Everyone,

I want to get a set of suspension for road course. KW is one of the good choice but I don't hear much from this forum. Anyone has them on a EG? How do you like it? Any feedback/input would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

In before Koni/GC...

 

They're fantastic in the BMW world - its a very nice "street" suspension. I don't know if you can custom order them for a more road course oriented setup.

 

JBrettHowell,

Is the Koni/GC setup better than v3? Can you share your thoughts?

 

I like my Progress,they are affordable, have great service and can taylor the shocks to your car.KW has terrible customer service imo and could not provide the shocks I needed let alone return calls or email.They also use progressive spring rates with the systems they have,which is unique.

Everyone is going to say what they have on their car is the best,but what it comes down to is your budget and experience with shocks.A simple shock like progress,can go a long way.If you have the money and know what you are doing with adjusting 2 way shocks,then go for like a koni 2812 .. just my $0.02. It sounds like you need to stay with a simpler route if you don't know what brand is a good set shocks for our cars.

 

Koni/Ground Control is the typical recommendation for people looking to track/autocross their Hondas...and for good reason. Off the shelf Koni Sportss are good for about 500-600 lb/in spring rates and offer adjustable rebound. You can also buy race-valved Koni Sports and I don't know what the upper limit is in terms of spring rates on these. Any Koni Sport can be rebuilt with custom valving (to match whatever spring rates one typically runs) and they can be converted to double-adjustables which give one control over rebound and compression rates individually. OTS Konis are affordable, and can be revalved/converted to DAs whenever one's budget and needs dictate. I find the OTS Konis to be a bit stiff on high speed compression for daily driving which makes the ride seem harsh, but it's a great starting point for a track suspension.

Ground Control adjustable coil overs are just threaded sleeves that slip over the shock. While there are knockoffs and cheapies available on ebay for a little less, I personally like the design of the lower spring perches because they never seem to get clogged up and hard to adjust (I have heard complaints about the cheap ones). With GCs in place your options for spring rates are plentiful and cheap. You can run any 2.5" spring with them (GCs are also available with a lower perch that works with 2.25" springs) which means your setup options are practically endless.

I have never used KW v3 or Progress suspensions, so I can't offer any comparisons.

 

My current suspension is BuddyClub N+ Spec with 10kg (559lb) front and 6kg (336lb) rear. I have 1.25 inch of clearance between the tires and fenders on the front, 1.75 inch on the rear. -1.5 camber on front and -2.5 on rear. Guess what? My car leans crazy on track and rubbed off my tires badly. Maybe my shocks couldn't hold up?

I've driven different cars with various suspension setups like custom springs with KYB AGX/GC combo, Neuspeed race springs with Koni Special, HKS hyperMax2, Eibach Pro kit, KW v3, whitelines shock & springs combo. I can tell how they performs on the street but I have no experience with them on the track.

Koni's re-valving service is a plus. But, I can't just leave the car on the street without shocks tho. Can someone tell me the turn around time for re-valving?

I think the Koni/GC setup is more affordable and can be customized compare to other coilovers.

What spring rates do you guys use on track?

 

EH3 what car are your BC on? I have them on my integra and love them!! I don't race them but on the back roads they seem to hold up fine. I'm not sure of the spring rates..thing they are pretty much the same tho.

I've got like a little over a finger gap up front and no gap in the back and shocks set on the pre setting that was on the site provided w/ the package.

 

The BCs are on my EG. They are fine on streets. But, the lean is crazy when I turn hard on the track.

 

Can someone tell me the turn around time for re-valving?


These places do revalving in CA.
Pro Parts West in Canoga Park,
CA (818-888-8904), and Performance Shock Inc.
@ Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA(800-965-5664
Call them and ask!

I think the Koni/GC setup is more affordable and can be customized compare to other coilovers.
Correct!

What spring rates do you guys use on track?[/QUOTE]

Start searching Koni GC in this forum... its been covered like uhhhh an infinite amount of times.
You'll see what everyone is running and get a general idea.
Theres a lot of discussion regarding what rates make the car feel like.....
Keep in mind its not all car specific by model. But Im sure you'll get enough out of it.

 

Your camber is backwards. I'm sure that contributed to whatever tire issues you were having (and would for sure make the car handle awkwardly). Your "leaning" problem would have to do with shocks, springs, and swaybars. Keep in mind that just because a car is leaning does not mean its handling poorly, or going slow. It is not ideal, but its also perfectly acceptable for certain classes/noobs.

 

Q aside: anybody know the springrates for KW, I know they are L/P (var3)?

Aren't KW dampers (var2 & 3) supposed to be Koni's?

 

IMO a 1 piece setup like PIC w/ an adjustable shock body would be a better track setup...gc/koni is a great combo though, especially w/ the lifetime warranty on the shocks.

 

I was under the impression KWs have progressive springs?

What are you basing your opinion on?

 

I think it varies per application. The ones I have seen have been linear with a tender spring.

 

Interesting, and good to know.

 

KW var3 for EK:

 

Stinkycheezmonky,
Yes, I know what you mean. It was at the last minute to the track, my mechanic told me that the front camber can't go beyond 1.5 ... I am able to manage this setup. just that the car leans so bad that it rubbed off the tires that I am really concern about. I turned to 11 out of 15 stiffness on the shocks and it didn't help too much.

KW v3 comes with progressive springs. If KW's springs are less than what I have, does that mean the KW setup will have the rubbing issue? That's another thing that I need input because I don't have much progressive springs knowledge. Hope pros here can help.

 

You should be able to reduce your rear camber to something more like -1* to -1.5*, even if you can't add more on the front.

Also, what is your ride height? If you're slammed, that could be a big part of the problem.

 

I have 1.25 inch of spacing between the tires and fenders on front and 1.75 inch on the rear. If you want to know the exact height, i'll need to do a measurement a few days later. I am out of town.

 

Yeah, that seems a bit low for the rates, but not to a ridiculous extent.

 

EH3

what size of tires, what size & what offset of wheels are you using?

 

My only experience with KWv3's is when I had my S2000... they were awesome and made a big improvement over the stock suspension. Rates were 515ftlbs all around but I'm sure it's different for Civics.

 

I am using 205/50/15 tire size on a 15x7 with 41 offset wheel. I think this is a typical setup.


Does anyone knows how to measure progressive springs? I mean, how do we compare to linear springs in terms of spec. For example, how can I tell a particular progressive springs set is stiffer than my 10kg/6kg linear springs set? Or better? We all know the progressive springs get stiffer when it compresses further. But, isn't there suppose to say a max. stiffness?

 

you said rubbed off you tires badly
did you mean the tires are rubbing your car fender or sth?
or you feel like you are running on sidewall?

for the progressive spring rates I guess you have to call or email KW for the information
they should able to get you a range of spring rate
for example the ITR stock rear spring rate is 140lbs - 246lbs (2.5k - 4.4K)