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Pure EvoIX
01-31-2009, 12:13 AM
Pure EvoIX’s Muellerized Evo Review (extremely thorough)

PART 1 (really long)
I’ll detail my experience with John Mueller and the Muellerized crew from the very beginning. After going to the track a number of times at T-hill, twice with my JIC FLT-TAR coilovers, I felt there was quite a bit of understeer and something not quite right with my suspension setup. I wasn’t sure if it was the spring rates or the way I was driving, so instead of dicking around with the suspension pretending to know what I was doing, I decided to give John Mueller a call from Muellerized.com. Once the required forms were filled out, John Mueller and his team were able to find a setup within my budget that will make my car handle much better. John explained to me everything that was going to be done to the car in detail and the cost of parts and services up front. Orlando and RJ, employees of Muellerized were very courteous and professional over the phone. They answered all my questions that I had, and if they themselves did not know the answer, they would either ask John Mueller or get back to me ASAP. After a few exchanges of emails and phone calls, I was scheduled in for an appointment a few weeks later for January, 23, 2009 at 1:30pm. The customer service was top notch after the appointment was set. I would get a call the day before reminding me of my appointment time and if everything was alright and according to plan.

I was coming from Santa Barbara, so it was roughly a 2-2.5 hour drive for me to get to Santa Ana. While on the 405S, I get a call at 12:00pm from Orlando saying that they are at the shop awaiting my arrival, ready to work on my car. I was able to arrive 45min early at 12:45pm instead of 1:30pm and was greeted by Orlando and RJ. They dove right into the car without delay. Upon entering the shop, I was quite impressed at the customer’s waiting room area, which had a couch, a fridge with drinks, and a computer station for me to browse while I waited. The shop dog was very friendly and entertaining. Half an hour later, John Mueller himself arrived to meet with me and to show me around his entire shop and products. While he was talking with me for the next 15 min or so, the employees were already underway putting the car on the lift and examining any other problems with the car. John was quick to point out my brake lines were not attached to mounting places correctly and took note of that. He also noticed how low the car was and commented that the ride height was way off his normal Muellerized JIC setups. Again, with his sharp eyes, he noticed that my rear sway bar was rubbing against the rear axel rubbing a good 1/16 of an inch into the bar and took note of that as well.

Once everything was taken note of, they began pushing in the rear trailing arm bushing from Energy Suspensions. After that was disassembling the coilovers and examining the parts for wear or damage. As the day went on, I was getting updates from John Mueller to make sure I was kept in the loop of what was going on. I was later informed that my original spring rates were 9k front / 7k rear. I was surprised because I was told different by the previous owner. I guess that makes sense since the understeer I was having at the limit especially on exit and turn in. He suggested what to do to fix it and I agreed. Upon examining the front springs, he said that those springs were bent. They were not perfectly straight and as he was spinning it against a flat surface, you can see coils are clearly off by 6mm. Essentially they were worthless and not a good idea to put on the car in the future. I was bummed, but I was glad he told me.

John was also telling me about his business and his past experiences with the shop car. He actually spent quite a bit of time talking with me. He is a little blunt at times and speaks his mind freely, but at the same time he is dead honest. I did not find him rude, but he does talk a bit loud. Some people don’t like the way he talks, but I didn’t find him demeaning or arrogant or anything. After more updates of how the car was going along, the car was finally on the ground.

Time is now 6:30pm and everyone was working on my car the entire time. I walked into the garage and I immediately noticed the difference in height from before. It sat a good 1” higher in front and 0.25” higher in rear. It was time for his trademark hell ride. Take note it was raining in the morning and in the afternoon, and the road was still quite damp. As he was driving he usual route to showcase the new suspension setup, he was telling me how to drive the car at the track and how I had some unlearning to do from before. He told me to drive it as it is without adjust anything other than tire pressures. With that, I rode with him with an open mind, trying to take in all the comments and things that he said. I immediately noticed how much better the ride quality feels due to the new spring rates, dampening setting, and more suspension travel for the front and back. After a few turns, it definitely no longer had the understeer it once had before. It felt very neutral and balanced through the turn. The speed was amazing through the turn, but since I wasn’t driving it was hard to actually feel the difference. Remember this was when the roads were not completely dry. I needed to drive the car myself and get to the track so I can do apples to apples comparison of the differences. Once that was done, I was very pleased and was smiling all the way back for a good decision to go with Mueller.

I was short on cash, so Orlando was kind enough to give me a lift to the nearest Wells Fargo. Mueller wanted to thank me for giving him the opportunity to work on my car to make it handle much better than before. If I were to go to 3-4 different shops to get certain things done, I don’t think it would turn out as good. Since everything was done all at the same place at the same time, it worked much better together. Overall, I had a really positive experience dealing with the entire Muellerized team. I would like to thank John Mueller, RJ, Orlando, and the other employee who was working on my car. Forgive me if I forgot your name. I am proud to have my coilovers Muellerized.

Pure EvoIX
01-31-2009, 12:13 AM
Part 2 - My impressions of setup on the street

Coming soon...

Unowned
01-31-2009, 12:30 AM
+1 to John and team, it's like driving a whole new car!

wilson1
01-31-2009, 12:41 AM
it's missing your drving impression

So hurry with part 2


:D

Pure EvoIX
01-31-2009, 12:45 AM
Part 2 coming soon...

stockIX
01-31-2009, 02:14 AM
What did Mueller suggest to fix the understeer and what spring rates did he recommend?

Pure EvoIX
01-31-2009, 02:24 AM
not sure what and how much i can disclose. hopefully i dont get in trouble.

stockIX
02-01-2009, 12:43 AM
pm me then, bro :)

Pure EvoIX
02-01-2009, 12:58 AM
i did check your pm. Did you check before you posted?