I have trieed jacking the car up, because the Mazdaspeed bumper is so much lower. (only gained about an inch.)

Decided to swap the front bumper to stock before winter instead. Works well for me.

If you do decide to change the ride height keep in mind that allignment will be needed because changing the height affects camber.

 

are you sure? They list the drop from .8-2" ??

Actually I doubt i'd go lower then stock right now even if winter wasn't a problem because I already have to drive up on boards in order to get a florrjack under my car because of the MS sideskirts.

 

I know EXACTLY what you mean!!! I have to do the same thing to get a jack under my car, and the jack is to raise it up even higher so that I can get the lift arms under it. Anyway, I'd love to have coilovers but I have to make damn sure that it doesn't lower my car any because with the MS kit I already have trouble with driveways and speedbumps around here.

 

get yourselfs a racking jack from pepboys/autozone 3.25''-17'' for mine eliminates the floor jack issue.

Have the alignment shop put a mark on the camber bolts for 2 different ride height so you can set it if you raise it for the winter drop it for the summer, your alignment will be fucked after 6 months anyway.

 

ill second that on the racing jack mark, mine (same as yours) fits perfectly underneath..

jackson ill bring the jack with me to the dragon so you can see if ya like.

 

Quick noob question. I've only installed one set of coilovers before, some Teins on my friend's eclipse. All we had to do was remove the entire assembly, including mounts, and replace it with the tein unit. Is the setup as easy or do we reuse the stock mounts?

 

Stockers are re-used. Therefore you will need to have a spring compressor handy; an impact gun makes the process significantly easier aswell.

Then again, you could just buy new OEM top hats and bushings, install them on the KW's then no disassembly of the stock coilover is needed.

 

Its not very cost effective to re-buy the stock top-mounts they are 150 or so per pair I think... you should contact SpeedSource if you want spherical bearing top mounts instead of rubber, they install the bearing into the stock steal mounts and replace the rubber, and are about 225 per pair.

 

That's disappointing. I was hoping for the price that they'd be better than Teins in every way. So if I get these I'll have to get them installed because I don't have the tools nor the know how. hmm...

 

^^ you actually don't need to worry about a compressor if you have done spring installs before. The pre-load isn't that high

 

I seriously am thinking of a set of these, but I seriously do not want to have to pay someone to install them. I'm assuming the tricky part about replacing the mount is that you don't want the spring to pop up into your eye. Now I'm sure you're right that putting the mount on the coilover won't require that much force, but what about taking it off the stock assembly?

Also Polak, did anything happen with that remote adjuster you were tinkering with a few pages back?

 

Dannobre is correct about putting the top mount on to the coilover, but removing it from the stock assembly will definitely require a spring compressor. I know this from when Mark (Polak) and I went about installing his KW's. We had to crank down on the spring compressor pretty hard with an impact gun to release the preload on the spring.

 

Here's a shot of mine.

 

Are these available with pillow ball mounts? I'm going to try to purchase an RX8 today, if I do, I might be on board for these

 

Finally got mine in today, took almost 2 months, look great. Just wanted to forewarn anyone that it will take a while to get them.

 

What ended up being the issue with delivery, was it a mistake on their side or just simply noting in stock for the rx-8 even in Germany?

 

Sounds like they were just dragging *** and hadn't even put in the order to build them till about 2 weeks ago.

 

Hey PoLaK, how much would shipping be to Canada R3P1T2?

Thanks

 

Shipping is the same price to international destinations.

 

It's worth the wait. I wish I saved that much money. But at least I was the first to get them in the States!

 

how would these compare to Top Secret Coilovers?

 

Top Secret have their coilovers made by Aragosta, they'd likely be better but MUCH MUCH more expensive - you could probably get Quantum or Penske's made up for the price (which could be easier to get serviced depending on your location Penske in USA, Quantum in UK). I found it hard getting any useful info out of TS, they just regurgitate what is already on the site - despite detailed questions.

I'd love a set of these KWs, but.. no supra fitment, and I want to adjust ride height without changing spring pre-load/shock travel (it doesn't look like these can do that)

 

Does anyone in California have these installed? I'm thinking about them but I'd really like to see them in person first.

 

I'm just debating if they are too stiff for the roads here.

Basically the foundation of our entire city is clay, so LOTS of movement = there is no such thing as a smooth road here. Combined with -50F winters and +100F summers and when snow/ice melts then refreezes because of the late winter/early spring variations around melting/freezing point = roads are damaged to ****.

My cousin has an S2000 with Buddy clubs which are 10kg/10kg not a horrible ride, it's tolerable. Much better than the Ksports on my sentra which were 8kg/7kg, that was unbearable, and the rear lost contact with the ground too much. My friend has an EG civic with 12kg/10kg that's pretty stiff.

Hmm...

Do they also come preset from the factory to what they think is the best for the car?

 

spring rates aren't the only factor you should be looking at, you can have two identically sprung coilovers, but if one set was a ton cheaper you can bet the money is on it having much shittier valving and will be a lot less comfortable to ride on.

New Orleans is also built entirely on clay (and water) and the roads are well horrendous, but I'm just going to raise the ride height up a bit for the high driveways/crubs and I think i'll be just fine.

And yes its what they think is the best balanced combination for the car, but they do not specify what ride height they tuned for nor if they are accounting for any other modifications (i.e. sway bars), that said i still use their recommendations for a baseline on autocross days.