thanks for the response, leaning towards PSS. I like saving money and essentialy there the same shock with adjustable height mainly what I'm looking for

 

I've had 3 different PSS9s on 3 different S2000s. I love them.

I have also had V3s, and love those too. They offer more height adjustability, and are much stiffer than the PSS9s. But when buying new, there's about a $700 difference between the two. The V3s are overkill on a street car, but I do prefer how they felt compared to the PSS9s.

 

Also, these coilovers don't have height adjustment that is independent from spring preload. So, if you were to get a used set and the previous owner had them too low from the factory recommendations, it would effect shock life negatively.

 

Yeah exactly, I have to be absolutely 100% sure they are in good working order. I am making the seller of th KW determine which I should get. If if doesn't follow through I'm happily to purchase th PSS the fact they are new and lifetime warranty for the original owner of course, I'm ok with that. And lol nothings overkill!! if i can go drive the car each time and love the handling everytime I drive it I am fine with that, I like more of a stiff suspension thats more track-star-race-car like anyway.

 

All you can adjust is ride height. There is no adjustment for preload. Changing ride height does absolutely nothing to change spring rate, and changing ride height does nothing to affect preload, so the only thing that can affect shock life negatively is if the damper bottoms out because it is overlowered and is too short overall.

So there's really nothing to worry about, because what you're talking about doesn't exist.

Honestly though, the worst thing that can happen is if they're high milage and the seals are shot, or someone set the damping too high and bent a shaft or did some other internal damage of that sort. Preload has nothing to do with it, because you can't adjust that.

And if I could afford it, I'd have some KW V3 for my car. Seriously nice stuff. Well, I guess I should say "wanted to spend that kind of money on a commuter WRX"...

 

I stand corrected. Sorry! I didn't realize that the top of the helper springs aren't adjustable.
So, does the helper spring prevent adjusting the height from changing the preload?
Also, isn't preload initially adjusted through the top hat (not talking about height adjusting)?

 

The knob adjustment in the top hat is just the damping adjustment, assuming that's the adjustment you're talking about. Depending on the coilover, it's often a combined compression/rebound adjustment unless compression and rebound are adjusted separately ($$$$). The PSS9 have a combined adjustment, and the KW V3 have separate compression and rebound adjustment (both adjust only low speed, the high speed valving is non-adjustable).

The helper spring doesn't change the preload, but is just another spring in series with the main spring. The aluminum sleeve between the springs moves with them (it's a floating perch), and just serves to keep things located properly and somewhat squared up with each other.

When two springs are in series, you get a combination of the two spring rates until the helper spring goes into coil bind (compresses completely) and then you're left with the spring rate of the main spring. This makes a nice supple coilover because it softens the spring rate when the main spring unloads in droop, and also (on a race car especially) will soften changes in load and upset the tire less.

If you think about how preload is added, adding more preload would involve moving the threaded (lower) spring perch toward the top hat, which compresses the spring more. Changing the ride height involves moving the same lower spring perch down (away from the top hat) if you're lowering the car, which would decrease preload. That's the reason that you can't adjust them independently; you have one adjustment for both things, so you can either set the preload and then accept whatever ride height that gives you, or you can lower the car and accept that you have little or no preload anymore. Part of the reason the spring is preloaded is to keep the spring from flopping around when the coilover is extended in droop, and the helper spring takes care of that very beautifully.

 

Not the knob adjuster. I'm talking about when first installing the top hat, it has to be tightened a certain amount which should compresses the spring more?

I also didn't know that it's a floating perch .

In your last post, you said that lowering (changing ride height) does nothing to preload. Now you say it decreases it?

 

Yes, it will decrease or completely eliminate it, usually eliminate it. What I meant was that you can't increase preload and also lower the car; basically you can't have both. So you can't lower the car and have lots of preload at the same time, because they are completely opposite with that type of coilover.

Once the preload is gone (which doesn't take much, because preload is usually fairly small) at the beginning of the height adjustment range, you have no more preload so the entire rest of the ride height adjustment range has no preload, which means you can't affect something that isn't there anymore. That was a little confusing, sorry...

The only way to get really high spring rates would be to replace the springs.

 

Well, I know with the KWs and Bilsteins, you can actually change the spring preload. If you don't stay within their recommended height settings (raising them too high), you will eventually completely compress the helper spring, and start putting preload on the main spring.

I noticed this with a set of V3s on one of my S2000s. I wanted to get close to OEM height, and that started to put preload on the spring.