The HLDSTMT Daily Driver: </br>KW Clubsport Install
HLDSTMT every day

Just over a year ago, I got lucky enough to get my hands on a brand new car. It was my first time to ever pick one up straight from the dealer. Oh, the joy! After picking up the HLDSTMT Scion FR-S at the San Bernardino Toyota dealership, an hour’s drive east of Los Angeles, I drove it straight to Las Vegas and Formula Drift Round 6 (although I couldn’t help but test it out on a closed off dirt road along the way). We ended up qualifying first and taking second place that weekend. It looked like the dirt road practice on the way there paid off…

KWBOX

After Las Vegas, I decided to treat my lucky charm FR-S to some nice aftermarket parts. First up, I ordered one of the most anticipated upgrades that was available for the car: the KW Clubsport two-way coilover suspension kit for the ZN6 (FR-S, GT86 and BRZ). KW Suspension was actually one of the very first sponsors that I picked up during our 2010 Formula Drift rookie season, and we currently run their three-way race suspension coilover kit on the Speedhunters Toyota 86-X. Due to my hectic schedule, however, it would take a year before I found time to actually install the kit on the FR-S.

TOOLS

But finally, on a warm summer day of 2013 I rolled into the city of Hawthorne, California. Right there, in between the 105 freeway and Rosecrans Avenue lies the home of AEM Electronics and Papadakis Racing. I should be able to find the tools needed for a coilover change here, right?

SHAWN

Papadakis Racing mechanic Shawn Hillier spawned onto the scene in his signature black uniform (seriously, I’ve never seen Shawn wear anything but black on black). Shawn has been Stephan Papadakis’ wingman since way back in the days, and the two of them make up the daily operations at Papadakis Racing with Aldo Villagran being the rig driver and third soldier.

HAND

Shawn knows I’m not the fastest mechanic around, so I think he wanted to lend a hand so we could get done on time…

BOXOPEN

Opening the KW box, you immediately realize why KW Suspension has pretty much become the industry standard in the American tuner scene. The products and the packaging are carefully put together – it feels like you’re opening a gift.

BOXOPEN2

One example of KW’s attention to detail is the tool kit they ship with the box. This is a slim and sturdy plastic folder that makes it easy to store the coilover manual, the allen keys and the valve knobs in the car. Taking care of little things like these really means you’re taking care of your customer.

JACK

The install itself is pretty straightforward.

FULLSHOCK

We did one axle at a time, making use of a jack, a couple of jack stands (safety first!), an impact gun, and some 12, 14, 17 and 19 mm sockets and wrenches. That’s about it!

OLD

Out with the old…

NEW

… and in with the new.

The art of footwork
MOTEGI

I made sure to get some new 225/40R18 Hankook RS-3s and wrap them around a set of 9.5×18 Motegi Racing MR 120s to complement the coilover install. But were my offset calculations right?

FRONTAXLE

I’d say it’s a good fit! I might want to go with a slightly lighter wheel color shade later on, perhaps something along the lines of an 80-90% black. Suggestions?

REAR

Moving on to the rear axle, Shawn jumped on the jack and brought her up in a heartbeat. You should see how quickly Shawn and Aldo change tires on our tC drift car! I loosened the sway bar links and bottom coilover mount, while Shawn dug up the top mounts that are hidden underneath the trunk carpet. The factory plastic plugs for the carpet are designed to be reused, which further helps to make this an easy install.

REARSHOCKS

Bang, bang, knock, knock…

TEAM

… and that’s it! In between fiddling with ride heights and talking smack, we knocked out the install in an hour or two.

REARCOMPLETE

And voilá!

STOCKLRGLEFT

So, it went from this…

MODLRG

… to this. Thoughts? The important question, however, is of course this: how does she drive?

TOPMOUNT

I’ve actually only driven the car for a couple of miles since the install, so it’s a little early to say. What I can tell you this far, however, is that it is definitely a firmer ride (the shocks are set to factory settings), which to a guy like me is a good thing. But I really can’t comment before I’ve taken the HLDSTMT FR-S up some canyon roads or carved through some real LA freeway traffic.

FREDRIC

As luck would have it, I had to head back to Southern California for the Formula Drift finals, so I should be able to update you soon. All I need to do is to find a place to put this KW Clubsport Kit through a real test… “I wasn’t swerving, officer… I was changing lanes!”

To be continued…

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27 comments

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1

To low, for me a least ;)

2

Fysøren det ble grisepent!

3

Definite improvement, especially the wheels. I like the black on white personally.

4

Looks better. Much better.
Needs some CR-01 Meisters. Why? Because.
Also I completely agree that the most time consuming part of a job is the smack talking.

5

awesome looking forward to more updates!

6

Nice, now you just need wheels that aren't ugly.

7

Great story.... Oh I won't mind if you guy give me little feature on that CRX sitting in the back, that's cute you know..!!

8

@someguy 
Really? I think they look pretty cool. Those Motegi's are awesome and are similar to the ones on the Ferrari 458 GT3 cars.

9

some new brake kit and performance upgrade and it shall be a very good car.!

10

@Sam No such thing. :)

11

So Freddie, 2J or Van engine?
This needs gatebil power ;) 

Nice rice :)

12

That's stupid amounts of clean. I think the black wheels look good, but maybe a dark shade of bronze or brown with a black lip or so would look cool. Perhaps one of the SH photoshop wizards could come up with a render for you. Anyway, i keep saying this, but it's insane how wheels and a bit more low entirely change the appeal of a car. I love it.

13

niiiice

14

Health and Saftey filp flop's ??

15

Theres wheels on the car? Can't even see em!

16

Gun metal grey, or dark bronze....Fra en Norsk bil entusiast i Arizona!

17
Ciaran @ GT_Europe

I would be very interested to see how you find the clubsports. I'm looking at a few different options and these are looking like the most tempting option!

Author18

We're definitely on the same page!

Author19

For the pictures it was almost sitting on the bumpstops and that was a pretty rough ride, naturally. I've raised it an inch or so now and that feels pretty good driving around LA! I need to take it to the track, though, to really put them to test.

20
Ciaran @ GT_Europe

FredricAasbo Thanks for the response! It would be interesting to see how they perform on track too for sure. I was at the Nordschleife last week with the car, although I had an awesome time,,I would love to get the brakes and suspension sorted in time for the opening of the track next year, it could do with a bit less body roll and brake fade!! But 20,000km so far and it's an awesome little car, I hope you are enjoying it as much too!

21

i dont get it, why would you want to run clubsports with a tire and wheel fitment choice like that?
just defeats the purpose of the suspension setup . . .
im sure it 'feels pretty good driving around the streets of LA'

anyway +1 to kw for finally making a bigger name for themselves in the US, top products!

22

You guys are making it really hard to not put myself into massive amounts of debt to get a BRZ/FR-S.
Those wheels and stance though... my god. I like how the BRZ/FRS just gets more attractive the more you do to it.

23

Hey Fredric! Get Wedsports SA-67R wheels, those would look great on the ZN6 chassis

24

I always thought white and gold/bronze go well together. I always envisioned an FRS to have a set of Volk Rays TE37SL or TE37V in bronze, but that's up to you. A set of Rota Torque wheels would look good on them too, they have gunmetal, steel grey and plain gold finishes available, and I've seen a few people run them, and they look pretty good.

Author25

@benji Yup, I did raise the car back up ever so slightly - more on that later!

Author26

@Kart Works Search speedhunters.com for Stephan Papadakis and you shall find some more info!

27

Wow, you were just down the street from me, I could have helped out. ;-)
How much of a drop was it initially, 2 inches? Looks great. Did you consider the ST line that KW makes or was there a more specific purpose for your choice? Great job!

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