Another Full coil-over suspension for the MX-3

cjthor · Post by **cjthor** » September 22nd, 2006, 5:40 pm

projectmx wrote:uhm what else did you want to know? i pretty much had all my questions answered by him but if you have other let me know and i'll contact him again

Oops. I thought you were going to buy this kit. sorry!

Steeb · Post by **Steeb** » September 22nd, 2006, 7:20 pm

projectmx wrote:uhm what else did you want to know? i pretty much had all my questions answered by him but if you have other let me know and i'll contact him again

id like to know everything you found out about the setup. my mx3 suspension is currently under construction so im debating whether to buy the ksports or have a system made by them. i know the ksport valving is more street friendly but a custom setup would handle much better than the ksports hands down.

i previously had the suspension that protegests currently has and it was my daily driver. i loved every mile of driving on them. my opinion is totally opposite, the super stiff spring rates made driving extremely enjoyable.

btw thanks

projectmx · Post by **projectmx** » September 23rd, 2006, 12:03 pm

Here are the three emails i've had back from him so far:
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Yes we do make height and dampening adjustable coil-overs for the 91-94 Mazda Protege .

S.

These are full true coil-overs. The strut body is threaded. The ride height adjustment is performed with the strut mounted on the car. The adjustment of the damping of the strut is done with the strut mounted on the car. The coil-over package does not include the camber plates. We do however sell camber plates. The struts can be valved to the customers needs.
The springs are 350lb and 450lb rates. The struts are made right here in our factory by Ellis Engineering. The cost is $875.90 for four complete coil-overs.

Sincerely,

Steven K. Ellis

The adjustments are in sweeps or turns. The Camber Plates are $95.85 ea. There are front and rear Camber Plates.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

his email is EllisEngineering@aol.com

i definantly want to buy from him they seem to be great stuff... he also does a lot of custom work where you can send him inserts / struts / coil over and he can make them into true full coilovers (that is what his site seems to say i havne't asked about details on this yet) if anyone gets more info please post in here cause they are a great price and are a direct bolt in for us

projectmx · Post by **projectmx** » January 9th, 2007, 2:10 pm

i know i haven't updated this for a while but i talked to ellis engineering this week about a GB possibility and he was open to it this was the price breakdown he offered:

5 SETS = $1250.80 per set

10 SETS = $ 950.75 per set

15 SETS = $725.55 per set

all prices include camber plates

Steeb · Post by **Steeb** » January 9th, 2007, 2:19 pm

damper dyno's would be good

projectmx · Post by **projectmx** » January 9th, 2007, 2:27 pm

do you mean you want to buy one cause i think they sell them

Steeb · Post by **Steeb** » January 9th, 2007, 2:29 pm

btw, keep in mind this is a 20 year old looking for some real suspension setup. 20 year old scrounging pennies to buy this setup. i have removed his board name to maintain privacy.

january 26

I found a race suspension company in Charlotte that will make custom Mk2 coilovers with your own spring rates and you choice of koni, carrera, and E-insert shocks here are the prices he quoted me

The complete strut coilover with spring and coil over kit single adjustable
price is $354.75ea.

The complete strut coilover with spring and coil over kit double adjustable
price is $450.50ea.

The camber kits purchased with above struts are $75.50ea.

The camber kits purchased without above struts are $135.50ea.

How much better can it get?

Their website is http://www.sellisengineering.com/ and their customer service is very fast.

feb 15

Just to update I just got off the phone with the owner Steve Ellis, and I am ordering my own custom coilover kit. Steve seemed very knowlegable and we were able to pick out something that will hopefully work well for me. I ordered 350lb F/ 500lb R springs and front camber plates, and their custom valved single adjustable race shocks. I didn't have enough money to purchase the kit with everything new, so we worked out a deal where Steve used older shock bodies with new internals. The final price comes to $1,037.

After I get these installed I will tell you if they are "the perfect coilovers"

march 16

Update--
I should be getting the package tommorow, I will take pictures and let you guys know how it goes. I have an autocross this weekend and a track event next weekend so I should have some good data.

march 22

The shop owner emailed me saying he had an accident, it reads:

am extremely sorry your parts have not shipped yet. I had extenuating
circumstances making it impossible to get your parts out. I know this probably
does not mean much but I feel I owe you an explanation. I got a piece of metal
in my eye on Wednesday and immediately washed it out or so I thought. On
Thursday while trying to complete your parts for an overnight shipment my eye was
watering so bad and looked swollen. So I had my wife take me to the Urgent
Care Center where they removed the metal. He than told me I needed to see an
Ophthalmologist because I had a rust ring and it needed to be buffed out. I
attempted to get an appointment with an Ophthalmologist but was unsuccessful.
So my wife took me to the Emergency Room. There they finished the work on my
eye. They put a patch on it and I have to see the Doctor this after noon.

Steve

he told me he should be done today and it might get here by friday which pisses me off cause I have an event at VIR this weekend and I wont get a chance to install them unless they come in Thursday and I find a lit garage to put them in after work then get the car aligned on friday. So we will see.

april 17

So I think I got ripped off because I am not getting anyresponse when I call and email and it has been 2 months when he said 2 weeks. So I am filing a fraud report and hopefully I can get my money back. This sucks.

Steeb · Post by **Steeb** » January 9th, 2007, 2:33 pm

projectmx wrote:do you mean you want to buy one cause i think they sell them

i mean i want to see damper dyno's of the product i am interested in purchasing. never buy a anything without knowing its specs, capabilities or purpose.

i would definately be willing to give ellis engineering a try if there is a guarantee that the same will not happen to us.

projectmx · Post by **projectmx** » January 9th, 2007, 2:46 pm

my friend jason had the same thing happen to his eye a few months ago... sucked... but they were able to pull it out with no problems...

i agree if we can get a garuntee then i will work with them... how long ago did this happen to mr2 kid and was it ever resolved?

Steeb · Post by **Steeb** » January 9th, 2007, 3:10 pm

it was 2006 so it was not that long ago

like i said, if we have a guarantee i am willing to buy a set and maybe an extra set of camber plates for front and rear

projectmx · Post by **projectmx** » January 13th, 2007, 12:13 am

994552 (firm ride) Dyno information 98/76 @3in/sec

995642 (Soft ride) Dyno information 78/54 @3in/sec

here is info i got from ellis e. tonight... i have a few guys from msprotege stopping by the shop in the next week or two to feel things out and see what they think of the shop and company and if a group by happens then they will ocassionally stop in to check on progress

he also sent a pic of one of the coil overs i'll post it later when i get a chance

projectmx · Post by **projectmx** » January 16th, 2007, 2:02 pm

just wondering but can anyone shed light on the specs i posted? are they good or bad or just soso?

Steeb · Post by **Steeb** » January 16th, 2007, 9:53 pm

not much that i can tell you from the information cuz theres not much information to interpret. no spring rate, and no damper dyno's. if you have a complege graph of information and give only one point on the graph, it is pretty useless data.

projectmx · Post by **projectmx** » January 17th, 2007, 9:59 am

We do not make public our complete dyno records. The shock and strut business is currently very competitive and we do not want this information getting in the wrong hands.

S.

this is the email i just got back after asking for a complete damper dyno graph

projectmx · Post by **projectmx** » January 18th, 2007, 11:35 am

Got another email from ellis engineering concerning damper dynos (he states a few things that i suspect of these damper dyno's myself although some other stuff he says not sure i understand)

Please proceed with caution in evaluating different shock companies dyno information. Anyone who is doing this comparing is obviously not a shock expert or does not understand dyno information. All shock companies do not dyno there shocks the same. For example Carrera tests there shocks at 3" per second, Penske tests there shocks at 6"per second. Koni tests there shock in newton's (14"per second). This makes it impossible to compare any dyno sheets. The second problem is not all shock companies use the same dyno. Carrera uses A-Line, Penske and Bilstein use a Roehrig. Koni I believe uses a Roehrig but I believe they have or are changing to an in house dyno. Now to add more confusion the Shock companies adapt the software (re-write the software program to obtain the information to achieve the objective they want.) What does all this mean for ease of explanation they alter the dwell of the dyno and sampling points and rate. So it is extremely dangerous to compare shocks using dyno sheets. Dyno sheets are used in house by the shock manufactures to provide a quality and consistent spec shock. Nascar teams test there shocks to tune there chassis using dyno's. The advertising and promotional divisions of some of these shock companies have used this dyno information to try to compare there product with another company and trying to convince the customer his product is superior. Beware of this trap.

You are much better using a shock company who will build a shock to your needs and requirements using the dyno to achieve these results. The Nascar teams have gone so far as to change the shocks when they change tires. (they may run the Lowe's track in the spring with Goodyear tire A and in the fall they may have to use tire B) The Nascar teams have gone so far as to rate the spring of the tires. So with tire B having a different spring rate they change there shocks to work with this tire using there dyno information.

So if you have 15 people you are doing a buy with, I am sure you are all not running the same tire so for optimum performance you may want different valved shocks.

Anyway this is something for you to think about.

If I can be of any further help please let me know.

S.