Killer Bee coilover review

Overall look of the coilovers
1. They are heavy. They feel heavier then stock, which could be the case due to the steal construction, and having all steal parts. This is a big change from my aluminum Tein HE/Tanabe SO models I have used for my other cars.
2. The threads was ok on 1 side, and the other side tended to be a little tight. Overall it wasn’t too bad. Just needed to spin down and up a few times.
3. Springs are black coated, and seems to be a little long not allowing the car to go that low (I have a hook up with swift so that can be resolved easily). Spring length is 8” measured but I think the ID is 2.5”.
4. Sway bar mounting perch is higher then stock potentially because the whole suspension is shorter then stock, and doesn’t extend as much (preloaded) which gives it a nice GT feel when you jack up the car (the wheels come up off the ground in a shorter distance).
5. Install of the back perch doesn’t have a damper/softener or gasket to prevent the perch from clunking with the suspension arm.

Install
1. Install wasn’t all nice and easy for me since I screwed up a little. When you install the fronts lift up both sides of the front and remove and install both sides at the same time. As stated earlier, the sway bar mount is higher then stock so this will cause issues if not done properly, which screwed me up and I had the axle pop out (first time after half a dozen times of lowering the fit).
2. When install the front make sure you measure the front preload as well as the front height from preload to the bottom collar. I did this and even after install I had the passenger front higher by ¼” so I’m needing to redo this again.
3. The rear install of the bottom perch I put on some Extreme Dynamat on the bottom so that between the perch and the suspension arm there is something preventing the metal on metal contact.
4. The rear I dumped it to the bottom as well as the front and it doesn’t seem the front is low enough. So I’ll be picking up 6” long Swift springs with helpers (1” compressed) which will allow another 1” drop if desired.
5. Shocks in the rear mount up fine, but the shock rod length is so long (threaded portion) that is protrudes past the cover so I have no covers over the back panels covering the shocks.

Thoughts of the KBee
1. Initial ride was clunky, and I could hear the spring binding for the first 40 miles or so.
2. After the break in the ride is smooth, and does better then the lowering springs/stock shock combo. Going over road connections, and dips doesn’t feel as rough. (This is the lowest setting) Feels a little soft on the corners with lots of body roll.
3. Bumped up the dampening to 3 front, and 2 rear and the ride is slightly harsher, and I can feel the suspension working. Cornering doesn’t feel as much lean and feels more comfortable on the long sweeper type on/off ramps.

My overall view and opinion

For the price, we can’t really beat it for a daily drivable suspension.

Megan with 10/8kg spring rating would be too rough for daily
Tein Basic don’t have dampening adjustments
T1R is made more for track use only
All others are just not available in the US or made for US models

Even with a change of front springs I will have a coilover setup for less then $1k and good and soft enough for street use. With a little more tweaks on the dampening after I change out the front springs I should be able to match the suspension to what I like.

What I would of preferred is aluminum body for the shock as well as the brackets and collars. Shorter rear shock(threaded section) to allow the rear covers to be put back on. Better designed shocks to allow better feeling clicks in the adjustments (3-5th clicks feel tight and nonexistent).

I haven’t tried the Tein basics but for the price for the KBee for $850 from A Spec this coilover can’t be beaten short of the Cusco which isn’t made for the US model yet. The coilovers provide a great street ride, allowing adjustability for the weekend autocrossing and track use. The adjustability of height as well as dampening will allow fine tuning to any street warrior’s desire.

I give the KBee coilovers a “C+” grade for quality of design and look, and "B" for ride and road feel

 

good idea with the review. i like seeing what some of you guys think with your products. i know it's hard to make a good decision about a product just based on a couple of reviews, but if there were more like this and we can see trends of satisfied/unsatisfied people with certain products, it could help in our future purposes, especially more expensive things like coilovers, i've been contemplating which ones to get for a long time and i still don't know haha. but i have plenty of time to think it over.

 

yes! i was waiting for a good review, hm.. i was thinking about picking these up for the price, but still not to sure.

 

nice review! helped me out a lot. thanks hope more reviews on suspension products keep coming!

 

good job on the review

 

thanks guys. I'll give more review the mroe I get seat time.

Now to figure out how to make the car quiter...got this bag of pillow stuffing and a ton of dynamat so I guess i'm going to go to town on that stuff.

 

...so i have switched out the front springs on the KBee coilovers to some Swift 5kg springs (6") and they are a little short which won't allow preload. It doesn't need to be, but I was going to get helper springs anyways. The swift spring is 2" shorter, 2kg lighter, and a whole lot lighter based on the spring it self. This should give me less unsprung weight, and my suspension should feel better. Only problem I'm having is that my passenger side is always 1/4" higher then my driver side....so I got to adjust that, and also get another alignment after I get the helper springs.

Additional updates to be available soon....

 

got the 3kg helpers and the 5kg main in. need a new alignment and some minor tweeks but it's getting ther.

initial review is with 3 fr, 1rr shock setting it's as smooth if not more smooth then stock. only issue I have is it's too damn low and I scrap everything with my kit. so got to raie it up a little and figure a way to zero out the rear camber. going to cost me some good $$$ to do all that.

was thinking of getting sway bars to prevent scrapping when going up and down curbs but don't want to add the additional stiffness to the suspension.

 

woohoo! i forgot about this thread. thanks for the updates! have you made any other tweaks to it since your last post? i'm on like 5 different fences regarding suspension right now.

 

Suspension is perfect, as it handles the road fine, but after installing 17's it's a bit rough, mainly due to less rubber to allow extra cushioning. I was thinking of selling my whole setup as is, so i can look into getting something with an aluminum body, but no takers, so I'll just keep my setup. I really like the setup I have, and droped approximately 2" all around, I can still hall 5 people around. But on the 17's the tire/offset causes a little rubbing in the rear, so I need to raise the car a bit.

I believe the suspension is the best of both worlds right now with the ability to set for spirited driving as well as DD.

 

oh i see, i just saw your other thread testing waters for your kbee suspension too. i'm looking for either coilovers or a good spring/shock combo but i haven't found any of the latter. am i mistaken or are there still no aftermarket shocks out for the fit? i might just end up getting springs and waiting for shocks, but i'd really rather get a mated set from the start..

edit: one more question, did you have any problems with getting an alignment after you changed your suspension from stock?

 

I hear you. The only shock/spring combo's are really expensive and all require mods. Mugen, J's, and spoon i believe. I say get a coilover setup and you will be just as happy and in the future you can always adjust your height depending on how you feel.

 

yeah i don't know though, i'm getting impatient haha. but how about getting an alignment? i'm especially concerned about the rear. did you have to get shims to get your alignment (toe mostly) within specs for any of the wheels?

 

Hey ToyotaLover I have a set of Killer Bee's down in my basement waiting for all this damn snow to go away so they can get installed. I currently have Eibachs on the car now. Do you think the Eibachs would be a better choice over the KB springs or would you recommend getting the Swift springs for the coilover set up?