K-sport: too good to be true???

[GerBeGurGya]

FluidGroove wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 00:30

ok well, i know mike has the k-sports and i have KW's, i will be over at mikes sometime in dec. and will try take a ride in the k-sports and let mike ride in kw's then we will give opinions

Thats sound good but lets not forget that the KW's having one setting while you could try on Mikes car a virtually endless combinations.You will try however ,whatever Mike has set it up to so unless you guys go and try other settings the comperassion will only be how Mike did set up his suspension at that time..

This is the reason we were waiting for Carlos to get them on and try several different setup.

[cs40racing]

Man you guys are making me feel bad... Perhaps I will install them this Friday...

I already worked out a deal with Gus for these but he'll take the Kw's as well, he just wants some coilovers

I think maybe I will slap them on. I'm going to trust you guys but I swear if I rip some boots you guys better send some donations to help pay for replacements!!

[tomedkaz1568908563]

Carlos wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 01:03

Man you guys are making me feel bad... Perhaps I will install them this Friday... I already worked out a deal with Gus for these but he'll take the Kw's as well, he just wants some coilovers I think maybe I will slap them on. I'm going to trust you guys but I swear if I rip some boots you guys better send some donations to help pay for replacements!!

Hahha...oh Carlos Carlos....temptation temptation temptation....

If you rip some boots I've got Timbs here!! purrrumm puuummm pppssshhhh

[cs40racing]

it's not temptation, it's commitment, it's going to be about 32F this evening and i'm going to be swapping out my rears today if I have time... Have I mentioned I don't have a garage?

I also live in the freakin wilderness, I've recently had a bad bird coming and taking a crap on my chevelle, it's happened three times already, I gotta go to Home Depot today to pick up a fake owl, I already put some antifreeze out for the bastard so hopefully he'll love the sweet taste of prestone and DIE!!!

[tomedkaz1568908563]

Carlos wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 10:45

it's not temptation, it's commitment, it's going to be about 32F this evening and i'm going to be swapping out my rears today if I have time... Have I mentioned I don't have a garage? I also live in the freakin wilderness, I've recently had a bad bird coming and taking a crap on my chevelle, it's happened three times already, I gotta go to Home Depot today to pick up a fake owl, I already put some antifreeze out for the bastard so hopefully he'll love the sweet taste of prestone and DIE!!!

Antifreze!

I dont have a garage either carlos, so welcome to the club

[robbijay]

Carlos wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 15:45

I've recently had a bad bird coming and taking a crap on my chevelle, it's happened three times already, I gotta go to Home Depot today to pick up a fake owl, I already put some antifreeze out for the bastard so hopefully he'll love the sweet taste of prestone and DIE!!!

Harsh but fair! the monkeyer won't do it again!

[cs40racing]

tomedkaz wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 10:00

Carlos wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 10:45 it's not temptation, it's commitment, it's going to be about 32F this evening and i'm going to be swapping out my rears today if I have time... Have I mentioned I don't have a garage? I also live in the freakin wilderness, I've recently had a bad bird coming and taking a crap on my chevelle, it's happened three times already, I gotta go to Home Depot today to pick up a fake owl, I already put some antifreeze out for the bastard so hopefully he'll love the sweet taste of prestone and DIE!!! Antifreze! I dont have a garage either carlos, so welcome to the club

You're probably not out working on your car when it's 35F and raining either

[tomedkaz1568908563]

Carlos wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 11:06

tomedkaz wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 10:00 Carlos wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 10:45 it's not temptation, it's commitment, it's going to be about 32F this evening and i'm going to be swapping out my rears today if I have time... Have I mentioned I don't have a garage? I also live in the freakin wilderness, I've recently had a bad bird coming and taking a crap on my chevelle, it's happened three times already, I gotta go to Home Depot today to pick up a fake owl, I already put some antifreeze out for the bastard so hopefully he'll love the sweet taste of prestone and DIE!!! Antifreze! I dont have a garage either carlos, so welcome to the club You're probably not out working on your car when it's 35F and raining either

Oh i'd never do that. ...I hate to brag but last sunday I worked on my car when it was 85 degrees out... ...

[cs40racing]

try doing it when it's 105F and the tools keep slipping out of your hands because your so drenched in sweat...

[B.G.]

hahah, these past couple of posts have been hilarious!!! Glad you deciding to try em out Los...

[mdocster1568908556]

B.G. wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 14:35

hahah, these past couple of posts have been hilarious!!! Glad you deciding to try em out Los...

+1. I'm interested to see what you think Carlos, because I'm going the coilover route pretty soon myself.

[tomedkaz1568908563]

mdocster wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 14:44

B.G. wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 14:35 hahah, these past couple of posts have been hilarious!!! Glad you deciding to try em out Los... +1. I'm interested to see what you think Carlos, because I'm going the coilover route pretty soon myself.

I think I saw you driving on Dale Mabry the other day Mike

[cs40racing]

mdocster wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 13:44

B.G. wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 14:35 hahah, these past couple of posts have been hilarious!!! Glad you deciding to try em out Los... +1. I'm interested to see what you think Carlos, because I'm going the coilover route pretty soon myself.

I can tell you right now the KW's are still the better choice for the everyday driver. It's simplicity that beats out the K-sports.

[GerBeGurGya]

Carlos wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 15:29

mdocster wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 13:44 B.G. wrote on Wed, 21 November 2007 14:35 hahah, these past couple of posts have been hilarious!!! Glad you deciding to try em out Los... +1. I'm interested to see what you think Carlos, because I'm going the coilover route pretty soon myself. I can tell you right now the KW's are still the better choice for the everyday driver. It's simplicity that beats out the K-sports.

I hear you.I had simplicity with the konis tho.Wanted something more.

[cs40racing]

Konis are a different story, when you install konis with stock springs or lowering springs you technically do not have an "optimized" system.

For all of you K-sport users I agree the K-sport system is very nice, very adjustable, very performance oriented, but it will never be as comfortable as a KW system (or a simlar system). The reason is the pillowball mounts (And I have mentioned this several times before in the past, do a search!), imagine having a solid mount where you're rubber mount used to be, imagine how much stiffer it's going to be, (alot, it's metal!), while the pillowball mount is designed to absorb some impact the rest is transferred to the chassis of the car. I just finished installing the K-sports, the rears are as I expected, easy cheesy, only took about 45 minutes to swap and adjust height.

The fronts are a different story, I used Alex's initial measurements (thanks btw Alex!) and went down about 1/4" from that. My front is still riding high, higher than my KW's were, granted the Kw's have been broken in for five years now. I adjusted the rebound of the shocks/struts to what they call standard, which is 12 clicks counter clockwise from the hardest setting. This suspension is stiff, VERY stiff. As I already knew this was going to happen I can comfortably tell anyone if you want a comfortable ride the K-sports ARE NOT FOR YOU. Most of this is because of the front pillowball mounts, every hard impact is felt double or triple because it all translates to the frame of the car. My girlfriend rode with me and she said "and I thought the KW's were stiff..."

You K-sport guys can argue with me all you want but comfort is not something I expect from the K-sports, on smooth roads it's a dream but bumpy roads are going to be a nightmare. Obviously the shocks/struts haven't worked out all the bubbles they may have (one downside from having the system come pre-assembled is you can't compress the shocks a few times to work out any air bubbles built up over shipment), not that I can't take them apart myself to work them I just didn't feel like it, the tempurature was dropping fast and still is.

Again my main gripes are all on the front suspension, the drop link for the sway bar was an afterthought, although after playing with it a bit I figured out how to adjust it where I wanted. The bracket to hold the ABS line is a joke. I might end up drilling some holes into the mounts to attach a real bracket that I will have to custom make.

Adjustment of the shock body is more work, that's what I have to do now to lower the car, to adjust it I must remove the strut from the spindle to spin the mount up. Pain the @$$. Obviously if I had a nice heated garage with a lift it wouldn't be a big deal, but if I had that I'd probably be racing the car in some kind of organized event. I'm really very curious to see how long these last. Unlike most people I push the limits of the suspension always, I drive through deep water, I drive through snow, I have been known to even go offroading.

My biggest concern is one of the damn perches coming loose on the front, there are just too many variables there for anyone to feel comfortable.

I have to do an alignment, it seems my toe is off, I think the camber is pretty even on both sides but not sure what the number is, I have to go pick up a camber tool sometime soon.

In the end I still think the KW V1 system is better, will give you better comfort and equal or better performance than the K-sports. Quality I can't tell for sure yet, give it about five years... if they last that long.

For the everyday driver the KW system wins hands down. It's not just a biased opinion it's the truth. The comfort is second to none. Any other pillowball mount based system will be rougher than the KW system which retains the OEM mounts. Adjustability has all been worked out by KW and ALKO (the company that makes the shocks/struts for the 40 series KW V1 system).

For the enthusiasts who wants to control their height, rebound, and shock travel, the K-sports are perfect, but I want to see one K-sport person going out and figuring out shock travel, rebound rates, and corner weights. I doubt anyone will. If I can find a shop to do it I'll def. go get it done.

Overall I'm happy with my purchase and am glad you guys finally pushed me to install these. I feel the adventuresome person in me is dying and sometimes get irritated by having to go make yet ANOTHER adjustment because I'm not happy with the way something works. I'll be re-adjusting the front suspension on Friday, I'll take pictures of the car tomorrow with the current ride height (looks similar to Alex's car right now, dumped in the rear and riding high up front!). In the meantime here are some pictures I took while installing today.

rear shock assemblies, feel about 4~5 pounds lighter than the KW with OEM parts assembly

Front assemblies, K-sport feels a couple of pounds lighter than the KW with OEM parts assembly

Kw fronts