KW V3 Coilover ideal settings and setup process?
 

I just installed a set of KW V3 coilovers on my 2014 FR-S. I did the installation myself and haven't gotten an alignment or corner balance or anything yet. at least an alignment is on my to-do list. I am not sure if I am going to try to get the car corner balanced professionally or not yet.

current setup:
I installed the coilovers and left the recommended original damping settings. (I may have gotten the compression numbers mixed up front to back I did the setup according to the manual on the car)
front compression- back off 5 clicks from full stiff.
front rebound-back off 9 clicks from full stiff

rear compression - back off 6 clicks from full stiff.
rear rebound- back off 9 clicks from full stiff.

I set the ride height just slightly shy of fully extended (as specified in the manual) I believe it is about 1" drop all the way around. I would like to keep the ride height reasonably high because I want a lot of suspension travel and want to be able to handle winter weather.


Initial impressions (what I know):
The ride feels significantly smoother over uneven road surfaces and bumps. I really haven't been able to feel too much difference in terms of cornering or anything like that as of now. I'm really getting thrown off with the rough roads around me. It's hard to tell how it would really handle in a smooth corner. I do feel a bit of a bounce though, particularly when I come to a stop. It rocks back and forth a bit before settling. I am also feeling some low frequency oscillations (bouncing) on certain road surfaces when I hit bumps that are the right distance apart.

goals (what I don't know):
I want a well handling car that feels good on DD road surfaces and that I can push (and feel) on decent corners. I am really looking to figure out how to set this up. What do I change? what am I trying to feel? what do all the adjustments actually do in the real world? I would like to figure out the best way to really learn about my suspension and learn how to feel the changes I'm making. Right now so much has changed since the stock setup that I'm a bit lost and don't really know where to start. any advice???

Seems to me a good start. :)

do you think I should just take it any old place and have them try to put it in spec? or should I go to a specialized tuning shop that knows how to deal with coilovers and maybe get it corner balanced too? I'm also not sure what decent alignment specs are to ask for if I get to specify my own... that's the main reason I haven't gotten it aligned yet ( also I just put them in on Saturday )

I would start with -2.5 front and -1.5 rear. I hope you got LCA's too as you have 0 adjustments for any alignment settings in the rear from the factory

no LCA's. I am keeping the ride height pretty close to stock so I was hoping it wouldn't throw the geometry off too horribly. Isn't there toe adjustment in the rear at least? I know there's no camber adjustment for the rear from factory.

I am installing coilovers too next month. The first thing I'll do is to take it to any odd alignment shop and have them pull it into specs. Then I'll drive it for a while to get an idea of what I feel needs to be changed. After that I'll take it to someone who really know what they are doing and will get it corner balanced and the works.

My though is I am probably going to go though multiple alignments before it's where I want it, so I might as well keep the cost down on the first rough alignment. Also you might want to do changes to ride height before you settle on something final, in which case a corner balance would have to be redone. Before you get a rough alignment you will hardly be able to form any useable opinion.

Did you install other parts to help camber adjustment? Like rear lower control arms? Or front camber bolts? I'll do both and have camber adjustable top mounts too. I'll ask the first alignment shop to set camber to 2.5 up front and 1.8 in the rear, zero toe all round. I also advised them that when I bring the car they should schedule more time for it, than what they do with a usual alignment.

See you replied about the LCAs while I was replying. Then you should go with what camber you get in the rear (probably around 1.7 - 1.9) and get camber bolts for the front. Add 0.7 to whatever you get in the rear to the front camber (they will probably have to more or less max it out as well).

If OP's truly only at 1" lower, -2 (the natural camber) in the rear is fine. I think RCE even recommends -2 in the rear with their Tarmac 2s for Track/Autocross use.

For bounce, I'd think about dialing up the rebound a click or two.

as far as I know there isnt even toe for the rear (but I didn't look very hard so don't quote me). The main reason you want LCA's is even factory camber can be more then 1 degree off from side to side. If you are just gona DD don't worry about it and don't bother corner balance either. If you are worrying about the cross weight on a street car you A) Drive way to fast and are dangerous on the streets B) want to waste time and money.

As far as buying a 2-way setup its a little late for this but I always suggest against it unless you know what your doing. Its really easy to mess it up haha. I would get in contact with someone like @Mike@CSG for some good starting points.

the Coilovers I got came with Group N top mounts. (non camber adjustable) and I did not get any lower control arms or anything like that. so as far as the rear is concerned I get what I get for camber. are you sure about zero toe? isn't standard spec to have some toe? would you still recommend -2.5 for mostly DD car?

You can do a smidge of toe-in in the rear for stability, and a smidge of toe-out in the front (or zero toe).

The KW V3s are slotted for adjustment, so you can adjust the camber on the V3s without using top hats. -2.5 is fine for daily, just run zero-to-minimal toe in the front. Check tire wear every few thousand miles, and adjust accordingly.

The front KW V3 coilovers have a slot (instead of a hole) for the top bolt mount that should add a small amount of adjustment. I'm not sure how much though.


Yeah I am really about 1" lower (actually I think a little less). I'll try adding some clicks of rebound and try to see if I feel any difference. should I try adding front or rear or both do you think?


My car is mostly DD I would really like to get to an autocross event next season though if I can swing it. I was originally looking at the v1 (1 way adjustable) but I got a good deal on the forums on an unused set of V3's. I couldn't help myself :D

HAHA yeah that happens!! I think once you dial them in you will be super happy with them. If you just DD don't worry about alignment too much. Just get one done so you dont ruin your tires

Posts here are so fast we are cross talking. :D

But others did answer already. Yes when you can't dial the rear camber back, you have to get more camber in the front to avoid understeer. Since I didn't install mine yet, the numbers I quoted are from reading posts of others. -2.5ish seems to work good for many, even as DD and without any noticeable excessive wear. The toe in the rear is adjustable, and you should have no problems zeroing it in. The problems arise when you install LCAs and try to stand the wheels back up, then you run out of toe adjustment. But you shouldn't have that problem.

I will start with zero toe all round. Toe is supposedly much more of a tire killer than camber. Some run a bit toe out front and toe in in the rear.

P.s.
I don't think you'll get enough front camber without camber bolts. They are only a few bucks anyway and you can let the alignment shop put them in if you don't want to take the wheels off again, they have to losen the stock bolt anyway.