Hi all, I am not very active on this forum, but recently installed a set of Feal 441+ coilovers on my car and wanted to share my thoughts since there doesn't seem to be a lot of people running them on our cars.
Cliff Notes: I think they are fantastic
My car is a 2001 Bullitt with an 03 cobra IRS in the rear, I am posting here since I used the 99/01 cobra set up. Before the coilovers, my car had the IRS in the rear with poly bushings everywhere, adjustable toe bars, factory 03 cobra coupe springs (600lb/in), and the factory 03 cobra sway bar (26mm with adjustable endlinks). The front had the factory bullitt springs (600lb/in), factory bullitt sway bar (28mm), strut tower brace, subframe connectors, and poly bushings on the swaybar, endlinks, steering rack, motor mounts, and trans mount. I had Koni SA's on all four corners, and the motor is completely stock. The car handled pretty good, but the front end always had a lighter, floaty feeling that I wanted to get rid of.
I finally decided on the Feal 441+ kit and BMR lower front control arms. The Feal setup runs 441lb/in springs at all four corners. I was worried this would be too stiff since the spring rates seemed closer to what most others consider road race setups. Feal was confident this was a good aggressive street setup based on the damper frequency tuning they do. I don't know anything about shock tuning, and decided to go for it anyway.
Initial Feal Impressions:
I went back and forth with Feal a lot before the purchase and they were always quick to respond to emails and phone calls. They answered every question I had about the coilovers and helped pick out the best options for the way I wanted to use the car. These are built to order, and I think they took about 5-6 weeks to get even though I placed the order about two weeks before all of the COVID shut down orders started. The coilovers showed up in a nice box individually wrapped with plenty of bubble wrap. I called a few times while doing the install and they always answered the phone and were able to help me out right away.
Front Install:
The front coilovers were extremely easy to install. I dropped the lower control arm first and let the old shock hold everything else up, bolted in the control arm, and the coilover went in like any other strut. The factory preload gave me about 1.5" of droop travel, so I left it alone
I ran the Feal camber plates. They are a three bolt plate, but the the plate rests underneath the entire upper tower so I am not worried about durability issues. I also riveted the upper stock plate back on and bolted it down for some extra strength. The stock camber plate is clearly inferior to the MM four bolt plates, but it gave me enough adjustment to set both sides up equally. Feal even said most people just order the MM from the start, and it is really the only way to go if you want to run a more aggressive alignment. My car is mostly a road car, so I am happy with it for now.
Rear Install:
The rear coil spring removal was the hardest part of the process. I ended up using two external spring compressors and one internal compressor to get the springs out rather than dropping the exhaust and swinging the rear of the IRS cradle down.
After removing the old shocks, I found the easiest way to get the coilovers in was to drop the preload all the way down, bolt the lower shock mount to the control arm, and jack the control arm all the way to the bumpstops to compress the shock bushings and properly torque the upper bolts.
The factory preload setting had almost 3" inches of droop travel, so I ended up adding a ton of preload to get it to down to 2"
Driving impressions:
I have put about 1,000 miles on the new set up and am extremely impressed. The front end is rock solid at any speed, turn in is neutral and incredibly quick, body motions are minimal, the car brakes flat, and I cannot believe how much better the car rides than before. The car just soaks up mid corner bumps with ease. There are no squeaks or rattles anywhere. I have the ride height about 3/4" lower than a factory bullitt and do not have any bump steer issues and the shocks are set around 18 clicks stiff.
I could see someone wanting to go to a stiffer set up for autocrossing or open track, but I have no intentions of changing mine. It should still hold its own on an autocross course and I can comfortably run cross country with it. Overall, I am extremely happy with the purchase
Cliff Notes: I think they are fantastic
My car is a 2001 Bullitt with an 03 cobra IRS in the rear, I am posting here since I used the 99/01 cobra set up. Before the coilovers, my car had the IRS in the rear with poly bushings everywhere, adjustable toe bars, factory 03 cobra coupe springs (600lb/in), and the factory 03 cobra sway bar (26mm with adjustable endlinks). The front had the factory bullitt springs (600lb/in), factory bullitt sway bar (28mm), strut tower brace, subframe connectors, and poly bushings on the swaybar, endlinks, steering rack, motor mounts, and trans mount. I had Koni SA's on all four corners, and the motor is completely stock. The car handled pretty good, but the front end always had a lighter, floaty feeling that I wanted to get rid of.
I finally decided on the Feal 441+ kit and BMR lower front control arms. The Feal setup runs 441lb/in springs at all four corners. I was worried this would be too stiff since the spring rates seemed closer to what most others consider road race setups. Feal was confident this was a good aggressive street setup based on the damper frequency tuning they do. I don't know anything about shock tuning, and decided to go for it anyway.
Initial Feal Impressions:
I went back and forth with Feal a lot before the purchase and they were always quick to respond to emails and phone calls. They answered every question I had about the coilovers and helped pick out the best options for the way I wanted to use the car. These are built to order, and I think they took about 5-6 weeks to get even though I placed the order about two weeks before all of the COVID shut down orders started. The coilovers showed up in a nice box individually wrapped with plenty of bubble wrap. I called a few times while doing the install and they always answered the phone and were able to help me out right away.
Front Install:
The front coilovers were extremely easy to install. I dropped the lower control arm first and let the old shock hold everything else up, bolted in the control arm, and the coilover went in like any other strut. The factory preload gave me about 1.5" of droop travel, so I left it alone
I ran the Feal camber plates. They are a three bolt plate, but the the plate rests underneath the entire upper tower so I am not worried about durability issues. I also riveted the upper stock plate back on and bolted it down for some extra strength. The stock camber plate is clearly inferior to the MM four bolt plates, but it gave me enough adjustment to set both sides up equally. Feal even said most people just order the MM from the start, and it is really the only way to go if you want to run a more aggressive alignment. My car is mostly a road car, so I am happy with it for now.
Rear Install:
The rear coil spring removal was the hardest part of the process. I ended up using two external spring compressors and one internal compressor to get the springs out rather than dropping the exhaust and swinging the rear of the IRS cradle down.
After removing the old shocks, I found the easiest way to get the coilovers in was to drop the preload all the way down, bolt the lower shock mount to the control arm, and jack the control arm all the way to the bumpstops to compress the shock bushings and properly torque the upper bolts.
The factory preload setting had almost 3" inches of droop travel, so I ended up adding a ton of preload to get it to down to 2"
Driving impressions:
I have put about 1,000 miles on the new set up and am extremely impressed. The front end is rock solid at any speed, turn in is neutral and incredibly quick, body motions are minimal, the car brakes flat, and I cannot believe how much better the car rides than before. The car just soaks up mid corner bumps with ease. There are no squeaks or rattles anywhere. I have the ride height about 3/4" lower than a factory bullitt and do not have any bump steer issues and the shocks are set around 18 clicks stiff.
I could see someone wanting to go to a stiffer set up for autocrossing or open track, but I have no intentions of changing mine. It should still hold its own on an autocross course and I can comfortably run cross country with it. Overall, I am extremely happy with the purchase