ayellows2k

I am looking for coilovers for my 2001 s2000. The main thing is, i don't care too much about how hard it rides (smoother is better but i am willing to sacrifice this for performance) and i could care less about lowering the car. I am looking for pure performance at the best price. I will do a few auto crosses and maybe a few track days but mainly spirited street driving.

2001 s2k
17*9 255 nonstaggered
(whiteline front swaybar to be installed soon)

I am looking for the setup that will give me the best grip and less body roll. Just significantly better handling.
I have read good things about the bilstein pss9. However, it seems like the spring rates are somewhat soft and not too much of improvement over stock.
Kw v2 seems nice, but not much on it. V3 has good reviews but somewhat expensive.
Ground control with Koni yellows seems so-so but would like to hear more about them.
I would really like to hear from people who have experience with bilstein pss9/pss in terms of handling. Is it much better then stock?
Please suggest other setups that you think are good for me.

Thanks for any input

Carbon Blue

Your going to have alot of varying opinions on this topic since "handling" is very subjective topic. I have the bilstein pss and it rides pretty much like a CR would, it is stiffer than stock and you can feel it but it is far from bone jarring. I have these coils paired with eibach sway bars up front and in the rear. I have the front set at stiff and the rear set at soft with the stock staggered setup and at this setting it is pretty much imitates the stock balance albeit slightly stiffer. If I were to redo it again I would have bought a USED set of bilstein pss and send them in to be revalved with swift springs. Id go that route or a revalved koni yellow/ground control spring/sleeve setup. If you have the cash and time to spend on tuning etc then the KWV3 seems to be a surefire way to get what you want since they are double adjustable so you can fine tune to your liking. The KW v3's are probably the best when it comes to budget and performance. What you will find though with the quality branded shocks is that you can run a pretty stiff spring without having it bone jarring at all, its mostly the taiwanese made junk dampers that feel back breaking even when paired to a similar spring rate.

If it matters, I use my s2k on the weekends, It sees the canyons regularly but also serves as a weekend roadtripper with my girlfriend. It sees about 3 track days at the most in a year with a few autox's in between. So far Im content and I like the way how it suits my driving wants. Is there a better setup out there? Of course there is, but i simply dont have the time or money to track as much as id want to benefit from 2k$-3k$ double adjustable dampers etc, the closest track is still 3.5 hours away from me one way, so for now im just going to drive the piss out of this thing until I feel the need that an upgrade is worthy enough. Whatever you do, just buy quality.

afzan

It really depends how much you want to spend..

Bilstein PSS9
KW V3
Ohlins DFV
Ohlins TTX/JRZ/Moton/Penske/etc

I went from PSS to V3's and there was a bigger improvement in handling and comfort than I expected. I found the PSS to be too stiff on the street and too soft at autox/track (since it had non adjustable damping). Don't think that handling and comfort are mutally exclusive - Most high end setups can feel very comfortable on the street (even with crazy 16k spring rates)

I think the V3's are one of the more "reasonably priced" coilovers at their performance level, to get better than them you end up spending quite a bit more. They have their downsides though - you cannot have them custom valved to your own specs and only KW can rebuild them, but for the price/performance I think that is an acceptable tradeoff IMO

chuhsi

pss is basically like stock, but with height adjustability.

with s2000 suspension, the more money you pay, the better 'performance' you get. there really aren't shortcuts. pay $1000 for pss. pay $2000 for kw v3. pay 3k for ohlin dfv. pay $4k+ the more fancy setups.

Urge

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/958...-coilover-kit/

ayellows2k

yeah i've seen the thread with the ohlins but they re out of my price range. With my stock suspension and 255 non staggered, the car feels unstable when pushed hard around corners. The back definitely wants to come out and I don't have much confidence. It doesn't feel planted. Will Pss9's make the car "stick" better and restore the balance (higher spring rate up front vs. rear)? I am wondering whether to get pss9's or kw v2's...

Urge

If you are on a budget, I would simply buy the CR dampers.. Balanced by Honda out of the box..

GT Motoring

If the car feels unstable with the rear wanting to come out, thats likely due to the increased grip up front from your non-staggered set up. Try disconnecting a rear sway bar end link and see if you like how that handles first, before throwing money at an issue that very way may still be present event with new coilovers. For instance, if you stay with your current setup and go to a coilover with the same spring rate front/rear, you may still have the same issue.

The front bar will likely help a little bit with your current issues. I really enjoy a non-staggered set up with stock suspension, big front bar and no rear bar. Super easy to drive and learn on.

Let us know if we can help you with anything.

ViperASR

I drove this exact setup for over a year. It made the car a little pushy depending on the alignment, but it was super easy to drive, and helped balance the car. It was suprisingly quick to, I was able to do very well locally and placed mid-pack at a national event.

ayellows2k

I am going to be putting in the whittling feb soon so i'll see how that goes and maybe disconnect the rear. But do you guys think pss9's or v2's or something of that nature will make it stick better? Especially coilovers with more front spring then rear?