Apex Coilovers

[StreetDreamin]

I have a friend of a friend that was a hookup for a coilover deal. It was supposed to be Apex N1s for $1310 installed!!! Although, im broke, it was too good of a deal to refuse. I got them installed and they feel good, but I thought they looked funny, bc the whole damper was red, not red and silver(or goldish?). I thought it was just a n00b error on my part or the newer models were all red. I kno they were genuine apex and werent WSs. The manual calls these n1 Damper ExV and i confused them with perhaps the n1 type V damper. But I was at D1 and saw a shop wit the same coilovers that I got. They said its the new Apex coilovers and they aren't n1s. I've tried to search for this, but I couldnt find any info. Anyone know much about the apex coilover line up? Thanks in advance.

[Ian]

i saw all red apex'i coilovers on ebay very recently...


but i'm pretty sure they're legit...that sounds like a fairly decent deal but i wouldnt buy coilovers taht i wasnt exactly sure about.

[TK]

these are legit coilovers from apexi and were just recently released last year... the model you got EXV are the entry level models with 8k/6k spring rates, 30 way adjustable damping and pillow camber plates up front and pillow ball mounts on the rears. let us know how they ride, i have a set of those on hold for me

[Ritz S14]

Apexi N1 Hm.. spring rate 8/6 ..32 way adjustable $1399



Megan racing.. spring rage 8/6 32way adjustable $950


Difference, color and labeling.. price $400

[pruto]

haha, the best way to check if its legit is to call up apexi with the part numbers =)

thats what i did when i bought my N1 pros used and i wanted to figure out what spring rate it was, called them up with my part numbers and bam, it was quick and easy.

anyone know what size pistons these thew apexi coils are on? hehe, my ego must know

[pruto]

Originally Posted by Smog Tech

Difference, color and labeling.. price $400

mmm.... NO

are you trying to say that all coilovers are the same? are you serious?

Price DOES matter. Its like saying why buy Kei's Office if you can buy Tein HEs for a grand less.

Apexi N1 Pros retail 2500, there is a REASON for that. a lot better valving than entry level coilovers, better design, local service (300 bucks to rebuild all 4 corners, try that with megan).

oh my god. geez, can't believe some of these people

[Ian]

no these are legitimately known to be from the same manufacturer and of the same design


EDIT:

that sounds ignorant...i want to add "from what i understand"

[atom]

Originally Posted by pruto

mmm.... NO

are you trying to say that all coilovers are the same? are you serious?

Price DOES matter. Its like saying why buy Kei's Office if you can buy Tein HEs for a grand less.

Apexi N1 Pros retail 2500, there is a REASON for that. a lot better valving than entry level coilovers, better design, local service (300 bucks to rebuild all 4 corners, try that with megan).

oh my god. geez, can't believe some of these people

That ain't what he's saying. Look at the pics of the ExV's and look at the megans closely. I know that when I saw the ExV's for the first time a while back I thought they looked a lot like the megans/bor-chuans/whatever you wanna call em.

EDIT: To add to the original post, sorry to say but you didn't get a deal. Street price on ExV's go for about 1000-1100. There's a group buy on nopistons for the FD versions and they were under a G for the coilovers.......

[Ritz S14]

Originally Posted by atom

That ain't what he's saying. Look at the pics of the ExV's and look at the megans closely. I know that when I saw the ExV's for the first time a while back I thought they looked a lot like the megans/bor-chuans/whatever you wanna call em.

Yeah, I am NOT saying that all Coilovers are created equally. Definately NOT.

I'm just comparing MR and Apexi C/Os. I've never seen the Apexi c/os in person, but just looking at pictures, even the dampening knob looks identical. Just puting 2 and 2 together.

[pruto]

Ok well, here is a bit of info for you: GABs (the shocks you have in the picture) are made by KYB, look exactly the same as the AGX, but GABs are about twice as much price wize. Why? one cause they're not available in the states normally but also because they are valved differently. Just like I believe Nismo coils and shocks are made by cusco. They are sourced to these bigger companies to make, but at their specs, they may look the same, have the same placement or whatnot, but be completely different.

do not judge something by the looks.
1) you don't know if they are valved the same
2) you don't know if they have the same size pistons, Apexi coilovers traditionally have the largest pistons on the coilover market, N1 pros are 52mms and N1 type Vs are 48, most other brands don't even come close. HEs are 38 and JICs and Hyper Max IIs are 46.

but hey, maybe they are the same, but i'm just saying you definately can't tell by just looking at them ,or as you say, putting "2 and 2 together". unless someone can give me the compression charts that shows those two being equal, i would highly doubt it.

[Ritz S14]

Yeah, you're absolutely right. If anyone has any casting marks on their type V's let me know, and I'll compare them to mine.. I know that doens't say anything about the valving, but at least we'll know they came from the same factory.

As for the GAB's You're right, they are KYBs. I bought them not knowing that. But I did know the Gab set along with Eibach prokit springs only ran me $375 shipped.

[TK]

Originally Posted by pruto

anyone know what size pistons these thew apexi coils are on? hehe, my ego must know

edit- its 44 just checked another thread

[SilviaDriver]

for reference,

it was said megan racing coils are made by BorChuann. BorChuann coilovers use 44mm pistons.

http://www.bcec.com.tw/function/function_05.html

apexi n1 exv coils are also 44mm

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/hopup1/apcon1exvni2.html

[Ritz S14]

Originally Posted by SilviaDriver

for reference,

it was said megan racing coils are made by BorChuann. BorChuann coilovers use 44mm pistons.

apexi n1 exv coils are also 44mm

Holy shit.

[umsports]

Originally Posted by Smog Tech

Apexi N1 Hm.. spring rate 8/6 ..32 way adjustable $1399



Megan racing.. spring rage 8/6 32way adjustable $950


Difference, color and labeling.. price $400

SHHHH.....you weren't supposed to figure out my little secret....

[TK]

interesting, that adjustment knob on the megan looks VERY similar to the one on the exv....

[Ian]

sweet...i'm getting some MR coils tomorrow

[pruto]

did a bit of searching

they do indeed have the same piston size. 44. which means the megans are awesome for the price.

the ExV is also advertised as having a 62mm direct wound spring. On the megan spring it says 62.180.008. so 62mm is an important number.

the only other two numbers i've found is 180, which Asad said is probably the free standing height of the springs on the Megan and 22mm, which is the diameter of the strut type rod on the Apexi unit.

this is kinda fishy. BC is a taiwanese company, i hope to god Apexi hasn't started sourcing their production to taiwan.

oh, and i think you did get ripped off, group buy prices for the ExV is about 1100, which puts it not too far from the MR price range.

[sw20>>s14]

MRs just keep on getting better and better...

[pruto]

sorry, i didn't read that correctly, he said 1310 installed, which means, including a fee for the install.

most shops charge anywhere from 150-300 bucks for installing shock/springs/coils. which is a rip, you can do it in 3 hours. Shit, i did my coilover install on the side of a street in like 2 hours (rush for time).

[Ritz S14]

I had a lift..and all the tools. TOok me an hour.

[OptionZero]

yeah, but what about the al ignment? Unless u want to use a protractor and what...chalk?...u need a shop with a laser.

I'm assuming that was included in the cost of "install", but possibly not.

[pruto]

most installs don't include alignment. that is extra. i doubt if many of the install shops have tools to do an alignment for a coilover car.

i swapped in my coilovers and drove back 150 miles the same day. Did a basic eyeball test to measure coilover height and it ran perfect. The camber was way off, but the toe wasn't that bad. I took it to an alignment shop a week or two later and they didn't do much adjusting.

anyway, i guess we can assume for all intents and purposes that MR, BC and these ExVs are all the same, which is shocking, but oh well. Apex'i products are usually top of the line good shit. At least it seems like BC makes quality taiwanese stuff. And well, They are meant as entry level coilovers, world sports replacements probably and world sports suck. Bleh, oh well.

i wonder if this means MR owners can take their coilovers in to be serviced by Apex'i, haha. Apex'i has one of the cheapest servcing plans locally, i know it costs less to rebuild my N1 pros than it does for Tein for HEs.

[A Spec Products]

Originally Posted by pruto

anyway, i guess we can assume for all intents and purposes that MR, BC and these ExVs are all the same, which is shocking, but oh well. Apex'i products are usually top of the line good shit. At least it seems like BC makes quality taiwanese stuff. And well, They are meant as entry level coilovers, world sports replacements probably and world sports suck. Bleh, oh well.

After speaking with Apex'i personally, they have assured me that the N1 EXV coilovers are ABSOLUTELY 100% NOT the same as the Megan units. The research and development for the EXV was done in Japan specifically for a US released coilover. Apex'i's Japanese design team created these units using their own valving specifications as well as materials. Thus, you can rest assured that you are indeed getting outstanding Apex'i quality and performance.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or Apex'i directly.

Thanks,
Logan

[MikeFD3S]

don't be surprised, a lot of coilover manufacturers actually outsource all of their stuff to taiwan. The Apex and MR look exactly alike, and also look like a couple others that are on the market. Definitely MIT (Made in Taiwan) Look at a lot of the multi-link suspension, many of them are from the same factory too.

Coilover specs and internals might be slightly different for each manufacturer, but the quality will be the same since they came from the same factory. I personally don't trust and question a lot of the stuff that comes out of the chinese factorys. Those MR's/N1's probably won't last a year before blowing out on the street.

Gab Prosso and Tanabe Sustec Pro DD are custom spec systems made by KYB Japan, but they are similar, but both actually very good systems (KYB has been making suspensions in Japan since the 1920's)

TEIN uses Tokico shafts. Tokico is another very old suspension manufacturer. Theres a rumour that TEIN is made in the same factory as Hayame coilovers, but no one has ever been able to validate those kinds of claims.

Because some products are very similar but have different labels, doesnt mean that they're all bad necessarily. Just be careful on the price you pay, and do some research. There are plenty of people on this forum who have or have ridden in many types of suspensions.

If the company doesnt have any kind certification for their manufacturing, or are very new, i would be careful on putting it on your daily driven car.

[North240]

Of course Apexi is going to tell you that, what company is really going to say yes these coilovers are 100% the same as these cheaper units................


Thats just a poor business move if they ever admitted it, they may be a little different but not that much.

[TK]

the exv's are made in taiwan according to a source i have at apexi usa. they mainly released this model to expand their product line so they can have an entry level coilover that will be comparable to the tein ss with pillow ball mounts. the n1 evolution model coilovers (ie. type drift, circuit) will continue to be made in japan as their old models were

[wanganwonder]

they are the same. enjuku is using them on their shop cars. probably getting some myself.

[OptionZero]

They are the same...but there's a coupla hundred $$$ price difference? I wasn't aware the Apexi' sticker was worth so much! =P

There's no reason to get the Apexi's if they're the same as the MR just more expensive...

[mr_240sx]

Originally Posted by OptionZero

They are the same...but there's a coupla hundred $$$ price difference? I wasn't aware the Apexi' sticker was worth so much! =P

There's no reason to get the Apexi's if they're the same as the MR just more expensive...

theres more to it then the price tag and the different brand names, they are valved differently and they might look similar but im sure the internals are of different quality. Like the saying goes, "you get what you pay for".