Look so Sexy!!

 

That garage is victory. Finally, a real modder in here.

 

Nice garage... you live in KC huh haha....

 

nice clean looking car.

 

First off, the thread was awesome.
Second, Your car is great and is most definitely in my top 5 favorite fortes, top 5 becasue its a 5 way tie lol
Third, you should have just posted in FOTM.

Continue to post pics as it progresses if you continue to do work on it, though, there isn't much more i would do to it, at least for looks.

Thanks for the pics!

 

Thanks for all the comments everyone.

I have a couple major projects in the works for this car that I'm hoping to have done before winter hits here but we'll see how things go.

 

Heating the fenders, rolling them, then rapidly cooling them will do one of two things since we know very little about the mystery metal that these cars are built from. If it's quality steel then it should harden, preserving the freshly modified shape. If it's lesser quality steel then it may warp, potentially cracking the paint as well.

 

The ride is certainly rigid, but it handles the road well. I prefer a stiff ride personally as it provides better feedback. Some people seem to complain about having their dampening turned all the way up and how "terrible" the ride is, but these are typically people who are new to coilovers and aren't used to anything other than soft cushy ride quality. Do keep in mind however that when cutting a spring you are effectively raising the spring rate. I found the Megan's rear spring rate to be a bit soft out of the box so I welcomed a higher spring rate in the rear.

As for the wheel width, 9" wheels clear no problem, but I'm also running a lower offset than most. So I can't tell you that all 9" wide wheels will fit. I also had to pull the rear fenders significantly and run -3 degrees camber in the rear to get them to clear the fenders. The fronts were no problem though. In fact I could even go another inch lower in the front but I already scrape subframe when pulling in/out of the garage so unfortunately that won't be an option.

 

Well yea, i know not ALL will fit, but if there's a will there's a way haha. I've been looking at varrstoens and ive talked to them about if they are planning on making 17s in anything smaller than 9, but with your info it seems that i can just go for 9s. I assumed right away the rears needed to be pulled, from what ive seen with the other forte guys running 9/9.5 haha. I'll get to find out what offsets fit i guess lol


also, stiffness is no problem at all. The coils on my audi are more soft than stiff, due to them being "street" coils with no adjustable dampening, but stiff is definitely more desirable on low cars versus soft haha

 

Keep in mind I'm also running a pretty decent stretch on my tires for clearance, 215/40ZR17 to be exact. If you were to put something like a 235 on there then you would have some serious clearance issues. It also should be mentioned that not all tires stretch the same (obviously) and will offer different results. I'm a die-hard fan of Falken FK's on my stretched applications because their sidewall is great. Other tires, like Yokohama for example, are fantastic tires but don't stretch very well.

It should also be mentioned that not every wheel manufacturer measures their width the same way. Some measure from the inside edge of the bead seat on each side, others measure from the outside edge of the wheel on either side. For example my wheels are 17" x 9", but if you put a tape measure on them you'll find that the overall width is actually closer to 10".

As for finding exactly which sizes fit I would go off of some known specs (like mine) and compare them to both the stock specs and the specs of the wheels you are interested in. I personally like to use this offset calculator for my vehicles: 1010 tires Wheel Offset Calculator

 

I'd assume you have a massive stretch haha. i have 235s on my B5 and that ones only running 18x8 and it barely clears lol


I think i'll try test fits with friends wheels to find more sizes as well.

ahhh thanks! i was looking for something like this, this should help

 

also, forgot to ask. The shims, how many did you have to stack per side to get to -3? 2 shims per rear wheel? did you have to use the spc shim spacer kit at all?

 

Each shim is good for +/-1.5° and I'm running 2 sets maxed out per side. SPC does not recommend stacking more than two for obvious reasons. They mention that an additional shim may be needed for the caliper bracket, but thankfully this isn't necessary on our cars due to the design of the hub. Once the shims are installed, the caliper still remains mounted as it normally would.

Also there is another site worth mentioning in regards to stretching tires, check out TyreStretch.com. It's a database of photos that allow you to see various stretch combinations on different wheels.

 

awesome, thanks for the info man

 

To get the coilovers that low, did you only cut the spring? or did you have to remove the bump stops and one or both of the adjustment collars? And how much did you cut the spring?

 

My original plan was to remove the whole adjustment assembly from the rear all together and just use the spring, but the springs overall diameter prevent them from fitting into the upper spring seat so you have to use the whole assembly. Right now mine is set all the way low with one coil removed. I chose to leave both adjustment collars on though since they help keep everything centered. Also the Megan shocks have bump stops so I removed the factory ones.


I dropped by the dealer yesterday, they were perplexed:

 

My original plan was to remove the whole adjustment assembly from the rear all together and just use the spring, but the springs overall diameter prevent them from fitting into the upper spring seat so you have to use the whole assembly. Right now mine is set all the way low with one coil removed. I chose to leave both adjustment collars on though since they help keep everything centered. Also the Megan shocks have bump stops so I removed the factory ones.


I dropped by the dealer yesterday, they were perplexed:

LMAO!! i get the same reaction when i take mine to the dealership. They are shocked that its turbocharged and whats even more hilarious is some of the salesman dont know shit about the cars they are selling. i end up telling them more about the car then they do me lol. oh well

 

LOL, that picture is awesome.

Quick question in regards to the shims, if you don't mind, since you stacked 2 shims per side, did you have to get extended bolts to put the assembly back on the hub? I'm asking because I'm about to tackle that project.

 

No extended bolts necessary, they're quite long from the factory.

 

Thanks man. I appreciate it.

 

I live like a mile from there. Not my favorite dealership haha.

 

oh, another quick question if you don't mind. About how much did stacking those shims space out the wheels?

 

It's pretty close to 5mm.

 

Thank you sir.

 

Ehoba, cool ride...quick question here...do u have any roll center adjustor made for the front??

 

Nothing of the sort on mine as of yet, though an extended lower ball joint would be desirable for keeping the lower control arm geometry in check during hard cornering. Right now my bigger concern is getting the wheel wells squared away so I can get back to spirited driving. There is a wiring harness in each fender that still needs to be relocated and a seam weld that needs to be grinded down and re-welded out of the way so I have more travel/less worries.

For those who may be in the dark about what spy622 is talking about here's a few diagrams directly from Megan:

What's interesting to me is that I was always taught differently in my chassis fabrication classes. They always taught us to design SALA suspension (as pictured in these diagrams) to have the lower control arm horizontal to the ground when the vehicle is at static ride height. It's the upper control arm that should be at an angle. So their depiction of instant center is a bit off from what I'm used to seeing.

 

Looks like I'll be dropping the car off to get the trunk shaved on Monday, it's going to be hard not having my car for a week. On to shaving the grill emblem after that I guess.

 

BTW looks like that anthony guy stopped crying in your thread and started bitching about you in somebody elses. Keep up the good work. You know you're doing it right when you have haters.

Haters? I love his car, I think it looks freaking amazing. I just wish he would some more information with us about other car parts that would fit as well on ours as well.. Not even to copy the exact lips he used directly, but im sure other lips/roof spoilers off whatever car he used would work with some modification as well.

Of course he doesnt have to tell anyone what car they are from, its understandable, it is just my opinion that this information would help the car community as a whole.

In the other threads people are mocking me for my rims, when in reality varrstoens and XXrs are both cast and are both knock offs. The other times people put words in my mouth because I simply stated my opinion that members sharing information, instead of keeping secrets. Which they stated was a *passive aggressive* jab at Hoba not sharing his secrets..

Ive over it now, Hoba has earned my respect and shown his worth on this forum. I hereby apologize to him, and wish him the best of luck with his car. Maybe in the future someone can figure out the lip designs, but for now oh well. Its all of the other *new* members now who keep bringing my name back into this thread.

 

Nice work on what you have done to that car... who knew a Kia could look so nice! Any engine upgrades to that thing yet to go along with the super sporty look?