Good track suspension

[VegasSpeed]

I need to look into changing my suspension after two trips to the road track. I road in another NSX while I was out there and even though I wasn't driving I swear that it was handling better on the turns than my car was. What are some of the better setups people have used in the past? I have been looking at KW Variant 2 or Variant 3 coilovers. Who has used either of these and what is the major difference between them?

 

[Honcho]

There are several threads on this, but here is the short short version. Listed in order of performance high to low.

Baller 4Life :

Moton
JRZ
OEM Type-R
Comptech Pro

Baller on a budget:

KW V3 (probably as good as above for most non-professional drivers)

Quality at a good price:

JIC SOS-spec
HKS HiperMax
Tein RA

Factory Tune:
OEM Type-S

Coilovers have more adjustability than the OEM Honda units, but you need to have them set/tuned by someone knowledgable about suspensions and handling dynamics. For fire-and-forget performance, just get the OEM Type-R. A lot of track guys use it and it works well.

 

[menfou]

On my Honda Civic Type R I had KW Variant 2 and Variant 3.
Variant 2 is not very good, to much rebound.
Variant 3 is better, but every 25000 miles you need to change the gas Cartridge.
I prefer Tein Monoflex

 

[docjohn]

I have the type r but have driven the comptech pro 1000/600 combo and the tein flex with edfc I think rates were 10kgmm/10kgmm. I like the pro setup on the street no more jaring than my r setup and has higher limits on track but I did not push it as it was someone elses car.The 10/10 combo of the tein was a little loose thus I had to adjust the rebound and my style to get it to a more neutral feel of my r susp.

 

[ChopsJazz]

I also have the Type-R set-up and love it. It is a good track/street compromise.

I agree that coilovers offer more adjust-ability, but how often are you really going to adjust it? They (coilovers) also introduce the need for corner balancing to get the correct performance from the suspension.

Is your car primarily going to be used for street or the track?

 

[stuntman]

On my Honda Civic Type R I had KW Variant 2 and Variant 3.
Variant 2 is not very good, to much rebound.
Variant 3 is better, but every 25000 miles you need to change the gas Cartridge.
I prefer Tein Monoflex

V2's are not available for the NSX.

-V2's are Rebound-adjustable ONLY (compression is set) and can be under-damped to over damped, so I don't quite agree that V2's have too much rebound damping.

-V3's are Rebound and Lowspeed Compression adjustable


Also, I'd probably put my $ on KW V3s (or Clubsports) over the Type R in terms of track performance and especially street compliance, comfort, and daily driveability.


Billy

 

[VegasSpeed]

Hey Billy, I will call you and explain how the track day went. I have some comments regarding what to change or what felt good and what felt like it needed a change.

 

[R13]

So I wanted to pose a question here that a friend of mine just asked me while I was debating OEM Type R vs. KW (etc..available coil-over/spring-shock).

If you blow a Type-R Showa damper, how easy or not is it to have it rebuilt vs. having to replace it within the U.S.

For that matter, how easy is it to do this with KW, JIC, etc?

To me, this is a pretty significant factor that seems to get overlooked, or at least not mentioned on the internet.

 

[stuntman]

So I wanted to pose a question here that a friend of mine just asked me while I was debating OEM Type R vs. KW (etc..available coil-over/spring-shock).

If you blow a Type-R Showa damper, how easy or not is it to have it rebuilt vs. having to replace it within the U.S.

For that matter, how easy is it to do this with KW, JIC, etc?

To me, this is a pretty significant factor that seems to get overlooked, or at least not mentioned on the internet.

For KW it is very easy. KW is in Sanger (central) California and can rebuild, dyno, and ship them back to you no problem.

Billy

 

[R13]

Good to know KW is easy at least.

So does anyone know about the Type-R? I see that Showa has facilities in CA and OH, but I can find no info on non-motorsport product support on the web. This is not so much for my benefit, but I think it'd be productive info (maybe a WIKI entry or something for suspension services).

 

[docjohn]

I've been avoiding the thought of a rebuild on the showas I'm sure though when the time comes I'll put out the "feeler" 911's and get the info:redface: