Anyone on the newer KW V3's?

[wootwoot]

I am trying to decide between the Bilstien B16's and the KW V3's. I have not been able to find any reviews or feedback on the newer KW's since they lowered the spring rates to 230/285. Anyone running the V3's with these lower rates care to chime in? Anyone with any experience?

[byun]

I ran them for around 5k miles. They are good for daily driving very comfortable and a bit soft for heavy track use.


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[wootwoot]

Cool. Can you compare them to any other systems?

[wootwoot]

Also, does anyone know how much the V3's lower the car if they are raised at max height?

[byun]

So far I've run ST's, HKS SP's, KW V3, Tein Monosports and now I'm on the tarmac 2's.

I like the valving and square spring rates the best on the tarmac2's. the Japanese coilovers tend to be valved for smoother roads so they can get a bit bouncy or boaty if you soften up the adjusters.

ST's were super comfortable for daily but way too soft for track use.

HKS Hipermax Sp's were great on track and had the square spring rates, but with the valving and spring rates they were a bit firm for daily.

V3's can handle both but were a bit too soft for my liking on track.

Tein monosports were great, but daily they got a little bouncy.

Tarmac 2's so far are what I like best and what I'll be sticking with. Soft enough for daily and you can adjust them enough to get it right on track and it's super balanced.





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[wootwoot]

Would you be happy with the tarmac 2's if you drove your car everyday? I have PM'd several owners and the consensus has been that they are comfortable enough to use on the street and perform well on the track. I haven't found anyone that feels they are great for daily driving.

[byun]

Originally Posted by wootwoot

Would you be happy with the tarmac 2's if you drove your car everyday? I have PM'd several owners and the consensus has been that they are comfortable enough to use on the street and perform well on the track. I haven't found anyone that feels they are great for daily driving.

Yeah, I can deal with it on the street, not terrible, just dial them back a little and it softens them up, but with the valving and spring rates they don't get super bouncy like the tein's or hks's did.

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by wootwoot

I am trying to decide between the Bilstien B16's and the KW V3's. I have not been able to find any reviews or feedback on the newer KW's since they lowered the spring rates to 230/285. Anyone running the V3's with these lower rates care to chime in? Anyone with any experience?

I've been running them for a year now. This was my first ever set of coilovers, so I don't have any real basis for comparison, but here's what I can say:

Use Case

I live in Chicago. Roads are... pretty bad, on average. Lots of uneven pavement, potholes, etc... I drive about 19,000 miles/year. The vast majority of those miles are "pleasure" in the sense that they aren't commuting (I take the train to work) but I do drive to off-site locations sometimes.

I do quite a bit of autocross during the summer, and in the winter I do an occasional ice race when possible up north on the frozen lakes of Wisconsin.

These coilovers are NOT taken off in the winter.

Daily Driving

I have ZERO complaints. My summer tires are 255/35R18s (Michelin Pilot Super Sports.) I originally put those wheels and tires on the stock suspension for a few days, and immediately noticed that the stock suspension was too soft to cope with the added grip of those tires - I got a lot more body roll than I wanted. Enter the coilovers.

I think these are absolutely perfect for daily driver duties. They're soft enough to be comfortable, and even with my 18" wheels, the ride is decent enough that other BRZ owners with stiffer suspension setups often compliment the ride quality. It isn't so stiff that it beats you up, but it's not so floppy that it feels outmatched by the tires, as the stock suspension did.

Of course, I'm running them at the highest ride height per their recommended adjustment range, so the ride quality might be worse if you lowered the car more - I don't know. Speaking of which, you wanted to know what maximum height looked like. Well max height is pretty much exactly where I wanted my car to sit, so here you go:









Autocross

I think we both know that these spring rates are too soft for dedicated autocross/track use. In my case, it was a matter of juggling the fact that I spend 99.7% of my time in the car bumbling around town, or road tripping long distances, and only 0.3% hustling it around a course, so these coilovers made much more sense.

However, they aren't the worst thing EVER. I bump the compression and rebound up close to max for my events, and that quells some of the excessive motion during quick transitions, but the car still leans in turns. Still, I took 1st place in my class at autocross last year, so the car can still be quick!

Here are some photos of the car attacking the course. The second image is an extreme example of what you can expect during hard cornering. Also note that for autocross I swap to 245 section Bridgestone RE71Rs, which are SUPER sticky, and definitely more tire than the V3s were meant to deal with. In the future, a swaybar or two will probably be upgraded. Aside from the coilovers, and the camber plates and rear LCAs I got to perfect my alignment, the rest of the suspension is stock.





Winter Durability

Don't know this one yet! Still have about two weeks before I swap back to summers, at which point I'll check them out and see.

Overall, I'm not at all regretting the purchase. I think for a car that is mostly a daily driver, they are an excellent choice, offering quite a bit of comfort, and just enough added stiffness to handle wider, stickier tires that people tend to replace the Primacys with. I'll also point out that they come nicely slotted from the factory. I was able to get 2 degrees of camber out of the stock top bolt (NOT a crash bolt) with my camber plates set to their minimum setting.)

Any other questions, let me know.

[wootwoot]

Awesome response. Thank you.

And beautiful car!

[wootwoot]

One of the things I'm dealing with now is a lack of travel in the rear. Do you feel like you are hitting the bump stops in the rear much? If I hit a mid corner bump the rear end gets unhappy.

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by wootwoot

One of the things I'm dealing with now is a lack of travel in the rear. Do you feel like you are hitting the bump stops in the rear much? If I hit a mid corner bump the rear end gets unhappy.

To be honest, I can't say for sure. The only time I probably have hit the bump stops is during an autocross event where a hard corner happens to line up with a nasty dip in the lot we use. I remember one event like that and the car did not like that at all, but honestly it was a very violent bump so I don't really blame the car for getting a bit squirrely coming out of it.

I hit it at about the 1:00 mark on this clip. The sound you hear was my GORILLA rock guards slamming into the pavement, which I wound up shortening by 3/4". Ignore the poor driving. I was new to RE71Rs, lol.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wMQcKmRkLg"]05.15.2016 - Chicago SCCA Event #2 - YouTube[/ame]

[wootwoot]

The fact that you don't notice it on regular occasion means it's where I want to be.

The B16's are still of interest to me. Maybe I'll find someone that has run both.

[Falcon]

@wootwoot

It may be better for you to describe what you want to do with the coils.

I think V3´s are perfect for daily Road Use, hard backroad drivin, the Autobahn at high speeds and my occasional gravel stage.

You will get the same good driving experience (without the ground clearance) when you stay on the lowest ride hide setting +1cm.

@Stang70Fastback

Totally Love your Car

Sadly i cannot use the Sti Lip and such - really need the ground clearance.

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by Falcon

Sadly i cannot use the Sti Lip and such - really need the ground clearance.

Excuses! I need the clearance too, but that doesn't stop me!

https://www.facebook.com/Jeremy.D.Fi...8318044412030/