APEX Coilovers Review & install guide

Dasilva

New Member
Hopfully i put this in the right place

Installed the kit about two weeks ago replacing my standard dampers/lowering springs. I use my Pulsar every day since install put around 400 miles on them playing around with different damper settings and ride heights.



Review: There is certainly enough thread on the coilover’s to slam the car to the floor, plus its easy to adjust the height as it uses a proper locking colliers, not like some of the cheap makes.

First impression:
Certainly get better feed back through the steering wheel noticing every bump and limits of the tyres, with the dampening set very high its like a go kart setup very little forgiveness on the road. Currently I’ve set it to 5/32 on the front and 2/32 on back I find this acceptable for speed bumps, pot holes, nasty B roads, its not jarring at all but still offers good performance.

Spec:
32 way damper adjustment
5k spring rate front
4k spring rear

Install Guide:

Tools required:
Axle Stand
Jack
Breaker bar
12mm, 21mm, 17mm, 14mm socket
12mm, 14mm, 17mm Spanner
WD40

After jacking the car up, and taking the wheel off take the two bolts connecting the hub to the suspension with the 17mm socket and spanner.
Use the 14mm socket to undo the drop link.
After that you have the 3, 12mm nuts at top in the turret, after those you can remove the hole thing. Remember to remove the clip and hooks holding the brake lines.

Tip for refitting I used a hydraulic jack to bring the hub inline with the coilovers make it less stressful when fitting by your self.









It took me around 5 hours that’s with hangover and several tea stops ;)

If any one has any questions let me know.
 

campbellju

Moderators
Staff member
Nice writeup, I've got a few detailed questions for you;

Is camber adjustable, either top mount or slotted bottom?

What's the min and max ride height they can be adjusted too (Arch to wheel centre point front and back) given the installed springs?

How is the rear drop link connected?

Cheers,
Jim
 

Dasilva

New Member
Nismo-400R - thats a questions for KevD from APEX.

Campbellju - http://www.gtiroc.com/forums/member.php?u=1776The camber is top mount adjustable i still need to sort the alignment.



The droplink on the rear attach to an 'L' bracket that removable.



I will measure the height from the arch again on the rears but i didn't adjust the collier (see pic 3) so if you see how much thread is left to bring it down, don't think you would have a problem scrapping the fuel tank on the floor.
As for the fronts i still had thread left to lower it but when i couldn't get the jack out this was to low for me :)
 

Dasilva

New Member
the pic of the drop link isn't done up, plus the bolt and nut were installed the wrong way round at this point.
 
O

Odin

Guest
It looks to me like you'd be better off with a double ended drop link like the K-sports and D2 coilover's use, But I'm sure you can order them from whiteline once you know the size needed so no biggy...


Rob
 

campbellju

Moderators
Staff member
Thanks Dasilva.

As Rob says, it looks like your rear drop link could do either style which is a nice feature.

On the height, I was more interested in the maximum ride height rather than the minimum ;-)

With the springs being softer than the platform they were designed for, they might not get sufficient ride height. IMO 325mm front arch to wheel centre (40mm drop) is the lowest you should go and for all year round use 335mm is better.

Cheers,
Jim
 

kenan

South West Regional Rep
I the rear strut damper adjustment on the top of the shocks, if so is it easy to get to for adjustment?
 

Dasilva

New Member
not sure on rebuild service but i understood that these were made in the UK. KevD should be able to answer that.

The rear strut are easy to addjust but i have stripped all the interior out ;)
 

kenan

South West Regional Rep
Dasilva said:
The rear strut are easy to addjust but i have stripped all the interior out ;)
Thought it might be hidden away, wonder if teh Tein EDFC would fit :)
 

Kev@Apex

New Member
The kits will retail around £650, but I'll do a group buy with good discount if you want ;)

Dasilva should be able to give an indication of how much higher they will go, hopefully to near standard.

Replacement dampers are £75, no need to rebuild. We have had maybe 6 dampers leak over the last 3 years from almost 1000 kits sold, so thats 6/4000 = 0.15% failure rate which is VERY low. We currently do these kits for Scooby's, Evo's, Skylines & 200SX's.

Can do harder spring rates for track-only cars.
 

antgtir

New Member
What camber range do those top mounts allow? looks only small on first glance?

Im not trying to rock the boat (much) but how are you competing with the likes of D2 where you can now pick up a set for the R (off ebay granted) for less than £500?

Other than that i love the additional bracket for the brake lines, if thats the case for both front and back, nice feature :thumbsup:

Quality looks good.

Ant.
 

Kev@Apex

New Member
Apex are also the UK wholesalers for KSport, the KSports make excellent track coilovers but dont respond well to low spring rates. 5/4 is a nice low road spec spring rate, and due to this the Apex ones will be superior on the road.

The group buy price will be very good I promise.
 
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