Coilover Advice

[griswold]

Hi,

I've managed to read as many coilover posts as I could find here, but need a little advice.

I'm looking for coilovers for my MSP (which will serve as a daily driver / Autocrosser in the summer) and obviously want adjustability as well as adjustable camber.

I'm not looking to skimp, but at the same time don't want to spend $1500 - $2000.

I've investigated the following options:

1. Ksport - Cheaper and have pillow ball mounts and camber adjustment, but questions on quality and reliability
2. TEIN Basic and SS - No Camber adjustment
3. KW Varient 2 - $1350 + $350 for Delsing camber plates = Big $$$
4. JIC - Too much $$$. Cheapest I've found was $1600 +
5. D2 RS - $1000 - $1100 has pillow ball mounts and camber adjustment. Look nice, but I've never heard of them.
6. Sleave type coilovers like Ground Control - Don't *really* want to go that route.

Anyone have any thoughts on these? Right now I'm leaning towards the D2's but I've never heard of anyone having them and haven't heard any reports of Ride / Quality / Performance.

Also, are the rumors true about Ksport and D2 being pretty much the same unit?

What're other people doing?

Thanks in Advance.

Dave

[msp35]

someone's selling some d2s in the f/s section now.

[griswold]

someone's selling some d2s in the f/s section now.

Yeah, saw that. They've been grabbed already... thx.

[justanotheradikt]

i have the ksports and ive had d2. they are the EXACT same....just one is orange and one is purple. IMO get the ksports. thats what i have on my car now. i love them. quality seems to be good with them...when i got them i did have a manufacturing problem (a seal was torn) but the company replaced it ASAP! i was without it for like 4 or 5 days i think.... best customer service with warranty i have encountered!

[griswold]

i have the ksports and ive had d2. they are the EXACT same....just one is orange and one is purple. IMO get the ksports. thats what i have on my car now. i love them. quality seems to be good with them...when i got them i did have a manufacturing problem (a seal was torn) but the company replaced it ASAP! i was without it for like 4 or 5 days i think.... best customer service with warranty i have encountered!

I take it you've autocrossed with them? Ride on the street is good? Is it easy to adjust the camber before and after an event?

How do you think they'll hold up after a few seasons of autocross and daily driving?

Thanks,

Dave

[jmv]

i hope to eventually get some k-sports, whenever money allows.

[sm76]

I take it you've autocrossed with them? Ride on the street is good? Is it easy to adjust the camber before and after an event?

How do you think they'll hold up after a few seasons of autocross and daily driving?

Thanks,

Dave

I've been really happy with my K-sports, especially considering the price. I got them in the middle of the summer this year so I've put about 15,000 miles and 8 track days on them. The ride is noticeably stiffer than stock so you should be ready for that. Its not terrible and any stiffer spring and corresponding shock will be that way also. I consider the standard rates of the Ksports to be a compromise between optimum street and track rates.

Camber is easy to adjust, but you will have to adjust the toe with it.

[griswold]

I've been really happy with my K-sports, especially considering the price. I got them in the middle of the summer this year so I've put about 15,000 miles and 8 track days on them. The ride is noticeably stiffer than stock so you should be ready for that. Its not terrible and any stiffer spring and corresponding shock will be that way also. I consider the standard rates of the Ksports to be a compromise between optimum street and track rates.

Camber is easy to adjust, but you will have to adjust the toe with it.

Thanks for the feedback...I'd been eyeing the Ksports and the D2's...if they're the same, then there's really very little incentive to go with the D2's...

Where'd you get the Ksports? Do you mind if I ask what you paid for them?

Thanks.

[sm76]

Thanks for the feedback...I'd been eyeing the Ksports and the D2's...if they're the same, then there's really very little incentive to go with the D2's...

Where'd you get the Ksports? Do you mind if I ask what you paid for them?

Thanks.

I got the Ksports for $820 shipped. They were through "AODfan" (Altered Motorsports) on this board. No complaints about the transaction at all.

I have a few pictures of the parts on my website if you want to see the comparison between stock and Ksports. Click on the pictures next to the Ksport in the parts list on the upper left.

[griswold]

I got the Ksports for $820 shipped. They were through "AODfan" (Altered Motorsports) on this board. No complaints about the transaction at all.

I have a few pictures of the parts on my website if you want to see the comparison between stock and Ksports. Click on the pictures next to the Ksport in the parts list on the upper left.

Thanks a lot, I'll check everything out!

[griswold]

I got the Ksports for $820 shipped. They were through "AODfan" (Altered Motorsports) on this board. No complaints about the transaction at all.

I have a few pictures of the parts on my website if you want to see the comparison between stock and Ksports. Click on the pictures next to the Ksport in the parts list on the upper left.

Oh yeah, forgot to ask...did you need any adjustable endlinks? Like AWR or something?

Thx.

[sm76]

Oh yeah, forgot to ask...did you need any adjustable endlinks? Like AWR or something?

Thx.

I got the AWR adjustable endlinks because I read that the heights wouldn't match up with the stock endlink and I wanted the adjustability to allow me to easily make sure there is no preload on the swaybar for cornerweighting.

[griswold]

I got the AWR adjustable endlinks because I read that the heights wouldn't match up with the stock endlink and I wanted the adjustability to allow me to easily make sure there is no preload on the swaybar for cornerweighting.

Sorry to bombard you with questions, but your car is setup similarly to what I think I'm ultimately shooting for.

What type of camber are you running on the streets vs. on the track? Do you adjust for each event or set it for the season and deal with it on the street?

Also, how low did you set it for street driving vs track? Again, do you adjust before and after events?

I was also toying with getting the AWR rear suspension kit (with the endlinks, trailing arms, sway bar, etc) but I'm not sure I want to introduce ALL of those changes at the same time.

I'm thinking coilovers this season, get used to them, then rear suspension kit next season once I've got the coilovers sorted out...

Thoughts?

Thx again.

[sm76]

Sorry to bombard you with questions, but your car is setup similarly to what I think I'm ultimately shooting for.

What type of camber are you running on the streets vs. on the track? Do you adjust for each event or set it for the season and deal with it on the street?

Also, how low did you set it for street driving vs track? Again, do you adjust before and after events?

I was also toying with getting the AWR rear suspension kit (with the endlinks, trailing arms, sway bar, etc) but I'm not sure I want to introduce ALL of those changes at the same time.

I'm thinking coilovers this season, get used to them, then rear suspension kit next season once I've got the coilovers sorted out...

Thoughts?

Thx again.

I just run with my track alignment on the street since it isn't too aggressive. Its set up to be stable at speed, which is different from an autocross alignment which would make the car twitchy. The specs I had were:
Front: Camber: -1.7 and Toe: 0
Rear: Camber: -1.0 and Toe: 0
Because I had not toe, the tire wear on the street isn't too bad, but the inside will wear out quicker than the rest of the tire. I still got 25k miles out of a set of Hankook Z212 R32 tires.

I decided to do the rear swaybar at the same time because it comes with different endlinks than you use with a standard bar. That way I didn't have to buy the regular endlinks. Either way you want to do it should work out fine.

[griswold]

I just run with my track alignment on the street since it isn't too aggressive. Its set up to be stable at speed, which is different from an autocross alignment which would make the car twitchy. The specs I had were:
Camber: -1.7
Toe: 0
Because I had not toe, the tire wear on the street isn't too bad, but the inside will wear out quicker than the rest of the tire. I still got 25k miles out of a set of Hankook Z212 R32 tires.

I decided to do the rear swaybar at the same time because it comes with different endlinks than you use with a standard bar. That way I didn't have to buy the regular endlinks. Either way you want to do it should work out fine.

Thanks...you're running the same street tires I am. I actually used them on the street and as showroom stock / street tire class with BMWCCA. Loved'em. Good enough to with my class.

[122 Vega]

If I were you I'd go with the KW V2s. Delsing doesn't make camber plates anymore, so contact Tony at AWR to see what it would take to get his to fit. If you want to spend a bit more, you can get his entire set up with Koni adjustables for around $2200.

Britt

[griswold]

If I were you I'd go with the KW V2s. Delsing doesn't make camber plates anymore, so contact Tony at AWR to see what it would take to get his to fit. If you want to spend a bit more, you can get his entire set up with Koni adjustables for around $2200.

Britt

Yeah, I've thought about that, but I'm not really prepared to make a ~$2000 investment into that right now...

I'm more comfortable being about $1200 or under... First thing that came to mind was KW2's, but they're just a little pricey for me...