Anyone in Bay Area with hks hypermax coilovers?

Jhill

As the title says anyone have these that would be willing to give me a test ride? They are on my short list of options and pretty much leaning between hks or rsr but would like to actually get a feel of how firm the 10k/9k setup from hks is. Would like to try the rsr as well but they seem super rare.

OptionZero

HKS Hipermax III = made in japan

HKS hipermax iv = rebadged stuff from china/taiwan

from what i've read
and the price difference

Hope you're looking at some III's

Jhill

Well I was looking at the 4 as that's what's available now. Where did you see it's no longer Japan made?

OptionZero

1) price
2) other posts and listings

maybe a vendor can correct me if that is not accurate

Jhill

Well even if not made in Japan it doesn't look like a rebandge of the other options available and from the few reviews ground it doesn't sound like it either.

derraj06

the 4's ride better than oem sport suspension. However for track or really aggressive mountain/canyon running they were not my favorite. I ended up going to JRZ from them to get a better track oriented setup (HKS vs. JRZ isn't a fair comparison so don't read into that)

The one thing i didn't like is even running the HKS on the stiffest setting the car was very bouncy on bad roads. Ended up beating my exhaust on the ground quite a bit.

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Jhill

Cool, thanks for the input. That's both promising and not promising at the same time lol. But would you say it can feel like the oem? You say rides better than oem, can you explain that? Better as in smoother or better as in even firmer sportier? My end goal is same as it is or very very near for street use and then firm it for track. Luckily the track nearest me is pretty smooth so shouldn't be bouncy with a firm setup.

I'm also warming up to the idea of kw v3 a little more even though I wasn't really impressed on my friends 335i and just don't think I'm a fan of progressive springs.

I'm still stuck between kw, rsr, hks and now after reading some surprisingly good reviews of the tein flex z they are also in. Hard part is I can only find test on brz/frs so it's not apples to apples.

It does seem most of the coil over options do increase the springs rates however the rsr do not (yet they do on the frs which confuses me more, like did they not do their research). Kw runs a little firmer front but actually a softer rear. It's odd on other cars it's seems they are all much closer to each other but on the z they are all over the place which makes it hard to get any idea of how it will ride.

OptionZero

kw v3 does not come with pillowball mounts which is why i ruled them out

Jhill

I don't think any of the ones I am looking at are pillowball. I think the pillowball is not recommended for a street setup because of nvh? Also isn't pillowball really only needed for McPherson coilovers with camber plates?

OptionZero

sorry, i thought you were getting coils for your Z, not a volvo.

I'm running aragostas with pillow ball upper mounts, plus SPL adjustable arms and tie rod ends with spherical joints everywhere. It's perfectly streetable, car feels a shitload more responsive

same thing on my s14. Custom koni/ground control/vorschlag/eibach coilovers with SPL everything. Felt like a damn gokart. Wasn't until i went to solid subframe mounts that it got real noisy.

unless you have a long commute in the Z and low tolerance for . . . any nvh, i dont know why you wouldn't go all the way. I see you asking about track stuff then i hear you're concerned about "nvh", and i'm wondering what the hell you're doing with the car

kenchan

lol

yah, ive run pillow ball mounts on my previous hobby cars and it was fine for street. if u want a quietish ride just keep the car stock.

Jhill

I wouldn't go all the way because it's a 99% street driven car and 1% track and I don't feel like putting up with nvh 99% of the time for that 1% when it will actually be useful. Also I'm not in my 20's, it's my daily driver and the roads in the Bay Area suck. It's also not impressive if your trying to go out on a date and have to shout at each other to hear over the squeaks, creeks and groans and your car sounds like a beat up jolopy.

Is that fair enough for you?

I'm seeking something that can retain street manners but be turned up for the 1% times, granted it won't be turned up to 11 but if it can reach 5 or 6 coming from oem at 2 or 3 I'm ok with that.

OptionZero

i lived in the bay. drove my low as hell s14 everywhere. Just gotta anticipate problems and not be well, totally sensitive to every freakin noise or jostle

now i have the Z and a separate daily driver, even better solution

pillow ball uppers really freakin nothing

if ur so scared just sit in another Z with them and see if they mess you up

like the poster above said, if ur gonna modify your car you can't whine about compromises

Jhill

That's what I was trying to do here is find a ride. I am willing to compromise, I am willing to compromise pure track performance for better street performance, not sure why that's hard to understand. Otherwise we should all just go one seat, full roll cage, fuel cell, 12k $ coil overs, front lip spoiler .5 inch off the ground or nothing else and quit being a pussy right bro?

There is a balance that can be had, I am trying to find the balance for myself for the car I have to drive and deal with daily. So while you think I'm just being soft don't worry someone else is thinking the same of you get it? Not everyone has the same limits they are willing to deal with.

OptionZero

do whatever you want bro, your car

not being able to handle pillowball upper mounts on a Z is still . . . laughable