Project EP3 Civic Si: Installing Fortune Auto 510 Coilovers!

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The Fortune Auto 510 rear shocks come with two lower shock mounts, short and long. The short mounts are for a car set up to run low while the longer mounts are good for someone that wants to run stock ride height or even raised like a rally car. 

The mounts are made of CNC-machined 7075 aluminum and are anodized for corrosion resistance.  The mounts have a low compliance bushing in them, so more motion is transferred through the damper and is controlled. 

 

Since our car was already apart for the other suspension upgrades, Howard simply removed the 3 bolts holding the stock upper mount in place. 
 

This allowed Howard to simply remove the stock strut in seconds. 
 

As you can see, the Fortune Auto 510 is quite a bit shorter than the stock McPherson strut.  This allows us to lower the car quite a bit while maintaining good bump travel.  

Bottoming out under hard cornering due to a car being too low is one of the common mistakes that a lot of people do when setting up a car. With the Fortune 510's, you can both be low and have sufficient wheel travel for both good ride and mechanical grip. 

 

The new Fortune Auto struts are simply bolted in place to our new RSX Type-S spindle. This was fortunate because the ears for our struts were already oversized for the larger RSX Type-S bolts. 
 

Here is a look at our 510 struts in place before our big brake kit and sway bar were done being hooked up. 

One thing to be careful of is that the tie rods attach to the strut mount ears, which are threaded to allow for ride height adjustment on the threaded strut body. This means that it is easy for steering force to loosen this part from the rest of the strut.  

Be careful to make sure that the ears lock collars are very tight so that the ears don't come loose and start unscrewing from the shock body!  We used a piece of pipe on the supplied spanner to give the lock collar more torque. 

 

 

22 comments

  1. Hi,
    Yall convinced me into getting these coilovers for my ep3 but i cant find them. I appreciate it if you could send me a link or help me out in any other way.

        1. For future readers remember that the DC5 suspension is the same as the EP3’s. They still sell the DC5 coilovers as of May 2024.

  2. Hi Mike! Did you guys need a rear camber arm kit or were the rear upper mount bushings with the adjustable camber insert enough? Thx

  3. Good insight on these Coilovers! Mentally I’m sold, but financially I’m not haha. Do you have a recommendation for a more basic set of Coilovers or
    Spring/shock combo for a daily driver/weekend warrior-autox set up in the neighborhood of $1k for the ep3?

    1. These are pretty basic coilovers. Coilovers are the heart of your suspension and you don’t want to go cheap here. Spring/shocks are almost always too soft, too low and not enough travel for decent handling in many cases stock is better.

      1. Mike, I’m trying to find these Coilovers but fortune auto no longer makes them. Do you have any other alternatives or a good source for these (order through MotoIQ?)?
        Per fortune auto “Thanks for your inquiry! Unfortunately we no longer offer any suspension options for the 7th gen Civics, or the DC5. “

        1. I would try calling Fortune and ask for Terry. Maybe he can help you with a semi-custom set. Failing that you can call Feals and ask for Odi. KW also makes a V2 and V3 for this chassis.

      1. I’m trying to maintain stock ride height and improve handling of my ep3. Is this build appropriate for non lowered cars?

    1. Hey Mike question for you. If you were running the Dc5 instead of the EP3 would you change your spring rate? And if so what would you change them too if you were going with a similar setup on the DC5 platform?

  4. Mike, wouldn’t the rsx fortune 510s essentially be the same thing as the (discontinued) 7th gen civic ones?

    Thanks

  5. If caster is such an issue with this chassis, and camber can be easily adjusted with a eccentric, is there a reason no one uses caster plates for the top of the strut instead of camber plates?

  6. Hey Mike, I love the content! I have a question for you. I’m on the Dc5 platform and am considering Truhart StreetPlus Coilovers. What are your thoughts on them compared to the fortune autos for a daily driving purpose?

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