KoRn_vIRuZ

Previously I had a Koni/GC setup on my EK3. As I reported earlier in this thread I was unhappy with the relationship between low and high speed damping on the Konis.

This being my daily driver I was looking for a suspension that is able to control the body movements well (i.e. low speed damping) but also be forgiving on broken and uneven pavement (i.e. high speed damping). The Konis could do one or the other, but not both at the same time.

With this in mind I came across a set of KW V1 on sale at a local shop and bought them with the hope of making my car more comfortable. This kit is composed by 4 non-adjustable shock absorbers and 4 2-stage "progressive" springs.

During the installation I noted the following:

- The KW shocks are larger in diameter (51 mm IIRC), which in principle increases oil capacity and hence, cooling.
- The KW shocks have a 10 mm diameter shaft vs the Koni's 12 mm.
- It's very hard to tighten the top nut on the KWs. The shaft doesn't have a well formed shape that a wrench can grab on to to prevent the shaft from rotating like the Konis do. Instead, the end of the shaft it's all distorted and messy. This made the shocks feel cheap and poorly constructed.
- When installed on the vehicle, the softer top portion of the spring is fully compressed so I assume it's there mostly to hold the spring in place during droop.



But the proof is in the pudding of course, which in this case is driving.

The first impressions are that body movement is well controlled and the rear tolerates potholes much better than the Konis ever did.

On the downside, the steering feel that I had with the Konis is gone.
But there is something worse, that makes these coilovers almost unbearable to me. When driving on the freeway, the front end of the car is constantly bobbing up and down as it passes over small imperfections.

It feels like the progressive springs are letting the car move too much and the shock doesn't have enough compression force to prevent this.

I tried changing the ride height. Raising the car increases the preload on the springs and reduces the bobbing effect slightly. But it never goes away and the more preload, the harsher the car rides over potholes.

I no longer enjoy driving long distance with the car, it's awful.

Changing to linear springs at the front would probably help but I'm not sure it's worth the hassle and cost of figuring out how to fit standard ID springs on the KWs versus just buying a new coilover kit.

All in all I would not recommend this suspension. I am disappointed and am saving up for something else but I don't even know what to buy next. Just wanted some daily suspension that would provide a comfortable and well damped ride.

redlinetuning

The spring rates are different between the two setups. I'm not sure if the kW v1 you have are adjustable rebound. The koni setup is a pretty good setup already. I hope you didn't spend too much on the kW.

Secondly, you don't have any technical data on the setups for comparison, you're going this based on your biased review, which isn't a bad thing, but you should post up technical data specs on both for a better understanding.

KoRn_vIRuZ

Hi, the V1 shocks don't feature adjustable damping.

As for technical information, all I can tell you is:
- My car is a EK3 hatchback, weighs about 1100 Kg.
- My stabilizer bars are: 21 mm in front, 15 mm in rear.
- All other suspension components are stock and in good condition.
- On my Koni/GC setup I had the default spring rates: 67 N/mm front and 44 N/mm rear springs.
- According to KW the spring rate of the main portion of the springs is 62.38 N/mm front and 26.52 N/mm in rear.
- The springs on the KW V1, V2 and V3 are all the same exact reference.
- I believe the KWs are twin-tube shocks just like the Konis.
- In terms of ride height I use roughly 30 cm between the center of the wheel hub and the fender on all four corners.

I wish I hadn't sold the Konis immediately, I feel that pairing Konis at the front with KW at the rear would be a satisfactory solution.

redlinetuning

The kW rear springs are much softer, this the softer ride quality. That's kind of odd that one would change out the adjustable dampening struts for non-adjustable ones. Just my thoughts.