HKS has launched a Hipermax Touring adjustable spring kit for the FL5 Honda Civic Type R, lowering the car by up to 25 mm while keeping its factory adaptive dampers in place. It went on sale in Japan on September 13 for ¥139,700 including tax and fits FL5 Civic Type Rs built from September 2022 onward.
Keeping the adaptive dampers
The FL5 uses electronically controlled dampers tied to its drive modes. Replacing them with non-electronic coilovers typically means losing that adjustable damping function altogether. HKS's approach avoids the trade-off by leaving the stock dampers fitted and supplying the springs and height-adjustment hardware around them — so, in the company's words, the kit achieves a moderate drop and a more stylish stance while making use of the factory mode-switching function.
The part number is 80280-AH001, and HKS lists spring rates of 51 N/mm (5.2 kgf/mm) front and 52 N/mm (5.3 kgf/mm) rear. Those figures are far below the 137 N/mm the company quotes at both ends for its Hipermax R coilover kit for the same car, though the two are not directly comparable: they use different dampers and different hardware. The same basic concept — factory electronic dampers plus added height adjustment — already appears elsewhere in the Hipermax Touring line, including a kit for the R35 Nissan GT-R.
Ride-height adjustment range
The kit ships set at 19 mm below stock. Front height is set by combining two spacers, giving three fixed positions — 13 mm, 19 mm or 25 mm below stock — while the rear uses a threaded adjuster that can be set anywhere in the range.
It joins HKS's expanding FL5 catalog, which also includes the ¥423,500 swan-neck dry-carbon rear wing launched earlier this month, and sits alongside the rest of the current Type R aftermarket. The Japanese product materials reviewed here do not list overseas availability or pricing.