KW Variant 3 - Reviews


Did you find them stiff ?

Ive driven a new set of Buddyclub N+ , damping was ok , but for that money I would buy the koni /ground control setup.

I really want something that can be compliant on Irish roads but well capable aswell , ie have my cake and eat it too :lol:

I think I might bite the bullet and see what the KW V3's are like in a month or so
 
lol try and have it both ways like, ah ye they were stiff alright, but they did a dam good job so it didnt bother me, you have to pay serious money for a setup that does both ;), what prices and where have you seem the V3 because im gonna need a set soon, i may splash out on some ohlins but i dunno yet, ps took my civic back home (wexford) kw's work well on the irish roads :)
 
Would you i think id go for the pillow ball option tbh, what do you want to use the car for lad?
 
The pillowball mount doesnt offer any improvements over the rubber type thats worth noting. As the dampers dont need to move like a macpherson strut so save your monies man :D

Road and track , I drive it everyday too.
 
Since there doesn't seem to be a lot of reviews for civics with Kw v3's and I know how hard it is to decide on a suspension without at least reading a few subjective user reviews on the Internet, I've decided to post my comments.


Old setup:
Spoon Street dampers (non-adjustable)
Tanabe super down precedeo Springs (spring rate unknown)
I've used this setup for 11 years now and the spoon dampers still work flawlessly, but I have out grown the Tanabe spring rates.

New setup:
KW v3
Height front: 27 cm (hub to fender)
Height rear: 28 cm (hub to fender)
Compression front and rear: 5 clicks open from full hard
Rebound front: 9 clicks open from full hard
Rebound rear: 15 clicks open from full hard
The above compression and rebound settings are recommended by KW for starters.

KW V3 Cost: $2100 USD


Additional suspension/wheel/tire related info:
Skunk2 camber front: - 3
Srr rear camber rear: - 3
Tires: 15x7 195/55 Dunlop direzza Z star spec
Wheels: stance emotion 15x8 -25 offset
Sway bars: OEM SI front and rear
Chasis: 99 EJ6 (not ek9 since I'm in North america)

Suspension setups I've sat in or driven :

96 Civic with Tien type HA coilovers
98 ITR with tien coilovers (unknown type)
00 Stock itr
Stock s2000
00+ stock Bmw M3
90 Miata with Kw suspension (non adjustable)
Stock RSX type s
Golf gti with bilstein suspension
Nissan 240 with stance suspension


What I was looking for when shopping for new suspension:

1) 3 way adjustable (height, rebound, compression)
2) quality product for the amount of Money spent
3) reliability/longevity of the product (at least 10 years service life) read: OEM quality
4) rust resistant
5) decently comfortable DD ride quality yet be able to perform at entry level on track/good Canyon carver(read: better than stock itr)
6) lifetime guarantee is a plus

Side notes/biases:

I'm very fond of the stock itr and s2000 suspensions. Even the stock Rsx type s suspension is quite good. Some people may find this too weak for their taste but I am using my car daily and it rarely sees any track days and the occasional autox (definitely not as much as I would like). As long as I can carve the more frequent Canyon run or curvy on/off ramps or under/over passes then I'm relatively satisfied.

As much as I want to consider myself a road warrior the fact is I am an aging adult that seeks performance within the tolerances of some ride comfort. I also have the occasional friend/coworker/family member who rides in my car and I don't want to have to apologize for a harsh ride every single time I hit a road imperfection.

Impressions:

Whether I flick the car into a quick right/left hand turn or carve through a medium to large turning radius (think over passes / on/off ramps) the car feels planted with the KW v3.

With my old setup I could always tell when my car leans over and by how much before the progressive spring stiffens up. Once the suspension stiffened you could then accelerate harder but only to a certain degree before the car felt light/vague in response.

The new setup gives way less body roll and you almost can't even feel the progressive springs change rates. In other words the feeling of the spring rate is almost linear. Whether I initiate a turn in or accelerate out of a turn the suspension gives so much more confidence that I feel I could push it even harder and it lets me.

The best part is when I hit a bump in the road or manhole cover the impact is absorbed very well by the new dampers. With that said you will still feel the suspension's firmness while driving - it will gently remind you that it's firm while driving straight but won't break your back or hurt your kidneys if you run over road imperfections.

I had the opportunity to run the new KW v3's on my winter tires (general tire artic altimax 15/195/55 on 15x7 rims) before switching to my summer combo mentioned above. Due to the lack of stiff tire side walls I experienced greater nose dives while breaking and an expected amount of steering lag. This is true even when using the old suspension setup with the winter tires. What's interesting to note is that I could still flick or carve a turn and feel the same confidence given by the KW v3's while on winter tires.

Bottom line I would definitely buy this product again.
 
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Thanks for sharing. Please check your measurements though. 27/28 cm is extremely low and outside the KW-recommended range, which is 30-33 cm in front and 31-34 cm in rear.

The reason you don't feel the progressive spring rates is that they aren't really progressive. They are only a 2 stage affair. And even then the top coils are bound together even when the car is sitting still. They are used mostly to hold the spring in place on droop. KW was simply too cheap to include separate helper springs.
 
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Rui , you are right about the recommended distance but that is if you measure from hub center. I started measuring at the top point of the rim center cap (ie top edge of hub ring), so I am still within specs. Wasn't sure how to measure exactly from hub center with the rims on.
 
Ah, that makes sense. I was wondering how you could drive at 27/28, you'd be hitting the bump stops constantly. The hub on 4x100 Hondas is 56.1 mm in diameter, so you add half of that to you measurements you are within specs, if on the lower side of things.

That helps explain how compliant you said the car is over potholes. If you raise the car the spring preload will increase and it'll become harsher. I tried it on mine. I had to do it because I didn't like how much the car rolled and pitched without preload on the springs.
 
I understand what you mean. In my case I needed to lower it to get more camber to clear my wheel offset.

I'm surprised I never saw any reviews from yourself regarding the KW v3s. Would've been nice to hear your opinions before I bought mine. Haha.
 
I had KW v2 on my EG for about 4 years and i really liked them, seems to me is the best relation between comfort and performance.

Currently I'm running Meister R Zeta R suspension and i really like the feeling it's more performance oriented than KW v2.

Both good suspension's but for performance i prefer Meister, for a more comfortable ride I'd go for KW.
 
Im running KW V3s... there alright (apparently the only ones that hold up with our uk roads) dont know if thats true though

They overall handle well and the design is good as they will never seize
 
I have the V3's and love them. They provide a nice ride height an comfort. I have had these on my hatch and the sedan and slammed with no problems at all.
 
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