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ZK
01-12-2006, 09:38 PM
My official 1st mod for my car...

http://users.cwnet.com/ryoohki/coilovers.jpg

Look familiar? :)
http://www.norcalmotorsports.org/users/bryan/mods/EVO/APEXIS/apexi01.jpg

byt
01-12-2006, 09:43 PM
Nice! I'm hoping for a set soon as well. :D

Would you mind sharing where you got em from?

earlyapex
01-12-2006, 09:46 PM
Just remember mine are better because they have candy apple springs! :oops: :lol: :oops: :lol: :shock:

evo_dadi
01-12-2006, 10:06 PM
and you said you like your evo stock :wink: :lol:

Matz
01-12-2006, 10:17 PM
no BOV?

:lol: j/k man... nice looking coilovers!

ZK
01-12-2006, 10:19 PM
Nice! I'm hoping for a set soon as well. :D

Would you mind sharing where you got em from?

I got them on Ebay actually. There's a vendor there that takes "Best Offer". So I made an offer that was below his selling price and he took it. Awesome deal.

I am pretty surprised by the quality of these coilovers. There's some small cosmetic flaws like the paint on the front strut is uneven but overall very beefy and solid construction. Compared to my Tein Type Flex from my previous car, the build quality are on par with those.

The real test will be driving on it.

ZK
01-12-2006, 10:24 PM
and you said you like your evo stock :wink: :lol:

Yeah Marcel, I guess I'm going to be running ST-U in Solo2 from now on. I guess I need to change my signature now. :lol:

evo_dadi
01-12-2006, 10:31 PM
lol nice tho,i was thinking on getting those but too bad i didnt encounter the guy you bought that from :(

Evo8andahalf
01-12-2006, 11:09 PM
nice! im hoping to get the same ones soon..

earlyapex
01-13-2006, 12:46 AM
I am pretty surprised by the quality of these coilovers.

That's what I keep telling everyone. I actually think they are built better than flexes.

btw, just so you know, set them up softer than you think you should. Once past even 10 they start getting purty stiff, after 18 they feel like they are under sprung.

Just because they have 32 way adjustment doesn't mean they are all usable. I actually haven't even put them on full stiff.

ZK
01-13-2006, 10:58 AM
Just because they have 32 way adjustment doesn't mean they are all usable. I actually haven't even put them on full stiff.

Good info to know.

When installing coilovers is it better to remove the inner trunk liner or cut slits in it to be able to reach the top dampening adjusters?

wilson1
01-13-2006, 11:11 AM
and you said you like your evo stock :wink: :lol:

:lol:
Welcome to the Mod Club!!!!! 8)

MarkSAE
01-13-2006, 11:11 AM
I cut open my trunk liner to access the rear adjustments.

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album242/DSC05394.sized.jpg

ZK
01-13-2006, 11:41 AM
I cut open my trunk liner to access the rear adjustments.


Mark, that looks really clean... I don't know if I can trust myself to make a hole that clean. haha

earlyapex
01-13-2006, 11:42 AM
I just took mine out. It's the trunk, nobody sees it.

MarkSAE
01-13-2006, 12:48 PM
Mark, that looks really clean... I don't know if I can trust myself to make a hole that clean. haha

Thanks. The trunk liner material is kinda hard to cut since it breaks when you bend it to far. I used my dremel sanding wheel and tin snips to do my cutting. It's really messy and time consuming.

ZK
01-15-2006, 09:06 PM
Ok, I took the afternoon today (beautiful day .. kinda wished I'd went driving!) to install my suspension. Took me a good 3 hours to do... I'd never worked on Evo suspension before but now that I know how it works, I can probably do it in 1.5 hours if I had to do it again. Out of the box the suspension presets are pretty good. I just took a couple of minutes to tighten the perches and fine adjust the preload. But pretty much out of the box they are ready to install. :) So here are some impressions.

Default ride height:

At the setting it comes out of the box, it doesn't lower the car very much. About 1.5 inch in front and 1 inch in the rear. Looks like a handsome ride height with the stock wheels. Leaves about 2 finger fender gap on all 4 corners. If you have aftermarket wheels, you would want to go lower as to most common non-car people the car doesn't even look lowered. I am debating to set it lower or just reset the height later when I get wheels. I'm not a big fan of the "slammed with stock wheels" look.

Ride quality:

I set the suspension to the middle setting. 16 clicks from the softest setting. According to the instructions this is the highest recommended "street" setting. So I am at 17 on this scale. They are rated like this:

1-8: Suggested for track use.
9-16: Suggested for mountain/aggressive use.
17-32: Suggested for common street use.

Driving around my neighborhood ride quality is very good. The stock suspension always felt rather harsh on small to mid size bumps and soft on big bumps. This is the opposite. The small and mid size bumps are absorbed and feels more controlled/less unsettling than the stock. The large bumps are more harsh than the stock suspension. Overall feels more comfortable than the stock suspension as most of the time you are not hitting large bumps and potholes. Some would say the car is easier to control as it isn't unsettled by these bumps. Also, the spring rates are nearly 2x the stock rates while still retaining stock ride at a lowered stance.

Road noise is increased. This is expected with any aftermarket suspension so not really anything unexpected. After all you are replacing rubber mounts and steel with pillowball mounts and aluminum. Just adjust the radio a couple of clicks higher. When installing I noticed that these are roughly 1/2 the weight of the stock suspension which is a good thing.

I'll take some pics tomorrow with the default ride height setting so you can see how they are set from the factory.

I need to get an alignment too as the front looks like it has over 2 degrees of negative camber and the car pulls to one side.

Again, I am very impressed with this low cost coilover.

MarkSAE
01-15-2006, 09:59 PM
How bad does your car pull to one side? Did you make sure both eccentric strut-to-hub bolts are pointed in the same direction?

ZK
01-15-2006, 10:02 PM
How bad does your car pull to one side? Did you make sure both eccentric strut-to-hub bolts are pointed in the same direction?

It pulls to my right side... Eccentric strut-to-hub bolts? Which are those? And what do you mean "same way"?

leif
01-15-2006, 10:15 PM
How bad does your car pull to one side? Did you make sure both eccentric strut-to-hub bolts are pointed in the same direction?

It pulls to my right side... Eccentric strut-to-hub bolts? Which are those? And what do you mean "same way"?

the eccentric bolt is the top one that on the bottom part of the coilover. there's a white arrow on it, you want it pointed inside (toward the car). this will allow for more camber.

i assume mark means are both of those two bolts on the bottom going the same direction..ie you want the nut to be closer to the front of the car, and you want the bolt to be facing towards the back.

MarkSAE
01-15-2006, 10:17 PM
It pulls to my right side... Eccentric strut-to-hub bolts? Which are those? And what do you mean "same way"?

Of the two lower strut mount bolts, the upper one is eccentric. There are two settings. One is for more camber, and one is for less. There's an arrow on the bolt head. Make sure both are either facing in or out. Facing out is for more camber.

ZK
01-15-2006, 10:19 PM
the eccentric bolt is the top one that on the bottom part of the coilover. there's a white arrow on it, you want it pointed inside (toward the car). this will allow for more camber.

i assume mark means are both of those two bolts on the bottom going the same direction..ie you want the nut to be closer to the front of the car, and you want the bolt to be facing towards the back.

Hmm. I remember those bolts, is this really critical for them to be facing the same way? I don't remember seeing an arrow on it... which direction do you mean when you say "pointing" to the rear? When reinstalling it I didn't pay much attention to which way the bolts were facing.

MarkSAE
01-15-2006, 10:25 PM
Here's some visual clarification:

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album209/cambersettting.jpg

ZK
01-15-2006, 10:37 PM
Awesome, thanks Mark, I'll check it tomorrow morning.

MarkSAE
01-15-2006, 10:44 PM
Sure. Not a prob. I'd definitely make sure both sides are matching before you take it in for an alignment. Otherwise, the settings on your camber plates will be really funny looking.. heheh..

ZK
01-16-2006, 01:12 PM
Ok, took the front wheels off and checked, both bolts were facing the same way, outward in the "more camber" setting. I took it off and switched it around to the less camber setting and it looks more normal now.

Here are the pics with the default setting ride height. As you can see the car doesn't really look very lowered. I think I will set it lower before I get my alignment.

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/3844/megandefault16tt.jpg
http://img459.imageshack.us/img459/2370/megandefault22cw.jpg

wilson1
01-16-2006, 03:17 PM
Looking good!
Maybe lowering just abit more would even be better.

ZK
01-17-2006, 09:59 AM
I did 2+ hours of highway driving yesterday with it and it feels more rough than the stock suspension at highway speeds. You can feel the little imperfections on the road. The stock suspension felt very forgiving on these bumps but with these it's stiff and a little on the bouncy side. Maybe I need to adjust the dampening adjustment or maybe it's just a characteristic of these coilovers and their higher spring rates. Also road noise is high - not unexpected. If you have an aftermarket exhaust you probably won't hear it but with my radio off and driving, you can definitely hear road noise.

Maybe I'm nit picking... this isn't a luxury car! :p

earlyapex
01-17-2006, 12:10 PM
The stock suspension felt very forgiving on these bumps but with these it's stiff and a little on the bouncy side.

You have them set too stiff at 17. Remember when I said to run them softer than you think on the street?

Try something like 8 or 9 on the street. They start feeling a little undersprung around 15+

ZK
01-17-2006, 12:39 PM
You have them set too stiff at 17. Remember when I said to run them softer than you think on the street?

Try something like 8 or 9 on the street. They start feeling a little undersprung around 15+

I'll try the softer setting. Yeah, at that setting on the highway it felt like I could feel a lot of the road imperfections. I set it at the middle to see as that was what they suggested as the max "normal driving" setting. Now I can see your point when you said how the stiffest setting is unusable.

wilson1
01-17-2006, 02:24 PM
How difficult is it to adjust the damping?

earlyapex
01-17-2006, 02:27 PM
How difficult is it to adjust the damping?

You turn a knob with your hands. 10secs max.

vtluu
01-17-2006, 02:30 PM
You turn a knob with your hands. 10secs max.
On inverted shocks (like the Ohlins fronts) the adjuster is at the bottom of the strut. I've gotten pretty good at reaching under the car and getting to the adjuster by feel without accidentally touching, say, the brake calipers. :lol:

ZK
02-13-2006, 10:36 AM
After resetting the ride height, driving on the suspension a while (about 1000 miles), did 1 autocross event this stuff is pretty good!

At autocross the suspension is not super stiff, allows for some body roll so you can shift the weight correctly, also the lower ride height allows for you to see the cones better so you can cut closer without hitting them. Definitely gives you more confidence as you can feel the car better, the lower center of gravity and increased stiffness is a good thing. The rear spring rate is a little low to really rotate the car. I tried to compensate by cranking up the rear stiffness on the damper but it only partially helps. I have a rear sway bar coming in so that will help.

Street driving, I backed off the stiffness to a 7F/9R setting. On local roads it is perfect, very stable, comfortable and good road feel. On the highway it takes small and medium bumps good but on the big bumps it is very noticable. I tried softer settings on the damper but it makes the car feel floaty on the highway. So I set it higher and it is a good compromise between comfort and feeling the road. Then again, I feel the difference because I am the driver. I've had passengers in my car and to them it feels like stock.

For $900, this stuff is worth every penny - Tein Flex level suspension at bargain pricing. Next, we'll see how it does at Thunderhill...

ZK
02-13-2006, 10:40 AM
I went for a drive this Saturday and it feels just right on the mountain roads. It soaks uneven pavement unlike harsh racing suspension and more stiff and responsive than stock suspension. Awesome driving roads and some great scenery. :) 4+ hours of driving and some quaint little towns.

Oh yeah, I washed, clayed and waxed the car before I went driving. :P

http://www.rspec.org/images/evo/img_0971.jpg
http://www.rspec.org/images/evo/img_0982.jpg
http://www.rspec.org/images/evo/img_0983.jpg
http://www.rspec.org/images/evo/img_0984.jpg

wilson1
02-13-2006, 12:47 PM
beautiful roads!
http://www.rspec.org/images/evo/img_0984.jpg

leaveit2bevo
02-13-2006, 08:00 PM
where is that road? I miss having all the malibu canyons close by

Eclipse
02-13-2006, 08:01 PM
Looks like HWY 1 near Tomales Bay.

mynameizstitch
02-13-2006, 08:57 PM
beautiful roads!
http://www.rspec.org/images/evo/img_0984.jpg

Thats one beautiful road!! I'll have to drive there sometime!!!

mynameizstitch
02-13-2006, 09:02 PM
http://www.rspec.org/images/evo/img_0971.jpg


Great drop on the ride man!! what's the spring rates on those?

ZK
02-13-2006, 09:44 PM
Great drop on the ride man!! what's the spring rates on those?

It is 8K in front and 6K in the rear. Pretty conservative set up.

missred
02-13-2006, 10:10 PM
Sweet pics bro