jonnys_honda
Senior Member
- First Name
- Jonny
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- Mar 1, 2017
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- Ossining, NY
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- 2017 Civic Type R #1288
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- #1
First Impressions - HKS Hipermax MAX IV SP
https://www.hks-power.co.jp/en/product_db/hipermax/db/20245
Firstly, thank you Keisuke Morita and the HKS USA team for the honor of having my car under their hands and being able to test out their set of coilovers!
Damper setting: 15 Front and 15 Rear (medium)
Damping force (Rebound/Damping)N*: Front 1863 / 451, Rear 530 / 196
Height setting: 1” drop
Spring Rate: 12k Front, 10k Rear
Road Conditions: I drove on varying types of pavement over the length of 380 miles from Arizona to Southern California. Smooth, rough, potholes (once in California). Also varying degrees of road surface, long smooth straights, and steep curving incline/declines.
Note: **My initial impressions are based on comparing it to the stock dampers with Eibach Pro-kit springs which are about 15% stiffer than the stock setup. Also with an Eibach rear sway bar and rear control arms.
The ride was much stiffer than I anticipated. With the added camber (-3.5 front, -2.2 rear), the car was very responsive with ANY steering input. The car was completely stable under-load and hard braking! I barely felt the weight shift at all during those times! Taking the off-ramps on the highway were a lot of fun. So with all that said, we can see the trade-off, as expected, reduced comfort. I could have softened up the dampers since there are 30 settings, and I had it set to 15. So I’m sure at the softest setting, it would be close to our “R mode”. However, for my initial test, I wanted to see how drive-able the vehicle was with the “medium setting”. After 30 minutes, I got used to the rougher ride. I would not change the setting away from 15/15.
That brings me to my next point. Adjusting the damper settings are pretty simple via an adjustable knob located on the underside of the damper. Turn clock-wise to increase stiffness.
I am anticipating how this will drive on the track! Let me know if I can address any other questions.
https://www.hks-power.co.jp/en/product_db/hipermax/db/20245
Firstly, thank you Keisuke Morita and the HKS USA team for the honor of having my car under their hands and being able to test out their set of coilovers!
Damper setting: 15 Front and 15 Rear (medium)
Damping force (Rebound/Damping)N*: Front 1863 / 451, Rear 530 / 196
Height setting: 1” drop
Spring Rate: 12k Front, 10k Rear
Road Conditions: I drove on varying types of pavement over the length of 380 miles from Arizona to Southern California. Smooth, rough, potholes (once in California). Also varying degrees of road surface, long smooth straights, and steep curving incline/declines.
Note: **My initial impressions are based on comparing it to the stock dampers with Eibach Pro-kit springs which are about 15% stiffer than the stock setup. Also with an Eibach rear sway bar and rear control arms.
The ride was much stiffer than I anticipated. With the added camber (-3.5 front, -2.2 rear), the car was very responsive with ANY steering input. The car was completely stable under-load and hard braking! I barely felt the weight shift at all during those times! Taking the off-ramps on the highway were a lot of fun. So with all that said, we can see the trade-off, as expected, reduced comfort. I could have softened up the dampers since there are 30 settings, and I had it set to 15. So I’m sure at the softest setting, it would be close to our “R mode”. However, for my initial test, I wanted to see how drive-able the vehicle was with the “medium setting”. After 30 minutes, I got used to the rougher ride. I would not change the setting away from 15/15.
That brings me to my next point. Adjusting the damper settings are pretty simple via an adjustable knob located on the underside of the damper. Turn clock-wise to increase stiffness.
I am anticipating how this will drive on the track! Let me know if I can address any other questions.