anyone running kw v2's? chime in please

[bernB5]

ok, so after new control arms, v2's and h-sports all around the car still handles like a pig.

i was under the impression that v2's were rebound adjustable on all 4 corners, but mine are only adjustable in the front. After $1400 worth of coilovers, I'm not even remotely satisfied.

my gti on pss9's felt 10x better, as did the r32 with h&r coils, and the evo with just springs was night and day (yes, apples to oranges, but i'm talking about general suspension feel)

the rear spring rates are preference, I'm not sure what comes from the factory on these but the car just feels like shit.

Just looking for some input from people running these, or any of the other variants.

[djwimbo]

define handling like a pig?

Stiff springs and sway bars isn't what makes a suspension perfect. Hopefully Onemoremile will chime in. He's the local suspension guru, in my home town ... and on the boards.
According to the site, the fronts are 580lb springs, no info on the rear.

AFAIK the V2's are nice coilovers. At least I've heard good things about them.

[317ssayzarc]

V3's are where its at my brother... adjustable rebound and dampening are needed to really dial it in to your preference....

[JumboBlack1.8]

I'm pretty sure that V2's are rebound dampening, but the adjustment key is in a different spot on the rears.....On my V3's...the rebound adjustment is on the shock arm, behind a small black plastic tab. Check the VW website for info on how to adjust them to ur liking

[bernB5]

jake, i wish I was just concerned with preference... it's the overall feel that is just terrible. The car feels like stock struts and lowering springs, maybe softer. I'll find out 100% if the rears are adjustable tomorrow.

[fred2ka4]

I cannot say enough how happy I am with my current setup. I run Bilstein shocks with H&R sport springs set on the lowest perch. The ride and handling are both awesome and this is a very good compromise as the car is not dumped, but sits at a good height. It is also my daily driver and not a track specific vehicle so you will need to determine what amount of time your car will see on the track and on the road.

I love the way my car has handled when driven spiritedly but as of yet it has not seen any track time.

[bernB5]

i'm sure your setup feels much better than mine.

kw's site is not workign properly, the pdf's aren't showing up under details. i'm almost POSITIVE the rears are rebound adjustable as well.

it wouldn't make sense to just have rebound adjustment in the front and not the rear, right?

[fred2ka4]

Are the KW's that bad?? I thought a lot of people were running those and I don't remember hearing any negative feedback on them?

[bernB5]

well... i got a great deal on them from tunershop two years back. they only have 2000 EASY miles on them.
The only thing changed from factory settings is the ride height, and today the front rebound was changed from 60% to about 75%.
The specs on them show "P" for rear spring rate, meaning preference. I guess it's possible I have some soft spring in the rear? not sure.
Tomorrow I will get the pdf and see how the rears adjust.

To get an idea, I can push, with one hand, on either right/left side of the rear quarter panel and the car will just mush down like a stock car.

[317ssayzarc]

hmmm, thats not right man

[bernB5]

i know! that's why i posted up lol

[seank]

Yep, you should have a hard time budging the suspension if it is setup properly. Definitely shouldn't be moving by the push of your hand.

[bernB5]

we'll see what happens today. I spent my morning on the phone with KW sorting out if I do in fact have the right struts on the rear, still no real answer as the part # was an older one since they apparently changed last year.
The car is actually at a shop having the suspension setup. first time it's being worked on by someone else in quite some time.
We found that the rears are without the dust-boot and need to be internally adjusted by the compress/turn method, so I'm waiting to hear back from the shop if that worked or not.
Hoping for the best.

[ExpLlclT]

don't overlook alignment if you haven't

[bernB5]

once the suspension is sorted out, i'll get an allignment and rebalance the wheels.
the car drives straight and has pretty even tire wear, not to say it's perfect, but it's certainly not the main problem.

[AEB A4]

i got KW v1's and they arent as stiff as i thought they would be. The car goes low though =]

[bernB5]

so, do i cut the bumpstops off or not.. this is annoying as shit. apparently, the shocks can't be compressed enough with the bump stops on, but they came on the coils, so i find it hard to imagine they need to be removed to adjust the rebound.

[onemoremile]

I'm baffled as to how you can compress the spring and shock by pushing on the fender by hand. Does the spring actually compress like that? It should move about 1/4" if you sit on the fender. My 400 pound Shine springs only drop 1/4" if I sit on the front fender. Same goes for the rear if I stand on the bumper.

I can understand compressing the shock but the spring is what holds up the car. It should take nearly 600 pounds to compress the first inch, twice that for two inches, and so on. You got some really heavy hands.

I can't imagine that you would have to cut off the bumpstops to compress them enough to adjust them. That is just weird.