!!! One More Megan coilovers Review :D

For people want short answer
My car set up: stock frs wheels, lower 3 fingers gap on front and 2 on rear
Megan coilover is not worth to buy, but YES and NO
YES: you want 32 adjustable damper, low budget but will spend more on this coilover later
NO: cheap springs (front & rear), bad customer services, front spring bottom out all the time. There is unknown noise come from front driver side ( even I swap the spring and use Swift thrust sheet)

And the rest for someone has free time w/ a cup of coffee on morning Sunday




Introduction
Hi everybody, I have 2010 prius about a year. I bought it used with only 22 xxx miles, and now it is 63 xxx miles. The first day I drove it over bumps, rail tracks and pot holes, etc..I asked myself: "Does this car have suspension?" I trade my 2010 VW golf 5 spds because I drive too much. I can not afford the gas (I'm a USF student). That is a huge down in term of handling, comfortable,quite and FUN TO DRIVE. But a huge go up in term of MPG, maintenance. I want to lower my prius, but not much. I don't like lower spring, and it also doen't make sense to me. After few months waiting and checking in Private Sales section, I found a used Megan Coilover with 20 xxxx miles on it. Now, the pHun begins!! English is my second language, so please ignore my broken Englings

Impression
I installed the coilover by myself (I'm cheap, yeah!!) I took almost 4 hours b/c that was my frist time. Setting the coilover at 17, the car handling much improve. Setting at 32 the car feels softer than stock. BUT...(this is the biggest draw back) the coilover keep bottom out on medium bumps,pot hole and even on small D.I.P when driving at 45-50mph. It was like you crash your car on to them. It was so horrible. I was embarrassing with my friends. My car feels like a 500$ craigslist car.
Upgrade the springs
The reason was find out that the front springs are junk!

Sr for the pic. This one was taken long time ago. I forgot to take pic before the fixing. Basically, the coils springs dont' have much stroke when the car sitting on the ground. That explained for why the car keep bottom out even on small bumps.
So, here is the solution:


The orange is Swift spring, spec: 65 Inner diameter, 9 inch long (bad choice), 5kg
Compare to stock Mega: 62 ID 8.66 inch 4 kg
Why Swift spring:
*Best coil spring you can find.
*It's expensive? Yes, ~175$ for a pair. Swapping spring is not 10 min work so I don't want to do it twice
*why 9 inch long is a bad choice. You cann't go too low. You just can go littlbe bit smaller 2 fingers gap between the fender and tire. I should buy 8"


when the car is in air. I will upload the pic when the car is on ground later.
The Swift springs have much stroke compare to the stock Megan. 9" more stroke thang 8", that is the reason I went with 9", but I didn't know it would make the suspension cann't go lower. But that ok since I don't like slammed look ( function vs looking)

The Result
The car much much muchhhhhhh feels better, not more bottom out even I drove faster (55mp) on the roads with same pot holes, bumps, DIP as I drove 45mph before. Handling much better, very very predictable. I can say where is the limit of the car when it is in the hard corner, much less understeer. The rear spring is just OK, I just dont want spend more money on this car since I suppose saving money not spend more. I recommend swap rear spring if your budget is allowed.
I took on/off rams much faster before w/o realize it until a day a good look tunned 99 honda civic was racing with a looooooud exhaust acura integra, and both were passed by me when I took on rams for 275. We did some stupid fun on high way with my Power mode on.They kept chasing me until exit and ask for suspension set up. It turned out that they cut the spring for lower looking. Yeah, that was the time when function vs looking.

Conclusion
550$ for used megan colover
172$ for Swift spring (on the front)
Total =722$ w/o any labor cost since DIY
I will not buy megan product again. If you buy the NEW megan coilover 900$ (here), and buy 172$ for the swift spring=1072$ I will look into to different brand. But which one? I dont know
One more thing, the Megan staffs are suck! believe me, they are may very experience, but they are not helpful, for both sale and tech support. They dont give me directed answer, it was just I playing with their hints. I also find out that on the rear, if you dont preload correctly the rear will get lower and lower over time. You will have trouble b/c the locking rings will be stuck, you need a hammer and new set of them. 8$ each from Megan

I dont take many pics, so please dont be angry about it.
This is my car right now


feel free to ask!

When car on ground

 

I went with 5kg on front to make the car less understeer
I just dont like go low bc i hit bumps in my uni campus.

 

1. My English is bad, im not sure what you mean "Sprint springs". But the Swift springs are holding up very good.
2. It it not all the way down, I can still go down more but since my tires 215/50/17 so they will rub the front fender. I recommend get the shorter length than my spring if you want to go low. My springs length reduce lot of drop
3. I still on original spring on the rear because I dont feel I need it, and I dont know what spring will fit in the rear since the shape is different than the front.
4. 5kg spring is OK for daily drive and fun on twisted road. Most of the time I leave the coilover at 32,mean at full soft ( My girlfriend complains too much about the stiff ride and road noise)
Hope that help!