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Considering KW V3 coilovers, have 2j-r BC race versions but........I am a mod addict!

RAAMaudio

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#1
I have only driven my car up and down our street maybe 3 blocks total on the BCs and though the race version are far better than stock in ride quality alone. I am sure the car would be very fast on them, Joe sure is but I have always wanted something a bit more advanced, in some ways, they are 2-way adjustable which can really help at the level I am building my car.

Anybody have experience with KW V3 on track, any car, and the BC, to compare?

I am going to make a call tomorrow and might end up having some BC's for sale.

Thanks
Rick
 


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RAAMaudio

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Thread Starter #3
I have been much worse, when I was still running my business and had 3 times the income, I was so busy buying parts and building cars I never really drove them much. The last one a 95 M3 that was to be the fastest NA E36 on road courses ever built and it would of been, should of been for $100k in parts and a couple of thousand hours into it. But, I decided to retire and the best car for my new "needs" is the St and I love it:)

My goal for this car is to be a very civilized, great on fuel, site seeing, grocery getting, very quick and reliable track car with world class audio. I like to have it all, this is my 4th such build and have been pleased with the others but this one just gets my blood boiling more than the rest combined.

I have built others as well, street track, full race, Vettes, Miatas, Subaru, Scion, Toyota, Datsun, BMW....never thought I would have a Ford as on my third Duramax but I love this little stinker....

This is the easiest car I have worked on in many years, most fun to drive(only 20 miles or so behind the wheel) just the coolest little car I have had since my 510 Datsun 10 years of fun, Miata is in third, behind the ST!
 


razorlab

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#4
Do they make the V3's for the Fiesta yet?

I had KW V3's on my Evo 8. Out of the box they are "ok". The spring rates weren't right for the Evo. However if you set it up with the right spring rates they where pretty good. For the money I would get Ohlins R&T since they are so close in cost now, however you are at the mercy of what are available for the Fiesta platform.

The V3's where soooooooo much better than BC's in every way other than price. Real dampening. Real R&D.
 


razorlab

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Yea I just looked at the KW site. V3's are available. Crap I wish I would have seen that before I bought these BC's....

:( sad panda.
 


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RAAMaudio

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Thread Starter #7
I might be ordering a set today but sure will have to sell the BC's right away, still getting used to being retired, no new money into toys!
 


meFiSTo

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#8
Hey man.

I have had V3s on two cars: my heavily modified '04 SVT Focus and on my lightly modified '04 Audi S4 wagon.

SVT experience: The KW V3s were the first significant change that I did with my Focus (spring 2004). They were great on the track. My recollection was that I wound up having a setup up that was relatively stiff on compression (front and rear) and comparatively soft on rebound (specifically thinking about the rear). It made for a bouncy ride around town, but we were trying to make the car a little more stable during hard braking out of a long straight into a specific high-speed sweeper at Pacific Raceways. Before we tilted that way (when it was more neutral), I tended to get a little looser than I'd like during braking. This is just my recollection from a few years ago, so YMMV. Nonetheless, the handling with the V3s was actually really great for track days. It was a little rough for on the street the way we had it set. During the first year into having the V3s, one of the shocks started to leak. KW replaced all of them on suspicion of a bad batch. That car added a supercharger, welded-in cage, heavy duty camber plates, all manner of extra fluid cooling, racing seats, etc. The V3s served me well throughout (and had a life-time warranty...until it found another home). Car was sold in spring 2012.

S4 Wagon: The V3s were really the only significant modification that I put on the wagon. Again, it was done almost as soon as I got the car in spring 2004. They were great, once we dialed in a little more stiffness (vs. default recommended starting place). They did a little of the oscillating waves over rolling surfaces at high speed. That stopped with more stiffness. This car never has gone to the track, so I never got to experience it in that setting. I took them off in 2012 and found that they had all started to leak or had completely failed. I sent them back to KW in SoCal and they rebuilt them. Only cost to me was the shipping to the refurb facility. I sold them when I got them back (fully retuned to factory "like new" condition) and switched back to the stock shocks (which had been sitting in my garage since 2004). I'm actually happier with the stock setup. It's less jarring. And for around town, I like it. The wagon still handles great. It's just more civilized over train tracks and such. It's a comparatively low-mileage car that I plan to have it till the wheels fall off.

As for me, I figure to just go with some mountune springs for the Fiesta and leave it at that. My objective is to have some fun at the track. My mountune mods should help with that, while limiting the $$$ thrown into the black hole of car modification.
 


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RAAMaudio

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Thread Starter #9
Thanks for taking the time to go over all that info, very much appreciated:)

I am not 100% certain I will get them but at least 90% sure, if there were others to pick from I would consider them of course as well.

And, I know the BCs are actually pretty good on this car, I had a custom higher end set on a car that I loved them on, street and track, worked exceptionally well but I only drove it a few thousands miles and a couple of track days and autocrosses. I got a standing ovation for my best run in a Forester XT, took second place in SM, that is saying something!
 


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RAAMaudio

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Thread Starter #10
UPDATE: I had two offers to buy my BC's so I sold them and will order the KW's today:)

I need to keep the BC's so I can get some break in miles on the car and this worked out for the buyer, he will be getting barely used, just cruising around so virtually like new coilovers and same some money and I get to buy the KW's.

I drove the car a but yesterday to settle the suspension to see if my final re alignment of the rear axle flanges is correct, what a tough job this has been, but I am still having brake issues, I will use a power bleeder today to see if I can fix it.
 


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#11
We drive on KW's EVERY DAY !!!! Our company has had KW's on 2000-2004 Focus, 2005 Focus ST Sedan, 2007 Cobalt SS, 2005-2009 Mustang GT, 2011 Mustang GT, and 2013 Focus ST.. Variant 1, Variant 2, Variant 3, and Clubsports.

We have not had them on a Fiesta ST, and We are also a Direct Warehouse for KW Suspensions.

Let me know if you have any questions..
 


razorlab

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#12
We drive on KW's EVERY DAY !!!! Our company has had KW's on 2000-2004 Focus, 2005 Focus ST Sedan, 2007 Cobalt SS, 2005-2009 Mustang GT, 2011 Mustang GT, and 2013 Focus ST.. Variant 1, Variant 2, Variant 3, and Clubsports.

We have not had them on a Fiesta ST, and We are also a Direct Warehouse for KW Suspensions.

Let me know if you have any questions..
I'm trying to see a constructive post in here somewhere but all I see is an advertisement.
 


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RAAMaudio

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Thread Starter #13
If they use them everyday and have used them on so many cars they must really like them:)

A bit of an add I agree but cool to see they seem to be well liked:)
 


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RAAMaudio

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Thread Starter #14
I got all excited and just about bought them but found they are more a higher end street setup that street/track which I need. Progressive springs would have to be changed, sourcing appropriate rear springs might be hard to get, etc....so I decided to stay with my BC street/track setup.

The KW's are great, just not what I need right now, if they bring out the ClubSports I will take a look at them.
 




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