SWortham Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 Did a search and couldn't find any mention of these. KW recently released their Variant 2 coilovers for the new Legacy... http://82.165.32.80/kwnews/pictures/news_208/400_subaru_legacy_bl-bp_08.jpg http://www.kw-suspension.com/en/40_News/10_KW_News/20_Product_News/index.php?news_detail_lang=2&id=216 The place I know of where you can buy them would be www.group5motorsport.com Now, I have KW Variant 3 coilovers installed on my Hyundai Elantra, and I'm not quite satisfied with them yet since I had some issues -- some of which have to do with the fact that the ones I bought are technically designed for the Tiburon. But I'm going to reserve judgment until I figure it all out. But I will say a few things about them. The good: 1) Their coilovers have relatively low spring rates and good high speed damping. So they're great for someone who wants to keep a plush ride for the street even with an extreme drop. 2) They do not come with pillowball mounts so reusing the stock mounts should keep NVH low (and it keeps the cost down if you don't want pillowball mounts anyway). 3) The stainless steel construction is very nice. There's essentially nothing that can rust on the entire unit and they can survive harsh winter conditions just fine. Just clean them before you try to adjust the ride height, and you'll be able to continue to do so for much longer than the units out there with galvanized steel threaded shock bodies. The bad: 1) There is no separate adjustment for preload. The ride height you set it for affects preload. This means that there's a sweet spot for the ride height. As I have experienced, if you set them too high the preload will be too high for the damping and the ride becomes bouncy. So if that matters to you, companies like Zeal and Cusco offer coilovers with independent preload adjustments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 Racecomp Engineering should be getting them soon... I think only the Variant 3 is seperate which I dont think they make for the GT.... Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWortham Posted January 16, 2006 Author Share Posted January 16, 2006 The Variant 3 has independent compression & rebound settings. They also have a tender spring / main spring setup. But they do not have an independent adjustment for preload. And yeah, it looks like the Variant 2 is the only option available for the Legacy. Like you told me, KW has had some success in racing in Europe. And this world record Nurburgring video is worth checking out... http://www.kw-suspension.com/en/40_News/30_Motor_Sport_News/index.php?from=event&news_detail_lang=2&id=121 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driggity Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 I've heard very good things about KW's coilovers for Subarus. I almost got some for my WRX but at the time I wasn't happy with the knowledge or responses I was getting from the North America distributor. Considering the fact that they're a German company I was very impressed with the answers I got when talking directly to KW. It is interesting the they're offering these in the Variant 2s while all previous KW setups for subarus have been Variant 1s or Variant 3s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWortham Posted January 16, 2006 Author Share Posted January 16, 2006 I almost got some for my WRX but at the time I wasn't happy with the knowledge or responses I was getting from the North America distributor. Considering the fact that they're a German company I was very impressed with the answers I got when talking directly to KW. I'm facing the same problem. Do you still have the contact info for who were talking to? Could you PM it to me? The responses I'm getting are a little too slow and all by email so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driggity Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 Contact info for who? Someone in North America or someone in Germany? Let me know and I'll see what I can dig up. I think the information is on my computer at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWortham Posted January 16, 2006 Author Share Posted January 16, 2006 Whomever gave you the most intelligible responses. I assume that would be from KW in Germany? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driggity Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 OK. I'll see if I have the information for the person I talked to at KW in Germany. I usually save my emails so I should have it somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWortham Posted January 17, 2006 Author Share Posted January 17, 2006 Hey, thanks... but I think I found it... http://www.kwsuspensions.de/en/70_Contact/10_Contact_us/index.php I didn't realize they had a German site that was in English. I'll try emailing their service department. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nKoan Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 I have to say, I've got 2 friends with the V3's on their STi's and I am quite impressed with the KW quality. I'm just curious what kind of performance difference there are between the V2 and V3. V2 looks to be much cheaper, so I have to assume there are sacrifices in design (but hopefully not quality). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWortham Posted January 17, 2006 Author Share Posted January 17, 2006 You know what impressed me the most was the heft of these things (these are the Variant 3's)... http://www.gldomain.com/elantra/kw/PICT0006_800px.jpg The brackets and the welds are extremely thick and seemingly very strong while still being around 6 pounds lighter per corner than my OEM springs & struts. I had the pleasure of grinding the brackets myself, and that's some tough metal. BTW, here's the install notes... http://www.gldomain.com/elantra/kw/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 helper springs all around? hmmm Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWortham Posted January 17, 2006 Author Share Posted January 17, 2006 Is that a good 'hmmm', a bad 'hmmm', or a curious 'hmmm'? haha By the way, only the Variant 3's have helper springs... the Variant 2's for the Legacy will not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driggity Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 I have to say, I've got 2 friends with the V3's on their STi's and I am quite impressed with the KW quality. I'm just curious what kind of performance difference there are between the V2 and V3. V2 looks to be much cheaper, so I have to assume there are sacrifices in design (but hopefully not quality). Well, just going from seperate compression and rebound adjusters to a single adjuster probably saves a good deal of money. Unfortunately I don't know if there any other differences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egan Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 I have to say, I've got 2 friends with the V3's on their STi's and I am quite impressed with the KW quality. I'm just curious what kind of performance difference there are between the V2 and V3. V2 looks to be much cheaper, so I have to assume there are sacrifices in design (but hopefully not quality). I love the KWV3's on my STi. It makes for a great track setup with surprisingly pleasant street results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWortham Posted January 30, 2006 Author Share Posted January 30, 2006 Oh, just thought I'd throw this out there. KW recommended a 60K mile service schedule for my V3's. I assume it would be the same for the V2's but it'd be best to ask. And the coilovers can be serviced at KW North America located in California. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 KW has a good rep in the Mini community. I take it these are on par with Cusco or HKS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWortham Posted January 31, 2006 Author Share Posted January 31, 2006 They are similar to the Cusco's in that they have stainless housings, and there's not much that can rust or corrode. But the Cusco Zero 2's have pillowball mounts, and an independent adjustment for preload. So feature-wise the Cusco's have the advantage and you pay for that. The only problem is that the Cusco's cannot be rebuilt in the U.S. as far as I know, whereas the KW's can. And the KW's have a surprisingly long service schedule. Of course, it remains to be seen how well they perform for me after 60K miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 so, like a Cusco Zero-1 then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceComp Engineering Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27432 We now carry these...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driggity Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27432 We now carry these...... Since these don't come with top mounts have you confirmed that in the front they work with the USDM LGT top mounts and don't need the Spec-B style mounts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceComp Engineering Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 KW has confirmed with us that they do fit. We addressed this concern with them, and they insured us a correct fitment. --------------------- Myles Williams www.GTWORX.com Cobb - Swift – Whiteline - Cusco - Alpinestars - Prodrive Ohlins - Moton - KW - Bilstein - STi - Pagid - Ferodo GTWORX (division of Racecomp) 9123 Old Annapolis Rd Columbia, MD 21045 410-730-7223 Phone 410-707-0108 Mobile 410-730-5503 Fax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Myles, Do they make any noise? I have heard an STi with them on and the valving in the rear makes a slight "squeaking" sound. -Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driggity Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I figured you'd have it handled. Just wanted to make sure. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenguy Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 FWIW: I have V2 on my 02 Si, they do have th ehelper spring all around. They do squeeek when going over speedbumps, etc. They are very smooth and responsive. But like most coil-overs they are overkill for street aplications. I would recomend them to anyone looking for a coil-over! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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