KSport Coilovers: All About 'Em

[insite]

Originally Posted by Topless

One heads up if you change dampening: Several race teams have been testing off the shelf coilovers and found the dampening adjustment settings to be vague at best and completely bogus at worst. Their suggestion is simply to confirm your new dampener settings with a shock dyno to make sure they are still matched before you do your install.

very familiar with this issue. the KSports don't even have detents that 'click' when you change settings; they're continuous. i will likely wind up using a 90 degree twist as a 'setting'. KSport will be providing shock dyno results to me w/ the dampers. i will verify with a local test.

Originally Posted by Topless

How is your car running with all the new toys you put on last winter?

running great! love the LW flywheel & spec clutch. the exhaust is awesome, & the new tranny is buttery smooth. i'm to the point now, though, where i can overdrive my suspension on the track. in the corners, i'm ready to dial in the next adjustment before the car is finished taking a set. i think w/ stiffer springs & tighter damping control i will be MUCH faster. i am betting on 1.5s minimum gain at little talladega and probabl 3s gain at road atlanta.

[Kirk]

Insite, excellent write up. I'll be very interested to hear what your impressions are of the KSport coilovers when they come and you have a chance to install them. I've done much of the same research as you and found the low price of the D2 and KSport setups as very appealing. But I could not find any constructive feedback on their use with the Boxster. So I'll be very interested as to what you report back!

[j.fro]

I've got the KSports on my car and I am very satisfied. The ride is stiff at the softest setting, but it's not horrible. Set in the middle, it's been great for AX on smooth courses. With the stock suspension, I was quite far off the top 10% times for our regional PCA AX events. Now, with the KSports and a set of Pilot Sport Cups, I'm in the top bunch. I even beat one of the PCA instructors in his 07 GT3 (also on Pilot Sport Cups!)The car handles flat and predictable. With all of the setting options, I'm very interested to hear about how you are running the car. One thing that I'm thinking of doing is enlarging openings on the strut towers above the adjustments. Right now, to change the camber settings, you have to remove the wheel and bottom out the spring and drop the top mount on the strut to make the change. The stock holes are too small to get to all of the allen bolts.

[insite]

Originally Posted by j.fro

One thing that I'm thinking of doing is enlarging openings on the strut towers above the adjustments. Right now, to change the camber settings, you have to remove the wheel and bottom out the spring and drop the top mount on the strut to make the change. The stock holes are too small to get to all of the allen bolts.

i'd thought about that. what i'll probably do is adjust the camber plates so that i'm at -1.2 deg camber with the struts pressed all the way inboard in the factory slots. that should give me around -1.8 at street height and -2.0 at track height. still, modifying the top mount to allow access to the set screws would be nice...

[nefarious986]

Excellent write up. Its post like these that adds value to the board. Bravo.

If you can, please post up your impression of them after initial drive or month or two after ownership with the settings that you decided to use.

Couple more questions though.

Also, did you order directly from KSport for the $1000 shipped price ? Its lower than prices I see on Ebay.

Did you end up with the Control / GT Pro / or RR version of the coilover ?

What made you pick it over the other two version ?

[blinkwatt]

Gary in BR has/had them on his ride. I'm not sure what spring rate he is using but he said they are way too stiff for him and he's removing them.

What model K-Sport coilover did you buy? How in the world did you get them for $1k?

[j.fro]

Hey, how were you able to adjust the ride height independent of the spring perch?

[insite]

Originally Posted by nefarious986

If you can, please post up your impression of them after initial drive or month or two after ownership with the settings that you decided to use.

i'll post install notes / picks, setup notes, street impressions, & race track impressions / results.

Originally Posted by nefarious986

Also, did you order directly from KSport for the $1000 shipped price ? Its lower than prices I see on Ebay.

i got them for $1,088 shipped from TCS Motorsports on EBay. this price INCLUDES the custom spring rates.

Originally Posted by nefarious986

Did you end up with the Control / GT Pro / or RR version of the coilover ?

What made you pick it over the other two version ?

i went with the control. the RR version is just the control w/ different spring rates & valving. since you can get different spring rates for free and since the control version is already heavily damped, that's what i did. i think the RR version would be way to stiff. the GT Pro version has an inverted damper design similar to the PSS9's. i didn't go with this because i think it will be easier to adjust the damping in the trunk and under the clamshell rather than behind the wheels.