Fat Cat Coilovers

Fat Cat Motorsports Coilover Suspension Assembly

[7/10/2009] Reviewed by: Robert Boyer - bobboyer@bellsouth.net

Applicable to: '99-'05 1.8 liter

Bilstein HD-based coilover suspension (fully assembled) with revalved shocks, Ohlins pistons, height adjusting sleeves, 46mm FCM bumpstops, new top hats. 400 lb front springs/300 lb rear springs.

Finally pulled the trigger a couple of months ago. After some discussion with Shaikh, we settled on 400 front/300 rear springs for the Bilstein coilovers - no adjusters. It took about 4 weeks to get the coilovers and another week to get over to the shop to get them installed. Almost hated to put them on the car, they're that good looking. But hey, I didn't buy 'em to look at. Settled on a ride height of 12.75" front and 13.25" in back. I initially left my ARB package alone - have a Racing Beat 1.125" set soft and a 14mm rear ARB. Tires are spanking new Kumho XS, 215/45-16 on 7.5" wide wheels. Drove around a week to settle things in, got an alignment on Saturday, autocrossed on Sunday. Under 50 degree temperatures and a light mist enabled us all to play "drift king" for a day but it was obvious I had too much rear bar even at that. Still, as things dried out we were only 1 second off the Miatas with Hoosiers on a 58 second, two lap course. Kept driving, kept feeling things out. Changed to a 12mm rear bar this morning, dropped the rear ride height one turn and went to play in the mountains. Yeee Haaaa.... I have never felt a car feel so planted, so all of a piece as this one now. I charged a few hills at insane speeds; just walked away from a friend who was driving on my old setup while driving through curves ten mph faster than anything I'd attempted previously. Perfectly neutral handling. Never saw a big pothole in my line through a sweeping uphill hairpin turn on Highway 41 - which I'm drifting through at about 50 or better. While the hole had been filled in, it was severely overfilled, according to my friend who had time to see it, apparently. I heard a loud bang and felt a jolt, but the car never twitched, shifted sideways, jumped, or anything and I was pouring on the coals and unwinding the steering wheel when this happened. I still have to check to see if I bent another Kosei. I'm not going to say these are the best coilovers ever - I haven't driven them all. What I will say is they are amazing. Supple ride, extremely controlled over all manner of pavement and they just plain allow me to be stupid, put him under the jail and throw away the keys, fast. My FM springs and Tokico Illuminas were a definite step up over the Hard S Bilsteins in terms of ride quality and the ability to control stiffer springs. And the car was no slouch. We had more grip and better ride. The FM setup retains my vote as the budget suspension package to beat. So for a week or so, I was wondering if the extra cost of the FCM coilovers was going to be worth it. Yes, it was a major improvement in ride over the FM springs/Illuminas and yes, it felt like it had potential. Then I thrashed it this afternoon. At 9 or 10/10ths, these things just work better than anything I've ever driven in any car. They are simply amazing. If you're considering a coilover setup in the the $1500 - $2500 price range, you ignore these babies at your peril.

Really, really nice work. Great service, good advice, great product. And next time I'll even listen when you tell me what rear sway bar to run.

Over 30 minutes to remove completely

Fat Cat Motorsports Coilovers

[7/8/2009] Reviewed by: matthew kohl - mprhead5@hotmail.com

Applicable to: '99-'05 1.8 liter

Fat Cat Mototsports custom coilovers. custom valved mono tube shocks with custom selected spring rates.

had this product installed on my car for 8 months. lots of Serious mountain driving for which my setup was designed.

Here is my endorsement for fat car motorsports. in November of 08 I received my custom coilover kit from Fat Cat. since then I have been convinced again and again that the FCM custom coilovers are the finest street coilover system on the market. No fuss, no adjustments to guess at blindly. Just perfect ride and handling out of the box custom tuned to your specs. not only did shake completely explain all the options to me when I ordered my coilovers from him last November but he has provided the best customer service I have ever seen from anyone! thanks to him I have a car that can literally make me feel sick on round about on ramps and is perfectly balanced to my driving style but if I have a problem with the car Shake is always more than happy to help me out. He went step by step with me choosing spring rates and rear roll bar rates that would work perfectly with my already installed front 1.25" bar and helped me to understand how it all came together. in the realm of customer service I recently changed tires to a new setup and was having some trouble on turn in grip. a quick call to fat cat and he helped me through my issues to get my car handling perfect again! you can buy an off the rack system from some parts house or Ebay and get something thats pretty good but may have some flaws that you live with because the system is lacking or not setup right or you can get Fat Cat Coilovers and not only have a setup tailor made for you to work great out of the box with no guessing and the support to fine tune it to your changing needs. I cannot be happier with my setup. spring rates F 400, R 350. sway bars F 1.24 hollow RB, R 12mm. with custom valved blistiens of course! it is truly a wonder to have a car that handles so good and still retains every ounce of civility around town and through pot holes that you can't help but ask why they didn't make it this way from the factory. and if you are interested in finding out about getting your own custom coilovers from Fat Cat make sure to tell him Matt with the MSM sent you.

Over 30 minutes to remove completely