APEXi Coilovers Review – Just How Good Are They?
If you’ve been involved in the car world at all over the last two decades or played a single Need for Speed game since Underground 1, you’ll be familiar with the name A’PEXi.
Usually the first on the decals list, and often associated with parts like turbo timers, A’PEXi actually also make coilover suspension. But, just how good are they? In this blog post we will find out.
About A’PEXi
A’PEXi was founded in 1992 in Japan and started off making exhausts and various other performance parts. They have a long history of being involved in motorsports since the beginning, and in 1998 joined the Super GT series in Japan with a Toyota MR2. The following year they won their class and switched to a MR-S.
In 2002 they competed in D1 with a Toyota Altezza driven by Mr. Youichi Imamura. They then built the famous A’PEXi Mazda RX7, which Mr Imamura drove to 5 podium positions and won the series championship. The next year they got 2nd in the series. The RX7 was then shipped to America to compete in Formula Drift and is currently the trophy vehicle for A’PEXi USA.
A’PEXi also built a drag car out of a Honda Integra, which achieved a 9.006 ¼ mile time at 156.43 mph at the Sendai Drag Strip. However, due to lack of downforce as well as dips in the drag strip, the front end lifted and caused damage.
The A’PEXi team got the car repaired and running within 2 weeks, making some significant improvements. They then achieved a 8.84 time at 161mph.
Needless to say, A’PEXi know what they are doing when it comes to racing, and they have used this knowledge to make some high quality performance parts for a range of Japanese vehicles.
But just how good are their coilovers? Let’s take a look.
APEXi N1 ExV Coilovers
Currently, A’PEXi only offers one coilover model, the N1 ExV.
The N1 ExV’s are designed to be a street performance coilover that can also handle track use, making them the perfect all-rounder.
They come with all the features you would expect from a proper performance coilover, including:
- 32-way dampening adjustment
- Ride height adjustment done at the shock body, allowing you to retain full suspension travel and set the spring pre-load
- Monotube damper
- Solid upper mounts, which on applicable cars are pillow-ball camber adjustable. Other cars get a rubber bushing.
- Rebuildable
According to A’PEXi, the N1 ExV’s have been designed for the American market, which means they are built to withstand harsher conditions and increased wear causing by everyday street driving.
The N1 EvX’s go for around $1100, which is a pretty good deal considering all these features.
BUY APEXi N1 EXV COILOVERS HERE
Are the APEXi N1 ExV’s Any Good?
I spent quite some time digging through various forums and websites trying to get as many opinions and reviews as possible to answer this question.
The overall consensus I found was that yes, they are actually a very good coilover kit.
Some other interesting information I also found was that apparently BC Racing actually make these coilovers for A’PEXi.
Due to this, most people assume that they are exactly the same as the BC BR’s, with different colors.
So much so that apparently a few distributors and engineers from a 240 forum spoke to A’PEXi and the other manufacturers to find out the answer, as well as opened the shocks up to see the internals and do some shock dyno tests.
The conclusion to that was while BC Racing makes the shock bodies, the internals are significantly different, using different oil and valving spec’d by A’PEXi from their R&D. This makes the N1 ExV’s much more responsive, and significantly different to the BC’s and the other coilovers BC Racing make (such as Megan Racing).
So while they may look the same, the A’PEXi N1 ExV’s are actually much higher quality.
What makes me believe this even more is that the vast majority of people that had the A’PEXi coilovers were very happy with them and openly said so.
The most notable points were that they were extremely comfortable, and stiffer than TEIN Flex Z’s, which they were often compared against, resulting in better handling especially for track use.
The only negative review I found on a forum was to do with the fact they were too stiff for that person, but they also openly said they lived in an area with terrible roads. So that’s understandable, but that doesn’t make the coilovers bad.
So, Should You Buy APEXi N1 ExV’s?
Yes. By all accounts and everything I could find, it looks like the A’PEXi N1 ExV’s are an excellent option if you want a coilover that will handle the street and the track, and for an affordable price.
The only downside is that they are only made for a handful of Japanese cars, so if you don’t own one of those, you are out of luck.
BUY APEXi N1 EXV COILOVERS HERE
Cars owned: Mk2 Golf with 1.8T swap, BMW E28 with M30B35 swap, BMW E36 328I Mtech, BMW 750IL, Nissan 300ZX, Honda Civic EF
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