HKS Hipermax IV SP
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From: Pleasanton / Chico
HKS Hipermax IV SP
Since there is really no information on these yet I figured I would gather some thoughts and leave them here for anyone interested in the successor to the popular HKS Hipermax III Sport.
I've had these on the car for about a month now. I chose to adjust the ride height a few turns lower than they were set to out of the box but left them on default rebound settings of 15 from full stiff to begin with.
My car is a little over ~2,900lbs with me in (155lb driver) it and 1/3 tank of fuel. I am using non-staggered 255/40R17 Dunlop ZII and do not have any aero mods (stock body AP2)
I have ~1,500 miles on them so far which includes several "spirited" mountain drives and two track days. I'm coming from the HKS Hipermax III Sport so I'll try to compare a little to those for anyone who is familiar. These are some quick initial thoughts on them:
Street
The spring rates are much stiffer than the HKS Hipermax III Sport (16 kg/mm front/rear for the IV SP vs 13/11 kg/mm for the III S). This is very apparent during small impacts resulting in low speed piston movements and short strokes like over ripples in the road or especially on washboard stretches of the highway. In these conditions the suspension feels super stiff and bouncy as the dampers aren't really able to do much because there is not enough force to really compress the spring. However, the mid to high speed valving on the IV SP is really good- the dampers are more compliant over larger impacts even with the very stiff spring rates. Driving "spiritedly" on the touge (mountain road) the car feels very stiff but the dampers do a good job of controlling the tire and keeping it in contact with the road surface. I'll need to spend some time playing with the adjustments to see how the car reacts in different conditions. Comfort on the street, even at 15 from full stiff, is livable for me.
Track
This is where the Hipermax IV SP are more at home. The stiff spring rates make the car very responsive and as a result turn in and transitions are very good since the car is so quick to load the tire and take a set. You can attack smaller curbs and berms pretty well without the car getting too unsettled but they definitely aren't anywhere near the level of a motorsport grade system in this regard (not that they were expected to be or a surprise that they aren't). I didn't have too much time to spend adjusting anything but I ended up backing down 3 clicks on rebound and set my personal best out at Thunderhill Raceway my first time using them. There is definitely more time to be had with some adjustments and I look forward to playing with them more at different tracks.
Overall Impressions
These are a great damper for the money. They seem to be a good match for the typical track S2000 with non-staggered setups. I think they would be great for cars with aero but they still work on s2000s without wings and splitters. You definitely need to be running at least an EHP street tire (ZII, RE-11A, AD08R, RS3 etc.) to really take advantage of these. I'm not a huge fan of the spring rates if I'm being completely honest, I am finding it trickier to pick up the throttle and put power down early in places I wasn't before. I think 16kg/mm is too stiff but hey, I still broke my PB my first time using them on a track where I have hundreds of laps and am very consistent so there is no arguing they aren't a great option in this price range. I just believe they would be faster if they chose softer rates and valved them accordingly (12-14kg/mm non-staggered is what I would have went with if I could choose). Overall I'm happy with them and will continue to use them through the winter.
Here is a quick video from my first day at Thunderhill on these:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzsz9zdI_HI[/media]
I've had these on the car for about a month now. I chose to adjust the ride height a few turns lower than they were set to out of the box but left them on default rebound settings of 15 from full stiff to begin with.
My car is a little over ~2,900lbs with me in (155lb driver) it and 1/3 tank of fuel. I am using non-staggered 255/40R17 Dunlop ZII and do not have any aero mods (stock body AP2)
I have ~1,500 miles on them so far which includes several "spirited" mountain drives and two track days. I'm coming from the HKS Hipermax III Sport so I'll try to compare a little to those for anyone who is familiar. These are some quick initial thoughts on them:
Street
The spring rates are much stiffer than the HKS Hipermax III Sport (16 kg/mm front/rear for the IV SP vs 13/11 kg/mm for the III S). This is very apparent during small impacts resulting in low speed piston movements and short strokes like over ripples in the road or especially on washboard stretches of the highway. In these conditions the suspension feels super stiff and bouncy as the dampers aren't really able to do much because there is not enough force to really compress the spring. However, the mid to high speed valving on the IV SP is really good- the dampers are more compliant over larger impacts even with the very stiff spring rates. Driving "spiritedly" on the touge (mountain road) the car feels very stiff but the dampers do a good job of controlling the tire and keeping it in contact with the road surface. I'll need to spend some time playing with the adjustments to see how the car reacts in different conditions. Comfort on the street, even at 15 from full stiff, is livable for me.
Track
This is where the Hipermax IV SP are more at home. The stiff spring rates make the car very responsive and as a result turn in and transitions are very good since the car is so quick to load the tire and take a set. You can attack smaller curbs and berms pretty well without the car getting too unsettled but they definitely aren't anywhere near the level of a motorsport grade system in this regard (not that they were expected to be or a surprise that they aren't). I didn't have too much time to spend adjusting anything but I ended up backing down 3 clicks on rebound and set my personal best out at Thunderhill Raceway my first time using them. There is definitely more time to be had with some adjustments and I look forward to playing with them more at different tracks.
Overall Impressions
These are a great damper for the money. They seem to be a good match for the typical track S2000 with non-staggered setups. I think they would be great for cars with aero but they still work on s2000s without wings and splitters. You definitely need to be running at least an EHP street tire (ZII, RE-11A, AD08R, RS3 etc.) to really take advantage of these. I'm not a huge fan of the spring rates if I'm being completely honest, I am finding it trickier to pick up the throttle and put power down early in places I wasn't before. I think 16kg/mm is too stiff but hey, I still broke my PB my first time using them on a track where I have hundreds of laps and am very consistent so there is no arguing they aren't a great option in this price range. I just believe they would be faster if they chose softer rates and valved them accordingly (12-14kg/mm non-staggered is what I would have went with if I could choose). Overall I'm happy with them and will continue to use them through the winter.
Here is a quick video from my first day at Thunderhill on these:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzsz9zdI_HI[/media]
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