S13 Stance Coilover Review

[180fan]

What’s in the box:

- 2 front struts with 8k springs (already assembled with dust boot in place)- 2 rear struts with 6k springs (already assembled with dust boot in place)- 2 black spanner wrenches- 4 adjuster knobs with small Allen head screw to tighten down onto the adjusters- 1 Large piece of paper with disclaimer, instructions, and FAQs- 1 small Allen wrench for the adjuster- 2 9k springs for the front- 2 7k springs for the rear

Initial impression of the coilovers out of the box:

Front:- Nice thick bracket where it meets up with the knuckle- Large and durable perches- Fully threaded shock body- Camber plates up front are thicker than my Apex'i camber plates.- The dust boots could have had a tighter fit on the threaded body though. - Feels surprisingly light- Nice anodizing on perches and upper mount- The casing is powder coated although it feels more like it’s been anodized. Pretty weird but cool at the same time. - I like having the option of switching between 8kg/6kg and 9kg/7kg spring rates without having to cough up extra cash.

Rear:- Red polyurethane bushing in the lower bracket.- Again with the thick upper mounting plate for the coilover. - Lower bracket is made from a solid piece of aluminum instead of looking like it was just a small welded on eyelet like many other makers. - The dust boots could have had a tighter fit on the threaded body.- Feels surprisingly light- Nice anodizing on perches and upper mount- The casing is powder coated although it feels more like it’s been anodized. Pretty weird but cool at the same time. - I like having the option of switching between 8kg/6kg and 9kg/7kg spring rates without having to cough up extra cash.

Servicing and Maintenance:- Replacement shocks cost 160 for the inverted and 150 for the non-inverted. I still have yet to find out about how long it takes to get those replacement parts. - Rear struts have available z32 lower brackets if you need it.- Looks very durable with thick brackets and mounting points- Rust resistance taken into account with good powder coating and anodizing

Technical specs:- Piston diameter: 46mm- Camber range: apparently up to +-4 degrees of camber- Strut type – Front is inverted - Spring: Linear cold wound springs- Dampening: 15 way adjustable- Fronts do NOT have eccentric bolts to adjust the camber. Everything needs to be done up top.

Installation:- Pretty straight forward although they could use better documentation on the way the rear struts mount. You’ll notice that the rear lower bracket is offset from center, it’s got a side with a thick section of bushing and another section that’s got the beefy metal. There is no documentation in the manual about which side should go towards the knuckle. With some trial and error though, you can figure out the fatty bushing section goes towards the knuckle and the metal section is more towards the center of the car. - Just out of habit though, I did apply a very thin layer of grease on the top and bottom of the springs. Don’t know if that will make a difference on these but yeah just out of habit I did this. - Other thing you should note is that the springs come pretty loose out of the box, so hand tighten the spring perch till you can’t tighten it by hand anymore, then give it another couple turns with the spanner wrench. - You should spray some lubricant into the pillow balls. I used a spray lube with Teflon. Don’t go for the WD-40 since it has a tendency to evaporate every couple days. You may get binding in the springs during turns apparently. I found this out a few days after I bought my coilovers, a guy with the model for the WRX was getting a lot of “ping ping ping ping” sounds when he’d make a turn. - You’ll also want a ruler or you’ll be there all day with trial and error…

Torque specs*: - Front upper mount 29-40 ft/lbs- Front bracket 84-98 ft/lbs- Rear upper mount 12-14 ft/lbs- Rear bracket 65-80 ft/lbs* These torque specs are for s13.

Road impression:

Softest settings:- The initial settings were set to the softest setting they could be set to. Driving down bumpy roads, it felt a bit bouncy although this could be due to not much time set on getting them dialed in just right. The Stance coilovers were much more comfortable than I had originally anticipated. I’ve rolled on FLT-A2’s before and those were pretty stiff for the road conditions in San Francisco. These are much more streetable at their softest settings and are stiffer than the Koni strut/Tanabe GF210 spring combination that I had before, but much more confidence inspiring. The area I live in has a great many bumpy roads and uneven surfaces. At their softest setting, it was pretty impressive. I almost forgot I was driving on coilovers with the 8kg/6kg spring rating. Taking turns, the car remained flat. They are still very quiet and trouble free even after a week of driving on these.

Default settings:- After the initial trial on the softest setting, I opted to go to the default setting of 6 of 15. Initially a dramatic different from the lowest setting, I thought the difference would be much more gradual, but at 6 of 15 it was a notable difference from the softest setting. The car doesn’t really bounce around or give any when going into turns or bumps which is comforting to know I’ll be on the road but not so great on big dips where I hear a scrape from the bits of under body that take the scrape (probably my engine pan but sounds pretty bad none the less). It took about a day to get used to the stiffer settings. On this setting, it’s a good blend of what you expect from a good set of shocks and springs with a friendly reminder every now and then (over bigger bumps) that you’re on coilovers. Great setting for on street driving is default.

Hardest settings:- Moving onto the hardest settings 15 of 15. Wow, very stiff. I could have sworn that over one of the larger bumps on the road, my colon landed in my under pants. Well, maybe not that bad but bad enough. After that colon jarring experience, this will be the conclusion of the 15 of 15 setting. Not good for bad road conditions. Should make for a good time at the track, but unless your roads are well taken care of, don’t use this setting for your teeth, kidneys, and in my case my colon’s case.

I forgot to take pictures and got too lazy to take them during other routine maintainence but I'll get around to it soon enough and post those as well.

[hannibal]

Good review! Where you buy yours, Enjuku?

I want to see a KTS vs Stance comparo...

[180fan]

I bought them at a local shop Mach III. They're like 10 minutes from me and offered me a price out the door (after taxes and so on) that was lower than other peoples starting price and their support was awesome.

Yeah I was gonna get around to doing some work to get info on the KTS. The upper plates on the Stance are thicker, and the plating is better on the Stance from one of my local heads that have the KTS. So I'll try to get around to that in the next couple days along with some pictures of the Stance.

[Dori Dori]

They are the same. Had both out of the box and next to each other a few weeks ago. Nothing is different as far as we (me and my friends) could tell aside from the color and what comes in the box (extra sets of springs for the stance). The bracket and the welds looked like one was done right before the other. Even the little rubber bolt protectors were exactly the same. It seems that Stance coilovers are just different colored KTS's.

[naed240sx]

Yeah I was gonna get around to doing some work to get info on the KTS. The upper plates on the Stance are thicker, and the plating is better on the Stance from one of my local heads that have the KTS. So I'll try to get around to that in the next couple days along with some pictures of the Stance.

But who really cares if the upper plates are thicker. Nobody ever breaks them. It's just over-building, that leads to unnecesary weight.

[naed240sx]

They are the same. Had both out of the box and next to each other a few weeks ago. Nothing is different as far as we (me and my friends) could tell aside from the color and what comes in the box (extra sets of springs for the stance). The bracket and the welds looked like one was done right before the other. Even the little rubber bolt protectors were exactly the same. It seems that Stance coilovers are just different colored KTS's.

I don't understand how you can say that.





The lower mounts for the rear are totally different, all of the collars are different, etc. In addition, Stance can go WAY lower than kts.

Both are good coilovers, but they are definately not the same.

[Dori Dori]

I don't understand how you can say that.





The lower mounts for the rear are totally different, all of the collars are different, etc. In addition, Stance can go WAY lower than kts.

Both are good coilovers, but they are definately not the same.

Are you blind? Look at them...they are the same. Have you ever had a close look at either of them? Explain how the stances can go WAY lower.

Edit:I see what you are saying about the rear lower collar. To be honest, we were mostly comparing the fronts. If the lower collar on the stances are different, that is the ONLY difference on these coilovers. They are the same everything else. Just look.

[Dori Dori]

But who really cares if the upper plates are thicker. Nobody ever breaks them. It's just over-building, that leads to unnecesary weight.

They are not thicker anyway. They are the same.

[naed240sx]

Ohh. Well I was responding to 180fan, who said that they are thicker. :dunno

[sleepyRPS13]

sf roads are horrible. driving there will take a year off your suspension lives.

i kind of exaggerating but downtown sf i will never take my car there.

[180fan]

I'll take a caliper ruler to them both on thursday but right off the bat, the stance look thicker.

The lower bracket rides up higher on the rears than the kts as well. Most of the weight on the upper plates are going to stem from the pillow ball, not the plate itself. In the event of the studs popping, is where that extra thickness can come in handy. Supplies more surface for the grooved sections on the studs that hold it to the tower, less chance of them popping there. Who's really done that, who knows but that's the way they were built.

sleepyrps13, sounds like you live in SF or near SF. My commute goes through downtown SF every day so sucks to be me.

Feel free to pop questions and I'll do my best to get this review as complete on this alternative to the ever popular KTS.

[naed240sx]

Are you blind? Look at them...they are the same. Have you ever had a close look at either of them? Explain how the stances can go WAY lower.

LOL.

Look at the collars. Totally different shape. KTS collars are square, the stance ones are beveled (this obviously doesn't affect funtion, but I am just pointing it out).

Have I had a close look at either? I OWN KTS... so uhhh, yeah.

This guy is on the 9/7 springs.... has no fender gap, and can still go about an inch lower in the front.

I'm on kts with 8/6 springs, and my front coilovers are as low as they can go. Even with softer spring rates, and all of the adjustment used up, I am exactly as low as that car is.

Go read the review of stance over at ziptied if you don't believe me about all of this.

Edit:I see what you are saying about the rear lower collar. To be honest, we were mostly comparing the fronts. If the lower collar on the stances are different, that is the ONLY difference on these coilovers. They are the same everything else. Just look.

Well in that case I guess all coilovers look EXACTLY they same?

I dunno what you are expecting. All coilovers for the 240sx are going to look similar and be similar in design. You can't expect them all to look completely different.

[Dori Dori]

They are the same. Look at them. Find a friend with Stance and do a comparison. The only difference are those rear lower collars. My car has KTS and they can go as low as that pic. Try messing with your preload if you can't go any lower.

[naed240sx]

They are the same. Look at them. Find a friend with Stance and do a comparison. The only difference are those rear lower collars. My car has KTS and they can go as low as that pic. Try messing with your preload if you can't go any lower.

Adding preload raises your car.

The only way you can tuck more than just a tad bit of tire on kts is to sag the rear spring.

[180fan]

sorry guys didn't have time today. i'll get around to picture time monday earliest. they are not the same btw, the pistons on the inside are different sizes as well. 46mm on stance 48mm on kts.

[naed240sx]

sorry guys didn't have time today. i'll get around to picture time monday earliest. they are not the same btw, the pistons on the inside are different sizes as well. 46mm on stance 48mm on kts.

Thanks for that info.

You convinced yet Dori Dori?? or do you still want to argue?

[emperor_lunchbox]

Adding preload raises your car.

The only way you can tuck more than just a tad bit of tire on kts is to sag the rear spring.

If adding preload raises the car, logical reasoning tells me taking away preload would lower the car.

Although I do not have any suspension experience, so I can't really comment.

[naed240sx]

If adding preload raises the car, logical reasoning tells me taking away preload would lower the car..

Of course. However, most people run zero preload. If you continue to lower the spring perch from that point, you have what is called spring sag... which I mentioned earlier.

[Jookmasta]

so whats the price difference b/w the two coilovers then?

[onosqv]

sorry guys didn't have time today. i'll get around to picture time monday earliest. they are not the same btw, the pistons on the inside are different sizes as well. 46mm on stance 48mm on kts.

It's 38mm for the kts - at least that's what it says on splparts.com.

Glad you did a review on these man, been waiting for it for a while.

Didn't you have the KTS at one point? I was wondering if the bounciness some ppl complain about w/ the KTS is gone with the stance?

[onosqv]

I'm on kts with 8/6 springs, and my front coilovers are as low as they can go. Even with softer spring rates, and all of the adjustment used up, I am exactly as low as that car is.

1. Lower doesn't always mean better

2. If you reallllly wanna go lower, you can just get this:



3. Then if that's not enough, add on a front lip & you will be 3" below the ground.:p

[naed240sx]

1. Lower doesn't always mean better

I know. Never said it was better.

2. If you reallllly wanna go lower, you can just get this:



3. Then if that's not enough, add on a front lip & you will be 3" below the ground.:p

1.)Never said that I wanted to go lower.

2.)Those uppermounts will not help you to go any lower than with stock kts.

[onosqv]

Fine, I felt like they did :P.

I guess it's just because I adjusted everything max on the lower bracket, then just raised/lower using the top one. o well, i don't go that low anyway.

46mm pistons for the win!

[180fan]

Yeah I've been on KTS before. There isn't bounciness at this point with the Stance. I've got them dialed in pretty good and the springs settled pretty damn fast. About two weeks or so for them to settle.

Brokeas240sx, good eye, I was exhausted from my day of work on the car and errands beforehand. Yeah the kts and stance are indeed different coilovers.

Definitely post some questions on these. I'll try to find out the weight on these buggers if I get the motivation to pull em again and weigh em. Not like it's alot of work but having to go find a scale and pulling them when they're already in and stuff is a bit of a hassle. For sure though when the picts are available I'll take a caliper ruler to various sections of the strut.

[onosqv]

What settings do you find work for your coilovers on every day streets? I'm sure lots of potential stance buyers as well as me want to know .

It's odd because I used to have mine full soft -> too bouncy, then went to 5/5 -> better, but bouncy on highway and city -> then now running 8/6 or 8/10, good but bouncy at speeds below 70.... gonna try 12/10 - do i dare??? hahaha.

At highway speeds on the 8/10 feels like i'm driving on just concrete blocks sometimes, hahaha.

[naed240sx]

What settings do you find work for your coilovers on every day streets? I'm sure lots of potential stance buyers as well as me want to know .

It's odd because I used to have mine full soft -> too bouncy, then went to 5/5 -> better, but bouncy on highway and city -> then now running 8/6 or 8/10, good but bouncy at speeds below 70.... gonna try 12/10 - do i dare??? hahaha.

At highway speeds on the 8/10 feels like i'm driving on just concrete blocks sometimes, hahaha.

KTS aren't really bouncy at all on any settings over 3/3. Stiff? yes.... but not bouncy.

I think a lot of people mistake the constant chassis movement that is a result of stiff springs for bouncyness.

When I go over bumps and whatnot, the dampers compress and rebound. They don't occilate at all, hence not bouncy.

[emperor_lunchbox]

This may or may not make sense, It didnt really to me but I saw an improvement.

I have the megan coils, I love them. They used to bounce on the highway, then I got new tires and the bounce is almost gone. I went from 205/65/15 to 195/55/15. It doesn't bounce that much at all, and I have them stiffness set as high as it will go.

[naed240sx]

This may or may not make sense, It didnt really to me but I saw an improvement.

I have the megan coils, I love them. They used to bounce on the highway, then I got new tires and the bounce is almost gone. I went from 205/65/15 to 195/55/15. It doesn't bounce that much at all, and I have them stiffness set as high as it will go.

It makes perfect sense. Smaller sidewalls are stiffer sidewalls, and so they will flex less. The tires themselves effectively act as progressive springs. If you swap to coilovers, the tires are now going to be seeing higher forces, because the springs are not as soft. The stock truck tires can definatly cause the bouncyness phenomenon.

Wheel/tire and suspension setups have to be tuned just as much as a high performance motor should be tuned. Sidewall size is just one aspect of this.

[underground57]

I'm looking into finally getting coilovers by the end of the year, and have it narrowed down to KTS or Stance. On the one hand, the Stances being bigger and beefier seem to be advantageous, but I'm curious as to what the weight difference is. Its also nice that they come with an extra set of springs, but how are the shocks valved? Are they meant more for the 8/6 or 9/7 setup?

According to SPL's site, KTS's have 38mm pistons in the front and 48mm pistons in the rear. Are the Stance, 46mm all around?

In regards to warranties, I know SPL has the thing for the KTS where you can pay like 550 or something to have all new shocks sent and they'll service them for you if needed. Does Touge Factory or Enjuku or any other distributor have anything like this?

[drifter_for_life06]

any pics yet 180?