Ealokens 951
Are you running a torsion bar delete setup? Or with torsion bars, and what sizes?Dave W. wrote: Sun Apr 13, 2025 10:04 pm I got KW V3 and put stiffer springs on it, just one step firmer. Eibach has a great selection of springs.
Porsche 944S2 5MT '91
BMW E39 540iT 6MT '00
Mercedes-Benz W201 190E 2.6 5MT '89
IG: @stitch2k1
BMW E39 540iT 6MT '00
Mercedes-Benz W201 190E 2.6 5MT '89
IG: @stitch2k1
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I have the KW V3, right out of the box, with torsion bars, and love them. You can adjust them to the point where they are too stiff (for me) of the street, so not sure you'd need more for a 90% street car. Of course, I'm old now, so it's totally subjective. About the mid point (as recommended in the instructions) seems like the sweet spot for a street car to me. However you cut it, they are a very big upgrade over the stock 86 suspension.
Like Tom said, the damping adjustment on the KW V3 has a broad range. I can feel a noticeable difference by going one click softer or one click firmer than the recommended setting. I haven't felt the need to adjust the damping beyond that. For longer trips I get plenty of comfort with just one click softer , although my springs/swaybar/tire choice is very firm so it's not a good commuter car. For max speed, high boost driving on the local backroads the car is very solid with one click firmer than recommended. I consider it to be perfect for a weekend backroads car. Be aware that 3 damping adjusters are easy to reach. The upper rear shock is not accessible with the shock mounted (that's rear rebound) so I don't touch it.
My spring setup is a bit different. Up front the stock KW is 60k or 335 pounds, I replaced them with 70k/400pound springs. The rear is tricky. Previously I had 30mm torsion bars on the car with Koni shocks and I hate doing torsion bars, so I swapped the rear KW springs to work with the 30mm torsion bars. Since 30mm T bars have a spring rate of roughly 335 pounds, I found 2 helper springs of appropriate rate and height to add approx. 45 pounds of spring rate at the rear wheel. There was a bit of math involved, but overall I'm happy with the results. An important goal for my rear spring choice is that there is always some load on both the torsion bars and the KW coil spring. There is never a point where one spring is unloaded while the other is still active. IMHO this is a reason many people are not happy with a combination of torsion bars with coilover spring. It's also why the KW instructions say to lower the rear torsion bar eccentric adjuster so both the coilover spring and the torsion bar have some preload.
Last edited by Dave W. on Mon Apr 14, 2025 12:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.
That bring up another good point. Your tires generate very high loads, so a stiffer spring/shock combo will work better with the extra grip.ealoken wrote: Mon Apr 14, 2025 12:45 pm I replaced torsion bars and C's springs with 650lb / 10kg rear springs
30/18mm sway bars. Felt the v3s was to soft with 285/295 grip and 300++ hp.
The CS was worth the upgrade.
My tires are 235/265 with 200 treadwear DOT tires. They're sticky for a street legal tire but not as sticky as a fat R compound track tire. On my car I can push the limits of traction and the suspension is still composed.
But the Clubsport kw dampers has better motion controll, and on bumpy roads they swallow the bumps and corners on another level.Dave W. wrote: Mon Apr 14, 2025 1:04 pmThat bring up another good point. Your tires generate very high loads, so a stiffer spring/shock combo will work better with the extra grip.ealoken wrote: Mon Apr 14, 2025 12:45 pm I replaced torsion bars and C's springs with 650lb / 10kg rear springs
30/18mm sway bars. Felt the v3s was to soft with 285/295 grip and 300++ hp.
The CS was worth the upgrade.
My tires are 235/265 with 200 treadwear DOT tires. They're sticky for a street legal tire but not as sticky as a fat R compound track tire. On my car I can push the limits of traction and the suspension is still composed.
