KW V3 autocross set-up thread

[ABQautoxer]

But I paid $4k, they must be better than OTS Koni sports.

[Sam Strano]

That is the prevailing wisdom... And I use the term wisdom, loosely. What's really funny to me is that folks are so willing to ignore results. Once they get an idea in their head that's often the end of the consideration. I'm more the other way, what works.... works. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Ironically I'm a shock snob. They are the first thing I generally do to any car I own. I hate cars with less than really tied down behavior. But I'm not a label or price snob like it some are.

[BlaineWasHere]

Hey guys, I'm a suspension n00b and pretty new to autoX/track driving in general so I need some help. I was going to order KWs next month but I found a set locally from someone who ordered them then their wife lost her job so they had to sell and I scored a pretty nice deal on a brand new set!

I used to drive a STX prepped MKV GTI but I did not set the car up at all. A guy who ran the exact same car set the car up for me so I need some help on THIS car. Before he set the car up he was beating me by about .5 seconds over a 50ish second lap then he messed with my car and I was beating him by one or two tenths so I know how valuable this stuff can be.

What I am looking for is a baseline to start with all the settings for my blend of DD and AutoX action. I drive the car about 400 miles a week for work so I need settings that won't chew threw tires but are still adventitious for going around corners. I autoX about 20 times a year and I would like to start doing more track days once I have the budget.

Currently the only mods to my car are 17x9 et42 wheels wrapped with 245/40 R-S3s.

Ok so onto the questions:

1) I can't afford camber plates also (right now), should I buy camber bolts? Recommendations? What camber settings should I be looking at for front and rear? Will I be able to reach optimal adjustment?

2) Caster and toe?!?! I have a general understanding of what these are, but I have no idea what to do with them!!!

3) Should I invert the springs F<->R? I've read something about this, and from what I understand about spring rates and my experience with this car on stock tires at AutoX suggest I should do this. Does anything special need to be done to invert the springs?

4) Ride height? Don't hate me but I do want to chop down some of this nasty fender gap. I'm also not willing to rub under cornering so any suggestions of where to start with ride height?

5) Anything I'm missing? I'm sure I am.

Thanks in advance for the help!

[-max-]

Originally Posted by BlaineWasHere

Hey guys, I'm a suspension n00b and pretty new to autoX/track driving in general so I need some help. I was going to order KWs next month but I found a set locally from someone who ordered them then their wife lost her job so they had to sell and I scored a pretty nice deal on a brand new set!

I used to drive a STX prepped MKV GTI but I did not set the car up at all. A guy who ran the exact same car set the car up for me so I need some help on THIS car. Before he set the car up he was beating me by about .5 seconds over a 50ish second lap then he messed with my car and I was beating him by one or two tenths so I know how valuable this stuff can be.

What I am looking for is a baseline to start with all the settings for my blend of DD and AutoX action. I drive the car about 400 miles a week for work so I need settings that won't chew threw tires but are still adventitious for going around corners. I autoX about 20 times a year and I would like to start doing more track days once I have the budget.

Currently the only mods to my car are 17x9 et42 wheels wrapped with 245/40 R-S3s.

Ok so onto the questions:

1) I can't afford camber plates also (right now), should I buy camber bolts? Recommendations? What camber settings should I be looking at for front and rear? Will I be able to reach optimal adjustment?

2) Caster and toe?!?! I have a general understanding of what these are, but I have no idea what to do with them!!!

3) Should I invert the springs F<->R? I've read something about this, and from what I understand about spring rates and my experience with this car on stock tires at AutoX suggest I should do this. Does anything special need to be done to invert the springs?

4) Ride height? Don't hate me but I do want to chop down some of this nasty fender gap. I'm also not willing to rub under cornering so any suggestions of where to start with ride height?

5) Anything I'm missing? I'm sure I am.

Thanks in advance for the help!

ill try to answer some of your questions.
1. You can get get by without buying anything for the front. The KWs have some adjustability built into them. The top bolt hole is slotted and allows some adjustment. The rear however has nothing. I ended up with wacked out camber for some reason. 1.7 left and 2.5 right, with the stock set up. I installed whiteline control arm bushings and fixed this. Bit they are a pita.

2.I run 0 toe front and 3 mm rear toe in. Castor not adjustable stock.

3. I think most people that don't plan to drift this car are swapping the front and rear springs. Don't need to do anything special, just swap them.

4. I run 13.25" from center of hub to fender. About 1.25" drop. Looks good to me.

After you get them installed, check the rear camber and see what you got. If it is fairly close to even, you should be good for a while.

[BlaineWasHere]

Thanks for the help! If I get the camber bolts will it give me enough adjustment to not wind up with crazy camber in the front?

[-max-]

I was talking about the rear. I had 1.7/2.5 rear with no adjustability. I had to put the bushings in the control arms to fix this.
With the adjustability of the front KWs I only needed he left camber bolt to add .2*, which you could deal without for a while. The rear was the problem for me.

[BlaineWasHere]

Any idea why that was? Others experienced this?

I understand dropping the car may add negative camber... but why uneven?

[-max-]

I don't know.

[BlaineWasHere]

Can anyone else help?

[BlaineWasHere]

Any suggestions for where to get camber bolts?

[BlaineWasHere]

I've noticed from AutoX this car pushes quite a bit on corner entry, putting the stiffer springs in the front won't exacerbate this?

Once I added sticky tires to stock suspension I did have quite a bit of lift-off oversteer and a little loose on corner exit. I'm just a touch worried about killing corner entry. Again I'm a n00b so help me out!!!

[ABQautoxer]

Camber bolts from Subaru unless you don't care about stock class then you have more choices.

Entry speed push could be mainly from your stock camber and entry speeds that are simply too fast for that corner. Stiffer front springs don't automagically mean more understeer.

[Sam Strano]

Originally Posted by ABQautoxer

Entry speed push could be mainly from your stock camber and entry speeds that are simply too fast for that corner. Stiffer front springs don't automagically mean more understeer.

Exactly. This is where real world testing and knowledge trumps assumptions and calculations. I've varied my spring rates even beyond what came with the coil-overs I run (V3's) and the front to rear rates are VERY different than what you find in most of the lowering springs out there too.

BTW, since I know you are reading this Tom... your brake pads are here and are in the pile of stuff to be loaded in my truck bound for Solo Nationals, tomorrow.

[ABQautoxer]

Originally Posted by Sam Strano

BTW, since I know you are reading this Tom... your brake pads are here and are in the pile of stuff to be loaded in my truck bound for Solo Nationals, tomorrow.

LOL thanks, I never felt like a stalker until now. Have a safe trip, see you Friday afternoon. Going to be a tough week in Lincoln with my new wheels and brake pads with me and my BRZ 900 miles away.