I just don't understand why you would make such a big compromise on such a critical component of the car. I applaud the effort to try something new, but it's not working for you. And when you have so many people on this forum, including some professional drivers, who have praised the KW suspension...if you really want to compete, I wouldn't pinch pennies on my modifications.
It's not much of a compromise. I'd consider it a compromise if this part were something that could wear and break down in a short amount of time. But, Koni has a long standing history of making shocks that last forever and perform really well. Ground Control has a similar reputation with a coilover setup that has great durability. I'm no stranger to what other suspension products are out there, but I also don't want to spend a ton of money on a car that will never be truly competitive in anything I do with it. Besides, I've had no problem getting behind the wheel of a car with Koni/GC and beating the next guy in essentially the same exact car with shocks that alone cost 3x+ what the Koni's do. Over...and over.. again.. If the Koni/GC can be made to work, there is, IMO, no compromise made for what I'll do with this car.
I agree.
There's something not right. Your front shock has that yellow 'lip' that the threaded perch is sitting on (that is not on GraemeD's setup) and your front threaded body is a lot longer than the rears while GraemeD's are the same length.
jwmelvin's setup may have that yellow 'lip', but his threaded collar has a much larger inner diameter which appears would go over that yellow 'lip' and sits much further down on the shock body. Your (OP) threaded body has an inner diameter barely larger than the outer diameter of the shock body, like GraemeD's, but his threaded collar also sits lower on the shock.
-Can you take a picture to see where the top of the shock body is relative to the top of the threaded perch?
-Can you flip your perch upsidown to see if it sits lower on the shock body -in case there's a difference or 'lip' machined on the inside of the body.
-Can you swap the threaded bodies Front to Rear, putting the shorter threaded body on the front and the longer one on the rear?
-Can you measure the length of the shock body, from the center of the eyelid to the top of the shock, and from the top of the shock to the top of the top hat (that mounts to the shock tower)?
Due to the NSX's motion ratios, I really don't like running stiffer rear spring rates than the fronts. That being said, I don't know what's ideal for lower speed AutoX but with the same spring rates front and rear, the rear wheel rates are much higher than the fronts. There's something wrong and your car is a lot higher than it should be with that setup. I wouldn't just give up and run it as is.
Here's the KW V3 springs with Clubsport spring rates and shorter front springs that I put on: 5.5" front 457lb, 7.87" 457lb rear springs:
The pictures GraemeD posted do show inconsistencies in the Ground Control setup vs mine and what others have posted. From what I can tell, his threaded sleeve is taller, but sits lower on the shock body, than mine does. jwmelvin's has a different sleeve setup so of course it may sit and look different than what GC has.
-Can you take a picture to see where the top of the shock body is relative to the top of the threaded perch?
The top of the shock body sits flush with the threaded sleeve.
-Can you flip your perch upsidown to see if it sits lower on the shock body -in case there's a difference or 'lip' machined on the inside of the body.
This may be possible.
-Can you swap the threaded bodies Front to Rear, putting the shorter threaded body on the front and the longer one on the rear?
This may be possible as well, though not sure if the front sleeve will work well with the rear since that sleeve is much shorter. The rear height may end up being too low even at its highest point. But may be worth a shot.
-Can you measure the length of the shock body, from the center of the eyelid to the top of the shock, and from the top of the shock to the top of the top hat (that mounts to the shock tower)?
The Koni shocks measure the same dimensions as the stock shocks and are also the same dimensions on jwmelvin's. The problem does, and doesn't, lie within the Konis. I say this because the main draw back of the Koni Sports is that they use the same dimensions as OEM shocks, pretty much across the board for all cars as far as I know. So this poses a problem when lowering the car a decent amount since that was never the intention of the OEM shocks and Koni is just going off that with their Sports. Where it isn't the fault of the Koni's lies directly in Ground Controls lap. They should do extensive testing to ensure their products can do what they claim. They claim a 0-3" drop on their coilover. This isn't the case here obviously. And what you mentioned by swapping the sleeves around or flipping them upside down, that may work to lower the car more. BUT, there is still the issue of having enough travel in the suspension before riding the bump stops. If I lower the car more, I will likely be hitting the bump stops often. From driving over the weekend, hitting some bumps and overpasses, I never felt the car jolt as if it hit the bump stops. So it would seem the travel isn't an issue right as it sits. I will do the "zip tie test" to really see if I ever hit the bump stops.
As for the rates, I'm not overly concerned right now. Again, I'll have to wait until next season starts up to really know what happens. But for autox, a little loose is better. If it's too much, I can tune it down with a larger front bar and/or remove the rear bar and play with the alignment. If it's still too much, I'll drop the rear spring rates to something softer. But since no one seemingly has really tried to setup an NSX for autox before other than in stock class, I have little to nothing to go by. Road racing info helps, but doesn't translate really well into optimizing the handling for autox.
Also, if all else fails and my testing just hits a wall, I've already spoken with Fortune Auto about their coilover setup. Their located in VA not far from me. They offer full adjustable coilovers that are also easily rebuildable and use high quality springs(swift) and parts for a very good price. I'd be will to give them a chance before going to KW.
