WhiteJames
Fun Nazi
- Location
- Sydney
- Car(s)
- VW Golf GTI MKV
Review: KW V3 on Volkswagen Golf GTI
1. The Kit
The KW Variant 3 coilovers were supplied by Balance Motorsport in the United Kingdom. With a favorable exchange rate, the V3 kit cost $2750 all taxes inclusive delivered to my front door. The KW V3 is incrementally adjustable for rebound and only low speed compression. Low speed compression refers to the speed of the spring compressing, not the speed of the car. Low speed compression deals with the smaller bumps and the pitch fore and aft, and body roll. High speed compression on the KW V3 is not adjustable and preset from KW factory in Germany to offer a good ride regardless of the firmness of the low speed compression setting. The previous suspension in this 2006 GTI with 39,000km on the odo was the Eibach ProKit/Koni FSD package mated to the H&R adjustable anti-roll bars size small. The H&R sway bars remained with the upgrade to KW V3 coilover.
2. Installation
Paul Muller from Muller & Muller Automotive performed the installation. Muller & Muller is a family business where Old Man Muller and Lady Muller still come to work to ensure their sons are kept in check; despite being around 70 years of age. Muller & Muller specialize in Volkswagen and Audi and have performed more than 25 suspension upgrades on GTI and R32 alone. They have experience in preparing race Golf’s and their latest is a R32 with ported heads, exhaust, PSS10 which is soon due for a 25K supercharger kit. The cost of the installation was $350. No wheel alignment was performed as the ride height in the front is unchanged in the VW GTI. In addition, only the toe is adjustable on the front end of a MKV Golf. A wheel alignment will be conducted at the 1,000km mark when things settle in.
3. Ride Height Issues
Issues relating to ride height were the only real issue that Paul Muller had to experience on this White Volkswagen GTI. There is a height difference from right rear to left rear in the chassis itself with the left rear sitting up to 8mm higher than the right rear. This problem was always apparent with OEM stock springs, again with the Eibach Prokit and now with the KW V3 coilover. Problem with the KW V3 is that the rear end has been lowered, so the difference in height is more discernable now with the tyres closer to the guard than it was with the higher rear ride height of the Eibach ProKit or stock springs.
The problem can be minimized to a degree by wounding up the left rear coilover to bridge the gap, but clearance has to be given for each rear spring to perform in unison. In other words: making one rear spring much shorter than the other may affect handling and ride to a degree. Bridging the gap by a few mm should not pose a great problem. Looks like the difference has been brought down from 8mm to about 0mm LR to RR. Measurement checks will confirm this later down the track once kit has settled in. End result is that there is still a slight difference in the rear fender to centre rear wheel height. This will again be looked at when the vehicle is returned at the 1,000km mark. The problem is a build problem, so Paul Muller and I can only deal with the cards that VW have dealt to us in determining the ride height and looks of this vehicle. Looks like the guys building this GTI had too much tribal African juice the night before. Could be worse; perhaps a dud DSG or blown turbo.
The new version of the KW V3 has plenty of slack in them for a higher ride height. I haven’t measured the difference yet. Paul Muller tells me that the front end can be raised another 15 threads or 15 mm (1mm per thread) or lowered another 10 threads (10mm). The rear end is complex due to @ 5mm variance from right to left. The thread on the right rear is at its half way mark @ and stated to have about 10mm available to raise the rear. The left rear thread is at lowest mark and has no additional height adjustment. Please note I will have to confirm these measurements. These are the latest revised iteration of the KW V3. I believe the earlier KW V3 product lowered much much more.
I have heard of others GTI’s having this problem; as well as other makes including 200K Mercs. The difference in ride height from left rear to right rear is barely discernable in the pics supplied. Okay my camera is not the greatest; please note that I just spent 3K on the set of KW coilovers. So the camera will have to wait.
The rake has been removed from the vehicle and the rear end has been lowered quite a bit more than the front, which was left at the previous ride height. Two reasons for this. In my experience, the front will sag more than the rear – probably 3-5mm over time. Secondly, the higher ride height at the front relative to rear helps stabilize the GTI under hard or emergency braking. As the front end dives, the vehicle becomes level in ride height, with the absence of rake helping to prevent the front from falling over itself. Most sedan-like race cars like V8 Supercars adopt a similar ride height stance.
4. Damper Settings
KW provides a manual indicating the preferred initial settings. Having heavy 28lbs 18 inch Huff wheels we decided to go a bit harder than recommended and have all settings – rebound and low speed compression – set on half way.
1. The Kit
The KW Variant 3 coilovers were supplied by Balance Motorsport in the United Kingdom. With a favorable exchange rate, the V3 kit cost $2750 all taxes inclusive delivered to my front door. The KW V3 is incrementally adjustable for rebound and only low speed compression. Low speed compression refers to the speed of the spring compressing, not the speed of the car. Low speed compression deals with the smaller bumps and the pitch fore and aft, and body roll. High speed compression on the KW V3 is not adjustable and preset from KW factory in Germany to offer a good ride regardless of the firmness of the low speed compression setting. The previous suspension in this 2006 GTI with 39,000km on the odo was the Eibach ProKit/Koni FSD package mated to the H&R adjustable anti-roll bars size small. The H&R sway bars remained with the upgrade to KW V3 coilover.
2. Installation
Paul Muller from Muller & Muller Automotive performed the installation. Muller & Muller is a family business where Old Man Muller and Lady Muller still come to work to ensure their sons are kept in check; despite being around 70 years of age. Muller & Muller specialize in Volkswagen and Audi and have performed more than 25 suspension upgrades on GTI and R32 alone. They have experience in preparing race Golf’s and their latest is a R32 with ported heads, exhaust, PSS10 which is soon due for a 25K supercharger kit. The cost of the installation was $350. No wheel alignment was performed as the ride height in the front is unchanged in the VW GTI. In addition, only the toe is adjustable on the front end of a MKV Golf. A wheel alignment will be conducted at the 1,000km mark when things settle in.
3. Ride Height Issues
Issues relating to ride height were the only real issue that Paul Muller had to experience on this White Volkswagen GTI. There is a height difference from right rear to left rear in the chassis itself with the left rear sitting up to 8mm higher than the right rear. This problem was always apparent with OEM stock springs, again with the Eibach Prokit and now with the KW V3 coilover. Problem with the KW V3 is that the rear end has been lowered, so the difference in height is more discernable now with the tyres closer to the guard than it was with the higher rear ride height of the Eibach ProKit or stock springs.
The problem can be minimized to a degree by wounding up the left rear coilover to bridge the gap, but clearance has to be given for each rear spring to perform in unison. In other words: making one rear spring much shorter than the other may affect handling and ride to a degree. Bridging the gap by a few mm should not pose a great problem. Looks like the difference has been brought down from 8mm to about 0mm LR to RR. Measurement checks will confirm this later down the track once kit has settled in. End result is that there is still a slight difference in the rear fender to centre rear wheel height. This will again be looked at when the vehicle is returned at the 1,000km mark. The problem is a build problem, so Paul Muller and I can only deal with the cards that VW have dealt to us in determining the ride height and looks of this vehicle. Looks like the guys building this GTI had too much tribal African juice the night before. Could be worse; perhaps a dud DSG or blown turbo.
The new version of the KW V3 has plenty of slack in them for a higher ride height. I haven’t measured the difference yet. Paul Muller tells me that the front end can be raised another 15 threads or 15 mm (1mm per thread) or lowered another 10 threads (10mm). The rear end is complex due to @ 5mm variance from right to left. The thread on the right rear is at its half way mark @ and stated to have about 10mm available to raise the rear. The left rear thread is at lowest mark and has no additional height adjustment. Please note I will have to confirm these measurements. These are the latest revised iteration of the KW V3. I believe the earlier KW V3 product lowered much much more.
I have heard of others GTI’s having this problem; as well as other makes including 200K Mercs. The difference in ride height from left rear to right rear is barely discernable in the pics supplied. Okay my camera is not the greatest; please note that I just spent 3K on the set of KW coilovers. So the camera will have to wait.
The rake has been removed from the vehicle and the rear end has been lowered quite a bit more than the front, which was left at the previous ride height. Two reasons for this. In my experience, the front will sag more than the rear – probably 3-5mm over time. Secondly, the higher ride height at the front relative to rear helps stabilize the GTI under hard or emergency braking. As the front end dives, the vehicle becomes level in ride height, with the absence of rake helping to prevent the front from falling over itself. Most sedan-like race cars like V8 Supercars adopt a similar ride height stance.
4. Damper Settings
KW provides a manual indicating the preferred initial settings. Having heavy 28lbs 18 inch Huff wheels we decided to go a bit harder than recommended and have all settings – rebound and low speed compression – set on half way.
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