Est. 2003
by Zach Lum (www.importsuci.org), October 7th 2007
This article will be written in a two day segment, pre and post track day.
My expectation is to have a coilover that will perform. I am not interested in comfort nor ride quality, however I will address each characteristic as objectively as possible.
Pre-Track Let me first say that my car isn't setup for drifting. I am making an attempt to prep the car for SCCA ITS. A friend of mine mentioned to me about these new coilovers. I was skeptical, and still am as of right now, however the price and the fact that a wholesale dealer who mostly deals with quality brand name products, ASpecProducts, was promoting and selling the brand. It piqued my interest, and since my JIC FLT-A2's 12k/10k were blown and I needed a set before this Sunday, I'd figure I would try something new.
The install was not a bolt on affair. I never expect them to be, just a word of advice, don't trust the preload settings and lower perch height adjustment. The coilovers felt a bit heavy, the threads required WD40 for resonation reduction while turning the perch. Let me state: I would never droop a spring. That being said, I achieved my target height with my set preload. The rears can be slammed. The fronts, not so much. I left about 1/8in gap between the lower perch and spring mount. That being said, the front is slammable with shorter and/or harder springs. One thing noticed is the allen bolts on the camber plates stuck out a little bit, so that I had to move them in. Oh, those aren't tight either, so make sure you tighten them.
During the alignment, I didn't require much dialing, one because the rear magically came out to some numbers that I was content with utilizing as a base. Thank God!! The fronts, required little camber adjustment since I was running eccentric bolts, and front toe took the longest, because my steering wheel was a little bit off, d'oh! All in all, the car drives good enough for now. The ride is significantly smoother than my car with Zeal Super Function As. I can hardly feel the bumps. And my seat has no cushion; straight fiberglass. Tomorrow is the track. I'll be sure to take pictures.
Post-Track
The drive up to Buttonwillow was very smooth. I don't think I can stress this enough: The ride quality is quite amazing. I had a full sized jack, 4 stands, 3 toolboxes of tools and other equipment, a camber gauge and toe plates, and a spare and none of it really danced around. Also, sitting on the hard non-cushioned seat was comfortable during the 3 hour drive.
On track, I was impressed with the way the suspension handled. The transitions were very smooth and I didn't feel a lot of body roll. However, I did feel the dampening wasn't aggressive enough, but on the other side, it was easy to correct mistakes (which I did make). Fast steady state turns and sweepers were felt very good, however tighter turns and low speed decreasing radii had a bit of keeping up to do. This may be due to the fact I had to increase dampening to the front since the tires were rubbing against the chassis seam going over berms at 100mph. Rear sway bar will help with the rotation.
Overall, I'd endorse these coilovers if you consider the amount of money they cost. Obviously higher end coilovers will cost more, and in return you get a higher spring rate and better valving, but I would have to say these coils are a good deal. For the typical consumer who will daily drive the car and track on weekends, I'd recommend them whole-heartedly. For the racecar, I'd say you can run them, but you will be making adjustments on the suspension to make up for what it's lacking in damper valving. I still have yet to get spherical bearings (just running urethane) and a bigger rear sway (only stock), so please take this into consideration. Again, for the typical consumer, I'd say these are quite a deal.
Summary (out of 10 points)
| KBee Coilovers | Out of 20 Points |
| Ride Quality (dampening over bumps) | 19.4 |
| Handling | Out of 10 Points |
| Decreasing Radius | 6.7 |
| Fast Kinks | 8.1 |
| Steady State Fast | 8.8 |
| Steady State Medium | 8.2 |
| Tight Turns | 6.9 |
| Chicane | 5.4 (berms) |
| Total | 7.94/10 |
Just a comparison to some of the other coilovers I have used.
| Apex'i N1 type Pro | Out of 20 Points |
| Ride Quality (dampening over bumps) | 17.4 |
| Handling | Out of 10 Points |
| Decreasing Radius | 7.7 |
| Fast Kinks | 8.4 |
| Steady State Fast | 8.2 |
| Steady State Medium | 8.3 |
| Tight Turns | 7.9 |
| Chicane | 8.5 (berms) |
| Total | 8.3/10 |
| Zeal Super Function A | Out of 20 Points |
| Ride Quality (dampening over bumps) | 15.4 |
| Handling | Out of 10 Points |
| Decreasing Radius | 8.8 |
| Fast Kinks | 9.1 |
| Steady State Fast | 8.4 |
| Steady State Medium | 8.9 |
| Tight Turns | 9.2 |
| Chicane | 8.8 (berms) |
| Total | 8.7/10 |
