I wrote this as a reply to a PM, but it was too long to spend (I get wordy), and I didn't really want to rain on the Groub Buy thread, so I thought I make a thread here instead.
When I got them, I was one of the biggest suspension gurus on a few different Nissan Sentra SER forums. I also had my own B15 parts manufacturing business going. I was really excited when I read about the KSports because they had such great features for a fraction of the cost of the only other decent coil-overs for the B15. I got a very early set of the B15 - one of the first three - I paid retail, not even the group buy price.
After I got my set they stopped selling B15 kits for a month while they revamped the design.
I wrote a bunch of threads on all the Nissan forums about how great they were, how to install them (the KSport instructions were writen in horrible engrish), how to set them up, how to pick your spring rate, how to troubleshoot noises, how to attach the brake hose (which was not explained in the instructions), how great the adjustable lower mount was on the damper-travel-challenge Nissan B chassis.
I must have answered 200 PMs once people started getting their group-buy sets about how to set the height with the adjustable lower perch or how to set the damper stiffness.
I even wrote a thread on one forum and included CAD drawings explaining geometry and damper travel and why the KSports were so great fo the price - the article was picked up by a French Canadian car magazine's web-site!
3 months later my front dampers blew out, I didn't have my stock stuff anymore so I emailed KSport and showed them all of the free marketing, tech support, etc. I had given them and just asked that I get the dampers back in a reasonable amount of time. I also pointed out that I had one of the original three sets for the B15 and that the front dampers on the new sets were different and that I was pretty sure it was just a result of being an early prototype with dampers that were originally intended for the lighter, less poweful, smaller tired, lighter wheeled Japanese market Bluebird Sylphy (the closest thing to a Sentra they sell in Japan).
It took them weeks to reply to my email, I never could get them to return a phone call. They had a lot of ridiculous conditions to the warranty. The box had to be a certain size or you got charged a fee (WTF?), you had to return ONLY the bad part or you would charged a reconditioning fee on part that you returned that didn't need service (again WTF if it aint broke, don't recondition it).
They also said that any sign or tampering or abuse would mean I would have to pay for labor on any service they did plus shipping back to me, but wouldn't really explain what they meant by abuse or what they would be looking for. They also never would answer a straight question about what the fees I might incurr would amount to. I did have to adjust my front dampers pretty tight from the start, but I figured that was because the set was originally designed for a lighter car. Would overdamping them be considered abuse?
After a month of trying to reason with them I decided it wasn't really worth it. I felt I was being reasonable, but if it took them a week to return an email and wouldn't answer/return a phone call, why should I think they would get my parts back to me in the time they said.
All I wanted was a little assurance that it wouldn't cost me the price of a new set just to get "warranty" work done and that I would have the parts back in a reasonable time. They just kept saying turn around was about 2 weeks plus shipping time.
I realize they never asked me to be their spokesman and I shouldn't expect special treatment just for that, but I would've even been happy if they just said to ship them overnight on a certain day and they'd work on them within a couple of days and get them back as soon as they could.
Every email I could tell was just copied and pasted from some scripted document. I got the impression that all of the development and service happened in Japan and the U.S. arm didn't really have any power to do anything - even replace warranty parts. I worried that my parts would get on a slow boat to Japan and I'd be without suspension for months - then have to pay $300 in fees just to get my parts back.
Anyway, I just bought some other parts and stuck them on. My KSports are now nothing more than a fancy doorstop in my garage.
I really do think my parts failed just because they were an early pre-production set, maybe now they are a bigger company and they have better serivce. Maybe the Mazda parts have more development time, maybe I just had bad luck - my Sentra is cursed and all.
Anyway, I'd just say keep your reciept, keep your stock stuff, dot your I's...
They really do have a lot of nice features for the money and if they last at through the warranty period, they are definitely worth the money.
When I got them, I was one of the biggest suspension gurus on a few different Nissan Sentra SER forums. I also had my own B15 parts manufacturing business going. I was really excited when I read about the KSports because they had such great features for a fraction of the cost of the only other decent coil-overs for the B15. I got a very early set of the B15 - one of the first three - I paid retail, not even the group buy price.
After I got my set they stopped selling B15 kits for a month while they revamped the design.
I wrote a bunch of threads on all the Nissan forums about how great they were, how to install them (the KSport instructions were writen in horrible engrish), how to set them up, how to pick your spring rate, how to troubleshoot noises, how to attach the brake hose (which was not explained in the instructions), how great the adjustable lower mount was on the damper-travel-challenge Nissan B chassis.
I must have answered 200 PMs once people started getting their group-buy sets about how to set the height with the adjustable lower perch or how to set the damper stiffness.
I even wrote a thread on one forum and included CAD drawings explaining geometry and damper travel and why the KSports were so great fo the price - the article was picked up by a French Canadian car magazine's web-site!
3 months later my front dampers blew out, I didn't have my stock stuff anymore so I emailed KSport and showed them all of the free marketing, tech support, etc. I had given them and just asked that I get the dampers back in a reasonable amount of time. I also pointed out that I had one of the original three sets for the B15 and that the front dampers on the new sets were different and that I was pretty sure it was just a result of being an early prototype with dampers that were originally intended for the lighter, less poweful, smaller tired, lighter wheeled Japanese market Bluebird Sylphy (the closest thing to a Sentra they sell in Japan).
It took them weeks to reply to my email, I never could get them to return a phone call. They had a lot of ridiculous conditions to the warranty. The box had to be a certain size or you got charged a fee (WTF?), you had to return ONLY the bad part or you would charged a reconditioning fee on part that you returned that didn't need service (again WTF if it aint broke, don't recondition it).
They also said that any sign or tampering or abuse would mean I would have to pay for labor on any service they did plus shipping back to me, but wouldn't really explain what they meant by abuse or what they would be looking for. They also never would answer a straight question about what the fees I might incurr would amount to. I did have to adjust my front dampers pretty tight from the start, but I figured that was because the set was originally designed for a lighter car. Would overdamping them be considered abuse?
After a month of trying to reason with them I decided it wasn't really worth it. I felt I was being reasonable, but if it took them a week to return an email and wouldn't answer/return a phone call, why should I think they would get my parts back to me in the time they said.
All I wanted was a little assurance that it wouldn't cost me the price of a new set just to get "warranty" work done and that I would have the parts back in a reasonable time. They just kept saying turn around was about 2 weeks plus shipping time.
I realize they never asked me to be their spokesman and I shouldn't expect special treatment just for that, but I would've even been happy if they just said to ship them overnight on a certain day and they'd work on them within a couple of days and get them back as soon as they could.
Every email I could tell was just copied and pasted from some scripted document. I got the impression that all of the development and service happened in Japan and the U.S. arm didn't really have any power to do anything - even replace warranty parts. I worried that my parts would get on a slow boat to Japan and I'd be without suspension for months - then have to pay $300 in fees just to get my parts back.
Anyway, I just bought some other parts and stuck them on. My KSports are now nothing more than a fancy doorstop in my garage.
I really do think my parts failed just because they were an early pre-production set, maybe now they are a bigger company and they have better serivce. Maybe the Mazda parts have more development time, maybe I just had bad luck - my Sentra is cursed and all.
Anyway, I'd just say keep your reciept, keep your stock stuff, dot your I's...
They really do have a lot of nice features for the money and if they last at through the warranty period, they are definitely worth the money.
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