I wanted to give the things a chance to settle in as well as put the car through its paces on the track before i gave my full report on these. I has these installed last Thursday at JIC's distribution garage and they also did the alignment and corner balancing of the car before handing me the keys.

In the last 4 days, i have basically tested every aspect of the suspension that I myself could physically do. I have driven over 300 freeway miles, driven though a few hours of canyons, and spent an entire day at the track (Streets of Willow to be exact). For those of you that don't know, "The Streets" is one of the most technical courses on the West coast.

My biggest concern with changing the S2000'S suspension, was the way the car was going to handle afterwards. I have read so many articles and heard so many horror stories about lowered S's, that I was worried the car would not remain balanced. I have heard all sorts of explanations for this such rear alignment gets thrown off, geometry changes, whatever. I remember an article that Sport Compact Car did awhile back between a Comptech built car and a Neuspeed built car. Both performed worse than they did stock. Go figure.

My second concern was what kind of sacrifice I would have to make in order to achieve a well balanced better handling S2000. I wasn't willing to deal with my everyday driver bouncing around and hurting my kidneys.

These were very important to me and i made it perfectly clear to them what I was looking for and what i was concerned about. Only one guy there spoke English (Terry) and he reassured me that i would be more than happy. Being the first set in the country, how could I refuse.

Before I make this thread into a novel, let me get right to what I have concluded. First of all, the car feels amazing. Not only has it retained its amazing balance, but there is practically zero body roll now. The back end stays planted and inspires much confidence. I have noticed that the front has been lowered a bit more than the rear and i m assuming that this has much to do with it. Corner balancing is key.
Freeway driving has also surprising enough, been improved. The car does not bounce around like like most lowered cars on the freeway do. With 15 levels of compression adjustment you have ample room freedom to tune the ride to your preferences. Even though there are 15 different setting on each shock, the number 6 setting was plenty stiff enough. That is the setting that I used on the track and i dropped back down to 2 for the way home. The car definitely feels tighter and firmer, but I believe in a good way. Even my 62 year old dad was surprised at the ride comfort.

My only gripe about the whole set up is the driver side rear shock. Adjusting the compression/rebound on this particular one poses quite a challenge. Because of the fuel pipes, reaching the top of the shock is like trying to thread a needle with your eyes closed. I suspect however that any adjustable coil over that is top mount adjusted is going to pose the same problem.

Oh yeah, one last thing... They dont make any noise. No silly creaking and crackling when going in and out of driveways either. My Ground Controls on my Miata were notorious for noise.

Sorry for the long post, if you have any questions let me know. This is by far my favorite upgrade so far. I ll post pics in the morning.

 

Which JIC kit did you get? they usually have a street version, semi-race and full race.

Bryan

 

Here are the pics as promised.

 

Bryan, as of now, i believe they are only bringing in one version for the S2k. These are their top of the line.

 

Wow, they are colorful! Double adjustable!

How much? Can you pop the hood and post a pic of the top of the shock?

I see there is no bracket for the front brake line, just like the Zeals. I'm using a zip tie too!

 

Do you know what the spring rates are? Are they single or double adjustable?

And how much do these list for?

Thanks for the writeup!

 

Here is a pic for you from up top.


Spring rates i believe are 7k up front and 8k in the rear. I believe they list for $1850 a set.

 

sweet, thanks for the write-up!

 

Absolutely!

A friend of mine has been trying to get me to buy a set from his shop for my S. Up until now I was uncertain about JIC quality and how they performed.

I will definitely look into a set now!

 

My pleasure guys. Truly it is. I just wanted everyone out there to know that there is another option out there for a complete suspenion upgrade.
Peace of mind is also a good thing. I know that if anything goes wrong, these guy s are Stateside and are able to deliver fast and reliable service. They are also really good at answering questions from annoying customers like me.

Now i must sit idle until their new Ti exhaust system hit s the shores. If quality and craftmanship is anything like this, I will be ecstatic. Dyno sheets to follow...