new coilover opportunity (March, 2010)

mbtoloczko · #1 03-11-2010, 08:04 AM

Hey Guys,

I'm spending most of my bench racing time on an Evo forum these days, but I am always keeping my eye out for mods/parts for the SVX. A fellow Evo owner here in the Tri-Cities recently showed me a set of coilovers made by a company called AMR Engineering in Seattle. They are very well made single adjustable (rebound) coilovers with preload adjustment, ride height adjustment, and solid spherical joint top hats. I took a peek and the AMR website and found that they sell coilovers for a variety of cars with all their coilovers priced at about $1800/set. With a price this affordable, I immediately thought of the SVX and this evening, I finally made contact with the owner of the company.

I think you guys could be in a bit of luck as a few people he knows own an SVX, so he is aware of the lack of any true coilover products for the SVX. He told me that if someone is willing to pay, then he's willing to engineer a set for the SVX. He also suggested that a group buy would work for him as well. I am waiting for a response from the owner on estimated cost, but in the mean time, I wanted to get it out in the forum here for people to consider any possible interest.

For those who are interested, I just want to be clear that these are a full-on performance coilover. Most of his products run spring rates of at least 400 lbs/in. I believe that my buddy's Evo 10 has ~600 lb/in spring rates. Now these rates aren't necessarily going to make the ride harsh, but they will definitely make it firm, and the solid pillow ball top hats are going to transmit some noise. The point here is that these coilovers are aimed squarely at the high end handling enthusiast. It would be great to hear who is interested, I'll report back what I hear on pricing. BTW, just want to mention that I have no interest in being a middle man the sales aspect. I'm just in it for the love of the SVX, and if everything comes together, then you'll deal directly with AMR Engineering.

EDIT: My memory was a bit faulty. It appears that most models do not include camber adjustment in the top hats, so I removed that from my description above.

LetItSnow · #2 03-11-2010, 10:08 AM

Preloaded coilovers would be pretty fantastic.

sicksubie · #3 03-11-2010, 11:08 AM

chalk me up as very interested...

Freeman · #4 03-11-2010, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sicksubie

chalk me up as very interested...

+1 sounds like a good alternative to Koni's

Ricter · #5 03-11-2010, 02:04 PM

I'm so interested it's not even funny.

sicksubie · #6 03-11-2010, 02:50 PM

Mychailo, question for you.. Any idea what the max spring rates are that the Koni's can handle? I remember discussing this with you and people at Koni and something being said about how the Konis being made now can handle significantly higher spring rates than older models. Something in my memory remembers hearing 600ish-lbs.. Any insight?

SVXRide · #7 03-11-2010, 02:53 PM

Mychailo,

Long time no post! Call me so we can catch up!

-Bill

mbtoloczko · #8 03-11-2010, 04:30 PM

Got some excellent news from AMR. The owner said he would do five sets of coilovers for ~$1895 shipped. (Or one set for ~$2600.) Definitely the best and only deal you guys are ever likely to see on true coilovers for the SVX. He said that with their busy schedule, it would take about 12-14 weeks before the first set would be complete. This is a group buy, so you'll need to identify five buyers (or one buyer at ~$2600) willing to pay in advance before contacting AMR. If you guys get that far, I have a spare set of stock struts that I have volunteered to send to him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sicksubie

Mychailo, question for you.. Any idea what the max spring rates are that the Koni's can handle? I remember discussing this with you and people at Koni and something being said about how the Konis being made now can handle significantly higher spring rates than older models. Something in my memory remembers hearing 600ish-lbs.. Any insight?

According to GC, the max spring rate for the Koni inserts is about 450 lbs/in at the front. Don't recall what it is at the rear, but that rate has to be lower than 450 lbs/in for proper handling.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SVXRide

Mychailo,

Long time no post! Call me so we can catch up!

-Bill

Currently on my yearly vacation in Thailand with the wife and rug rat. :-) I'll be in touch after I return later this month.

sicksubie · #9 03-11-2010, 08:06 PM

Can we get more specs on these?

mbtoloczko · #10 03-12-2010, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sicksubie

Can we get more specs on these?

Their website is:

http://www.amrengineering.com/

There aren't too many details on the website, but as I mentioned before:

- Single adjustable damping (rebound)
- Preload adjustable
- Ride height adjustable (separate from preload)
- Spherical joint top hats

I think its up to you guys what spring rate you want. Let me know what additional info you want, and I'll ask AMR.

JACOBBOCAJ · #11 03-13-2010, 10:47 AM

I am definitly interested in these. $1900 bucks is only a little more than the gc/koni setup would cost. Do we need to give money up front or when they are done? And if one of these breaks would they be willing to make replacements?

mbtoloczko · #12 03-13-2010, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JACOBBOCAJ

I am definitly interested in these. $1900 bucks is only a little more than the gc/koni setup would cost. Do we need to give money up front or when they are done? And if one of these breaks would they be willing to make replacements?

I'm sure that money will be required up front. The coilovers are fully rebuildable. The majority of the extra expense in creating a new coilover is in the upfront design work. After that, machining parts is pretty much just a matter of inputing the cutting program into the CNC. They back their products fully, and as long as they are in business, replacement parts will be available.

JACOBBOCAJ · #13 03-14-2010, 08:58 AM

so if we are ready to buy then what? and do you think they will continue to produce these? and slotted camber adjustment are definitly a want! maybe someone should start one of those fancy list.

Tim · #14 03-14-2010, 09:09 AM

Nice to see that you are back. Are you still doing springs?

mbtoloczko · #15 03-14-2010, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim

Nice to see that you are back. Are you still doing springs?

Good to see many of the usual suspects are still here and active. I stopped doing springs quite a while ago. No time and too much difficulty with getting the supplier to come through with product in a consistent time frame.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JACOBBOCAJ

so if we are ready to buy then what? and do you think they will continue to produce these? and slotted camber adjustment are definitly a want! maybe someone should start one of those fancy list.

As mentioned in one of my prior posts, there's are at least a couple ways this can go. Either one person can buy a set at ~$2600/set, or you guys can defray the initial costs with a group buy. I was told that for five sets, the cost would be ~$1900/set. If the number of willing buyers went up to 10, then the price per set would go down a bit further. Whichever way it goes, expect to have to pay in advance and wait 12-14 weeks for the coilovers. I'll scribble down two lists here:

INITIAL OPTION 1: One person buys one set at ~$2600/set.
1)

**OR**

INITIAL OPTION 2: Five people buy a set each at ~$1900/set.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Whenever one of these lists is complete, someone give AMR Engineering a call to get the ball rolling.