Rebound and bump for idiots

[glendog74]

Originally Posted by shimmy

not my CSL but the M3 i drove with KWV3

Hardly a long term test impression then?

I have to admit, when i first got my KW Clubsport kit, i had it fitted by a reputable garage but one, who by their own admission, were not familiar with KW and it's setup. It was fitted in a bit of a rush during a hectic day and without particular reference to the fitting/setup instructions... Needless to say, my initial impressions were of no obvious improvement over OEM on the road, but comfort was similar.

I then had a helpful mechanic stiffen the setup better for my recent track day at Donny and it seemed to help a little - but again; not very impressive. This unfortunately made the ride stiff and very crashy - particularly at high speed on the Autobahn (>120mph...)

To make things worse, i then had the driver's side front lower wishbone replaced under warranty by BMW which cocked the whole camber/toe settings right up!

So, i had a car with decent suspension that was simply not right...

To illustrate quite how badly the car was now setup, i recently had the car setup by a 'KW specialist' somewhere on the Continent... They found the front camber was -2.5deg left side, -1.0 right (thanks BMW...), the ride height had been set too low and was at risk of becoming coil-bound, and the rear toe was in on one side - out on the other! I had wondered why the car was pulling to the left...

Well, the 'KW specialist' returned all settings to the ones that they recommend and straight away the car felt a lot better on road and much more composed at high speed. Ride was a little firmer than OEM but not uncomfortably so.

However, it was on track that the settings have really transformed the car - the best setup i have experienced yet. I had the chance to drive the Ring last week over 4 days and had both wet, dry, and damp conditions to experiment on. Having been shown how to adjust the car bump and rebound settings (which is a lot easier to do than some 'nay sayers' will claim) i was able to dial out a little understeer skip in wet conditions by softening rebound. In the dry the car is absolutely fucking awesome - and that was on PS2 tyres!

So what i'm trying to say is, there are several top brands of suspension out there and we have knowledge and good things to say of some more than others. The key really is in the setup and how well this has been done. I will now soften the car out a little for UK road winter driving and it will be fine.

What i do know is that my KW Clubsport kit is now setup superbly and i also have the knowledge to fine tune it to suit. It really does engender huge confidence in the car around a track and is very liveable with day to day on road - i'm now very very happy!

[northernjim]

I did wonder what the flock you were doing at the factory rob.....


I can vouch for how different a few 'twiddles'technical term I know! of the knobs can transform a car



now you can put up all the pictures of their RS! and how it drove???

[daniel]

Glendog74 - with a statement like that you are going to have to share your ride height and camber/toe settings

[shimmy]

Originally Posted by shimmy

there didnt seem to be enough adjustment to get it compliant enough for the road anywhere near OEM or as much as Intrax. It seemed to still be a bit lumpy and thumpy which i was not used to

Originally Posted by glendog74

Hardly a long term test impression then?

but it seems pretty accurate though

Originally Posted by glendog74

no obvious improvement over OEM on the road, but comfort was similar.

This unfortunately made the ride stiff and very crashy - particularly at high speed on the Autobahn (>120mph...)

Well, the 'KW specialist' returned all settings to the ones that they recommend and straight away the car felt a lot better on road and much more composed at high speed. Ride was a little firmer than OEM but not uncomfortably so.

so on road it was no better than oem, then rubbish and CRASHY, then finally firmer but not uncomfortably so .

i am not arguing about track set up at all, but just that KWV3 seemed to not have a soft a setting for road as OEM

[glendog74]

Originally Posted by shimmy

i am not arguing about track set up at all, but just that KWV3 seemed to not have a soft a setting for road as OEM

And herein lies a flaw in that point: OEM suspensions are built with compromise always in mind between sporty handling characteristics and ride comfort...

I didn't fit KW Clubsports to emulate OEM road ride comfort after all! But if i'm honest they really aren't that indifferent to that now anyway when set up for road.

[shimmy]

Originally Posted by glendog74

And herein lies a flaw in that point: OEM suspensions are built with compromise always in mind between sporty handling characteristics and ride comfort...

I didn't fit KW Clubsports to emulate OEM road ride comfort after all! But if i'm honest they really aren't that indifferent to that now anyway when set up for road.

not sure what you are trying to prove Rob. the original poster just asked how he can make his car more comfortable when 'cruising' and refitting OEM is what suggested.



The OEM may be a compromise but in my opinion it is a much better compromise than Intrax or KWV3 for road/ring/track even with the adjustment. You cna bet your last dollar that more money was spent on designing it and setting it up than any of our a/m versions.

I tend now to favour the track use hence the Intrax but if my car was doing 14k miles a year again on road i would have no hesitation in getting the BMW suspension back on

[glendog74]

Originally Posted by shimmy

not sure what you are trying to prove Rob. the original poster just asked how he can make his car more comfortable when 'cruising' and refitting OEM is what suggested.

Not trying to prove anything Shim - i was just countering your habit of answering peoples questions with a simple one line/word answer that doesn't always consider the bigger picture or take other implications into account.

He has KW V3 (by the sounds of it) and he may not have OEM anymore? So potentially not a simple or cheap swap back...

If you want mega comfort, then you could also consider KW V1 or Bilstein/ other aftermarket ride comfort biased offerings. I'm pretty sure that he doesn't want a floaty/wafty big Merc type of ride though...

[shimmy]

Originally Posted by glendog74

He has KW V3 (by the sounds of it) and he may not have OEM anymore? So potentially not a simple or cheap swap back...

ill sell him mine for £1000 - its fooking crap

[glendog74]

Numpty

[glendog74]

Originally Posted by sunnybono

Glendog74 - with a statement like that you are going to have to share your ride height and camber/toe settings

All set-up i.a.w. standard KW settings for fitting:

http://www.kw-gmbh.de/kw_upload/Einbau/eah35220825.pdf

Set-up:

http://www.kw-gmbh.de/kw_upload/Einbau/ea68579016.pdf

Not sure what toe settings were put on but my front camber is set to -2.5deg with ability to increase to -3.5deg if needed without any geo adjustments.