Anybody have a Kohler Memoirs elongated comfort height toilet?

[Rich Andresen]

I love the looks of the Kohler Memoirs elongated comfort height toilet, but I have been spooked by some of the reviews. My main concern is flush power and bowl washing effectiveness. I believe Kohler came out with an updated Class 5 version around May 2011 that has functional rim jets which may be an improvement. I have also read that the tank stands about 3 inches away from the wall on a standard 12 inch rough-in. I read one review saying that the rim height was only about 5 inches above the water level which is not good for men. I also noted that the Kohler got a 1000 rating on the flush power tests while the Toto only got an 800. But I am not sure these numbers tell the whole story.

As much as I love the looks of this item, I do not want to sacrifice performance for looks. If anybody owns, uses, or knows about this toilet, your feedback would be most useful. Thanks much.

[jadnashua]

The originator of the MAP test says anything above 500 is fine. The test flushes plastic wrapped paste...not exactly like the real stuff. Some manufacturers have changed their design to maximize the results of the testing. The testing tells nothing about bowl wash, splashing, whether it shreads paper and poo, or how noisy it is. The first thing to look at is the side of the thing to trace the waste path. Are the curves smooth? Are the changes of angle sharp? Plastic wrapped paste is flexible enough and smooth enough to not jam up..the real stuff is sometimes sticky, and varies in diameter and length. Smooth curves with no sharp angles will work better in the long run.

[Rich Andresen]

Hi Jim, thanks for your reply and photos; very nice of you to share. I too have an engineering/physics background and I have studied the shapes of the waste paths on these toilets. The Kohler and Toto seem very similar although it appears that Kohler has deliberately put a slight kink in the vertical part of the waste path for some reason. Do you own a Kohler, or do you know how well the Kohler performs side by side with the Toto? I am interested in feedback from anyone who has used this toilet. Thanks.

[jadnashua]

I have Toto toilets in my home, and put them in my mother's as well...no recent direct experience with Kohler.

Notice the point where the waste must turn to go down the drain...on the Toto, it is smoothly turned in the toilet so that it points pretty much straight down the toilet flange. On the Kohler, it must make a right-angle turn just at that last moment. Right-angle turns slow things down, and can trap longer, harder items. The flush, and the resulting siphoning is better, evacuating the bowl better when there's no restrictions or sharp angles.

I have no way of making a direct comparison, other than the visual one Terry added when he put in the pictures for me on my post.

[Terry]

When the Kohler trapway plugs, it's at the exit where it has to make a 90 degree bend.
What do engineers think of long objects making 90 bends? As a plumber, I don't have to think too hard, I pull the bowl and that's where the plug is.

I've used the Cimarron, which works like the Memoirs.
It should work fine though. Not too many people will plug a bowl like this.