IMO one of the best reasons to do coilovers on an E30 is the amount of camber you can gain in the front. I have IE camber plates with H&R Race and Bilsteins on my car right now and I can only get 1.8* of camber in the front before the large spring hits the strut tower. It's not enough.
That being said, GC has been in the game forever and have a lot of knowledge on setup. I think Fortune probably gets a bad rap as being newer and Asian-manufactured products. However, they are U.S. based and do their assembly, re-valving, and service in the U.S. which is nice.
I have Fortune 500's with custom valving and custom rate Swift springs on my Subaru and I have been very happy with them for the money. Fortune will probably not have the E30-specific setup knowledge that GC brings to the table, so make sure you really know what you want if ordering from Fortune.
GC Pros and Cons
Pros:
+ Long standing contributor to the community
+ Lots of setup knowledge (and you can pick your spring rates)
+ Can weld and shorten your struts for you for an additional charge
+ Gorgeous camber plates
Cons:
- Probably off-the-shelf Koni shock valving (which is fine for the popular spring rates)
- Somewhat expensive
- Spring preload is used to adjust ride height (debatable whether this matters)
Fortune Auto Pros and Cons
Pros:
+ Custom valving and spring rate options do not cost extra
+ Shock bodies have ride height and preload separately adjustable (debatable whether this matters)
+ Inexpensive, will probably be $500-800 less than GC depending on options
Cons:
- You'll have to find and pay someone to weld the strut tubes to your knuckles
- Parts are made in Asia (doesn't make them bad)
- Dampers are not as race proven and trusted as Konis are
- Camber plates are not as nice as GC, but they are sufficient
That being said, GC has been in the game forever and have a lot of knowledge on setup. I think Fortune probably gets a bad rap as being newer and Asian-manufactured products. However, they are U.S. based and do their assembly, re-valving, and service in the U.S. which is nice.
I have Fortune 500's with custom valving and custom rate Swift springs on my Subaru and I have been very happy with them for the money. Fortune will probably not have the E30-specific setup knowledge that GC brings to the table, so make sure you really know what you want if ordering from Fortune.
GC Pros and Cons
Pros:
+ Long standing contributor to the community
+ Lots of setup knowledge (and you can pick your spring rates)
+ Can weld and shorten your struts for you for an additional charge
+ Gorgeous camber plates
Cons:
- Probably off-the-shelf Koni shock valving (which is fine for the popular spring rates)
- Somewhat expensive
- Spring preload is used to adjust ride height (debatable whether this matters)
Fortune Auto Pros and Cons
Pros:
+ Custom valving and spring rate options do not cost extra
+ Shock bodies have ride height and preload separately adjustable (debatable whether this matters)
+ Inexpensive, will probably be $500-800 less than GC depending on options
Cons:
- You'll have to find and pay someone to weld the strut tubes to your knuckles
- Parts are made in Asia (doesn't make them bad)
- Dampers are not as race proven and trusted as Konis are
- Camber plates are not as nice as GC, but they are sufficient
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