Kw V3 Settings

Hi all, I've been looking all over the web and finding very little in terms of settings for the KW V3. So i'm hoping there is some collective wisdom that can be shared here Since installing them on my 2002 C2 last year i've done a 3 track days and some road miles. Have worked OK on track although rear end has been a little weird at times (think my geo also wasn't great until recently). More importantly, I've been struggling with gip on country roads where the car skips around a lot - can be quite frightening at times.. so i decided to look at the damper settings at the weekend. Settings were as follows (as set up by the installer) (all number of clicks starting from full hard): Front left rebound 6 / compression 4 Front right rebound 5 / compression 4 Rear Left rebound 5 / compression 3 Rear right rebound 6 / compression 3 I changed them to the recommended KW values from the manual, as follows (all number of clicks starting from full hard): Front left rebound 8 / compression 6 Front right rebound 8 / compression 6 Rear Left rebound 8 / compression 3 Rear right rebound 8 / compression 3 I'll be able to drive the car on Saturday and see how different it feels. Now that i've realised how easy it is to change the settings i would like to run a different set up for road and for track. So here's my question - can you please share here settings that have worked for you? Fast road, comfort or hillclimb, all setting welcome! I've heard you should always key compression and rebound in sync, but not sure hat that means in real terms. In terms of set-up, if it helps, i have the following: - geo: 1.35 camber up front and 1.45 at the back - eibach ARBs and adjustable LCAs Thanks in advance for any setting or advice!

And here's a pic of the car as threads with pics are always better!

Hi, can't help with tech stuff but your car does sit well, looks grand!

Thanks! I've put the porsche spacers since that picture which improve the stance. To my eyes it's the perfect balance of sporty but not over the top.

Looks like the installer set them up too hard for the road, honestly. I reckon you should use the KW settings for the road and the installer's settings for the track, as a starter.

Thanks - that's my thinking but i'm wondering why rebound was tightned up but not compression at the back. It would be great to understand how they work together. I've found vey little information.

As replies are thin on the ground I will chip in. - I will start by saying I am no expert and have no direct experience with KW V3, I run KW V1 on my 964, but that is never driven in anger, my 996 is on JRZ but the principles should be the same. When you say the rear end has been 'wierd' at times, can you explain what you mean / what does it feel like? - Do you mean that when your in a corner it feels as if its not planted or going to break away? I am asuming that the springs were provided with the dampers and the rates are matched? So there is no spring rate problems? Damper settings are somewhat of a dark art and few people know enough about them to provided definatively correct settings, combine this with different driving styles, geo and tyre choice it only serves to further compicated things. I run more rebound then compression, the rationale being that it keeps more weight on the tyres. The KW factory settings appear to agree with this, on the front I run more rebound than on the rear to help eliminate some understeer. Generally as means of a start point go halfway on both and tune to suit yourself. I run mine at.., Front - Compression 7 clicks (Out of 14) - Rebound 10 (out of 16) Rear - Compresion 7 Clicks - Rebound 8 clicks. You also mention that the car skips around, can you expand on this? What does it feel like? Does you car have PSM? If so are you activating the PSM?

Unrelated to your coilovers but just a thought, do you know the state of your engine mounts? I know before I replaced mine the rear would bounce a bit on fast corners and wasn't planted but as soon as the new engine mounts went in the car was far more stable.

thansk for the feedback. They are new - had an engine rebuild last year.

Thanks for taking the time. Any experience even related to other brands is valuable. OK - i will try to explain but honestly its a little tricky to put into words. On corner exit under acceleration on track, i have had the back slide out a little. The way it breaks away feels almost like it lifts and rolls, then slides. Very difficult to explain but it feels a bit like a boat rocking before sliding. Correct. Stock V3 set. i've been doing a little bit of reading and it sounds like rebound will impact car body movement (roll, etc), vs compression being about sticking to the road after a bump. So that would make sense if you want a flatter and more direct turn in, but enough give in compression to take bumps in the road. It feels like the car litterally bounces around on the road. In a harsh way (NOT bobbing up and down like on springs). It can actually be pretty scrary at speed as you have a lot less control. I think this may be too much compression No aides other than ABS.

@crash7 i think your approach on compression vs rebound makes sense if you are driving the car on the road (or bumpier tracks) as well as smoother tracks. What i have read on compression: more compression adds more grip.. until it doesn't! So the ideal on any given track it to increase it progressively until it starts skiping over bumps and loosing grip; then dial it back one notch. That should be your optimal compression setting. (putting aside any attempt to inflence over-/ under-steer). Rebound is going to have more of an impact on car body movement and roll. So assuming you want one setting that's "sporty" but you can drive on the track and on the road, you would probably want to run lower compression - to take in the bumps on the road - and higher rebound (on a relative basis) - to have shareper turn-in and less roll.

Try a call to Chris or Pete at Centre Gravity, they are two of the most helpful guys and well respected on here

Good shout - do you think they'll be happy to speak knowing they are not going to get to set it up (they are way too far from london for me to go up)?

Found Pete helpful as I rebuild my suspension on advice. I want a fast road setup and Pete advised me on specifiying parts I need before I book in. What you are doing is correct by settings for road and track as finding a happy medium for both will not be satisfactory for track or viceversa. You will find that ARB play a big part for compliancy on the road - even a 1mm difference with completely change the characteristics on the car. If you ever watch a team preparing a race car you will realise how citical it is to get geo, tyres, pressures, surface, weather and driver style correct as they constantly change.

I haven't played with the ARBs as its more involved to change and i have no garage (i park on the street in central london) - so getting it up on stands etc is more of a problem. Its a good place to look at if i can't get to a place i like with the damper settings. I have indeed learned that Geo is super critical - absoutely transforms a car. When i first got the 911 i could not bond with it and something just felt wrong: impossible to explain what, and people who tried it (including very high profile porsche tuners/ indies) said it drived 'great'. I got it aligned and OMG, all of a sudden it was fantastic to drive! Then i did a track day and the outside of the tyres got absolutely balsted. So now have more camber. Recently had a full corner weight and geo setting and i could just feel it wasn't right. Went to a local alignment shop - toe was off on front left - they fixed it and again OMG what a difference. Same story on tyre pressure. Went on what i could find online and ran the recommended spec from porsche (i use micheline pilot sport 2 N rated) - i think its 36 front 44 rear. Found very little online on what the right hot pressure on track days is and was running them around the recommended levels of 36/44 when hot. did 2 track days like this. Then did a Porsche Club track day at brands hatch where Paul from Parr was on hand for advice. He told me 'run them at 33 front and back when hot' - i didn't believe him and thought it made no sense, but tried 33/36: transformed! So if you are running these tyres go for 33/33 hot on track days, no hesitation. I am hoping here i can improve grip on bumpy roads with just damper settings as i can live with a harsh ride (from a comfort perspective) as long as i have grip and feel safe on average UK roads. I've done some research and found some interesting things online which i'll try to summarise and post here as info on damper settings is really thin on the ground.