Megan coilovers damper setting to emulate stock ride

Brandon Gage · Aug 17, 2018

Hey all,

Prius noobie here, just picked up a 2012 Three for the wife Tuesday night. I'm looking at emulating the performance package by putting on 17s (I'm leaning toward the Enkei J10s in 17x7), the TRD rear sway bar, and the Megan EZII coilovers (so I can do a proper drop and replace the old suspension at the same time). I just wanted to ask if anyone here had experience messing around with the damping and if there was a setting that was generally considered to be comparable to the stock stiffness. I know the Megan site says between 17 and 32 clicks for street use (probably 8-15 on the EZ series) but that's still a pretty broad range.

Thanks for the help!
-Brandon

Vman455 · Aug 19, 2018

The stiffness cannot be the same as stock, since the Megans are, what--4kg/mm? Stock is somewhere around 2.3 kg/mm front and 2.7 kg/mm rear.

Now, ride comfort is a different thing entirely, and depends on a properly matched damper for the higher spring rate. You'll have to ask around for people who have the Megans, or find someone's car to ride in and see for yourself. Moving to a 17" wheel and tire will adversely affect ride comfort, just because you lose the effective spring of the taller tire sidewall.

Sway bars are for tuning under/oversteer. Most cars, the Prius included, come from the factory tuned to understeer dramatically, with a stiff front sway bar. It's much easier to increase oversteer/reduce understeer by removing that front sway bar, which will save you eight and a half pounds on the front of the car as well, rather than adding more weight to the back with a rear sway bar, especially if you're increasing front and rear roll stiffness anyway with higher-rate springs. But, since you'll be changing the roll stiffness balance between front and rear with the Megans, biasing it more toward the front/understeer (because 2.3-->4.0 is a larger increase than 2.7-->4.0, so you're going to increase the roll stiffness at the front of the car more than at the rear), you might need the rear sway bar. But, I would hold off on that until after you install the coilovers and see how you like it before dropping the money.

Brandon Gage · Aug 19, 2018

Vman455 said: ↑

The stiffness cannot be the same as stock, since the Megans are, what--4kg/mm? Stock is somewhere around 2.3 kg/mm front and 2.7 kg/mm rear.

Now, ride comfort is a different thing entirely, and depends on a properly matched damper for the higher spring rate. You'll have to ask around for people who have the Megans, or find someone's car to ride in and see for yourself. Moving to a 17" wheel and tire will adversely affect ride comfort, just because you lose the effective spring of the taller tire sidewall.

Sway bars are for tuning under/oversteer. Most cars, the Prius included, come from the factory tuned to understeer dramatically, with a stiff front sway bar. It's much easier to increase oversteer/reduce understeer by removing that front sway bar, which will save you eight and a half pounds on the front of the car as well, rather than adding more weight to the back with a rear sway bar, especially if you're increasing front and rear roll stiffness anyway with higher-rate springs. But, since you'll be changing the roll stiffness balance between front and rear with the Megans, biasing it more toward the front/understeer (because 2.3-->4.0 is a larger increase than 2.7-->4.0, so you're going to increase the roll stiffness at the front of the car more than at the rear), you might need the rear sway bar. But, I would hold off on that until after you install the coilovers and see how you like it before dropping the money.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for the very informative reply! Comfort is probably the verbiage I should have used. I'm okay with more stiffness (in fact, that's kind of the goal), I just didn't want to be rattled to my bones every time I hit a seam or patch in the road. I sent a PM to some of the people who have had the Megan kit, I hope that isn't considered a breach of etiquette....

I will do the coilovers first per your advice and re-evaulate after that. Thank you for the explainer, coming from "American Muscle" suspension geometry has never really been something I've paid attention to other than the need to hook up, which usually comes down to "panhard" bars and maybe a support for the rear diff. I was initially planning on doing the sway bar first because it was cheaper xD so getting some actual science behind the build is greatly appreciated.

Vman455 · Aug 21, 2018

If you're interested in delving down the rabbit hole of suspension setup, this is the website to read through. Good luck!

Megan coilovers damper setting to emulate stock ride

Brandon Gage New Member

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Megan coilovers damper setting to emulate stock ride

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