FM AFCO coilover install & review
 

Well, I replaced my MSM valved Bilsteins and H & R springs with Flyin Miata AFCOs. I have also used Koni sports with GC coilover sleeves in the past. Because of my lofty HP and track end goals I went with pretty robust spring rates of 700/450. I had also considered FCM and Ohlins.

The shocks themselves are well built and beautifully finished. Not Chinese junk. The install was a snap with one complaint. The prominant points on the adjusting collars rub against my rear half shafts while doing height adjustments. It rubbed the powder coating off the tips and took a little grunt, but not really a huge deal once adjusted. They looked nice once in place. Note: no spherical bearings on top mounts, just rubber. I don't know if that is a good thing or not. All I can tell you is how they feel on the road.

I used the stock MSM sway bars to get a feel for what the shocks were doing before I made any sway bar changes. I am riding on 6UL 15 x 9 with Toyo R1R rubber. I'll update the sways once I get a track day in and see where I can make gains. I suspect a bigger front bar is in order.

Running around 12-1/2" center to lip I have 1-2" of shock travel to rely on before I hit the bump stops (an estimate since it is very hard to get up in there and measure with the car on the ground). I'd like to drop to 12" or 12-1/4" with a lip roll. I had hoped for more travel, but I have not hit the bump stops yet to my knowledge. Or, if I did it was super soft.

Driving impression - good. With both compression and rebound set 10 clicks from full firm they soak up large bumps with ease. I have hit some rough high speed corners with malice and the car never felt out of control. They seemed to keep the rubber nicely planted with no nervous feeling. My favorite mountain twisties found me on throttle with confidence. I was faster. Surprisingly the car feels like it would be a good, but firm, daily driver. I never would have predicted that based on the spring rates. I haven't hit the track yet but twisty rough roads make me hopeful. I would say I had a bit of oversteer and I am sure I need to adjust the shock settings but, so far so good. Worth the money? Don't know yet, but they are pretty good.

Now, can I borrow your Ohlins and FCMs for a test drive? Any Motons out there?

I'll have to disagree on that part as my company used to machine a lot of component parts for AFCO's shocks, until they outsourced the components to China. I should know, they were my customer. I used to be in there all of the time. The engineering manager is an old friend of mine.

That said, they still make good stuff.

Chinese != junk, automatically. If they, AFCO, have QC to make sure what they get back is up to their spec'd requirements then it can be equally as good. If its bad, they reject it and make the manufacturer redo it until its right.

Among other things, I agree with your assessment r.e. ride comfort. I'm running the stock 450/300 springs, and I actually think the ride is plush. Well damped, but plush. I'm very happy with my AFCOs.

Come up to my part of the country, and I'll give you a ride on the FCMs.

It'll cost you too much to 'borrow' them :giggle:

The only experience I have in an AFCO-equipped car was as a passenger in the Targa. Keith could run up onto the curbing and punch it and the car wasn't unsettled like many others. Later that night at dinner there were joking remarks that it was unfair that he had "a wider track to play on".

Not Chinese Junk. You took that phrase as a single word. It might be made on the moon, but the workmanship, at least on the outside of the shock and the adjusters, seems top notch. So, not Chinese junk. Not American junk. Just not junk.

Yes, I was surprised by the ride quality. In some ways more plush than my Bilsteins, but yet more settled on the rough stuff. The Bilsteins would chatter, these just glide.

I considered FCMs, but they never got back to me after 4 weeks. Then there was the build time. I have watched some of these threads with interest and both Keith and Sheik made some real sense, but the only real criteria that matters to me is how they drive on my car, not what people who are trying to sell me stuff have to say about their products. IN actual practice, I might love em, you might hate em. Different strokes for different folks. I am sure both are well designed and well made. I'd just like to do a back to back swap at a track to see how "I" like them.


How you getting along with that 3071r? I want that big dog but don't have the internals, yet. Might settle for a 2871r. Then when I build my motor I'll cry about having a little turbo.

It's a gem of a turbo. Full spool before 3,700 rpm (see attachment). The stroker has a lot to do with that, of course, but I'm very pleased with my setup.

What manifold and wastegate are you using?

The new-style FM cast manifold with internal wastegate. 3" downpipe and exhaust (the FM unit with cat). Boost control is with an MBC. It all seems to work well together.

Yeah... and his bad habit of doing so ended the track day early for everyone else when he tried that with Elvis :giggle:

We're running pretty much the same setup. I've got 750/450 springs and a little less on the rebound. I might click mine up a bit, still playing. My springs took some time to settle, need to re-adjust the ride height.

lol....oh yeah? Didn't go so well?

Yeah, Keith is so used to driving the Targa car across that chicane with no problems, he did it in Elvis and put a window in the oil pan lol