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KSport Coilovers – Are they ACTUALLY adjustable??

KSport Coilovers – KSport claim their “STREET” coilovers (“Kontrol Pro” in the USA) have 36 levels of adjustment from hard to soft

Question is:

-Are they really adjustable?

and if so

-What is the difference between the hardest setting and the softest setting? Is the difference large enough to be worth having?

To find out, we did a test on a set of K-Sport “STREET” model coilovers

https://youtu.be/d40k9A_ttPg

KSport Coilovers Test – The Procedure

Step 1: We tested the coilovers in their medium setting, the softest setting and their hardest setting and measured the vertical acceleration on the car over the same stretch of road at 50km/h

Step 2: We tested the coilovers subjectively by driving on a b-road we know well and comparing the feel of the coilovers at their softest, hardest and medium settings

All alterations were done on the front axle only so we could also assess any effects on the balance of the car during cornering ie understeer/oversteer more/less

KSport Coilovers Test – Measurements (Vertical Acceleration)

Generally the measurements between the settings were inconclusive, probably because the road was not bumpy enough. However on the largest bump on the route there was a hint that there was a difference between the settings. The test was inconclusive purely looking at the datalog although the largest bump did suggest a difference between the settings.

KSport Coilovers Test – Subjective (B-Road)

On the road route, we used the softest setting first and there was a marked difference between that and the medium setting we normally use.

The car felt much more supple generally.

Broken road surfaces did not make it through to the cabin where they did before.

The car was more hooked onto the line around corners whereas before bumps and ripples in the road would cause the care to skip very slightly

We had more confidence on the front end generally, it felt that it had more grip and the car tracked truer through the corners, the car felt more locked onto the line.

Hardest Setting

On the hardest setting the ride was much bouncier, we were definitely moved more in the car (the road was very bumpy in some stretches)

In the corners the front end seemed less planted and mid corner bumps seemed to unsettle the car more

On the whole, the hardest setting gave us less confidence in the front end compared to the medium and soft settings

KSport Coilovers – Test Conclusion

The questions we wanted to answer were:

Is there a difference between the hardest and softest settings? The answer is definitely yes

Is the difference between the hardest and softest setting worth having? Again the answer is yes. While the softest setting was still harder than a stock suspension setup it did allow us to attack the (bumpy) road more and with more confidence compared to the medium and hardest setting. Whereas with the medium and hard settings you would wait for the front end settle before committing to the corner fully, with the softest setting the car seemed to immediately track into the corner and was very confidence inspiring. Not only was the ride less deflected by bumps the front also had more grip, which is what you expect when softening the front axle relative to the rear.

Was the difference between the softest and hard setting night and day?

No, the hardest setting was not racecar stiff and the softest setting was not stock suspension soft but nevertheless there was an appreciable difference that allowed us to customise the feel of the suspension to suit the road we were driving on.

The adjustment also had an effect on the balance of the car make it feel like it had more grip.

Would we have coilovers that were not adjustable?

Absolutely not. There are too many variables to let the designer choose a fixed damping rate for all the conditions you could encounter, in our opinion you need to be able to customise the damping to suit the roads you drive on and to suit your personal preference.

So yes, K-Sport coilovers are truly adjustable and the difference between the softest and hardest setting, in our opinion is definetly something worth having.

We will do another video where we will explore in more detail, the effects the damping adjustment has on the balance of the car, if you would like to get a notficiation when this video is available on YouTube, subscribe to the StrikeEngine YouTube Channel here

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This page was last modified Feb 21, 2019 @ 6:45 pm

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