WK V3 - Spring Swap Question

[Stang70Fastback]

Quick, simple question. I have a set of KW V3s. They are the softer spring rates (280 lb) and they are great for daily driving. I am weighing the option of swapping them out for some KW Clubsport springs that a friend of mine has because while they work fine for daily driving, they really aren't well-suited for autocross.

Question: I know in an ideal world, valving is matched to the spring rate. I believe the clubsport springs are 400/350, so I'm not talking about crazy-stiff springs. Anyone have any thoughts on whether or not that will screw things up if I just swap out springs without having the dampers re-valved?

[go_a_way1]

Originally Posted by Stang70Fastback

Quick, simple question. I have a set of KW V3s. They are the softer spring rates (280 lb) and they are great for daily driving. I am weighing the option of swapping them out for some KW Clubsport springs that a friend of mine has because while they work fine for daily driving, they really aren't well-suited for autocross.

Question: I know in an ideal world, valving is matched to the spring rate. I believe the clubsport springs are 400/350, so I'm not talking about crazy-stiff springs. Anyone have any thoughts on whether or not that will screw things up if I just swap out springs without having the dampers re-valved?

You might get away with it but you will have to adjust the dampening settings to compensate. hopefully there will be enough adjustment

[strat61caster]

You can try contacting KW customer support and see if they have suggestions.

Worryingly we did the same thing on another car, V3 dampers to Clubsport springs and their recommendation was to keep the same settings... when going from a 3.?k to a 7k spring...

You won't break anything by trying, good luck!

[renfield90]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

You can try contacting KW customer support and see if they have suggestions.

Worryingly we did the same thing on another car, V3 dampers to Clubsport springs and their recommendation was to keep the same settings... when going from a 3.?k to a 7k spring...

You won't break anything by trying, good luck!

Yikes. That is truly terrible advice. Hopefully that's because you got a new guy when you called, and not actually representative of KW support.

OP, do you have dynos of your shock handy? That will largely tell you if you have enough damping to cover the new rates. Also, are your shocks single or double adjustable? If single, this is probably a bad idea...

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by renfield90

Yikes. That is truly terrible advice. Hopefully that's because you got a new guy when you called, and not actually representative of KW support.

OP, do you have dynos of your shock handy? That will largely tell you if you have enough damping to cover the new rates. Also, are your shocks single or double adjustable? If single, this is probably a bad idea...

From everything I've heard it is par for the course for KW's North American support.

V3's are double adjustable.

[smg1138]

I asked KW customer support about this last year and here's the email response I got:

Our dampers can handle a spring change of ±200 lbs/in so you would be able to make a change up to 430 lbs/in front and 485 lbs/in rear. Keep in mind that changing the spring rates will void the warranty on the kit.

[renfield90]

Originally Posted by smg1138

I asked KW customer support about this last year and here's the email response I got:

Our dampers can handle a spring change of ±200 lbs/in so you would be able to make a change up to 430 lbs/in front and 485 lbs/in rear. Keep in mind that changing the spring rates will void the warranty on the kit.

Wow. Clownshoes all around.

1. Did they mean +/- 200 or +/- 100? Because +/- 200 would mean the kit comes with 230 lbs/in front and 285 lbs/in rear, which is not much stiffer than stock.

2. How are they going to know that spring rates were changed? That's laughable.

3. If going stiffer on springs is reason enough to void the warranty (which is stupid for small changes), and they claim they can detect that and start voiding random warranties for it, the warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on. (Though it will be worth far more than that after the Magnuson Moss lawsuit!)

[asdf]

Originally Posted by renfield90

Wow. Clownshoes all around.

1. Did they mean +/- 200 or +/- 100? Because +/- 200 would mean the kit comes with 230 lbs/in front and 285 lbs/in rear, which is not much stiffer than stock.

2. How are they going to know that spring rates were changed? That's laughable.

3. If going stiffer on springs is reason enough to void the warranty (which is stupid for small changes), and they claim they can detect that and start voiding random warranties for it, the warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on. (Though it will be worth far more than that after the Magnuson Moss lawsuit!)

The kit does indeed come with 230/285 now -- at some point, KW made the rates super soft...

[smg1138]

Originally Posted by renfield90

Wow. Clownshoes all around.

1. Did they mean +/- 200 or +/- 100? Because +/- 200 would mean the kit comes with 230 lbs/in front and 285 lbs/in rear, which is not much stiffer than stock.

2. How are they going to know that spring rates were changed? That's laughable.

3. If going stiffer on springs is reason enough to void the warranty (which is stupid for small changes), and they claim they can detect that and start voiding random warranties for it, the warranty isn't worth the paper it's written on. (Though it will be worth far more than that after the Magnuson Moss lawsuit!)

Yeah, the current spring rates on the KW V3's are pretty soft. That's why I ended up getting the RCE Tarmac 2's instead. I haven't regretted my choice.