Yesterday we finally had a chance to install my BBK and my suspension. The HKS hipermax II setup was used from Jason. THe BBK is the 4piston 14 inch front and 13 inch 2 piston rear Stoptech setup.

First impression on the brakes, they're killer You really do not need more than what this kit has to offer. Stiffer pedal feel, super quick response, this is by far some of the best money I have spent on my car. I would highly recomend this kit, it's perfectly balanced and it really puts the stock non-brembo setup to shame lol. On top of that it looks great ...............now for some bigger rims......

Now for the HKS. I think Jason had them for roughly 25 or 30k miles, so they have some decent milage on them. On top of that, he had them hammered, adjusted very low. I was expecting that I might have to rebuild or re-valve at least one of the corners, but no, everything was perfect to my surprise. Jason was not kind to his car either, he tracked it, and pushed it to the limits so he really used them for what they were designed for. But I digress. The suspension has held up very well. If you want a suspension kit that will last, HKS is the one for you.
Anyway, driving it home, it was pretty stiff for my tastes, for normal highway driving (out here in cali, the freeways suck, and you feel everything), but i didn't adjust the setting from what jason had, so there is still tons of play to make it softer.
With the kit on, you feel like the car is more solid, and much more responsive with twitches to the steering wheel. I had stock shocks with tein s-tech springs on before, and it's a completely different driving feel. I'll literally never put just springs on a car again. The tein's are a good spring, but if you have the money, don't settle for less, you've got to go with a good coilover, your car will love you for it

When I was driving home i took the car through the twisties in the hills, and the car reacts great. For my driving I need to play with the adjstments a tad, but the car is so much more predictable, and solid. The car feels much more planted to the gournd with this setup. And you can really feel the shocks working their magic over the smooth bumps and grades, its truly a good coilover. Even with so many miles on the suspension, the shocks feel new and tight. But if you are not one for true racing car like feel, then perhaps a different coilover is for you.
This would be magic on the track. One day I'll take it out and flog it on the track.

Now I've never had the chance to drive a car with other coilovers like JIC or Tein, so I can't comment on how these compare. I do know from my old car that JIC suspension is awesome for track setups (this coming from a Mitsu. EVO background).

As far as the ride height goes, The adjustability is excellent, you can get it very close to stock, about .5 inches down, and then you can be like jason and literally hammer the car if you want to.

All in all, two great mods, that I highly recomend......

Thanks Jason for the homie hook up......!!

 

The HKS Hipermax II coilovers are awesome on the track. If you track the car I would recommend you get the car corner balanced with you in it. I tried do some high speed events without a corner balance and I was actually doing worse than the stock suspension. The car felt great cornering but I just could not get the power to the ground. Once I balanced the car and adjusted the dampers to get the car neutral the difference was amazing. I also matched a good set of tires and I was turning laps about 4 seconds faster than I had ever driven at the track. The scary part is I still haven't learned the cars new limits yet so I am sure I can get a couple of more seconds out of it. I too also recommend the HKS Hipermax II for those that want to track their cars.

 

You havent yet begun to feel the difference of those brakes yet. Part of the reason the pedal feel is different is because you have freshly bled brake lines. There is no "wet" in them yet or anything like that. You will start to feel the difference even more once you really get on your brakes hard over and over again.

As far as the suspension. Yeah it is a bit stiff on the streets and it does make the car harder to push (while keeping traction) with the HKS. But, Cornering and over all in touch with the car is way way up with the Hipermax II's...

The TEIN S-TEch's on your 04 stock shocks... Dude... Personally I would hate it if I was running it on a track... But, For daily pounding driving... I can push my car alot harder and not break loose as easly on the corners since the spring rates are a bit softer... It helps get all the power to the ground on the daily driven streets... This is also a combo of a less aggressive camber angle and lower spring rate in the rear... I am getting more rubber on the ground with my 295's with the less aggressive camber angle... but can still break free the rear wheels going straight at 40MPH and enjoy the drift

Tein S-Tech I highly recomend for the daily driver who wants a lower ride and a more responsive car for the daily streets... GO for the TEIN S-Tech's...

If you really want to feel the road and be able to push it hard on the track and have full control... GO HKS Hipermax II...

 

Glad I just ordered the Tein S-tek off you then! hahahahahahahahaha

 

Do you have any clucking noises coming from the rear top pillow mounts when going over speed bumps?

Reason for asking is that I recently installed the HKS RS coilovers and I can not stand the noise coming from the rear top mounts when going over speed bumps or pot holes.

I am sure the problem is the top mounts because when I change the HKS shocks to the OEM ones and the noise went away..

My mechanic told me that the problem is the aluminium made upper mounts that replace the stock rubber ones.

I am looking to replace the rear top mounts to rubber ones but can't find any to fit the HKS shocks..Any help would be greatly appreciated...

 

I have not heard any noises coming from the rear of the suspension. then again I have not gone over any speedbumps.
I don't doubt that the upper mounts may be making some noises due to it's design, but it's nothing damaging.

 

I haven't noticed any noise either.

Tony what kind of brake pads are you using?

 

jason, so what coilovers are you using now?

 

What he said... did you guys trade? are u running Tony's teins?

 

Jason is running my teins until he gets a new setup. Jason was kind enough to help me out with the setup for HIN and my photo shoot.

Jason is unsure about what he's going to use next, but leaning to JIC???

You know Jason, always the test mule to find out how diffeent everything is........

 

im running the TEIN S-Tech on 04 shocks...

Currently it looks like I might go toward JIC FLTA2's...

i am 95% towards the JIC's at the moment...

Working on piecing together what I am going to do with my FairladyZ v3...

 

Well this morning before I left for work, I played with the shock settings, and softened up the rear all the way, and the front is set 3 clicks stiff, to keep the front stiffer than the rear at least by just a little.
The car rides a lot nicer now on the freeway, and still handles like a dream.
I'm even happier now. The suspension still feels very tight, and very responsive.