yusoslo

So I bought a gently used HKS Hyper coilover setup from this kid in japan. Worked on my car for about a year and then went out driving it. At the local auto-X the car handled very sharply but on the long sweepers it would bounce up front, almost hopping the tires the air. I drove this thing on the streets and it is sooo stiff that I fly out of my seat and hit my head onthe roof, it is also hard to keep my feet on the floor. I hit a bump and my gas and clutch foot go flying up off the floor board.

So I was mearging onto the highway yesterday and on the on ramp i got on the gas. there was a bump on the on ramp and it shot the car over 1 entire lane.

Basically this car scares the **** of out me on the road.

Anyone with HKS coilovers know which way you turn the **** to adjust the stiffness. I assume turning it counterclockwise is soft and clockwise is stiff. I am on setting 2 of 12 right now i believe. It just makes sense to me that stiffing it would be like turning a screw........righty tighty lefty loosey.

BTW the car is a fully gutted 88 FC with about 315whp. so maybe the weight reduction has screwed me a bit.???

Risky Devil

iTrader: (1)

Unless your shocks are inverted. It would counterclock wise for soft setting.
I doubt any HKS dampers are inverted design. If they are 16-30 way adjustable
don't go past the clicks.

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

Probably has too high of spring rate.. Maybe 7s and 9s.. Not fun in a lightened car.

Natey

iTrader: (19)

+1.
I used to bounce around the interstate on my JIC FLTA-2s too...I had a set of HKS drag specs on my FC and they seemed really nice, though. Not as bouncy as the JICs for sure. Maybe it's the fact that your car's so lightweight. Have you checked your alignment? Bouncing a little bit over gaps is one thing, but bouncing across multiple lanes is downright scary!


EDIT: I could have sworn that counterclockwise makes 'em more stiff, i.e. KYB AGXs. The numbers on the dial go from 1 to 10 clockwise, so if you turn the dial clockwise, you're making the dampening more soft.

sc0rp7

iTrader: (3)

I know its not a solution to your problem, but wear your seatblet and you shouldnt be hitting your head... I agree with J-Rat too...

- Chris

Bigretardhead

drive slower ? lol. damn, that sounds pretty freakin' stiff. I've got 9/7kg in my FC(and its really lightened), and it wasn't that bad on the street. you must have some crazy high spring rates for it to be bouncing like that...

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, I have 7s and 9s on my car, and they are pretty stiff, but not THAT damn stiff.

CyborgRyu

iTrader: (8)

i have springs and struts ill trade you 8-)

yusoslo

yeah it only took one time of hitting my head on the gutted roof to remember to wear my harness.

I am trying to find out if this guy changed the spring rates on this car from the factory hks ones which aparently are 8k front and rear.

Could it be that the HKS dampers are over damping the ride? I mean when I hit an expansion gap my car hops over it. Also when pulling into gas stations my tires lift off the ground...same with driveways when I take it sideways across the gap, the inner front lifts off the ground then then inner rear!

I am going to get an alignment done soon on this thing. the car is controllable in a straight line but when turning on a non smooth turn the car hits a bump and throws the front end off coarse and then it tries to snap the wheel out of my hand. Could having the car too low cause this. my tires arent even tucking. I have heard of bump steer but am not sure what it really is.

Is there something an alignment can fix as far as this whole snapping the wheel in turns??

yusoslo

I called HKS and they said they do not mark their springs so I have no way of knowing what my rate is! who hoo!

I am going to play with the settings a bit more but these are the older 12 way adjustable hks coilovers. I am also going to remove some camber from the front to see what happens.

It sucks because on the smooth track (what this car is made for) its amazing. Quick turn in. 0 body roll and very high cornering speeds. But there is no indicaton of reaching the breaking point untill you are already past it.

I might try my roomates 400 F 350 R ground controll springs just to see what happens.

If someone wants these I might consider selling them for a nice Koni/ coilover setup or a set of JIC or Silks. I dunno for sure but after 2 more weeks if I cant get it right for me I will sell em.

yusoslo

one last thing. Doin some research I found this http://www.turnfast.com/tech_handlin...ingtable.shtml


It could just be a spring rate issue as others mentioned. I do know when braking teh tires intermittenly lock up becuase the front hits a bump and the car looses contact with road. Even light breaking it will lock up.

Natey

iTrader: (19)

You probably already know about Rishie, but if you're considering a new set of coilovers, AutoRnD's a great place to get 'em. I've had nothing but good experiences there.

http://www.autornd.com/catalog/index...aa8a49d7248e34

I'm saving up for a set of Zeal B2s. From what I've read, they're the good s#it.

RXgirl7

Another thing that might be contributing to the problem is the fact that your coilovers are J-spec. The damping levels on most J-spec coilovers are set stiffer than their corresponding US coilovers due to the fact that the roads in Japan are much smoother than here. JDM spring rates also tend to be higher (but like you said, HKS has no way to tell).
Bouncing over one full lane though, is pretty scary. I have 9kg/8kg springs on my FLTA-2's and I at least manage to stay in one lane (though the ride is rough on the street). Like Natey said, you might want to check out your alignment/bump steer. Is there anything else in your suspension set up that could be contributing to the problem?

yusoslo

well the car has RB swaybars front and rear, rear camber bar, DTSS eliminators. When I bought the car it had tokikos and Ground Controlls and sat lower than the car does now.

That tends to eliminate the bump steer question since the other setup was fine. But the bump steer definition somewhat fits the bill.

Well I am going to go home and set it on the stiffest damping setting just to see what happens....who knows

It stays in its lane going straight, it is the snapping of the wheel while turning that scares me. I can deal with the straight line stuff. But why does it want to throw the car in the air under hard corning with bumps? If the shocks where bad the car would be bouncy but it isnt its just rock F'n hard.

When I jack the car up the fender gap never changes...the wheels just sit like they where when the car was on the ground. and when jacking up a car from the drivers rear tow hook should the car lift up all three tires leaving just the passenger front on the ground???

staticguitar313

iTrader: (2)

that is odd . . . are they seized? or something?

classicauto

iTrader: (3)

Thats 1/3 of your problem.

I had RB stabilizer bars fron and rear and went back to stock on the rear with pillowball mounts.

Having the RB one out back the car was WAY too stiff. Zero give. I can take corners on the track faster than I could with them in becuase now the body rolls jut enough to allow nearly full contact patch on the outside tire.

I have ground control coilovers and springs up front, eibach springs out back, RB bar up front with energy suspension bushings in the links, stock barin the back with pillow ball links.

Also, what are you running for rims? I found 17's with coilvers to be too much again. I am now on BBS style 16's (factory) with Brdigestone Potenzas

yusoslo

I am running 16's with a 225 falken azenis for my tires.
I can try to remove the sway bars but I dont see how that will effet the bumping.
The car doesnt loose traction per say. I mean I can drift it when i want to and it is rock solid but it is more like a bump in the road lifts up the car and plants it when I land where my tangential path would be traveling around the radius of the curve.

I have yet to try the really stiff setting but its worth a shot. then its time to change the spring rates.

I hope that helps

classicauto

iTrader: (3)

WTF?

You aren't sure how having a stabilizer bar nearly twice as thick as the stock one would have any effect on how the car handles bumps? But you spew allthis tangential path curve radius talk?

Anyways, as I said, the bars are only 1/3 of the problem. The spring rates are going to be the major cause of the rough ride and take off when you hit bumps. The stabilizer bars are just going to magnify that.

Its like this: You hit a bump with one wheel, although the stiff springs make it hard to push up which translates into you bashing your head off the roof, the stabilizer bar, which is also hugely stiff (wayy more than stock) is going to make the other wheel respond that much quicker and sharper....translating into the front end lifting up instead of one wheel pumping up into the wheel well an absorbing the bump.

ilike2eatricers

he speaks the truth. i have the same experience if you search about my track experiences

RXgirl7

+1 I run the RB bar up front, and the stock one in the rear. Works well for me. If you have your stock one laying around you might try putting it on to see if it helps out at all. Cheap fix!

ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

I'd like to upgrade my suspension, but all these stories keep scaring me. So I have one simple question:

Racing Beat kit (springs + sway bar) + Tokico Blues non-adjustable + polypropylene bushings. Goal: just a little stiffer than stock, no horror stories. Yay or nay?

rgordon1979

iTrader: (3)

315whp?? Did you upgrade your turbo?

I think your rates are too high. Have you had Zach ride in it to see what he thinks?

yusoslo

the 315 is a number out of my *** but I raced a 340whp integra that weighted about 300 more lbs than me so I assumed this is a good number. I dunno at 14lbs of boost it may be like 290whp. Anyways Robin it was a guesstimate and you called me out!

Yes Zach drove it and said it is quite unpredictable. Everyone that has ridden in the car has mentioned it is the roughest riding car they have ever been in. I will try switching up the sway bars. I do see where the guy was coming from with the sway bar statement as far as transmitting it to the other side of the car in a turn.

It will just take some time to swap out the springs, if the GC rates do better I will order new ones from HKS. If not, I am selling the setup. I just think this is such a weird problem to have.