To play devil's advocate

You make that sound like a negative. I don't see any issue. in fact think it a good thing - some of my hoons make me feel like I'm on the 'ring

Impreza's (and so many other cars, and new suspension ) are 'ring tuned, as well as in many other situations too, including the plain old road

 

I spoke to Alyn from ASP earlier and he says in his opinion Whiteline coilovers are better than the KW.
Now that puts me in a quandry which do i go for ? Does anyone have Whiteline fitted ?

 

 

Which one's does he sell?

 

Both

 

 

 

i think i will stick with the KW v3.
they dont seem to be getting any bad reviews
just have to keep an eye out for a bargain price

 

 

Alyn wasnt sure on price

 

They didn't consider at what speed flat ride occurs. They didn't consider front and rear ride frequencies. And why would they, it's not compliant enough too be considered a road suspension - the v3 GD wrx front spring rate 340lb/in, the v3 GD sti front 455lb/in (515lb/in GD V3 clubsports). They're not concerned whether the lowest height setting delivers less than optimal handling, on an Impreza. They've just got to be stiff enough not bottom out, at their lowest ride height setting .
OEM GD STI front 217lb/in (at ride height) - 223lb/in (before coil bind).

Unlike the wr99 Bilsteins on your type r, stiff compression damping allowing soft bump stops - maximising the available bump travel - combined with P1 springs front 194lb/in.

 

Yes can't agree with this enough. I've had coilovers on both my Imprezas when I've bought them and found them awful on anything other than mirror smooth roads which is a rarity in this country. I'm currently on prodrive Bilsteins from the rb320 and couldn't be happier. Little bit stiffer than stock STI but with the proper rebound and compression giving the compliance needed for three bumps and undulations on b roads. I doubt there's a better set up out there as they are designed for our roads. I can hit the local terrible b roads like a rally stage and go 10mph faster at least compared to crashy coils.

Much stiffer sway bars and over lowering are also common ways I see people ruining the handling of their cars, centre of gravity and axle compliance are really important on newages.

 

 

Like I said before it depends. If your mostly doing track work then the trade off in NVH for the road might be worth it. If it's mostly fast road then the small trade off on the track with shocks/springs the few times a year you do them is worth it.

I find shocks/springs with a custom geo setup can be good for both withought massive compromise on track but I know plenty of people that run coilover setups for daily drivers that rate them.

 

 

I wouldn't be put off

Have a look what the guys over on iWSTi think - the consensus is overwhelmingly positive, 'better than OE shocks & springs'

https://www.iwsti.com/forums/gd-gene...e-quality.html

 

 

 

Which coilovers were those?

Thing is, a lot of what is fitted is budget stuff like BC's Tein's etc. You need to raise the budget to get decent performers, and they are out there

 

Can I ask how you know about KW's R&D?

 

I'm not au fait with spring rates and technicalities. I can only compare the ride options on my KW V3's with the Prodrive 'suspension pack' that was already on my Bugeye wagon when I bought.
That ride was so bad, that when I broke a road spring I had my local dealer switch the lot to stock all round.
In fact I have an Autocar Newage buyer's guide that specifically states not to bother with the Prodrive suspension upgrade.
I've just come off of 3 weeks of daily driving and never during that time, nor in the 20,000 miles I've done on the V3s, have I entertained any thought of going back to stock.
The thing I like the best about the V3s is that I can adjust them according to need.

 

See post #7

 

American roads so take with a pinch of salt...

 

This isn't difficult to work out.
Ride frequency is wheel base, motion ratio, weight distribution.
Flat ride is at a target mph.
Ride frequency 1.5 - 1.8Hz is sports car territory. 2Hz is harsh/destabilizing on undulating/uneven roads.

 

Oh, I see

What should KW have done to make their Scoobie coils better then?

 

A coilover is a damper within coil spring.
The oem set-up is a strut, The kw v3, on a gc/gd Impreza, are also struts. A smaller diameter coil spring, than oem, with an adjustable lower perch and adjustable damping, but they are both struts.
I'll say it again, if they didn't accommodate such low ride heights, the springs wouldn't need to be so stiff, for a road car.

 

Flat ride is a road car calculation. It's not necessary for the v3 to take it into account. If they did, on the kw version 3 sti strut, they'd probably end up with a 450lb/in rear spring, with a rear ride frequency of 2.5Hz (tarmac rally car frequency).

 

What's the best coilover you've ran 2pot?

All the theory in the chassis internet world is fine but real world experience counts too

Best I ran was a set of Eibach Superstreet's on a 370bhp blob for 2 years and they were superb. I hooned them all over the best (and certainly not so good) UK roads, and on track.

They performed very close to OE dampers and springs, being just a little more firm at slower speeds, but wonderfully compliant at higher ones, with plenty of travel, never crashing, no bounce

(Hope you haven't totally given up OP)

 

 

Maths will get you in the correct areas.

Whiteline group 4 280/224lb/in. A bit stiff at the front for me.

Even Whiteline group 4 race had flat ride, around 100 mph, 504/448lb/in
BC do a low spring rate strut (longer travel to allow for the lower spring rates) 224/168lb/in
Your P1 springs are 194/157lb/in.... they ok?