After running a full season last year on some Cusco Zero2-E coilovers, we decided to upgrade them for a competition set. The Cuscos where great on the street and for daily driving, but fell short out at the track with full race tires.



HKS Hipermax III Sport:

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These are HKS top of the line off the shelf competition coilovers that are inverted moto tube design in the front, and moto tube in the rear. Offering 30 ways of dampening adjustment in the front and rear, with pillow ball top hats that are camber adjustable in the front. Independent ride height from pre load adjustment, along with helper springs.

They come with the following spring rates: Front 12KG/MM, Rear 10KG/MM.

They are a pre assemebled from HKS, ready to be put into the car. However you still want to double check to make sure that all the hardware and purges are tight before putting them on the car.

Front Install You need the Following:
19MM Socket (6 point)
19MM Open end Wrench
12MM Open End Wrench
14MM Deep Socket
14Mm Open End Wrench
17MM 6 point Socket
17MM Open end wrench
Braker Bar
Torque Wrench.
Jack Stands
Jack
Friend (if his name is Jack, then you have 2 Jacks)
WD-40 or other Penetrate.
And misc. extensions


FRONT:

1) Jack up the front suspension, and then lower it back on jacks and make sure the car is secure.
2) Remove the Front 2 rims
3) Spray penetrate on the lower suspension hardware

4) Remove the 2 lower bolts from the OEM strut that attach it to the Hub.
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5) Remove the bolt that hold the brake like to the OEM strut.Along with taking off the bolt that holds the ABS sensor wire.
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6) There now should be nothing attached to the lower strut and it should be hanging free. Then proceed to remove the 3 top hat bolts and remove the strut from the car.
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7) Get your new HKS Hipermax III Sport Coilover
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8) Put the top hat bolts into the chassis so that the camber adjustment is facing toward the center of the car. And tighten them to OEM Spec.
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9) Insert the lower 2 strut bolts into the hub and tighten them to OEM spec.
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10) Insert the bolt that holds the ABS wire to the strut.
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11) Insert the bolt that holds the Brake line to the Strut.
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12) Now double check all the hardware you just tightened to OEM spec., and make sure its all installed correctly. Also make sure the ABS and Brake line do not rub the rim or any other moving suspension/ Brake component.
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13) Now repeat the same steps on the other front side.

Rear: Unlike the front, both the rear corners need to be done simultaneously.

1) Jack up the back of the car and secure it on Jack stands

2) Remove Rim and spray hardware with some penetrate.

3) Remove rear trunk Matt, so you expose the side plates that sit over the top of the rear top hats.
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4) Now remove the side plates exposing the top hats. These plastic plates are a bit tricky, so just be patient and dont break them.
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5) By this time it should have taken you long enough for penetrate to loosen up the hardware a bit. Now remove the bolt that holds the strut to the lower suspension arm. (this is where the breaker bar and cheater bar are almost a must!). Also remove it on the other side of the suspension.
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6) Now remove the lower sway bar end link bolt. From both sides the driver and passenger side.
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7) The lower rear suspension should now look like this.
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8) Remove the rear top hat nuts.
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9)This is where it gets tricky. The rear strut is now going to be loose from all suspension components, but will be hard to take out. This is why you have to take off both the left and right lower sway bar and shock mount bolts. You have the 2 options.
9.1) Have your friend apply pressure (by standing) on the outer brakes, so that the lower arm moves enough down for you to take out the rear shock.(the car MUST BE SECURED ON JACK STANDS). DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!
9.2 Recommended way that takes longer, is to remove this bolt out from the lower hub.
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10) Grab your new HKS Hipermax III Sport Rear Shock and put it into the rear, and tighten the 2 upper bolts.
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11) Put a Jack under the Rear suspension arm and bring the arm to where you can insert rear lower bolts into the suspension arm. Then tighten to OEM spec.
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12) Now do the end link lower bolt. Followed by OEM spec tightening.
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13) Now double check everything and make sure nothing has been over looked.
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14) Replace all the rear interior pieces that you removed.

15) Install the rims back on the car and lower it.

16) With the car now on the ground get under the car and make sure nothing is making contact with moving suspension components or the rims.

17) Take the car out for a SLOW drive, to make sure that you dont hear any rubbing or clicking from loose components.

18) If everything checks out take the car to a alignment shop and have the alignment performed ASAP! We do not recommend driving farther then the alignment shop after the coilover install. As this will cause poor tire ware, and poor handling.

19) The coilovers come set on 15th out of the 30 dampener settings. I personal found this a little harsh for street driving(your roads might be smoother then our beat up Utah roads, so they might be ok for you). If you need to soften up the suspension do the following. Turn the knob clockwise to set them to full stiff, and then count back to -30 for full soft, and go from there. Always adjust the dampening based off full stiff.




Our impression so far . We have done so far 1 high speed autoX on these. The car was in 100% full street trim. All season tires, street pads, and the coilovers set at -20 from full stiff front and back(what we run on the street).
Even on our street setup I was amazed on how well the car did. It was instantly noticeable that the coilovers where designed for track use. It took me a couple runs to get used to how they drove at the limit(limit of the all season tires), but the lap times where quickly dropping. The track was a little damp and I ended up getting the car sliding sideways over the rumble strips. I instantly got ready for the car to start jumping violently, as that is what the Cusco's used to do. However once the tires hit the rumble strips it stayed completely neutral and smooth. I was able to maintain 100% control, and pulled out of the slide like nothing happened.
At the end of the day the lap times where posted, and I was amazed. Running only .3 seconds slower on a 108 second course (compared to other vehicles in the class), placing 5th overall at the end of the event. The cars that I lost to, where all on race tires, and where being adjusted by the drivers for the tire pressures and so forth (I just left the car the way I drove it in :D ). So overall, very impressed by the units, as they performed amazingly the 1st time out.

More info to come as the season starts.

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Thanks
Kirill
RallySportDirect.com
801-748-4910 ext 1006

Hypermax are incredible. They seem to just keep lasting to. My friend has been drifting on set for years and years now, and it's still going strong.

I have the same set in my 02 sti - handles sensational! awsome set of coilies..

What are the torque settings?

We used the OEM settings, that Subaru provided us with.
Unfortunatley I am unable to find that paper again that I wrote it down on :(

awe... I have a set of coilovers in my bedroom. I want em on the car NOW! haha

that is awesome man ,,, you are brave heart :)

HAHA. Sad thing is I never saw that movie.

hi

i just got mine and my box was missing the adjustment wrench, as shown in the bag its on the left with the black round handle.

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but i got the set up for my 06 sti, do i need this wrench? or is it for another set up?

or is it used for all setups for the top as shown here
http://theattack.rallysportdirect.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/3.jpg

is this just used for adjusting the hight? mine seems to have damper knobs under the bottom on both front and back.

any help, thanks !

patrick

The adjustment knob is only used for 08 Model Hipermax III Sport, as there is no way to mount the dampaner adjustment on the bottom.
And the adjustment knob you have at the bottom is for dampening adjustment.