Chappy Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 After a couple of weeks of tweaking and adjusting I think I finally have my KW V2's where I want em. Kelly was great with me from Racecomp Engineering in getting these very quickly and answering all my questions and addressing my concerns. My intial impression of them was that they were firm but not stiff which I liked. After a couple of weeks of settling they still feel the same. They are huge improvement over stock in terms of body roll and confidence in taking turns at speeds that I wouldnt have thought of before. Heavy bumps hit hard but they are not jolting. The KW's absorb very well. I have the preload set to 1.5 turns and that seems perfect. The rear end it very stable and planted. It does not get loose very easily. I had TDC Tuning do the install and it did not take very long. They used my stock tophats. Install maybe took 2 hours. I had a DP done as well so everything was done in about 3. I would definately recommend these for someone looking for a very firm ride. They are great on the highway and give a very stable feel up past 100. They are not floaty and will not give you a Cadillac type ride. They are very quiet. Overall no complaints at all. Racecomp was great to deal with and the KW brand seems to be well established and they make a very impressive product. I would no hesitate buying these again. Here are some before and after pics. My wheels are SSR 17x7.5 with 225/45's. Before: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/WRX05/DSC00011.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/WRX05/DSC00012.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/WRX05/DSC00013.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/WRX05/DSC00014.jpg After: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/WRX05/DSC00064.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/WRX05/DSC00063.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/WRX05/DSC00062.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/WRX05/DSC00059.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mines Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 kooool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjh Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 I ended up deciding on a set of these as well. They're on their way. So, I might end up bugging you (and Racecomp) with questions... just to warn you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panamajack Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Are the bound and rebound adjustable on these. I have a friend who has them on his s2000. May be a different series though. Your before pic looks like you took out the engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sutter2k Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 I ordered these a couple days ago. I wanted something of quality, but still used a little rubber (e.g. stock or sti top hats) My IONs will be up for sale. Your review was vs stock. I'll give my impressions vs IONs/comfort/body role etc... Curious if I should use stock or sti top hats. Did John give any impressions on these? Still have to get an alignment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chappy Posted April 5, 2006 Author Share Posted April 5, 2006 Sutter, I still need an alignment altough its not too far off from stock. After installing them, Jon liked the firmness. The overall quality of them amazing. I should easily get 3-4 years out of em before a rebuild. I went with my stock hats. I guess you could use the STi ones as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceComp Engineering Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Great Pics!! The car looks great!! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/WRX05/DSC00064.jpg Don’t forget these can be used on the wagons too!!!! The ssr's look great too.. I think they are my favorite wheel I am glad you like them. KW is a great company to work with; they have an outstanding product and back it up with excellent customer service!! Kelly E! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driggity Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Good to finally get a review (and more coming) of these for the Legacy. I considered getting these a while ago, but travel for work has kept pushing it back. Maybe I'll finally get around to getting them sometime in May. They definitely look like they provide what I'm looking for. Are the bound and rebound adjustable on these. They're Variant 2s so they have adjustable rebound damping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceComp Engineering Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Finally an alternative to the Bilsteins, that wont BOUNCE you to the moon, plus these are not green!! The wife wants these for her car. After testing them, she was pissed to have to take them off. So back on they go. Myles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illt3ck Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 how much do these coilovers run? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panamajack Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 They're Variant 2s so they have adjustable rebound damping. Yeah, but is the bound adjustable also? Sorry if Im stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceComp Engineering Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 http://gtworx.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_26_53_205&products_id=1095 Here is the link for them on our sister site GTworx. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceComp Engineering Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 Yeah, but is the bound adjustable also? Sorry if Im stupid. Just rebound... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjoeser Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Myles, I just installed my STI pinks I got from you guys and love the ride. What is the bounce that you are talking about. The firmness? I thought the ride dramatically improved with the new springs. RJO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceComp Engineering Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 I dont know what he was talking about... But the pinks are much stiffer.. I like the LGT on pinks.. but i can see some people that wouldnt!!! Kelly E. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjh Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Out of curiosity, how hard is it to remove the upper mounts from the stock suspension? Would it be easier to just order new ones for the new suspension? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceComp Engineering Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 I dont know what he was talking about... But the pinks are much stiffer.. I like the LGT on pinks.. but i can see some people that wouldnt!!! Kelly E. Kelly and RJO...Myles was talking about the bounce with certain brands of coilovers... - Drew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceComp Engineering Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 Out of curiosity, how hard is it to remove the upper mounts from the stock suspension? Would it be easier to just order new ones for the new suspension? Not too hard at all...I'll let Chappy chime in though. - Drew PS - Go Hokies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobY Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Holy crap my car was really that high before Coilovers??!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceComp Engineering Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Holy crap my car was really that high before Coilovers??!?! Yes... yes it was :lol: Kelly E. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhsa Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 i am getting IONs, but now i'm concerned about my stock shocks failing within the first year (i drive ~45K miles). The cost of replacing with bilstein struts at this point is just too high (not to mention installation costs, etc. to have the springs transferred to another pair of struts). now i'm thinking that coilovers are the way to go. chappy, how streetable are the KWs? can they be tuned to give a similar ride to IONs or Htechs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjh Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 Well, I've run into a problem installing the coilovers. When installing the upper mount onto the new strut, I can't tighten the upper bolt without having the piston shaft spin. Is there some easy way to secure the shaft so it doesn't spin... or am I just missing something (which it wouldn't surprise me much if I'm just going about it completely wrong...)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 allen wrench or clamp on top and slip a box or closed end wrench. Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjh Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 allen wrench or clamp on top and slip a box or closed end wrench. An allen wrench on top won't work cause there's no spot for one - the rebound adjustment knob is up there. And there's not enough of the upper bolt showing to get any sort of clamp on it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted April 16, 2006 Share Posted April 16, 2006 can you take a picture of the strut top for me? I can walk you through once I know what I am looking at. Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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