Coilover Rankings and Reviews for under $2000
08-15-2011, 09:30 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Coilover Rankings and Reviews for under $2000
I have searched for a combined thread on this topic and haven't seen another like it so here we go:
The intention of this thread will be to rank all the available coilovers based on users input with their pros and cons of each product. This will review coilover systems under $2000, as that seems to be the average cap of most owners. I think a thread like this will benefit anyone who is in the market for a new coilover setup that has a budget and wants the best performance for that budget.
I will begin with a list of known coilovers for under this price range and I will continue to update it as more people chime in with their experiences.
**If you have owned multiple coilovers please give the pros and cons of each and why you liked one over the other etc**
Good reading before we get into the reviews:
KW Article
From what I have found these are a few of the coilovers that fall into this price range:
Buddy Club N+ Review
Buddy Club RS damper
BC Racing BR Review
KW v1
KW v2
KW v3 Review Height Discussion
Stance GR+
Megan Racing EZ street series Review
Megan Racing Street series
Megan Racing Track series
DGR Street/Sport
DGR Sport/Track
Cusco Zero-2E
HKS Hipermax III Sport
K-Sport Kontrol Pro Damper System
Fortune Auto 500 series Review Good Review (My review)
Fortune Auto 510 series
Tein CS
Tein Flex
Tein Mono Flex Review
Apexi N1 Type ExV Damper Review
D2 Racing Sport Review
Bilstein PSS Review
Bilstein PSS9
Koni/Ground Control
Skunk
Challenge Review
Additional coilover reviews and reading
In your review of each please include areas such as build quality, whether or not lowering affects preload or if it is separate, durability (if you have had them for a while) and anything else you can think of. Also feel free to add any coilover system that I may have missed.
(I personally do not have any coilovers but I am currently in the market for a setup so I am looking forward to hearing some feedback).
The intention of this thread will be to rank all the available coilovers based on users input with their pros and cons of each product. This will review coilover systems under $2000, as that seems to be the average cap of most owners. I think a thread like this will benefit anyone who is in the market for a new coilover setup that has a budget and wants the best performance for that budget.
I will begin with a list of known coilovers for under this price range and I will continue to update it as more people chime in with their experiences.
**If you have owned multiple coilovers please give the pros and cons of each and why you liked one over the other etc**
Good reading before we get into the reviews:
KW Article
From what I have found these are a few of the coilovers that fall into this price range:
Buddy Club N+ Review
Buddy Club RS damper
BC Racing BR Review
KW v1
KW v2
KW v3 Review Height Discussion
Stance GR+
Megan Racing EZ street series Review
Megan Racing Street series
Megan Racing Track series
DGR Street/Sport
DGR Sport/Track
Cusco Zero-2E
HKS Hipermax III Sport
K-Sport Kontrol Pro Damper System
Fortune Auto 500 series Review Good Review (My review)
Fortune Auto 510 series
Tein CS
Tein Flex
Tein Mono Flex Review
Apexi N1 Type ExV Damper Review
D2 Racing Sport Review
Bilstein PSS Review
Bilstein PSS9
Koni/Ground Control
Skunk
Challenge Review
Additional coilover reviews and reading
In your review of each please include areas such as build quality, whether or not lowering affects preload or if it is separate, durability (if you have had them for a while) and anything else you can think of. Also feel free to add any coilover system that I may have missed.
(I personally do not have any coilovers but I am currently in the market for a setup so I am looking forward to hearing some feedback).
08-15-2011, 12:43 PM
#4
This is article is available on the KW website, so you can tell they are proud of their results. But, this is great reading and a good start for this thread.
THE ULTIMATE SUSPENSION TEST
THE ULTIMATE SUSPENSION TEST
08-15-2011, 01:20 PM
#5
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My first aftermarket suspension setup was a set of Koni Yellow shocks with eibach pro springs. This dropped the car approx 1" The handling felt improved and for autox I managed a couple of seconds quicker on tight courses. I later picked up a Saner front bar and found this a great combo for daily driving/ autox. Manageable body roll and could feel the rear handling better. The ride was a bit harsher than stock, but my wife didn't mind. However, I wanted to try a coilover setup.
My first coilover setup was the Apexi N1 EXV system- they allow you to slam the car and are alright for a daily driving. As for quality, nothing bad, but in time the red coating will wear off. They are a very simple setup. If you plan on tracking your car at all, forget these. As for handling, felt a bit worse than stock and more road irregularities were felt. If I were to do it over, I would never have bought the Apexi's.
MA'Pexi N1
My third and current suspension setup are the KWV3's. I am very happy with them. They provide lots of adjustments. They perform quite nicely as other reviews will attest to. These are ideal for anyone who occasionally tracks/ autox's and still dd's their S. If I had known in the beginning this would have been my first setup. My wife finds them a bit harsh, but it's a sports car. I strongly believe that these are the best coilover setup for our cars at roughly $2k. I currently run these with a Saner front bar and T1R half shaft spacers with UK alignment/ corner balanced.
My first coilover setup was the Apexi N1 EXV system- they allow you to slam the car and are alright for a daily driving. As for quality, nothing bad, but in time the red coating will wear off. They are a very simple setup. If you plan on tracking your car at all, forget these. As for handling, felt a bit worse than stock and more road irregularities were felt. If I were to do it over, I would never have bought the Apexi's.
MA'Pexi N1
My third and current suspension setup are the KWV3's. I am very happy with them. They provide lots of adjustments. They perform quite nicely as other reviews will attest to. These are ideal for anyone who occasionally tracks/ autox's and still dd's their S. If I had known in the beginning this would have been my first setup. My wife finds them a bit harsh, but it's a sports car. I strongly believe that these are the best coilover setup for our cars at roughly $2k. I currently run these with a Saner front bar and T1R half shaft spacers with UK alignment/ corner balanced.
08-15-2011, 02:40 PM
#6
Thread Starter
My first aftermarket suspension setup was a set of Koni Yellow shocks with eibach pro springs. This dropped the car approx 1" The handling felt improved and for autox I managed a couple of seconds quicker on tight courses. I later picked up a Saner front bar and found this a great combo for daily driving/ autox. Manageable body roll and could feel the rear handling better. The ride was a bit harsher than stock, but my wife didn't mind. However, I wanted to try a coilover setup.
My first coilover setup was the Apexi N1 EXV system- they allow you to slam the car and are alright for a daily driving. As for quality, nothing bad, but in time the red coating will wear off. They are a very simple setup. If you plan on tracking your car at all, forget these. As for handling, felt a bit worse than stock and more road irregularities were felt. If I were to do it over, I would never have bought the Apexi's.
MA'Pexi N1
My third and current suspension setup are the KWV3's. I am very happy with them. They provide lots of adjustments. They perform quite nicely as other reviews will attest to. These are ideal for anyone who occasionally tracks/ autox's and still dd's their S. If I had known in the beginning this would have been my first setup. My wife finds them a bit harsh, but it's a sports car. I strongly believe that these are the best coilover setup for our cars at roughly $2k. I currently run these with a Saner front bar and T1R half shaft spacers with UK alignment/ corner balanced.
My first coilover setup was the Apexi N1 EXV system- they allow you to slam the car and are alright for a daily driving. As for quality, nothing bad, but in time the red coating will wear off. They are a very simple setup. If you plan on tracking your car at all, forget these. As for handling, felt a bit worse than stock and more road irregularities were felt. If I were to do it over, I would never have bought the Apexi's.
MA'Pexi N1
My third and current suspension setup are the KWV3's. I am very happy with them. They provide lots of adjustments. They perform quite nicely as other reviews will attest to. These are ideal for anyone who occasionally tracks/ autox's and still dd's their S. If I had known in the beginning this would have been my first setup. My wife finds them a bit harsh, but it's a sports car. I strongly believe that these are the best coilover setup for our cars at roughly $2k. I currently run these with a Saner front bar and T1R half shaft spacers with UK alignment/ corner balanced.
08-15-2011, 03:15 PM
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Originally Posted by JSWhaler' timestamp='1313443252' post='20880432
My first aftermarket suspension setup was a set of Koni Yellow shocks with eibach pro springs. This dropped the car approx 1" The handling felt improved and for autox I managed a couple of seconds quicker on tight courses. I later picked up a Saner front bar and found this a great combo for daily driving/ autox. Manageable body roll and could feel the rear handling better. The ride was a bit harsher than stock, but my wife didn't mind. However, I wanted to try a coilover setup.
My first coilover setup was the Apexi N1 EXV system- they allow you to slam the car and are alright for a daily driving. As for quality, nothing bad, but in time the red coating will wear off. They are a very simple setup. If you plan on tracking your car at all, forget these. As for handling, felt a bit worse than stock and more road irregularities were felt. If I were to do it over, I would never have bought the Apexi's.
MA'Pexi N1
My third and current suspension setup are the KWV3's. I am very happy with them. They provide lots of adjustments. They perform quite nicely as other reviews will attest to. These are ideal for anyone who occasionally tracks/ autox's and still dd's their S. If I had known in the beginning this would have been my first setup. My wife finds them a bit harsh, but it's a sports car. I strongly believe that these are the best coilover setup for our cars at roughly $2k. I currently run these with a Saner front bar and T1R half shaft spacers with UK alignment/ corner balanced.
My first coilover setup was the Apexi N1 EXV system- they allow you to slam the car and are alright for a daily driving. As for quality, nothing bad, but in time the red coating will wear off. They are a very simple setup. If you plan on tracking your car at all, forget these. As for handling, felt a bit worse than stock and more road irregularities were felt. If I were to do it over, I would never have bought the Apexi's.
MA'Pexi N1
My third and current suspension setup are the KWV3's. I am very happy with them. They provide lots of adjustments. They perform quite nicely as other reviews will attest to. These are ideal for anyone who occasionally tracks/ autox's and still dd's their S. If I had known in the beginning this would have been my first setup. My wife finds them a bit harsh, but it's a sports car. I strongly believe that these are the best coilover setup for our cars at roughly $2k. I currently run these with a Saner front bar and T1R half shaft spacers with UK alignment/ corner balanced.
I put KWV3's on at the beginning of this summer. So far i have 4 track days and about 1500 miles driving and my overall impression is that this is the best compromise of comfort and performance you can get for the price. I would say calling it a compromise is kind of a bad way to put it anyway. It handles better than stock at the track and rides better than stock off the track - I don't know if you can call that a compromise really.
The brand new units have a much better compression adjustment than the previous model. They used to use a slot/key combination at the bottom of the shock that is a pain in the butt to adjust. Luckily you don't really have to adjust them often, but either way it is difficult. The new models have a knob that is much easier to use.
As far as the spring preload - the V3's have a helper spring. Unless you go seriously low, below the recommended heights, you are not even going to be "preloading" or compressing the main spring with your adjustment. You're just going to be compressing the helper spring at this point. When you drop the car down, the helper will fully compress (it is only 80lb/in) and you will begin to modulate the main spring.
If this helps you at all, this my car set at just above (probably 3 turns, maybe 1/4" at most) above the lowest recommended height on 18" wheels:
Attachment 200726
My $.02.
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08-15-2011, 05:52 PM
#9
Thread Starter
Good information! Keep it coming and I will continue to update the main list with links to each review etc. I think this should help anyone that is in the market!
08-15-2011, 08:25 PM
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Originally Posted by S2Ko0o' timestamp='1313448001' post='20880663
[quote name='JSWhaler' timestamp='1313443252' post='20880432']
My first aftermarket suspension setup was a set of Koni Yellow shocks with eibach pro springs. This dropped the car approx 1" The handling felt improved and for autox I managed a couple of seconds quicker on tight courses. I later picked up a Saner front bar and found this a great combo for daily driving/ autox. Manageable body roll and could feel the rear handling better. The ride was a bit harsher than stock, but my wife didn't mind. However, I wanted to try a coilover setup.
My first coilover setup was the Apexi N1 EXV system- they allow you to slam the car and are alright for a daily driving. As for quality, nothing bad, but in time the red coating will wear off. They are a very simple setup. If you plan on tracking your car at all, forget these. As for handling, felt a bit worse than stock and more road irregularities were felt. If I were to do it over, I would never have bought the Apexi's.
MA'Pexi N1
My third and current suspension setup are the KWV3's. I am very happy with them. They provide lots of adjustments. They perform quite nicely as other reviews will attest to. These are ideal for anyone who occasionally tracks/ autox's and still dd's their S. If I had known in the beginning this would have been my first setup. My wife finds them a bit harsh, but it's a sports car. I strongly believe that these are the best coilover setup for our cars at roughly $2k. I currently run these with a Saner front bar and T1R half shaft spacers with UK alignment/ corner balanced.
My first aftermarket suspension setup was a set of Koni Yellow shocks with eibach pro springs. This dropped the car approx 1" The handling felt improved and for autox I managed a couple of seconds quicker on tight courses. I later picked up a Saner front bar and found this a great combo for daily driving/ autox. Manageable body roll and could feel the rear handling better. The ride was a bit harsher than stock, but my wife didn't mind. However, I wanted to try a coilover setup.
My first coilover setup was the Apexi N1 EXV system- they allow you to slam the car and are alright for a daily driving. As for quality, nothing bad, but in time the red coating will wear off. They are a very simple setup. If you plan on tracking your car at all, forget these. As for handling, felt a bit worse than stock and more road irregularities were felt. If I were to do it over, I would never have bought the Apexi's.
MA'Pexi N1
My third and current suspension setup are the KWV3's. I am very happy with them. They provide lots of adjustments. They perform quite nicely as other reviews will attest to. These are ideal for anyone who occasionally tracks/ autox's and still dd's their S. If I had known in the beginning this would have been my first setup. My wife finds them a bit harsh, but it's a sports car. I strongly believe that these are the best coilover setup for our cars at roughly $2k. I currently run these with a Saner front bar and T1R half shaft spacers with UK alignment/ corner balanced.
I put KWV3's on at the beginning of this summer. So far i have 4 track days and about 1500 miles driving and my overall impression is that this is the best compromise of comfort and performance you can get for the price. I would say calling it a compromise is kind of a bad way to put it anyway. It handles better than stock at the track and rides better than stock off the track - I don't know if you can call that a compromise really.
The brand new units have a much better compression adjustment than the previous model. They used to use a slot/key combination at the bottom of the shock that is a pain in the butt to adjust. Luckily you don't really have to adjust them often, but either way it is difficult. The new models have a knob that is much easier to use.
As far as the spring preload - the V3's have a helper spring. Unless you go seriously low, below the recommended heights, you are not even going to be "preloading" or compressing the main spring with your adjustment. You're just going to be compressing the helper spring at this point. When you drop the car down, the helper will fully compress (it is only 80lb/in) and you will begin to modulate the main spring.
If this helps you at all, this my car set at just above (probably 3 turns, maybe 1/4" at most) above the lowest recommended height on 18" wheels:
My $.02.
[/quote]
How did you determine that you are 1/4" above the recommended height?
Hub center to the edge of the fender measurement?
JSWhaler, Way to make the connection to my thread. Forum members, including myself, definitely appreciate it.
