KW v.3's on an S.2........

[wolfie308]

Having previously considered these the domain of the boostie boys with track days in mind, I was wondering how many S.2 owners have fitted them and their opinions over the setup they had before.

Yesterday I went to see Ron Smith who recently had them fitted by RPM. Many thanks Ron, it helped me appreciate the difference between yours and my original now tired setup. Also interesting to see how much lower your car sat(without reindexing). I was also impressed with the ride given you've got those lovely Cup 1 17" wheels, so I'd guess with my 16" Design 90's, the ride may be a bit softer due to the greater tyre profile?

If you noticed an appreciable difference having MO30's before, the difference between mine and the KW's should be mahoosive. [8D]

The remaining question is only whether I can hide the cost from SWMBO []

 

[TTM]

I wish I could find a used set for a decent price ... I can't stand anymore the Konis on my S2 [:'(]

 

[Diver944]

Big Dave had them fitted to his S2 before he sold it and if my memory serves me well Peter (PJS917) has them on his S2 sprint car so I think they are almost just as common on N/A as they are on a boosted car

 

[pauly]

ORIGINAL: TTM

I wish I could find a used set for a decent price ... I can't stand anymore the Konis on my S2 [:'(]

They will be silly money if you find a used set, just buy some new ones, I might even do the same on monday unless someone can convince me the Gaz for 30% less are as good ?.

 

[944 man]

Gaz can be better: it depends on the application and your intended use. Id echo the advice above too: if youre buying them then buy new because used sets seldom represent good value/sense.

Simon

 

[wolfie308]

And here's a couple of pics where you can clearly see the difference in ride height between mine and Ron's......

Apart from looking very pink(which it isn't), it looks as if mine's on stilts by comparison. The 17" Cup 1's are also just that teeny bit sharper looking as well [8D]

 

[sawood12]

I'm sure you wont be dissapointed. Go for it and worry about the wife afterwards!!

 

[wolfie308]

Just a thought.... are the original torsion bar settings different depending on whether the car was originally supplied with standard or Mo30 suspension? [&:]

 

[pauly]

ORIGINAL: 944 man

Gaz can be better: it depends on the application and your intended use. Id echo the advice above too: if youre buying them then buy new because used sets seldom represent good value/sense.

Simon

I think you will say KW but anyway, I only drive the car for fun ie no commuting and only dry use, pretty much all twisty B roads, is the Gaz kit going to unsettle the car on the bumpy stuff ?.

 

[pauly]

ORIGINAL: wolfie308

And here's a couple of pics where you can clearly see the difference in ride height between mine and Ron's......

Apart from looking very pink(which it isn't), it looks as if mine's on stilts by comparison. The 17" Cup 1's are also just that teeny bit sharper looking as well [8D]

What I really wanted to see was a side view to judge the rear ride height, but there's a pinky in the way [].

 

[Diver944]

Looking really mean Ron [8D] and quite a bit lower than standard too.

 

[ronald smith]

Hi All,
Thanks Richard for posting pictures - Yes absolutely delighted with the difference- I must try it with my 16"wheels
I am sure it will be slightly softer possibly with a slightly sharper turn in- not that its bad with the 17" as you know-
will be interesting to see if much difference.
Thanks Paul it does seem a bit lower -i should have done some measuring but very happy its low enough for me.
Hope to see some of you at Silverstone July 14th.
Cheers
Ron

 

[RC18B 911 turbo]

I had the KWs on my S2 and it was the best thing I ever purchased for the car, I say go for it you won't be dissapointed.

 

[zcacogp]

Can I confirm - thatblue S2 has the KW's on it without the rear axle having been re-indexed?

If so, what's all the fuss about reindexing about? It looks excellent.


Oli.

 

[lali]

I ran KW V3's on my S2 for a long time.

They were really nice, not too harsh for daily drives and sunday blasts and really nice on track as well.

Anyone who's changed their shocks and not needed a reindex is a lucky person. I dont believe that there was a factory 'standard' setting, they all came out slightly different depending on who fitted them.

anyway.. here's a pic of my old baby on her KW's and 8" turbo teledials all round.

http://bookatrack.com/-PG?lali&2371&27141&640&.jpg

 

[wolfie308]

Lali - it doesn't look obviously lower than Ron's and Oli I can confirm it hasn't been reindexed.

Which is why I asked if cars originally fitted with Mo30 had different torsion bar settings to those fitted with standard suspension.

 

[sawood12]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp

Can I confirm - thatblue S2 has the KW's on it without the rear axle having been re-indexed?

If so, what's all the fuss about reindexing about? It looks excellent.


Oli.

The fuss about not re-indexing is not just about adjusting the ride height, but correctly sharing the weight of the car between the TB's and rear coil-overs thus maintaining a range of movement of the suspension in both directions (bump and rebound). What you don't want is for your rebound range of movement to be limited by the coil-over length (i.e. the opposite of bottoming out). Don't forget you are adding an extra 250lb ish of spring force to each of the rear corners which is trying to jack the rear of the car up. So you have to lower the rear of the car more than you want before installing the coil-overs which will jack the rear of the car up to the desired ride height - the problem is that you may not have the range of movement in the eccentrics to lower the car enough to allow for the increase in ride height resulting from the extra push from the coil-overs.

I can only assume off the back of one happy customer at least, that RPM have found a way of installing the rear coil-overs within the limited adjustment range of the eccentrics, or that most cars suspension has sagged sufficiently over the years to allow sufficient adjustment via eccentrics - the red car in the photo does look like it's back end is a bit saggy and that the car is at a slight nose-up attitude (might be the camera angle). Mine looked the same before the KW install, and I do seem to recall my indy commenting that the rear of my car was slightly lower than stock and if it were not for me upgrading my TB's necessitating their removal, that they probably would have been able to get away without re-indexing. However according to the history of my car the TB's had been re-indexed at some time in their past due to one side dropping (quite a common problem so many other cars have probably suffered at some point) so I assumed that this adjustment accounted for the slight nose-up attitude.

Anyway - good news ultimately for all those who fancy going KW. At £1300 installed it is now not only the best non-race specific aftermarket kit you can get for our cars, it is positively good value for money, and i'd mirror others' comments that it is a mod that will transform the way your car feels. If there is only one mod you'd do to your car then this has to be it.

By the way Wolfie - might be worth checking the angle of your A-Arms to make sure the ball joint is not at risk of failure.

 

[pauly]

Fen posted a pic of his car after re indexing and the rear was much lower than you would get by adjusting the eccentrics, so how much does fitting the coilovers raise the rear ride height ?.

 

[ronald smith]

Hi Pauly- did you get pic i sent of before KWv3. If so I will send others over.
Cheers
Ron

 

[PJS917]

I have Mo30 on my 968 and KW on my S2, the S2 ride and handles far better. You will be a lucky man though if you do not have to re-index your rear suspension. What is most important is that the ride height is right so that the suspension is working properly, I think KW recommend that the car is re-indexed. The only KW downside is the rear suspension is a pain to adjust and I wish there was a way of improving it, but if your car is mainly a road car I would not let this put you off KW.

Anyway as for fitting to an S2 I can recommend it, the car will be transformed. KW also comes with a 2 year guarantee which will give a little more peace of mind.