2016 Magnetic GT/PP - MANDARK's: SITH GT

[MANDARK]

Big thanks to my buddy @2morrow for hooking me up with these OEM cloth Recaros. The one option I regretted not getting when I was on the market for the car. Finally the car feels like it’s hugging me back as opposed to ejecting me when I get spirited in the corners

He’s replacing them with this gorgeous Sparco QRT-C Carbon Fiber race bucket!

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[MANDARK]

Proof of life, still futzing with the stang. Took care of some things and posted these in other threads figured I’d slap them here too.

before going into the shop.

Finally got the AirDesign bumper on and painted.

 

[2morrow]

Boing!!!

 

[rxryanm]

Boing!!!

Same here!

 

[MANDARK]

Boing!!!

Same here!

Lol thanks

 

[Vettel-ish]

Stupid clean build. Very nice.

 

[MANDARK]

Got all the parts and finally took care of the brake upgrades. Steeda 2p rotors all around, Hawk Street 50 pads, J&M braided brake lines, Motul 600 fluids.

 

[MANDARK]

Updates:

brought some balance to the engine bay with a custom CF wrapped cover for my gt350 intake

Proper Oilcap bling

Verus Rear diffuser

No changes up front

 

[Salty]

Always have loved this build. I was scrolling through all your post on here and curious about your change in suspension. How were the steeda progressives? What made you make the move to fortune auto? I’m torn between these 2 set ups. I hear so many things from different ppl. Most ppl say progressive springs are blah and then the fortune auto coilovers are good but have the wrong spring rates. So just curious on your real world feedback. I understand everyone has different goals so that’s why some ppl are a bit more critical then others.

 

[MANDARK]

Always have loved this build. I was scrolling through all your post on here and curious about your change in suspension. How were the steeda progressives? What made you make the move to fortune auto? I’m torn between these 2 set ups. I hear so many things from different ppl. Most ppl say progressive springs are blah and then the fortune auto coilovers are good but have the wrong spring rates. So just curious on your real world feedback. I understand everyone has different goals so that’s why some ppl are a bit more critical then others.

How were the steeda progressives? - Good overall springs, I had them paired with Koni Yellow adjustable shocks. IMHO the springs/shocks were an improvement overall compared to stock PP suspension. My biggest gripe was bouncing in the front when hitting repetitive uneven road surfaces. That was really my only gripe. Spirited backroad driving handling was improved with that set up but I couldn’t seem to get the Koni’s dialed in to where I felt like the issue had been addressed.

What made you make the move to fortune auto? - I did a lot of digging on Coilover options, steeda, pedder, Öhlins, Ridetech, KW, BC, Cortex, Fortune etc.

It boiled down to cost, use and opportunity, I scored the Fortune (v6 I think they’re on v7-8) on their Black Friday sale. The high end kits (Öhlins/ridetech/KW) were expensive and out of the range of what I needed from coils. Fortune offered street and track setups. Their 510 series are tracked used, the 500 series seemed like the right fitof street and occasionally spirited driving.

Most ppl say progressive springs are blah and then the fortune auto coilovers are good but have the wrong spring rates. So just curious on your real world feedback. I understand everyone has different goals so that’s why some ppl are a bit more critical then others. - it’s all subjective really. I wanted a setup that was suitable for daily driving and also gave me confidence to stay flat when spirited driving.

I get that with my current set up. (Coils/Swaybars/Steeda Supporting suspension mods center roll, adjustable endlinks etc)

It took a while for me to get the adjustments right. Several trips over specific spots in the road that i hated in with the progressive/yellows and adjusting 1-2clicks up/down on front and back settings (I should have sprung for the control module) but that’s what you’re getting into if you’re properly using coils.

I assume most folks set and forget coils, they need to be adjusted, I assume most folks are too lazy, but time is spent and in the end I’m happy with it.

My only gripe with the 500’s is that the rear will occasionally contact the bump stops on hard/deep dips. They’re limited to a specific spring rate for the Rears.

Overall daily driving experience is great, it’s not perfect, but it’s not a jackhammer jiggle fest like with some coilovers. It feels great for daily use, I’ve done several road trips an hours of driving and it’s comfortable (again subjective) for coils.

Fortune auto has great customer service too, I like that I can have the coils serviced when the time comes (based off use) they’ve been responsive to my contacts.

In the end, the Koni yellows and progressive springs did the job if you’re looking to keep it mild and go deep down the rabbit hole of mods. The Fortunes were definitely an upgrade imho, much more work to get where I wanted but I’m happy with the outcome. In the end if I could do it again I’d stick with Fortune and the supporting suspension improvements instead of spending on Koni/progressives. I could of used that money on the supporting mods with the Fortunes. I have the Konis/progressives sitting in a box in the garage lol

hope this helps

 

[Salty]

How were the steeda progressives? - Good overall springs, I had them paired with Koni Yellow adjustable shocks. IMHO the springs/shocks were an improvement overall compared to stock PP suspension. My biggest gripe was bouncing in the front when hitting repetitive uneven road surfaces. That was really my only gripe. Spirited backroad driving handling was improved with that set up but I couldn’t seem to get the Koni’s dialed in to where I felt like the issue had been addressed.

What made you make the move to fortune auto? - I did a lot of digging on Coilover options, steeda, pedder, Öhlins, Ridetech, KW, BC, Cortex, Fortune etc.

It boiled down to cost, use and opportunity, I scored the Fortune (v6 I think they’re on v7-8) on their Black Friday sale. The high end kits (Öhlins/ridetech/KW) were expensive and out of the range of what I needed from coils. Fortune offered street and track setups. Their 510 series are tracked used, the 500 series seemed like the right fitof street and occasionally spirited driving.

Most ppl say progressive springs are blah and then the fortune auto coilovers are good but have the wrong spring rates. So just curious on your real world feedback. I understand everyone has different goals so that’s why some ppl are a bit more critical then others. - it’s all subjective really. I wanted a setup that was suitable for daily driving and also gave me confidence to stay flat when spirited driving.

I get that with my current set up. (Coils/Swaybars/Steeda Supporting suspension mods center roll, adjustable endlinks etc)

It took a while for me to get the adjustments right. Several trips over specific spots in the road that i hated in with the progressive/yellows and adjusting 1-2clicks up/down on front and back settings (I should have sprung for the control module) but that’s what you’re getting into if you’re properly using coils.

I assume most folks set and forget coils, they need to be adjusted, I assume most folks are too lazy, but time is spent and in the end I’m happy with it.

My only gripe with the 500’s is that the rear will occasionally contact the bump stops on hard/deep dips. They’re limited to a specific spring rate for the Rears.

Overall daily driving experience is great, it’s not perfect, but it’s not a jackhammer jiggle fest like with some coilovers. It feels great for daily use, I’ve done several road trips an hours of driving and it’s comfortable (again subjective) for coils.

Fortune auto has great customer service too, I like that I can have the coils serviced when the time comes (based off use) they’ve been responsive to my contacts.

In the end, the Koni yellows and progressive springs did the job if you’re looking to keep it mild and go deep down the rabbit hole of mods. The Fortunes were definitely an upgrade imho, much more work to get where I wanted but I’m happy with the outcome. In the end if I could do it again I’d stick with Fortune and the supporting suspension improvements instead of spending on Koni/progressives. I could of used that money on the supporting mods with the Fortunes. I have the Konis/progressives sitting in a box in the garage lol

hope this helps

I appreciate you taking the time to give a detailed explanation. Has this helped? Absolutely! I believe what it boils down for me is assessing what is the priority (stance, handling, progressive vs linear, etc.) and what your car is used for. I do want a even drop, currently on Ford X springs and man it rakes a good amount. Its a nice look for some just not for me, they do ride great. Personally I love the way Steeda Progressive springs look however im worried about the soft rates and are progressive. Nothing wrong with that but I believe my current springs are linear and if that's the case I really enjoy driving with that style of spring. Then there are coils which seem amazing but possibly overkill for what I'm doing. Unfortunately no amazing canyons in South Florida and probably never see a track. So just bouncing ideas around. Every time I feel like I make a progress I get more confused comparing suspension set ups. Now I'm thinking Steeda ultralite spring with a 1/4 spring spacer in the rear. Steeda claims ultralites and progressive are the same drop but for some reason ultralites sag in the rear. As you can see I'm all over the place lol. Anyways thanks for your input.

 

[MANDARK]

I appreciate you taking the time to give a detailed explanation. Has this helped? Absolutely! I believe what it boils down for me is assessing what is the priority (stance, handling, progressive vs linear, etc.) and what your car is used for. I do want a even drop, currently on Ford X springs and man it rakes a good amount. Its a nice look for some just not for me, they do ride great. Personally I love the way Steeda Progressive springs look however im worried about the soft rates and are progressive. Nothing wrong with that but I believe my current springs are linear and if that's the case I really enjoy driving with that style of spring. Then there are coils which seem amazing but possibly overkill for what I'm doing. Unfortunately no amazing canyons in South Florida and probably never see a track. So just bouncing ideas around. Every time I feel like I make a progress I get more confused comparing suspension set ups. Now I'm thinking Steeda ultralite spring with a 1/4 spring spacer in the rear. Steeda claims ultralites and progressive are the same drop but for some reason ultralites sag in the rear. As you can see I'm all over the place lol. Anyways thanks for your input.

Trust me I know the feeling, the rabbit hole gets real deep and there’s a ton of options. Good luck with the hunt. Glad this was helpful.

 

[MANDARK]

Got some new shoes, custom spec 20” Work Emotion ZR10 2P with Polished Lips and Glim Black faceso be wrapped in MPS4s.

Capping them off with the only set of Chasing J’s Titanium Closed End Ghost Sapphire Lug nuts and Locks in M14x1.5 in the world

P.S. No, the TE37 OGs are not going away. I’ll be keeping them

 

[rxryanm]

I’ll be keeping them

Lemme just borrow them

 

[MANDARK]

Got the tires mounted and balanced, need to do some height adjustments get the alignment dialed in and sort the center caps out. It’s a big change not seeing the car on TE’s but I’m happy with the change.

Potato pic for now.

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