KW v3
 

Are these better than Bilsteins.
Do they corrode,is the ride harsh ?
Where can i get the best deal on them ?
Has anybody already got them on a Blobeye ?

Kw don't corrode as much a blistien, no.
They are German Made and have a better long lasting life cycle.
It's one of the reasons I went kw. You won't go wrong.
I have the clubsports, but I haven't tested them yet as car not finished, but can't wait.

I’ve had KWv3’s for a while now. I wouldn’t say the ride is super smooth but it’s not too harsh. Very good quality. I bought mine from Alyn @ ASP

Once you get to V3's you get stainless bodies

They are quite step up from Billies, whose rep has has slipped quite a bit over the past few years. Aftermarket service is pretty poor too

I think i will be going down the KW route just have to find a good deal.

I have V1's on my E36 M3, very comfortable. And they are stainless steel as well. It's the other KW based brands that only have galvanized steel if I'm not wrong (I have used plenty of those too).

Had V3s on my Hawk spec c and are very good. If your not using the adjustment and it's gonna be used on the road 90% of the time it's probably a waste tbh, they are very track focused. Swapped mine out for shocks and spring for road use, much better.

Bilsteins aren't even in the same league

My car is road use and 2 or 3 visits to Prescott hillclimb drivers day.
App 3000 miles per year at the most so what do I go for.

Dave you do about the same road miles as me and I do a few track days a year. They will be good for what you do. Get them set up right and adjust for the track

I have no experience of Bilsteins but I'd highly recommend the KW V3s.

I went for KW V3s about 3.5 years ago and you can set them up however you like.

Mine were supplied by Indigo GT in Tredegar who were running an offer at the time that included fitting and re-adjusting once they'd settled.

Since I've had them fitted I've adjusted the ride height once, the compression (strut bottom) about 6 times and the rebound (strut top) 103 times (yes, I anally record every setting change).

I don't do track work instead I commute, tip run and hoon and after my initial and rather lengthy experimentation phase when they were new I now alter the rebound according to circumstances, want and mood.

The only downside is that KW don't provide a compression adjustment tool for easily tweaking the strut bottom adjuster without having to ramp the car. The bottom adjusters are exposed to road dirt and grime and can stick in place. A small pronged adjuster bar would save sore fingers and copious amounts of swearing.

The struts do not rust and are as shiny as ever. The only part showing(surface) rust are the yellow-coated springs as the plastic coating eventually fatigues and splits.

Great feedback SWSam :thumb:

What ride height did you settle on?

Do you get any 'crashing' over sudden compressions/bumps?

What mileage have they covered over your 3.5 year partnership?

Cheers :)

Edit: BTW - are these on your WRX bugeye wagon?

What the retail on these? 2k ish? + fitting and setup, so what £2500 all in?

Be interesting to see how they compare to the likes of teins/meister etc that are 50% the cost.

Hi Bonesetter. Thanks.

Ride height after re-adjustment following the initial 'Drag-Racers-R-Us' set up: Wheel centre to arch: Front: 365 Rear: 355.

No crashing. However I run 1 notch softer compression (bottom) than the 'out of the box' recommended setting to cope with our 'third world country' roads.

As I write I've done bang on 20K miles on the KW V3s.

Yes, it's my old WRX bugeye wagon though she's a bit quicker (and a lot more solid body-wise) these days. :D

Sam

Teins & Meister's are in a lower budget range. You've got to keen to spend big (2K+) on dampers/coils etc and let's face it a lot of older scoobies are only worth twice that :)

That's why BC's and the like are appealing despite their shortcomings

I've not tried the KW's but have always been drawn to them - they have always gleaned high user reviews - IWSTi crew for example http://www.iwsti.com/forums/gd-gener...e-quality.html

They are quality items. I fondled a V3 unit at the motorsport NEC show and it smacked of solid quality

Apart from B14's which were totally awful I have only tried Eibach (Superstreets?) coilovers which were fine, otherwise I have always preferred a fixed perch and spring arrangement, but given Subaru's stock KYB short mileage failings, I am leaning more and more to the KW's

Afaik, in Germany you can't have aftermarket suspension, but I believe you can have kw as they are tut or something tested and acceptable.
As Germany is strict for mot/tuv test out there. (Not 100% sure if my post is exactly factual).
Can't beat kw for all round effectiveness for track and road.

Reminds me of my VRS soot chucker I fettled

Bilstein 'short travel' B8 dampers - designed for shorter travel springs, which I went with. In my case decided on the KW's

Car drove night and day different to the crap fitted

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topi...nsion-upgrade/

Or be seriously keen on suspension porn. :D

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...088d9afdb1.jpg

I paid £1,500 for mine with free fitting and about £185 for the alignment and a couple of my top mounts were worn so there was extra to pay.
This was 3+years ago though.

Still it's worth having a call around for prices. There may be deals to be had.

I have tried a few places and they keep coming out at £1980.
Are there any offers out there ?

Oooh blimey, now that has got me in a sweat :luvlove:

They do look very nice - did you put anything on the threads prior to fitting? (to stop any potential seize)

The V3's have a separate reservoir - I had forgotten that

1500 is such a no brainer

I would love to experience them in-car. I'm 'round your neck of the woods from time to time...?

PM me when you're going to be in the area, Bonesetter and we can see if we can arrange something.

More suspension porn.
ClubSports with white line max C top mounts and Noltec rears.
Circa 2.5k-3k new and then top mounts on top


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...fe09272d4a.png

Never really see any offers on kw tbh, try kam racing or raw automotive (think it's Ross who works there and mention my name for him to sort price), or there's sprinting hare who's started selling kw but his prices look a bit silly lol.

The difference I noticed in fitting mine straight away was how long the perch was when fitting rears compared to crap tiens I took off which were cocking its leg and giving me no traction until car settled which slowed me down out of corners (dccd full open 35/65) I cannot see that happening with these.

Last time I looked at Demontweeks they were around £1600

More droop and no tripoding :)


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.sco...785a5945aa.jpg

Demon Tweeks had £300 off for Black Friday last year. They might do the same again this year.

Its a pain that though with dccd fully open, needs locking a bit to pull out of corners, need a ddcd pro lol.

I am doing Prescott drivers day 19th September and with the amount of work Ryan has lined up he doesn’t think he would be able to get it finished in time.So it looks like this will be done over the winter.
So I will be keeping an eye �� out for any bargains in the meantime.

^This.
Compliance and roll (not too much, not too little) are the key to grip on a road car.
V3 were tuned on the Nurburgring - that is not representative of road use.

as i'm sure you know we always try and assist Dave.......... 0191-4103770