Fortune Auto (VHLS)

[Superhatch]

Similar to an old school coil over, or similar to the ground control kit I put on my CRX after it's rebuild last summer the Fortune Auto VHLS (variable height lowering spring) seems like a good balance for someone who isn't going to track their car but doesn't want to get locked into one specific lowering height predetermined by X company.

I've had a Koni Yellow/GC Kit on many of my golden era Honda's and loved them as a great option for someone who didn't want to go for a full coilover set, and in the era of adaptive dampers seems like a good option. I was really split between the springs that are currently on the market and all seem to have some drawback height wise, or comfort wise. I can't find any mention of these on the site, or reviews online (maybe they are too new?) but wondering what people thought about them.

https://shop-fortune-auto.com/colle...e-r-fl5-2023-variable-height-lowering-springs
Spring rates seem to be:
Front: 2.K
Rear: 5K

Sponsored

 

[dandaman15]

These were interesting but seemed to be a little too expensive for me to try.

My ideal setup would be something like this with actually good spring rates.

Im not sure the 2K is right and 5K would still be too soft for an ideal setup thats multi purpose daily and track use.

The stock springs are 4.8K F / 4.4K R.

Im on swift and I love the ride and rates, I just wish I could raise it up a little bit. However I have gotten used to the drop and can live with it. Swift are 6.3K F / 7.5K R. If the FA were about $750-800 and had closer to 6K F / 6K R or had spring rate options that would be ideal.

 

[Superhatch]

Im not sure the 2K is right and 5K would still be too soft for an ideal setup thats multi purpose daily and track use.

The stock springs are 4.8K F / 4.4K R.

That's my thought too, the front rates looked pretty soft. I was going to call them on Monday to ask about it.

 

[dandaman15]

That's my thought too, the front rates looked pretty soft. I was going to call them on Monday to ask about it.

Please share what they tell you because Im curious myself

 

[svvitch]

2k front springs? Yikes.

I had koni and GC on several Honda as well. I like the concept and would willingly try something similar on the R but this doesn't seem it.

 

[Superhatch]

I called Fortune Auto this morning and their sales guy ran in back to talk with R&D. R&D said that during in house testing they found the softer front rate allowed for the front to have increased turn in and less understeer, while making the back end a little bit easier to rotate.

I'm still waiting on my delivery so I can't say how balanced the car is out of the box but my general impression is the rates Honda chose were pretty well received.

Given this is the current (nov '24) rate choice of the rest of the aftermarket it's either brilliant or a weird choice. Note that H&R and Whiteline do go a little softer in front, 7%, but not 48% softer. We can also see a pretty solid progression of lower = stiffer and if they are claiming a 1.5" max drop that 2.5k seems -really- soft.

 

[dandaman15]

I called Fortune Auto this morning and their sales guy ran in back to talk with R&D. R&D said that during in house testing they found the softer front rate allowed for the front to have increased turn in and less understeer, while making the back end a little bit easier to rotate.

I'm still waiting on my delivery so I can't say how balanced the car is out of the box but my general impression is the rates Honda chose were pretty well received.

Given this is the current (nov '24) rate choice of the rest of the aftermarket it's either brilliant or a weird choice. Note that H&R and Whiteline do go a little softer in front, 7%, but not 48% softer. We can also see a pretty solid progression of lower = stiffer and if they are claiming a 1.5" max drop that 2.5k seems -really- soft.

I would be curious if they took the car out on a track or just drove around spirited backroads or canyons to determine this. As you stated, with the 2.5k rates I can easily see this causing more roll and dive under braking when track driving. Hell when I tracked the stock suspension it had a lot more roll than I was expecting.

The factory ADS has the shocks tuned very stiff, the car is significantly overly damped stock. This was another reason I wanted the Swift, I was hoping the stiffer rates would better match the factory damping profile. It did not do everything I was hoping for so I made one more change with the Type S ADS module.

With the Swift and Type S ADS it rides perfect for me. Its hard to say the Type S is actually "softer" as more people will tell you, the main difference I noticed is that it changes the F/R Ride frequency balance so its more composed. With the higher rates of the Swift its still stiff but the springs are doing more of the work (as they should) and the shocks settle the car better without "bouncing" as the stock setup likes to do.

 

[Two Step Performance]

In my experience this type of setup can produce a lot of noise. I was burned by Ground Control on a 10th gen kit and wouldn't try one again. Perhaps this kit is better? I can only hope.

 

[Superhatch]

In my experience this type of setup can produce a lot of noise. I was burned by Ground Control on a 10th gen kit and wouldn't try one again. Perhaps this kit is better? I can only hope.

I've only used the GC kits on older/lighter cars and with a good set of adjustable shocks always found a really good sporty balance. But this spring rate is so soft compared to everything else. I'm temped to get it just to try it out.

 

[mkawa]

fyi i was asking fortune some dimensional questions about these and when they ran back to check they realized that the website is wrong and the front rates are actually 4k, so it is a 4k f/5k rear setup.

their website has been corrected as well

currently trying to figure out whether they can be made compatible with any camber plates

 

[Superhatch]

fyi i was asking fortune some dimensional questions about these and when they ran back to check they realized that the website is wrong and the front rates are actually 4k, so it is a 4k f/5k rear setup.

their website has been corrected as well

currently trying to figure out whether they can be made compatible with any camber plates

That's great news! Thanks for following up with a post here also. Going to add them to my list for sure now.

 

[Sateen2125]

In my experience this type of setup can produce a lot of noise. I was burned by Ground Control on a 10th gen kit and wouldn't try one again. Perhaps this kit is better? I can only hope.

Ground Control, UGH! I had a set of those on a 94 GSR I had back in the day. One of the springs cracked on me little over 4k miles.

 

[Superhatch]

Ground Control, UGH! I had a set of those on a 94 GSR I had back in the day. One of the springs cracked on me little over 4k miles.

I've had them on about 8 of my cars and never had an issue. Just put a set on my CRX last year and they are perfect. Awesome customer service, every order is built at the time of order and they review your specs and intentions before you place an order. They also use Eibach springs (and have for a very long time) so really no downside to using them imo.

Sorry you had a bad experience, but I've known TONS of people who used them and they have been really great.

 

[Sateen2125]

I've had them on about 8 of my cars and never had an issue. Just put a set on my CRX last year and they are perfect. Awesome customer service, every order is built at the time of order and they review your specs and intentions before you place an order. They also use Eibach springs (and have for a very long time) so really no downside to using them imo.

Sorry you had a bad experience, but I've known TONS of people who used them and they have been really great.

Yeah, I had the bad experience but I know others that like them. Maybe just a bad spring I was lucky enough to get at the time.

Sponsored