Let's talk coilovers

[TurboSinceBirth]

I love what you are doing! I feel the same as you, performance always comes first in all my decisions. Those coilovers are an option if I don't go with amr. Keep the pics comming. I wouldn't mind some with the wheels mounted on the front and behind to see clearances. I run a high offset and wonder how they compair to othe 3s specific coilovers.

I had looked into the AMR coilovers but decided on the Apexi's instead because of the street characteristics the EVO and STI guys were saying they had. The front 19x8.5 +27 offset wheel has some clearance between the coilover and the tire. I checked to see if I could run a wider tire than the 245/35 on there right now. I'll have to snap a pic because I thought it was roughly 1" clearance maybe less. The rear 19x9.5 +24 wheel had a huge amount of clearance. I should have no problem running a 275 or 285 tire. I may do a 255 in the front and a 285 in the rear. I want something wider than 245 all around. :( I have a set of 18x9.5 +35 FN01RCs with 275 tires I can try mounting on the car to see what clearance issues there will be. They cleared the Teins fine so I don't think there will be a problem. It's supposed to rain here all week but after that I can get it cleaned up with some pics and probably have the front lowered another 1/2 - 3/4".

I had someone else ask me about the front adapters since Phillip doesn't have them pictured on the website. The bolt holes on the EVO coilovers are bigger compared to the knuckle diameter holes on the 3S so crudely put the front adapters are basically washers with a raised section that fits into the EVO coilovers so you can run the smaller stock 3S strut bolts. Next time I change the ride height I'll take a pic of the adapters.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk184/Schuppenherz/95%20RT%20TT/P1010638.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk184/Schuppenherz/95%20RT%20TT/P1010637.jpg

You can see the difference in the size of the holes. The top one on the EVO coilover is more oval shape. The adapter converts this to a round hole so all your camber adjustments are made from the camber plate.

[wraith]

Can you just swap the top hat on the K-sport for the one on the Apex coilover so one would not have to grind the top hat holes in the VR4 tower? I would never grind those holes because you cant replace the tower.

[95gto]

Can you just swap the top hat on the K-sport for the one on the Apex coilover so one would not have to grind the top hat holes in the VR4 tower? I would never grind those holes because you cant replace the tower.

Differences in pillowball mount quality alone would probably suggest against that. The next issue would be if the stut rods had the same OD or not.

[TurboSinceBirth]

Differences in pillowball mount quality alone would probably suggest against that. The next issue would be if the stut rods had the same OD or not.

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk184/Schuppenherz/95%20RT%20TT/P1010641.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk184/Schuppenherz/Car%20parts/P1010687.jpg

I would have to measure the differences between the rods to know for sure. The pillowball mounts on the Apexi's are good quality plus I can just weld up the strut tower mount holes if I swap a 3S suspension back in so it's not a big deal to me; otherwise, I wouldn't have ovaled them in the first place.

[Blackmount]

What about just buying these? I was looking at them since my coilovers didnt come with adjustible camber.

Cusco Camber Plates from HorsepowerFreaks (http://www.horsepowerfreaks.com/partdetails/Cusco/Suspension/Camber_Plates//15734)

[anyonebutme]

ummm, you don't swap the pillowballs, just the plate...

[wraith]

I think if the Ksport plate fits the Apex coilover, then its a direct bolt on with the adaptors so that makes it more attractive to me. My feeling would be if the slots match then it will work fine, but I dont want to buy the setup and find out I am stuck modifying or selling it off,

[anyonebutme]

I think if the Ksport plate fits the Apex coilover, then its a direct bolt on with the adaptors so that makes it more attractive to me. My feeling would be if the slots match then it will work fine, but I dont want to buy the setup and find out I am stuck modifying or selling it off,

In all reality, if it means that much to you, this is probably not the modification for you.

[wraith]

In all reality, if it means that much to you, this is probably not the modification for you.

You may be right, having owned this car since 1997, I have a different way of looking at aftermarket parts. Theres always something thats just not made right and it ends up joining the aftermarket junk pile in my garage. Even the Ksports with their strut studs being too long never showed themselves as an issue until I hit one big pothole on the way to work. I actually like to spend my money on a quality part that fits right, has a provision for the ABS lines, does not change alignment at will, and does not corrode in one season. In fact, the KW coilovers seem to be very popular with the BMW crowd and those are less then $2000 for our car. I was looking for a solution in that range that was more of a street compromise. I found cars that are too stiff on the street actually handle worse then a stock car, and I heard these might be the right setup for a mainly/only street driven car. The other thing I noticed is that the adjustment collars get frozen on the car or loosen up on their own. However, seeing the crazy offsets some people think fits perfectly on aftermarket wheels, maybe I ama little picky about stuff.

[Blackmount]

quickly reading FTL. I thought u guys were talking about swapping plates. Lol. My bad. TEIN does made to order pillowball mounts tho

[2fnloud]

You may be right, having owned this car since 1997, I have a different way of looking at aftermarket parts. Theres always something thats just not made right and it ends up joining the aftermarket junk pile in my garage. Even the Ksports with their strut studs being too long never showed themselves as an issue until I hit one big pothole on the way to work. I actually like to spend my money on a quality part that fits right, has a provision for the ABS lines, does not change alignment at will, and does not corrode in one season. In fact, the KW coilovers seem to be very popular with the BMW crowd and those are less then $2000 for our car. I was looking for a solution in that range that was more of a street compromise. I found cars that are too stiff on the street actually handle worse then a stock car, and I heard these might be the right setup for a mainly/only street driven car. The other thing I noticed is that the adjustment collars get frozen on the car or loosen up on their own. However, seeing the crazy offsets some people think fits perfectly on aftermarket wheels, maybe I ama little picky about stuff.


Your best bet would be part of the think tank if AMR is ever contacted about a coilover for the 3s platform.

[mb7050]

http://www.hotbits.org/images/homepic.jpg


HOT BITS SPORTS SUSPENSIONS - Engineered To Be The Best (http://www.hotbits.org/catalogues-detail.aspx?makeid=23&kitsid=261)

any opinions on these?

[J. Fast]

For evo... Te DT2

http://hotbitsclub.blogspot.com/2009/07/performance-parts-for-lancer-ex.html

They also have a remote canister style Rally style for 3 grand.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JbRG7gdGCpE/SllrpZ3rmeI/AAAAAAAAAO0/n0Wd2Sn61Jw/s1600-h/lancergt007.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JbRG7gdGCpE/SlltZOhOd0I/AAAAAAAAAO8/SlQiNjy43JU/s1600-h/lancergt018.jpg

[mb7050]

I had looked into the AMR coilovers but decided on the Apexi's instead because of the street characteristics the EVO and STI guys were saying they had. The front 19x8.5 +27 offset wheel has some clearance between the coilover and the tire. I checked to see if I could run a wider tire than the 245/35 on there right now. I'll have to snap a pic because I thought it was roughly 1" clearance maybe less. The rear 19x9.5 +24 wheel had a huge amount of clearance. I should have no problem running a 275 or 285 tire. I may do a 255 in the front and a 285 in the rear. I want something wider than 245 all around. :( I have a set of 18x9.5 +35 FN01RCs with 275 tires I can try mounting on the car to see what clearance issues there will be. They cleared the Teins fine so I don't think there will be a problem. It's supposed to rain here all week but after that I can get it cleaned up with some pics and probably have the front lowered another 1/2 - 3/4".

I had someone else ask me about the front adapters since Phillip doesn't have them pictured on the website. The bolt holes on the EVO coilovers are bigger compared to the knuckle diameter holes on the 3S so crudely put the front adapters are basically washers with a raised section that fits into the EVO coilovers so you can run the smaller stock 3S strut bolts. Next time I change the ride height I'll take a pic of the adapters.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk184/Schuppenherz/95%20RT%20TT/P1010638.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk184/Schuppenherz/95%20RT%20TT/P1010637.jpg

You can see the difference in the size of the holes. The top one on the EVO coilover is more oval shape. The adapter converts this to a round hole so all your camber adjustments are made from the camber plate.

How do they feel ?

[TurboSinceBirth]

How do they feel ?

I posted on the other forum also but I'll reply here too. Right now I only have about 40 miles on them because my tb needs rebuilt among a slew of other leaks I'm tracking down so I haven't been driving the car due to changing my oil twice now because it was getting diluted by fuel because of said issues. The parts are on order so once I get everything taken care of I'll be able to play with the adjustments more.

Anything under half stiffness seems to be too little of dampening when I encounter bumps because the car rebounds more than it should mostly in the rear. 12/20 in the rear and 15/20 in the front made for a good ride that was only a little bouncy. Like any other coilover there isn't a huge range of adjustability because you need a certain amount of compression and rebound. With how little I've driven on the coilovers I'm pleased with my purchase. Once I get some more time to mess with them I will post up my results. I have two cars to completely take apart also so this isn't the only thing I'm working on.

[95gto]

ummm, you don't swap the pillowballs, just the plate...

This.....................provided the geometry on the pillow ball is the same. I have gone through two sets of Ksport pillowballs now watching them adjust the design along the way.

[mb7050]

anyone know the physical dimensions of those bilsteins ?I would really like to know how they would compare to bilstein inserts/oem struts..


saving some info for future use...

the front units F4-VM3-5145-M3:

compressed length (20C°) compression bumper compressed (5000N): 320mm +/- 3 mm
compressed length (20C°) compression bumper contact: 346mm +/- 3 mm
extended length: 417mm +/- 3 mm
body length: 502,5 mm

Bilstein R36-5022-H0 inserts

Extended Length 480mm
Collapsed Length 380mm


OEM

Extended Length 485mm (19.1")
Collapsed Length 335mm (13.2")