Summary:
Excellent street/track coilover. Street ride is near equivalent OEM quality, better at small bumps, bigger bumps are harder, suspension feels well damped. Performance driving gives quicker transitions and very forgiving, dare I say idiot proof, handling with easier throttle oversteer control.

Setup as Tested:
- 2002 model year
- 205/245 Toyo T1S and 225/245 Toyo RA1
- Comptech Adjustable Front Swaybar, set at second softest setting
- GoFast Labs rear anti-bumpsteer kit
- KW Variant 3, bump set to recommended 0.75 turns from full hard, rebound set +0.5 softer than recommended (front: 2.5 turns from full hard, rear: 3 turns from full hard)
- front lowered 15mm, rear lowered 20mm
- front toe 0 degrees, front camber -1.8 degrees, front caster 5.6 degrees
- rear toe 0.15 degrees each: 0.30 degrees total, rear camber -2.0 degrees

Gory Details:
I was looking at getting a track/street coilover that has useable adjustment, provided real performance improvements, and didn't break the bank. After doing some research, the best choice looked to be the KW Variant 3's. Although this is a generality, it looks like most JDM coilovers don't seem to work well on uneven pavement, while European stuff is better on non-ideal roads. KW has some second-tier motorsport participation, mainly rally, so they should know something about performance.

Good price for independent rebound and compression. The graphs of the shock dyno show real adjustability, not like some shocks that have a lot of settings that do nothing. Additionally, the shocks have additional fixed oil reservoirs on both the front and rear shocks for better stamina for tracking. There are adjustable spring perches that are used to adjust spring preload. This allows ride height to be tweaked and to corner balance. The spring rate is 512 lbs/in (around 6 kg/mm) front and back. This is 70% - 100% stiffer than stock, and just as important, stiffer front/rear ratio than stock resulting in more static understeer.

My general opinions are in the summary at the top of the post. The car is noticably quicker to respond to steering, takes a set almost immediately and is not adversely effected by mid-corner bumps. Note that the rear anti-bumpsteer kit got rid of the rear end swimming over corner bumps, but the improved damping got rid of the rear end skipping. The damping seems well suited to the spring rate as the car didn't ride like a skateboard. After street driving for a few weeks, the ride is definitely firmer and a little harsher, but not much.

I haven't had a chance to track them or play with the adjustments. After 2 autocrosses and some higher speed on/off ramps, the first thing that I noticed was how progressive the rear end breaks away. It is so easy to catch now, and putting down power in high speed curves is not a worry anymore. The other noticable aspect is the feeling that there is less weight transfer, i.e. higher handling limits. This is probably attributable to the lower center of gravity, without over lowering, which would move the roll center down too much. Also of note, is that I lowered the rear more than the front which in theory makes the car more understeery and gives the rear better and more controllable grip. Slolam transitions were one of my favourite things with the stock suspension, and it is even better now. The car sets quicker allowing for even faster transitions from side to side. Turn in and corner exit feel a little different now. There is more of a transition period, where before it seemed more of an on/off mode. This gives the chasis more of a controlled and settled feeling throughout the turn. The stiffer front spring rates in combination with the stiffer front sway and 225 front tires, gives the car a little more static understeer than I prefer. 205 front tires makes a very understeery car, which might not be a bad thing for the street tires. I'm going to set the FSB to full soft for the track/autocross setup which should get the balance to where I like. My guess is that with stock tire sizes and stock swaybars, the increased understeer from the spring rates would be just enough to balance '00-'03 cars for good every day and performance driving.

So, if you haven't guessed already I give the KW's a from a subjective feel point of view. I don't really have any hard facts on how much faster laptimes are, but it looks like around 1 second over a 60 second autocross run. This might be all due to increased driver confidence (since by no means am I driving to the limit of the stock or KW suspension), but even so the improved drivability make them a worthwhile performance mod to me.

 

Wow! Great review!

I am in the market for some coilover suspension. I have a set of Tein SS on my teg right now, and find that they are preety good. The ride/feel of the car is great.

As for my S2K, im definately looking for a streetable coilover, as I don't plan to do much racing/lapping/auto x etc with it, I just want a better handling car along with a nice look with the drop. I love the feel, and handling of the current OEM setup, and see how you noticed it to be very similar.

Where could I get a set of these if I wanted to? Wondering what they may run me in price.

Thanks.
Tarcy

 

If your not lapping or auto-x, just get springs for the street for the look of the drop. You certainly will never reach the cars potential on the street, or you'll be in the ditch.

You can get a set of springs for a couple of hundred.

 

[QUOTE=wing,Aug 7 2005, 02:28 PM] If your not lapping or auto-x, just get springs for the street for the look of the drop.

 

I auto-x with my springs, some lap with the same springs, KG/MM's they seem pretty good.

 

You can get the coilovers from GoFast Labs, essentially this forum's defacto store. It is $2k US, and is 10% off with a gold membership. I knew I was going to get a swaybar, anti-bumpsteer and eventually the coilovers, so the membership was for the discount.

IMO, if you like the stock suspension just leave it. It's plenty capable. It's not like I'm anti-mod or "your not a good enough driver" so don't bother guy, but unless you want to fix something why change? You don't need any suspension changes to autocross or track, the car is virtually track ready stock.

After driving the car for a couple of years and learning in basics with car dynamics, there were a few things that I wanted to fix. (Note that this was only after I starting screwing around with non-stock R-compound tires.) So, there was a plan to mod the suspension. IMO an alignment, the coilovers with the anti-bumpsteer kit is the way to settle down the rear end. Eventually, I'll get to using the damping adjustablility, which allows for tuning handling in different phases of a turn. Unless you ever want to get to that level of control, plain old springs will probably be good enough. Is good enough, good enough for you?

 

Reading the last 2 posts by you, and wing really makes me understand that the car is capable of great handling stock. It shows you guys have had experience with the S, and aren't just buying quality suspension for the sake of having the name.

I love the ride the way it sits, and if all im looking for is to eliminate the wheel gap then a good set of springs will do. I know that's what im really looking for at this time. Once I get into the sport, wether it be auto x or lapping, and begin to understand the car's driving habits/behaviour it may make sense to get coilovers down the road.

Thanks for your input guys, much appreciated. Again great write up

 

I notice that the rear of the S sits a touch lower than the front, atleast mine does. I assume this is due to the fenders being different heights front to back.

Do the KG/MM's even out front and back when dropped?

 

Actually the rear is even lower with the KG/MM's