Anybody have any opinions on K-sport coilovers for primary track and weekend street use? I just saw them on BSH's website and thought to myself, they look simmilar but, are they JUNK or are they worth a DAMN? I know that rarely a far eastern company gets a knockoff right and offers them for half price. Could this be one of those rare instances?

 

I cant find much information on the K-sports outside of being a similar design to the Cross's that I realy want, and having over 30 adjustment points.

 

I have the KSports, they are good for track, stable too. One thing though, sometimes a bit bouncy on the bumpy roads, and you will need wheel spacers if you don't have a good offset on your rims. Example, I had the 17" S-Lites, you would need about 8mm spacers to keep from rubbing. This is for the front coils i mean. But I got some aftermarket rims and they are like a hairline away from rubbing. They are worth it in my opinion, you have camber plates in the front too so its easy to adjust and prevents shrooming i hear.

I would say go for it, I got my set for about 950 off ebay.

 

If they are primarily for track, look elsewhere. You want something that is easily rebuildable, easy to clear wide wheels and have a good dealer network. For just street driving, sure, but there are better options in either case. I run the JIC/CROSS coilovers but for anything more than a few trackdays, I would rather run something with Koni shocks, hyperco springs and some solid, adjustable camber plates.

 

ive had the cross for the last year or so on my S but ive just put the D2 on the cooper which are the same as the new K-Sport so i will report back soon

 

If you want the best options for coilovers you really need to talk to the guys at TSW. They have put together the best options available and they have done extensive testing of all.

Don't waste your money on inferior products.

 

the new k sports and D2 are good bang for buck, you dont need to splurge money on coils if your not tracking the car imo

i cant wait to get mine set up on the cooper, as they do have a lot to live up to next to my old cross that were on the S but i wouldnt have bought them if id didnt think they were any good

 

From experience I've had CROSS coils on my car for the last last year. I got them brand new. Right now the two front struts are seized and blown. And the back ones are just seized. I never tracked them or neither was I ever really that hard on them. They went through one winter. All that to say I have new new KW's on the way to replace these broken ones.

 

i got my cross in the 1st batch ever made for the mini i think, when RMW first did them, so far they have been through 3 british winters, 20 track days, 200 or so trips down the drag strip and 40k miles on the road, and they still havent totally given up

 

I'm looking into the KW V.3's if they can be had with a linear type spring in the front I might think a litte harder on getting theese. However, I do not like the feel of progressive rate springs in HARD cornering, I have run multiple progressive setups on Hondas and cant stand the soft to solid transition they comonly have. I like my spring rates a little soft with the swaybars to tighten things up when nesicary, not soft springs that go hard and the swaybars try to put you off the track when you dont expect it.

For me I am looking at adjustability, and all out grip, NOT something that is going to be comfortable on the street or can make it through a snowy winter. My car is NOT a daily driver, its NOT driven verry much on the street, and durring the winter it sits in my garage, he!! I dont even take it out in the rain unless I need to. It is NOT a street car anymore, get over the fact that yours probably is, and day to day miles add up quick on race parts.

 

Call TSW, they have custom valved KW V3 with linear springs front and rear.

You probably already know what I think of the other two options.

- drew

 

Well Andy, when has your (or anyone elses) opinion mattered to me anyhow?
THE NAME OF THE THREAD IS K-SPORT OR CROSS, NOT KW VS ANYTHING!!!

 

But you just mentioned you were looking into KW and I was pointing out they can be had with linear springs!

- drew

 

Exactly....trust the pros man. The TSW guys have track tested and raced their set-ups. Try to find that from anyone else.....

 

You could also try Koni 2800s with some Swift/Hyperco linear springs. Any Koni rebuilder can also get you height adjustability as well on those shocks.

TSW as mentioned can definitely help you out on their KW lineup. Not sure if they offer ASTs still as well.

 

K-Sport and Cross are 2 different coilovers. K-sport is just a Taiwanese coilover that makes about 4-5 different shocks and mixes and matches them to make all of their vehicle application. JIC/Cross on the other hand actually makes shocks designed and valved for the Mini. In fact if you wanted a different set-up you can have them revalve these shocks for you. And they are pretty good at adjusting their valving. K-Sport on the other hand will not revalve it for you, I don't even think they sell a revalve kit so that you can do it yourself.

Cross blowing out is fairly common, they are valved much tighter for performance. They can handle a much stiffer rate increase with their stock valving than what they have listed, mainly because the spring rates that are used in Japan are stiffer than the spring rates used in America the reason being the roads are smoother. I also think they only changed the spring rates to soften up the ride instead of revalving with the changing out of the spring rates. When a Monotube shock blows, you have to immediately get them serviced or they will seize up on you, which is probably what happened to Miniman101. And yes the front are more prone to seizing up because they are inverted. Did you also make sure their are dust boots on them because they will last a tad bit longer with them.
The crappy thing though is that Cross is now out of business. Not only in America but also Japan. I heard you can get them revalved but I would not know where.

This is my personal opinion but I will never run KW. I cannot justify spending the amount of money they charge for a twin tube design coilover. I really believe that they are really good business men, they know the right people to sponsor and they market really well to sell a cheaper oem type strut that is adjustable. And they claim that they can be revalved, I don't see how that is possible considering they are a cartridge unit. The only way the setup of the shock can be changed is to swap out the shock as a whole. Which is probably what they do.

That being said if you can afford AST's, then AST with Swift springs is the way to go.

 

KW's are a great "compromise" shock. They are not the most advanced shock out there but are pretty durable, good ride quality, good handling, and you get good support if you go through a good vendor. They are NOT hardcore track stuff though. Even their 2 way V3s are valved with comfort a big part of the equation. The revalved custom stuff can be a HUGE step up, and almost make you forget it's a twin-tube (almost). I do prefer monotubes, but I would take a good quality twin-tube with pretty good valving over an awful monotube like K-Sports.

I really do think they do one of the best jobs in terms of compromise valving (street and light track). Their compeition monotube stuff is a different story.

My understanding is that KW V1s are cartridge type, and V2 and V3 are revalvable. Right now KW in California is the only place that does it in the US but that MIGHT change....

Cross I have no first hand experience with for the Mini but I really do not like them for Subaru and Mitsubishi. Perhaps they softened things up a bit for the Mini.

EDIT: AST is quite good. Do they not make 4100's anymore for Mini?

- Andrew

 

V1 2 3 and clubsports are all twintube and twintubes are all cartridge units. So I really don't see how you can revalve that. I'm pretty sure that they swap cartridges to ones with stiffer valving. And yes you are completely correct that they do have comfort in mind, but then again this is the case with twintube designed shocks, they are durable and comfortable, hence the reason why most oem shocks are twintube.

The reason why I wouldn't run the KW is because for the money I don't feel it is worth it. KW v1 v2 v3 all do not come with topmounts, they are not bottom bracket height adjustable, and you are forced to retain the KW spring (Which is complete trash). In other words the only form of adjustment that comes with the shocks are the rebound clicks, or compression and rebound for the v3. On top of that I understand that each adjustment clicks on the KW are a feelable difference, but the range of adjustment on a typical monotube needle and hole design of adjustment is far larger. It's just the first few clicks of adjustments on a needle and hole design are not as feelable because the needle is too far from the hole to restrict the shock oil from flowing through. So for example on a 30 way adjustable monotube shock the first 15 clicks will maybe tighten it up by about 30% of its full level of stiffness. Then it goes up exponentially from there.

I don't know about most people looking for coilovers but for me, the main reason why I purchase coilovers is for the many adjustments I can make to the suspension, and dampening is only one of them, I want to be able to switch out spring rates, lower the car without losing stroke in the shock, cornerbalancing without durastically changing the height on the four corners, change the front camber as I please at the track, and also being able to change the shimming of the piston as I please.
I guess what I am saying is, I would rather save my money and go with stock shocks and lowering springs until I can save up for a real quality set of coilovers, or if it were simply comfort that I am looking for then shocks and springs themselves is sufficient.

I wouldn't mind running cheaper monotube coilovers as long as they have revalve kits for me, so that I can have them revalved as soon as I purchase them to the specs I want.

Again this is just my opinion. I don't think they are bad coils. I've bought a few sets before. I just don't see the quality in them.

 

Also I wanted to let you know.

I said earlier that KW is a very business savy company, and there is proof of that.
- They sell twintube coilovers, which are cheaper to manufacture but is generally more expensive than the other one way adjustable coilovers
- Their linnear coilover spring although really cheaply manufactured is more expensive than Hiperco spring.

and here is the biggie.
- most coilover spring manufacturer like Swift makes springs that are 60mm ID (2.25inch), 65mm ID (2.5inch), and 70mm(2.75inch) ID coilover spring.
Well the KW linnear spring is 61mm ID. In other words a 60mm will not fit and then a 65mm has way too much play. So you have to retain the POS KW spring. I had to machine my perch down to use another spring manufacturer. I was able to squeeze the 60mm on there but the fit was just way too tight, the spring rate would hike up because the perch does not let the spring unwind during compression.

So they pretty much corner you with the purchase of KW coilover kit.

 

KW has a standard linear spring and a "Race" spring. And sometimes a crappy progressive spring. I only use the KW race springs which are just fine. As good as Eibach's at least.

I generally prefer single height adjustment over dual height adjustment actually. Yes it's nice to lower the car without losing bump travel, but single height adjustment shocks like KW, Bilstein, AST, Ohlins most of the time, JRZ, Moton, etc, are more durable and often have more bump travel anyway at most ride heights than a dual height adjustment shock unless the car is really really slammed. They also have some droop travel, which dual height adjustment shocks don't really offer. Not nearly as important bump, but it's still nice to have some.

They don't come with top mounts just like the above listed shocks which does add to the cost.

Agreed on the adjustment range....for KW's it isn't bad, but definitely not as much as a good monotube like AST.

- Andrew

 

We use 60mm Swift and Hyperco all the time without issues on KW's. A couple years ago they were really tight fits but still workable. We have noticed this is not an issue at all anymore and their perches are really 60mm now.

Doesn't get much more business savvy then Megan/BC. I know for a fact they use the same exact damper for Subaru Impreza WRX, the STI, the Legacy and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, and probably many more cars. On top of that they produce the same kits with various brand names to anyone who wants them. Full replacements for 95 bucks per corner....beyond sketchy. Their cost has to be ridiculously low, monotube or not. The only things application specific are the mounts.

KW does charge a bit much for replacement parts.

I'm trying not to be a KW fanboy, and to be honest I'm not. I think they're good compromise shocks which may or may not work for everyone. I do have a lot of experience with them which I guess is why i'm defending them. All in good fun, I really do like talking about shocks in general.

- Andrew

 

I've tested KW springs on the dyno, they were really bad. I worked with Carl Rydquist (redline timeattack winner in modified rwd) on his KW suspension. He had a sponsorship from them for his porsche. Anyways we were switching out his springs on his clubsports. And so we tested his springs on the dyno. They were supposed to be 16kg springs, but when we tested this spring the first inch was much lower, and the graph just shoots up. I don't even know why they labeled it the way they did, because even though its supposed to be a linnear spring it was crazy progressive. Just a linnear look.

Anyways I don't know what the KW race spring is so maybe I will look into that. It might be better. This one was just a normal coilover straight spring that came with clubsports.

Yes I also agree with you on BC and Megan. LOL

 

Ever see the shock dyno of the K Sports that I think Tri-Point did? Hilarious.

 

Can you tell me more info about that? I wasn't aware they went out of business. The ride of these coilovers is fantastic over the stock struts/springs! I've been trying to find out if the Cross Coilovers I got from RMW for my R53 will work with my new 2010 R55 or if I need new spring rates but haven't been able to find any answers.

 

WOw great thread andyroo and ninjaloa love the info on KW and AST