiccups along the way. The FA install instructions were decent but they still needed to be supplemented by a few youtube videos, especially when it came to mounting the suspension signal cancelers. Although, I messaged Sean a couple of times to reassure my decisions and ask questions which he was more than happy to help with! My only gripes with the coilovers after install was that the adjustment knob would contact the strut tower if installed with the camber plate set to around the -3.5 degree mark or more. This is a relatively easy fix, all that is needed is to remove the grub screw holding the knob and remove the knob altogether. Unfortunately one of the grub screws was torqued down way too much and caused me to strip it quite easily. After 5 mins of careful drilling I was able to remove the knob and I ordered a grub screw kit from Amazon to replace it.
I chose to set a fairly conservative ride height of around -0.75" from factory all around. this let my 275/40/18 Nankang CRSs move all the way through compression with a tad bit of room to spare, ensuring no contact with the body is made. After an alignment I am sitting at -0.75" lower than stock, -3.6 degrees of camber front and -2.2 in the rear, 0 toe front and 0.22 degrees of total toe in the rear. This setup is almost perfect with only the slightest rub on my Speed Engineering brake ducts at full lock.
Initially I set up the damping to be 10 clicks from full soft at the front, and 9 from soft at the rear (total of 24 clicks of adjustment) for street driving. This setup proved to be near perfect for the roads around Pittsburgh, which are quite abysmal at times. This setup does phenomenally well with bumpy road surfaces like the cobblestone around my apartment ?. Additionally, on the highway, the ride feels fantastic. Very similar to the HKS HAS springs but with more precise feel and maybe slightly sharper impulses on expansion joints. I drove around for almost an entire day just feeling things out and tried doing some autocross-speed slaloms on a closed course and was EXTREMELY impressed. body roll is essentially gone and the car takes a set much faster. The best way I can describe it is the car just points rather than moves to respond to your request. In other words, movements are much more direct and immediate.
Now fast forward to my first two track events at Pitt Race! I set damping to be 12 clicks from full soft all around, essentially right in the middle as a baseline and was equally impressed. This setup accomplished my initial goal of making up time in the S's at Pitt race by quite a margin! I dropped a full 1.5s off my time at the first event with VERY worn Nankangs, getting used to the car, a greasy track thanks to 4 other groups running prior, and 80+ degree F temperatures! The car soaked up curbs and inspired loads more confidence than any of my prior setups. I felt like I could finally yaw the car going into an overhill off-camber corner and understand what the car was doing. Pitch and Dive were also greatly reduced and I felt the front end dive much less than I was used to. Weight transfer just overall felt much more predictable and composed. Unfortunately I was unable to up the compression more as I was both too enamored with the performance thus far but also I forgot a jack.....oops.
Here's a link to my new PB with the FA 510s
Anyway, I hope to do more testing this season and I will be adding aero at some point as well! I plan on updating this review after the fact so be sure to check back.
With all that being said, I would without a doubt recommend Fortune Auto 510 coils for the A90 supra. I would recommend contacting RMC motorsports and speaking with Sean even more so as their setup has been flawless thus far. I feel that especially for the price it is a very hard bargain to beat. If you have any questions please feel free to ask myself or reach out to RMC!
https://rmcmotorsportslv.com/
First, a bit of background. My car is on stock power with zero aero. It is 60% track car 40% street and I primarily drive at Pitt race along with some autocross and an event or two at Nelson Ledges. I've driven on track (and on the street) with completely stock suspension, Eibach US springs, HKS HAS springs, and now with Fortune Auto 510s + front LCA spherical bushings. As for my driving experience, I am relatively new to track driving although I have had a few years of autocross. At this point currently I have 11 track events on my Supra. Additionally, while I have driven a couple cars on coilovers, I have never personally installed or owned a vehicle on coilovers.
After putting 6 events on the HKS HAS setup, I knew I needed to go with something stiffer but with better low-speed compression as I felt like there was still too much dive and squat upon accel/braking and I felt like I always had to wait for the body to roll and for the car to take its set while going through the S's at Pitt race. It was annoying because I knew I could exploit the grip of the Nankang CRS but I had to give up so much time waiting for weight to settle. At this point, I started shopping around and asking a handful of members what my options would be. These inluded:
- Ohlins
- KW 2 way
- MCS
- JRZ
- S3
- Fortune Auto
All seemed like decent options, however each had their flaw whether it be price point, durability concerns, or the requirement of a separate component to fully exploit the coilover. the Ohlins were my original pick although they were built to use the OEM tophat. If I wanted to add additional camber I would have to also purchase an adjustable LCA like Verkline or SPL. The SPL arm has had NUMEROUS failures and the Verkline arm, while seemingly better quality was much more expensive. If I went the route of adding a camber plate, I would have to have a machine shop make an adapter to utilize the Vorshlag camber plates which seem to have problems of their own. It's these points that made me steer clear of the Ohlins as an option.
The KW2 ways were attractive as they were the cheapest option that allowed for independent Rebound and Compression adjustments AND included a camber plate. However, after doing more research there seemed to be a handful of instances of KWs blowing seals or leaking in one form or another in relatively short timespans. Not to mention the repair period for KWs seems rather long.
The other options, MCS and JRZ, seemed to be the only way to go as they have a great reputation in the track circles and seem incredibly durable. That being said, as a relatively new driver to track driving I could not justify the price as I know I would definitely not be able to extract the level of performance out of them that I would be paying for. Maybe down the road, but for now they seemed unnecessary.
Another option on the budget side of things is S3. While they seemed relatively stout and put through their paces by Mike Reyes of Boss Boss Racing, I was hesitant as there didnt seem to be a lot of widespread adoption and thus I could not verify longevity with multiple data points.
Finally, I was left with Fortune Auto. At the time of researching, I was not aware of any other A90 supra running their coilovers, so I had to look to other FA owners, especially those with BMWs and similar platforms to our own cars. After various threads and reading, the 510 line seemed to be very well regarded, and their name is plastered all over events like Gridlife. Putting the marketing and sponsorship aside, seeing their widespread adoption and general good feedback from various owners had me feeling much more confident. Not to mention their price point is quite attractive and is slightly below the Ohlins while being pretty much optioned out (I.e. Swift springs, helper springs, and rear spherical heim joints). Lastly, and possibly most important, is their location and cost of rebuild/revalve. FA is much closer to my location which would (hopefully) cut down on shipping cost and turnaround time. Additionally, FA's coilovers are modular which would give me a great upgrade path as I develop the car and myself as a driver. At this point I just needed to figure out what spring rates to choose from and/or to see if there were any shops selling custom sets developed specifically for the A90 Supra. It was then that I found RMC Motorsports in Las Vegas.
I contacted RMC and spoke directly with Sean Mullen who was awesome to work with and was extremely informative both during the order and install process (I will get to this later). Sean informed me that their shop car had been running their own set of FA 510 coilovers (with custom rates, Swift springs, helper springs, and spherical rear heim joints) for a good period of time and that they had done exceptionally well on bumpy track surfaces and eats up curves. RMC had settled on a certain spring rate front and rear that allowed for this level of performance on track while also being tolerable on the street.
NOTE: RMC does not disclose the spring rates they have chosen as they have put quite a lot of development time in this setup. However, upon receiving your coilovers the spring rates are marked on the springs themselves. I WILL NOT be disclosing these rates as I would like to respect the time/effort spent on this setup. Rest assured if you speak to Sean and discuss your setup, you will not be disappointed.
After a few messages back and forth, I placed my order with Sean/RMC and waited approximately 6 weeks for my coilovers to arrive! Overall, the total cost of my setup was $3,641 USD Including shipping to PA. This price includes the shocks themselves, camber plates, Swift springs front and rear, swift helper springs, rear heim joint upgrade, and a set of suspension signal cancelers.
The coils arrived in great condition in the typical Fortune Auto box you have probably seen before
I got to work removing the HKS HAS setup and installing the FA510s (albeit with a broken hand) and overall, the install process went very smooth despite the handicap and a couple of small hiccups along the way. The FA install instructions were decent but they still needed to be supplemented by a few youtube videos, especially when it came to mounting the suspension signal cancelers. Although, I messaged Sean a couple of times to reassure my decisions and ask questions which he was more than happy to help with! My only gripes with the coilovers after install was that the adjustment knob would contact the strut tower if installed with the camber plate set to around the -3.5 degree mark or more. This is a relatively easy fix, all that is needed is to remove the grub screw holding the knob and remove the knob altogether. Unfortunately one of the grub screws was torqued down way too much and caused me to strip it quite easily. After 5 mins of careful drilling I was able to remove the knob and I ordered a grub screw kit from Amazon to replace it.
I chose to set a fairly conservative ride height of around -0.75" from factory all around. this let my 275/40/18 Nankang CRSs move all the way through compression with a tad bit of room to spare, ensuring no contact with the body is made. After an alignment I am sitting at -0.75" lower than stock, -3.6 degrees of camber front and -2.2 in the rear, 0 toe front and 0.22 degrees of total toe in the rear. This setup is almost perfect with only the slightest rub on my Speed Engineering brake ducts at full lock.
Initially I set up the damping to be 10 clicks from full soft at the front, and 9 from soft at the rear (total of 24 clicks of adjustment) for street driving. This setup proved to be near perfect for the roads around Pittsburgh, which are quite abysmal at times. This setup does phenomenally well with bumpy road surfaces like the cobblestone around my apartment ?. Additionally, on the highway, the ride feels fantastic. Very similar to the HKS HAS springs but with more precise feel and maybe slightly sharper impulses on expansion joints. I drove around for almost an entire day just feeling things out and tried doing some autocross-speed slaloms on a closed course and was EXTREMELY impressed. body roll is essentially gone and the car takes a set much faster. The best way I can describe it is the car just points rather than moves to respond to your request. In other words, movements are much more direct and immediate.
Now fast forward to my first two track events at Pitt Race! I set damping to be 12 clicks from full soft all around, essentially right in the middle as a baseline and was equally impressed. This setup accomplished my initial goal of making up time in the S's at Pitt race by quite a margin! I dropped a full 1.5s off my time at the first event with VERY worn Nankangs, getting used to the car, a greasy track thanks to 4 other groups running prior, and 80+ degree F temperatures! The car soaked up curbs and inspired loads more confidence than any of my prior setups. I felt like I could finally yaw the car going into an overhill off-camber corner and understand what the car was doing. Pitch and Dive were also greatly reduced and I felt the front end dive much less than I was used to. Weight transfer just overall felt much more predictable and composed. Unfortunately I was unable to up the compression more as I was both too enamored with the performance thus far but also I forgot a jack.....oops.
Here's a link to my new PB with the FA 510s
Anyway, I hope to do more testing this season and I will be adding aero at some point as well! I plan on updating this review after the fact so be sure to check back.
With all that being said, I would without a doubt recommend Fortune Auto 510 coils for the A90 supra. I would recommend contacting RMC motorsports and speaking with Sean even more so as their setup has been flawless thus far. I feel that especially for the price it is a very hard bargain to beat. If you have any questions please feel free to ask myself or reach out to RMC!
https://rmcmotorsportslv.com/
Sponsored
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