Thread: My SMA Coilovers Review - With edited video and plenty of photos! =)

FOR MEDIA, SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM!!

Greetings fellow GenCoupers!!

After seeing the special on the classified forums and after doing some quick research, it seemed like this would be a great solution for someone who wants to be able to dial in their own settings, while maintaining a suspension that is still capable of being driven daily.

Comparing this suspension to the factory track tuned suspension, I can tell that it's hardly stiffer under normal shock settings. Roll seems to have been reduced somewhat, but the track tuned suspension is already stiff enough for what a factory car would usually have. Therefore, if you are looking for a BIG improvement in stiffness, perhaps you should look at stiffer spring rates.

But if daily driving will be a part of your use for the GenCoupe, then the SMAs are definitely a fantastic option for you. It's a great bang for the buck setup.

As for installation. This is there I want to meet the engineer who designed the suspension of the GenCoupe.... and buy him a drink or two. The beauty of the Gen (especially the 2.0T) is the simplicity of it. The fronts are identical to the popular 240sx's. But the beauty is in the rears, where you don't even need to peel away interiors or trunk liners as everything is done from inside the wheel arches themselves.

Another high five goes to the Kevin and the folks at US Autotech. These guys work hand in hand with SMA and will take their time with you if you have any issues. As always, professional installation is recommended (to make sure you don't install anything backwards ), but definitely worth watching to learn.

Finally, beyond the "drive around the block" test, I went a step ahead and put this car on the track. Where the improvements are nice on a daily driving basis, putting the car on the track makes it a world of a difference. After autocrossing and drifting the GenCoupe on the track tuned suspension, you can clearly notice the amount of feedback the SMAs providing you.

I managed to pull very consistent runs back to back. The car becomes very predictable and you can feel the behavior of the car as it tells you exactly where its at: whether the car is rotating too much, possibly spinning, or if it's coming back in, straightening out. With feedback like this I was able to stay on point for most of the day with spins on only two runs of the entire day.

With the SMAs, I ended up qualifying top 10 out of 50 drivers in our drifting competition. On my finals runs for the top 3, I spun on the final run, thus giving away my hope of making cash. But still worth noting that a Genesis Coupe 2.0T with nothing but a PowerAXEL Reflash and SMA Coilovers was able to compete with cars such as LS1 powered 240sx's, LS6 powered RX-7s, KA-T and SR powered 240sx's. Worth mentioning that many of the drivers in these cars also participated in events such as D1, Formula D, and the NOPI Drift series. So for an almost stock Genesis to make it this far, I need to give a pat in the back to Hyundai for such an awesome work of art that the Genesis Coupe is.

Now the really really fun stuff: MEDIA!!













Finally, the judges had a bunch of signs to poke fun at the drivers. If you spun, they would hold up signs such as sad face smileys, "fail", etc. Since I had some painter's tape from the Auto-X, I decided to get back at them :D


And the video!!

Thanks to all the photographers and my buddies for recording the exterior videos.

Enjoy, subscribe, and feel free to ask questions. I'd be more than willing to help anyone interested in getting more out of their Genesis Coupes than just daily driving and going fast in a straight line

- E