GR86 KW V3 coilover experience

[Bruggi]

Hi,
I'm thinking about getting a KW V3 coilover kit.
Does anyone have experience with this suspension?

I use the car as a daily, so the suspension shouldn't be too firm.
KW claims this suspension is the most comfortable in their product range.
Since I live in Germany, there are not so many coilovers to choose from, so KW is the only option besides Bilstein.

According to google AI the sprong rates should be 4k in the front and 5k in the rear.
Stock is 3k front and 4k rear.
So KW might be a little bit firmer.

 

[Mr_Hansen]

Hi,
I'm thinking about getting a KW V3 coilover kit.
Does anyone have experience with this suspension?

I use the car as a daily, so the suspension shouldn't be too firm.
KW claims this suspension is the most comfortable in their product range.
Since I live in Germany, there are not so many coilovers to choose from, so KW is the only option besides Bilstein.

According to google AI the sprong rates should be 4k in the front and 5k in the rear.
Stock is 3k front and 4k rear.
So KW might be a little bit firmer.

I'm interested in the same thing myself. I have already made up my mind regarding getting the V3 though, but wouldn't mind hearing if someone else have experience with them.

I know @GRistopher has V1's as I've already bombared him with questions, but I can tell you that I'm going to reach out to Raeder Motorsport (a devision of Manthey-Racing). They have their "GReta" which is a GR86 setup for the Nürburgring with V4 Clubsports, but they have also done GR86's with V3.
I might get mine setup by them as they definately know what they are doing.

​

 

[GRistopher]

Yes, I have the V1. They are very good for the price but they are slightly limited by their design. The main issue being that you can't lower the ride height without fully compressing the helper spring and adding preload to the main spring. At my current ride height. the helper spring is doing nothing apart from using up a bit of space where I could have retained more travel in the main spring. it feels sub-optimal.
If I had known about this at the time, I probably would have gone with something else. I'm not sure if the V3 has independent ride height and preload adjustment or not. This would be a non-negotiable feature for me in the future.

That said the car drives extremely well. Damping is passive in the V1 but feels very well judged. The slow-speed ride quality is a bit crashy compared to stock, but in every other situation they perform much better. For my use case which is, using the car for about a 50/50 mix of journeys when I'm not with the family / going out purely for a blast, the damping / spring rate is spot on.

I went with Pedders top mounts on the front for additional -ve camber and retained the stock rear top mounts as they weren't very old.

EDIT: the fact that their coilovers are stainless steel was a big selling point for me also. mine have been on about 15 months now and they're still shiny and box fresh.