Post by whiteraven on Aug 25, 2006 11:25:56 GMT -5
Okay, so as a Product manager at Sport Compact Only I get exposed to several different great products, and this time I had to share.
We just started offering a new strut dampener kit for many applications which are getting alot of hype.
The brand is K Sport, and with their unmistakable Orange color, if you've seen them you know how nice they look. Well, apparently they also PERFORM nice too. I've heard only good things about them, and we've just started selling them here and already have had several orders.
THIS IS NOT A GROUP BUY, or even a plug for my company, but rather a desire to see if YOU the Aveo community want some options for adjustable suspension.
I've included some clips from the SERBoard.com group buy, with some real, personal opinions on these new struts.
How Much: $950 retail, kits for other applications go for about $750 + shipping.
Features: Adjustable spring pre-load, adjustable damper height, adjustable damping force, adjustable camber in front (slotted lower mounts, not camber plates), universal 2.5" I.D. springs. Front and rear upper mounts included.
Impressions: So far so good. I've put about 750 miles on them, so it's a little too soon for a durability report, but they seem very high quality for the price.
One of the features that drew me to these was the adjustable damper height. Some other brands of coil-overs feature the adjustable spring perch only, so for every inch you lower the car, you loose an inch of travel. With these you set the pre-load on the spring with the spring perch, and then adjust the height by threading the damper and spring assembly in or out of the lower mount.
This is the height I have been running since I installed them. I have at least 1" of adjustment left in the damper height at both ends, plus I could take a little preload off of the springs to get it another inch or so lower than that, but this is plenty low enough (maybe too low) for me.
The springs that come shipped with these are 7kg/mm in front (about 390 lb/in) and 5kg/mm in the rear (about 280lb/in). Having looked at the spring rates that came stock and the spring rates of other brands or springs that fit stock type struts I decided that these rates were pretty much backwards from what I wanted. The rear springs that ship with the kit are also slightly shorter than the front. I swapped them from the front to the rear anyway.
Every kit that K-Sport sells for any application comes with 7kg/mm front and 5kg/mm by default. That leads me to believe that they haven't done any real testing or tuning on these and they expect the purchaser to experiment for themselves or live with what they get.
In my opinion, 5kg is too stiff in the front. The handling seems ok, I haven't had an alignment put on it yet, but it does seem a little less willing to rotate. I chalk that up being to too stiff in the front. A car this low on stock type dampers may need springs that stiff to avoid bottoming out the dampers, but with adjustable damper height that isn't necessary. I find myself bouncing out of the seat on some bumps with 5kg/mm's in the front, 7kg/mm seems like it would be unbarable.
I'm going to try a pair of 3.5kg/mm springs in the front and put the 5kg/mm springs back in the rear. That will retain the f/r spring rate ratio that came with the car stock, but be a bit stiffer and still offer a livable daily driver ride. I may also raise the ride height 1/2" or so to restore some of the stock suspension geometry until I get around to building my ball joint and tie rod spacers.
Changing the springs on these is very easy if they are not installed on the car. With the adjustbale damper height, no spring compressor in necessary. All you have to do is unscrew the lower mount, the lower mout jum nut, the spring perch jam nut, and the lower spring perch. Then the spring comes off. All of that can be done with the wrench included in the kit. It's a whole lot easier than trying to break the torque off of the upper mount.
The damping on these seems adequate. I turned the front down 1/2 turn from what is recommended and the rear up 1/2 turn to compensate for the altered spring rates, and it feels good. I don't know where they come up with the "36 way adjustable damping" that they advertise. There are no discernable clicks in the adjustment so you pretty much go by fractions of a turn.
Also when installing these, PUT THE REAR ADJUSTMENT TOOLS IN PLACE BEFORE YOU INSTALL THEM ON THE CAR! The tool is about 6" long and it will not go in once the rear pieces are bolted in place. Ask me how I know.
I haven't bottomed out on anything yet. I did once, over a big dip in the road, hear a noise at the rear that sounded like a tire hitting the inside of the wheel well. I am running 215/45-17 Fuzion ZRi's that are probably an inch taller than the stock Conti's, so it wouldn't surprise me if they rubbed on something. I also had two tool boxes and a 50lb bag of dog food in the trunk at the time and the upper edge of the rear tires were tucked quite a bit into the wheel well.
On a scale of 1-10 I would rate these an 8.5. The only thing that keeps me from giving them a 10 is the lack of long term experience (with Tein or JIC you know their reputation for quality) and the questionable spring rates that they come with by default (if they had a "recommended" rate specifically for the B15 I'd be more impressed).
We just started offering a new strut dampener kit for many applications which are getting alot of hype.
The brand is K Sport, and with their unmistakable Orange color, if you've seen them you know how nice they look. Well, apparently they also PERFORM nice too. I've heard only good things about them, and we've just started selling them here and already have had several orders.
THIS IS NOT A GROUP BUY, or even a plug for my company, but rather a desire to see if YOU the Aveo community want some options for adjustable suspension.
I've included some clips from the SERBoard.com group buy, with some real, personal opinions on these new struts.
How Much: $950 retail, kits for other applications go for about $750 + shipping.
Features: Adjustable spring pre-load, adjustable damper height, adjustable damping force, adjustable camber in front (slotted lower mounts, not camber plates), universal 2.5" I.D. springs. Front and rear upper mounts included.
Impressions: So far so good. I've put about 750 miles on them, so it's a little too soon for a durability report, but they seem very high quality for the price.
One of the features that drew me to these was the adjustable damper height. Some other brands of coil-overs feature the adjustable spring perch only, so for every inch you lower the car, you loose an inch of travel. With these you set the pre-load on the spring with the spring perch, and then adjust the height by threading the damper and spring assembly in or out of the lower mount.
This is the height I have been running since I installed them. I have at least 1" of adjustment left in the damper height at both ends, plus I could take a little preload off of the springs to get it another inch or so lower than that, but this is plenty low enough (maybe too low) for me.
The springs that come shipped with these are 7kg/mm in front (about 390 lb/in) and 5kg/mm in the rear (about 280lb/in). Having looked at the spring rates that came stock and the spring rates of other brands or springs that fit stock type struts I decided that these rates were pretty much backwards from what I wanted. The rear springs that ship with the kit are also slightly shorter than the front. I swapped them from the front to the rear anyway.
Every kit that K-Sport sells for any application comes with 7kg/mm front and 5kg/mm by default. That leads me to believe that they haven't done any real testing or tuning on these and they expect the purchaser to experiment for themselves or live with what they get.
In my opinion, 5kg is too stiff in the front. The handling seems ok, I haven't had an alignment put on it yet, but it does seem a little less willing to rotate. I chalk that up being to too stiff in the front. A car this low on stock type dampers may need springs that stiff to avoid bottoming out the dampers, but with adjustable damper height that isn't necessary. I find myself bouncing out of the seat on some bumps with 5kg/mm's in the front, 7kg/mm seems like it would be unbarable.
I'm going to try a pair of 3.5kg/mm springs in the front and put the 5kg/mm springs back in the rear. That will retain the f/r spring rate ratio that came with the car stock, but be a bit stiffer and still offer a livable daily driver ride. I may also raise the ride height 1/2" or so to restore some of the stock suspension geometry until I get around to building my ball joint and tie rod spacers.
Changing the springs on these is very easy if they are not installed on the car. With the adjustbale damper height, no spring compressor in necessary. All you have to do is unscrew the lower mount, the lower mout jum nut, the spring perch jam nut, and the lower spring perch. Then the spring comes off. All of that can be done with the wrench included in the kit. It's a whole lot easier than trying to break the torque off of the upper mount.
The damping on these seems adequate. I turned the front down 1/2 turn from what is recommended and the rear up 1/2 turn to compensate for the altered spring rates, and it feels good. I don't know where they come up with the "36 way adjustable damping" that they advertise. There are no discernable clicks in the adjustment so you pretty much go by fractions of a turn.
Also when installing these, PUT THE REAR ADJUSTMENT TOOLS IN PLACE BEFORE YOU INSTALL THEM ON THE CAR! The tool is about 6" long and it will not go in once the rear pieces are bolted in place. Ask me how I know.
I haven't bottomed out on anything yet. I did once, over a big dip in the road, hear a noise at the rear that sounded like a tire hitting the inside of the wheel well. I am running 215/45-17 Fuzion ZRi's that are probably an inch taller than the stock Conti's, so it wouldn't surprise me if they rubbed on something. I also had two tool boxes and a 50lb bag of dog food in the trunk at the time and the upper edge of the rear tires were tucked quite a bit into the wheel well.
On a scale of 1-10 I would rate these an 8.5. The only thing that keeps me from giving them a 10 is the lack of long term experience (with Tein or JIC you know their reputation for quality) and the questionable spring rates that they come with by default (if they had a "recommended" rate specifically for the B15 I'd be more impressed).
