• November 24, 2008
• Category: Suspension
• Written By: Chris
• No Comments

For a little over four months I’ve been riding on Tein H-Tech springs and OEM shocks/struts ( H-Tech Review) and the OEM’s were showing signs of the abuse. Even with just a 1.25″ drop they were suffering so it was time to upgrade to a full coil over system.

First impression out of the box was that the K-Sports seemed to be built of fairly decent quality regardless of some drivers calling them “K-Mart” coil overs. I would say the quality of these coil overs rivals that of Tein Basics, Tanabe S-OC Type II, and DropZones. I have yet to hear a negative review of K-Sports for the TSX. Also, these coil overs sport the ability to seriously drop your car. Right now I have mine adjusted to leave just a half finger width fender gap and I still have well over 3 inches of thread left to go.

The other nice thing is the base of the shock or the mounts will actually thread up to that 3″ of gap leaving the full amount of suspension travel possible. Most coil over kits only adjust the spring perch and eliminate a lot of suspension travel in the process. This extra travel lends to a smoother rebound rate giving the feel of less “bounce”.

With 36 levels of dampening force adjustment, the K-Sports leave a lot of available options that price competitors like Tein Basics just don’t have. Granted, basics are a great coil over set up, but for the price point, lacking the adjustable dampening force puts K-Sport out ahead. I have yet to try the full range of adjustment, I have just kept them at one full turn off of soft in the front and two full turns off of soft in the rear. I have noticed a significant reduction of brake dive and torque steer alike. The car really hugs the corners well and the rear end is not apt to step out on you.

It’s hard to say how these coil overs will hold up over an Oregon winter with di-icer and salt on the roads, but from the looks of them now they should hold up as well as any set of Teins, Tanabes, or Buddy Clubs out there.

So far I’d rank the K-Sport Kontrol Pro’s for the TSX a 8 – 10. Why not the full 10? With the lack of any kind of electronic dampening force adjustments like Tein EDFC, it’s just a pain to make an adjustment, also these coil overs may be a little stiff for some, even on the softest settings.