The following review comes to us via King customer Andy Thompson - thanks Andy!

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Skunk2’s Pro-C Coilovers are a solid choice for an all-inclusive, mid-level suspension offering features beneficial to track-specific applications.

Why I Chose Pro-C

I initially set out to find an authentic suspension that offered modern coilover features and chassis-specific production. Although many with newer vehicles will not have this issue, my dated EF chassis has quite limited aftermarket choices. So the Pro-C was one of my only choices.

Skunk2 designs and tests all of their products, specific to application. This is important because the coilover actually matches the intended chassis it was designed for, instead of a coilover that was originally designed for one chassis and has been translated to fit others.

I wanted a fully-inclusive suspension that had springs matched to struts, versus a two-piece spring and strut combination from two separate manufactures. I wanted fully independent adjustability in spring rate, dampening, and ride height. The Pro-C smartly offers ride height adjustability independent of spring rate. With many older suspensions, changing ride height also adjusts the spring rate as a negative side effect.

I was also interested in an inverted mono tube strut to maintain a larger oil capacity while offering strength and responsiveness. The Pro-C does not offer inversion, but still uses a mono tube design versus an OE style struts twin tube design (which can feel unresponsive in performance applications).

Here is a comparison of the EF OEM suspension versus the Pro-C:



Pros

12-Way Valving

The Pro-C offers a relatively simple and effective valving system. Removable keys on the top of the strut easily control dampening. The keys are retained to the top of the piston rod via rubber o-rings, which allow them to be left in place during driving.

Many lower quality suspensions advertise 36-way adjustability, which is fine, but can be quite frustrating to keep track of and count out when readjusting damping. With Skunk2 offering 12 points of adjustability, it gives the user enough range to dial in damping with meaningful differences between each click. I currently have my suspension set at 3 in the front and 5 in the rear, for casual street driving.

CNC Machined Aluminum Strut housing and Spring Perches

If you live anywhere with rain, snow, or dirt; aluminum threading and perches are a huge deal. A common issue with lower quality aluminum and steel struts is corrosion, and trying to adjust spring rate after any amount of time usually involves ditching the spanner wrenches and grabbing a punch and hammer. The Pro-Cs are made of 6061-T6 aluminum, which is a tempered grade. This makes the threading much more corrosion-resistant and spring rate adjustability a feature that persists despite your weather or road conditions.

I have two summer seasons on my coilovers, in which they still adjust with ease after road grime is wiped off. I personally apply silicon lubricant to threading to repel water (although road grim builds up quicker but is easily removable).

Cons

Street Comfort

Contrary to what is advertised, these coilovers are by no means comfortable. With almost no spring load and low dampening settings, you will still be feeling every crack in the street. On the other hand, the feeling is confident, and there is a total absence of slack in the system. That said, make sure the rest of your suspension system and bushings are up to par-- if not, expect the soft spot in your system to be amplified.

Clearances with UCA

Although this is not a coilover specific issue, some double wishbone suspension setups with front camber kits may run into clearance issues with certain degrees of camber. On my EF, I am running an irrational 4.6 degrees of camber in the front, in which occasionally my front knuckle knocks against the springs and spring perches of the coilover on larger bumps.

Final Word

If you’re a Honda enthusiast looking to get involved in some motor sports such as local auto cross events or open road racing events -- while still being able to drive your car on the street -- this is definitely a great choice.

If you’re planning on driving your car every day or commute long distance to work, the Pro-C may not be for you. Or consider purchasing the Pro-C with lower spring rates.

I am constantly tinkering with my suspension and plan to try a different set of springs for summer 2015. Thanks for reading.

Detailed look at the Pro-C:



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See more Skunk2 Racing products at the King Motorsports online store!
http://www.kingmotorsports.com/m-43-skunk2-racing.aspx

Over the years I've only added modest bolt-ons to improve the power output on my 2002 Civic Si (EP3) hatchback. My collection of bolt-ons includes a Mugen airbox, Mugen Twin Loop, RBC intake manifold and K-Pro. After a quick call with Scott at King Motorsports, I settled on his recommendation to go with the Skunk2 Racing Alpha Series header.

Scott said they've seen respectable gains from the Skunk2 header and the build quality gets his thumbs up. From what I've read online, the Alpha is essentially the same design as Skunk2's top-shelf MegaPower line, but at a lower price point thanks to some advanced manufacturing technology (and probably concessions on materials used).

General feedback I've read from owners is that people love this header. Fitment on K20A3/A2 is good, so long as it is done by a professional. Folks with a K24 swap may have to do a bit of magic with their front sway bars -- a common issue that affects all aftermarket header choices.

This is the first race header I've ever purchased. I had a lot of questions about what would be included out of the box, so for you fellow newbies out there, this post is for you. Keep in mind this is for the DC5/EP3 (Skunk2 part #412-05-1910) -- so your results may vary for other fitments.

The box itself is fairly sturdy and red and black graphics scream performance. This is one delivery you don't want to leave on your front porch overnight. For you married folks, this is a car part delivery that will be hard to hide, ha ha.

The header was wrapped in bubble wrap which provides reasonable protection during shipment. The entire contents of the box:

- Alpha series header
- adapter pipe
- donut gasket
- oxygen sensor defouler
- 2 front sway bar brackets - allows for side-to-side repositioning of the sway bar thanks to elongated mount openings.
- owner's kit - a black envelope that includes a Skunk2 brochure and registration card with serial number.
- Skunk2 Racing decal

Here are the front sway bar brackets, defouler and donut gasket:



Here is the adapter pipe:





Here is one of the 2 oxygen sensor bungs. Remove this bolt to install the oxygen sensor.:



Here is the second oxygen sensor bung. Remove bolt to install oxygen sensor or defouler.:







The top has an ALPHA badge and holographic sticker with serial number:



The underside has two ALPHA stamps near the hanger:



There is one more badge that says "FOR OFF ROAD USE ONLY. NEVER TO BE USED ON POLLUTION CONTROLLED VEHICLES" just downstream of the hanger:





Next up -- installation and dyno tuning!

See more Skunk2 Racing products at the King Motorsports online store!
http://www.kingmotorsports.com/m-43-skunk2-racing.aspx

In our shop recently: We put our vertical mill to good use porting a Skunk2 K Series intake manifold for a 74mm throttle body. This manifold is headed for install on a K24/K20, with dyno tuning shortly afterwards.

Our customer Jason S. asked, "Can't this be done on a flap wheel?" The answer is that it is difficult to get the precision to open up the throttle body exactly 4mm with a flapper wheel. We're all about precision!

We are also porting the intake runners.

Here is a close up of the before (right side) and after (left side).

Call or email us to talk about your porting job!

http://kingmotorsports.com/advsearch.aspx?SearchTerm=port

Skunk2 Intake Manifolds

Skunk2 Thermal Intake Manifold and Throttle Body gaskets are designed as direct replacements for OEM gaskets. Skunk2's advanced high temperature thermal polymer material protects against heat soak and maximizes horsepower gains by reducing heat transfer. With the use of Skunk2 thermal gaskets, air intake temps are minimized which provides the your engine cooler air for combustion, and that means horsepower. This and bypassing several heat sources can provide you up to 5% more power.

Skunk2 Racing thermal intake manifold and throttle body gaskets are perfect for your race, weekend warrior and street application.

Features:
- B/D/K-Series Applications
- Direct replacements for OEM intake manifold and throttle body gaskets
- Protects against heat soak and reduces the incoming air temperature before it reaches the cylinder head.
- Reduces HP robbing heat transfer into the intake manifold
- High Heat deflection

• Acura B17A1
• Acura B18A1, B1, C1, C5
• Honda B16A2, A3
• Honda B20B, Z

Thermal Intake Manifold Gasket (B16a)
372-05-0290

• Acura B17A1
• Honda B16A2, A3

Thermal Intake Manifold Gasket (K-Series non-Si)
372-05-0320

• Acura K20A2, A3, Z1
• Honda K20A3, Z3
• Honda K24A1, A4, A8, Z1

Recently a customer brought his Civic in for dyno tuning. On the first dyno run, the motor hits VTEC and goes dead rich -- but makes no horsepower.

We pulled off the aftermarket header. Here's a pic:

We look inside the header -- a generic one from eBay -- and examined it more closely. What we found was shockingly poor construction yielding almost total blockage. See for yourself:

We replaced the header with a quality Skunk2 Alpha Series header. Ran it on the dyno again, and saw a *dramatic* power and torque increase.

Here's the comparison chart:

If you've read Mike's interview, you know our philosophy about buying from eBay is to use extreme caution. We're not saying every auto part on eBay is badly made or a knockoff (and eBay is trying to fight that image too), but there are still dreadful products out there that can cost you power, money and sometimes even your safety. Ebay sellers know they will probably never meet you, so their motivation to simply move product overshadows *doing the right thing for the customer*. And even if the seller does care, customer feedback doesn't always make its way back to the seller.

We do the right thing for our customers. If it won't help your build, we won't sell it to you.

And we have the dyno charts (and decades of experience) to back it up!

It really is true: "When you buy cheap, you buy twice."