APEX Coilovers Review & install guide

[Lionel]

I didnt want to add to this but i just want to say if you look you can get Tein Super Streets for 19.75 more OK they dont come with top mounts BUT most owners will never need top mounts as there realy only need them for track uses ( thats what i think) and not for driving on normal roads.

 

[davey red.r]

good point lionel.

 

[Keira]

tein superstreets are undoubtly better made than d2/ksports but are not as well spec'd if you ask me, less adjustabilitly, ride height not adjustable without effecting preload etc.etc

but 99% of you conts need never worry about any of that anyways as you'll never mess about with the settings or ride height anyways so might aswell as just buy koni inserts and not worry about it :lol:

 

[campbellju]

I feel like I should write something more intelligent but, "What Kieron says"

 

[Braveheart]

I didnt want to add to this but i just want to say if you look you can get Tein Super Streets for 19.75 more OK they dont come with top mounts BUT most owners will never need top mounts as there realy only need them for track uses ( thats what i think) and not for driving on normal roads.

I agree! why mess about with a perfactly good road setting if you're always driving on the public road.
Camber adjustment bolts do as they say but true settings are difficult to know without further measurement.

 

[Keira]

I feel like I should right something more intelligent but, "What Kieron says"

most of them wont understand my point anyway jim and will still want 'coilovers' for the spec list factor anyways :lol:

 

[Lionel]

tein superstreets are undoubtly better made than d2/ksports but are not as well spec'd if you ask me, less adjustabilitly, ride height not adjustable without effecting preload etc.etc

but 99% of you conts need never worry about any of that anyways as you'll never mess about with the settings or ride height anyways so might aswell as just buy koni inserts and not worry about it :lol:

I was not saying any think about how the Teins adjust the ride hight etc i was just pointing out for less then £20.00 you can have a top brand well made coilover kit that you can service in the UK.

If you want to spend £500 more you could have JIC`s.

 

[campbellju]

...but maybe I can't say anything inteligent as I can't "write" right

 

[stumo]

do i have to reset the tracking after fitting coilovers?

OOps, i just wet my pants

 

[Keira]

I was not saying any think about how the Teins adjust the ride hight etc

are you russian :lol:

 

[Lionel]

if you want a coilover that duc not adjust spring rate when adjusting the ride hight the JIC FLT-A2 are the ones for you.

and yes mate i am a bit LOL

 

[MarkTurbo]

99% of you conts need never worry about any of that anyways as you'll never mess about with the settings or ride height anyways so might aswell as just buy koni inserts and not worry about it :lol:

I bet at least 75% of people with coilovers on their cars have them set up totally wrong :lol: Ive driven a car with coilovers on and i reckon in most cases they're far too hard for the road and i'd even go as far as saying i'd rather drive a car with standard shocks & springs :shock:

Thats why i just went for a set of adjustable dampers and lowering springs, im no suspension expert so that way theres less chance of me completley f**king up my cars handling ;-) :lol:

 

[kenan]

I bet at least 75% of people with coilovers on their cars have them set up totally wrong :lol: Ive driven a car with coilovers on and i reckon in most cases they're far too hard for the road

this is to true. Been out is so many cars where the car is bouncing about all over the place as they aren't set-up right and are to hard for road use. I took off my coilovers on my last car in preferance for the Bilstein Sprintline kit. The car was much quicker on public roads after and a much smoother drive.

 

[youngsyp]

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.

How are these designed differently to the K-Sports, D2's etc or the other Apex coilovers ?

When I ordered my D2's, I had them valved to suit the 'softer' 5.3 kg/mm front and 4kg/mm springs and they work just fine..... very well in fact.

I will say that my chosen spring and damper rates are still too firm for road driving though. I have the dampers set at 3 turns front and 5 turns rear. This does help further reduce power understeer but, the rear end does crash around a bit.

If a well specified adjustable damper and lowered spring package existed for the GTiR, I'd have gone for that but, you can only buy 'proper' adjustable dampers used so which, is far from ideal. Even the Koni inserts are hard to source an, very expensive for what they are, and how mush work you need to do to fit them. That's why I spent the £570 on the coilovers instead.

Just my 2 pence.

 

[Kev@Apex]

The KS/D2 coilovers have a short throw damper and are not revalveable. When used with softer springs you'll find the rebound damping to be not optimal and due to the short throw damper may bottom out often and cause premature failure.

I think that coilovers that adjust the rideheight by adjusting the spring platform are a bit of a bodge to be honest, as stated above you would be much better with just a set of uprated dampers on standard or lowering springs for a road car than a spring thats wound up tight to raise the rideheight. Spring platforms are there for use in corner weighting, not for ridegeight adjustment.

Any change in rideheight should be accompanied with a alignment session, otherwise as stated your car has the potencial to handle worse than it did before. Alignment should be checked frequently on any car, even a standard one, this will maximise tyre life and provide the best handling. Surely on a fast/modified car this is even more important. Many people will spend a few grand on doubling the power of a car and miss the alignment, this has always confused me.

I bet at least 75% of people with coilovers on their cars have them set up totally wrong :lol: Ive driven a car with coilovers on and i reckon in most cases they're far too hard for the road and i'd even go as far as saying i'd rather drive a car with standard shocks & springs :shock:

The Apex coilovers are specifically designed as a road coilover rather than a race coilover, many coilovers are too hard for the average person we hope we have got it right with these. That said, I use a race varient of the Apex coilover in my race car to great sucess, with 10/8 springs rather than the 5/4 on the Road spec Pulsar ones.

 

[youngsyp]

The KS/D2 coilovers have a short throw damper and are not revalveable. When used with softer springs you'll find the rebound damping to be not optimal and due to the short throw damper may bottom out often and cause premature failure.

It was always my understanding that it was the damper that controls the bound (compression) stoke of the spring and damper package, and the spring that controls the re-bound (re-extension). If that's the case, how can a damper with stiffer damping than the 'soft' spring rate, bottom out ?

Again, my set up hasn't bottomed out yet and I've inadvertantly hit some large dips, quite hard.

This is a quote from the K-Sport website, that seems to contradict the statement above.

The valving of each set is matched to the springs installed for unmatched ride quality and reliability.

I'm not trying to 'rock the boat' here, just trying to understand the advantage of the new Apex set up, over what I currently have.

 

[Kev@Apex]

Dampers control the rate of spring movement, on both bound and rebound stroke.
Springs control total movement. Race coilovers often have seperate bound and rebound damping adjustment, and some have high (big bumps) and low speed (small bumps)damping adjustment. Damping is the key to suspension rather than spring rate.

The valving of each setup is matched to the standard spring rate specced for that vehicle, the adjusment in the damping allows for the springs to be changed but the damping still to be within range.

When we tested the KSports with 5/4 springs on a GTiR, and a zip-tie to mark the total damper travel is was deemed unacceptable, I also had a lack of rebound damping reported from the tester, and I know the KS suspension can suffer from this when the spring rates are swapped to ones much lower than they were originally designed for (They are very good with the spring rates they were designed for and Track / smooth Fast road use). Hence I developed the Apex coilovers. If we had thought the KSports would have been fine with softer springs then I could have saved 6+ months from this thread

http://www.gtiroc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45833

and just sold people the KS coilovers. However I want my customers to be as happy as possible, and hence developed a set more suitable for road use.

Your not rocking the boat, I havent taken offense.

I always prefer feedback from your fellow club members, rather than myself, so lets see what people think once a few more sets are out there, sure they will be happy.

 

[youngsyp]

I always prefer feedback from your fellow club members, rather than myself, so lets see what people think once a few more sets are out there, sure they will be happy.

Agreed, and thanks for the info Kev.

 

[cmng]

Darn.. when reading it
i almost mistaken it Apexi N1 Pro Damper for RNN14


talking about Tein issue

I have a friend on N15.. using Tien HA. then Swap to Tien Flex
end up he sell off the FLEX and use back HA
he feel HA much better than FLEX in term of heavy use
FLEX feel softer compared to HA and more suitable for street only

 

[Kev@Apex]

Darn.. when reading it
i almost mistaken it Apexi N1 Pro Damper for RNN14

That doesnt suprise me our Factory is very very close to the Apexi one