My KW suspension V3 dampers arrived late last week. I had a chance to finger them this week. I wanted a less expensive alternative to the JRZs, Ohlins etc. And wanted something better than the JDM stuff. These look pretty good out of the box.

The bump (compression) adjustment is at the bottom of the damper, that will require the wheels off to adjust. Hopefully I will get that right w/o too much fiddling.

I hope to get these on the car soon and will road test them asap, the ultimate test (Lap times) will have to wait till Spring.

I love new toys...



Both the front and rear dampers have extra reservoirs and helper springs.



You will need a spring compressor as these use the stock mounts at the top



Completed rear

 

Hadn't heard of these; let us know how they work out.

Besides track performance, we'd be interested in:
- Adjustability range/precision
- Max spring rates (before revalving is needed)
- Installation tips (how's the fit on an S2K? any accessories required?)
- How/where to buy (any s2ki vendors? how's the customer service?)
- Cost, of course
- etc.

 

to answer some of your questions:

the springs are 515lbs/in I'm not sure if there is an option, but money talks.

You can get them from the S2ki marketplace (go fast lab). I believe you can get the 10% with the goldmember discount.

I think they are $1975 prior to discount.

 

As I appear to be the prototype S2000 customer here in the US I am working on these answers myself. Anyone speak German?

They have full race versions also, someone here (slick rick?) has those, since I only do about 6-10 HPDE events a year I didn't think they were necessary.

Adjustability range/precision

The preload has about 3.5 turns of adjustment (no clicks) Bump 2 turns.

I will start with the recommended settings (1.5 out front and 2.5 out rear on rebound and .75 on bump)

- Max spring rates (before revalving is needed)

The stock springs are 90/140 Nmm (not sure why the dual rating), KW was a little cagey when I asked them about getting different spring rates. We will see on this. I will make changes if I don't get the results I want.

- Installation tips (how's the fit on an S2K? any accessories required?)

I will take some photos of the instal, this is my 2nd set for this car, I don't see any problems, other than some ride height adjustment.

A spring compressor is needed($ 12.00 at Harbor Freight).

The fronts have the brackets for the brake lines welded in. Hopefully there are no clearance issues with my Comptech front bar.


- How/where to buy (any s2ki vendors? how's the customer service?)

JP at the S2Ki Go Fast Lab. Jp is cool to work with.

The V3 dampers are built to order in Germany so expect about 2-3 weeks.

- Cost, of course

$1,975.00 or less if you are a Member here

- etc.

 

George

Just one clarification on your info: The supplied KW springs are model number 90/140 but the spring rate is 90 n/mm or 513.91 pounds/inch (rounded to 515). The second half, the 140, is supposed to represent the uncompressed length in mm of the spring.

The double-adjustable Variant 3 seen here is in the store: http://www.gofastlab.com/s2ki/product.php?...7&cat=12&page=1

J.P.

 

those look very nice! I can't wait to hear your impressions of them.

 

Want to read the review.

I've been eyeing these too, for the same reasons as you (gfactor). Bump and rebound ( not compression) adjustments and (new to me) external reservoirs! Their website doesn't really sell any performace aspects of the coilovers, mainly rust resistance.

 

the external reservoirs is what puts these shocks a step above just about all the others in the sub $3k range.

 

Nice! Quite a lot of features at any price.

 

John, you are being too demanding here. I don't even know half this stuff about my JRZ's after almost 2 years.