KW V2 and V3 true coilover conversion kit

[HP Autosport]

Many of you have puchased this true coilover conversion kit for your KW system and have worked out well. Instead of replying to each PM with photos, here is some quick photos of the conversion kit. The basic front only kit consists of a custom upper spring perch, Swift springs, and Swift thrust sheets. The complete kit will come with rear Swift springs, Swift thrust sheets, and a pair of rear height adjusters.

The bottom photo is the front kit mounted on KW struts, one with the stock upper mount, and the other with Vorshlag camber plate.

***Slight machine shop work is required for the front lower spring perch, which can easily be done at a local mahine shop***

A wide variety of spring rates are available to choose from or we can make a recommendation for you.

Camber plates is optional but recommended if you are attending HPDE or track days.

***This is very similar to what Berk Technoloy is running on their Redline Time Attach 135i***

[bmw330d]

I can't see the photos

[AchtungF80]

What exactly is a true coilover kit? Not a KW V2 already?

[HP Autosport]

Originally Posted by achtungE30

What exactly is a true coilover kit? Not a KW V2 already?

KW V1, 2, and 3 acutally uses an oem style spring, not a coilover type constant ID spring. Not to mention the rates are a bit off and left lots of room for improments!

[Mega Man]

Damn, making me feel bad about my coilovers.

[escobar929]

can you give us more detail to what needs to be machined?

[Mark M]

To help clarify here the target market.....

The current out of the box KW v2 or V3s are perfect coilover setups for the enthusiastic driver who spends the majority of time on public roads / daily driving but occasionally gets into autocross or track school events. They use progressive rate springs to maintain street comfort while increasing the rates to provide a more sporting flat feel. They are very capable and well tuned for this intended use.

However, if you want a full on track setup that will have compromises when used on public roads, a linear rate narrow spring diameter setup is preferred. This is what HP AutoWerks is listing above. Linear rate springs are awesome for track events as the rate remains constant through the compression distance. Likewise, the narrow spring diameter allows for greater negative camber upfront when paired with camber plates.

So...to those with the KW V2s and V3s....don't sweat it unless you really want a full on track kit. Also...look at Ground Control's site. They too provide a great linear rate track/school coilover kit for our car.

[AchtungF80]

Originally Posted by Mark M

To help clarify here the target market.....

The current out of the box KW v2 or V3s are perfect coilover setups for the enthusiastic driver who spends the majority of time on public roads / daily driving but occasionally gets into autocross or track school events. They use progressive rate springs to maintain street comfort while increasing the rates to provide a more sporting flat feel. They are very capable and well tuned for this intended use.

However, if you want a full on track setup that will have compromises when used on public roads, a linear rate narrow spring diameter setup is preferred. This is what HP AutoWerks is listing above. Linear rate springs are awesome for track events as the rate remains constant through the compression distance. Likewise, the narrow spring diameter allows for greater negative camber upfront when paired with camber plates.

So...to those with the KW V2s and V3s....don't sweat it unless you really want a full on track kit. Also...look at Ground Control's site. They too provide a great linear rate track/school coilover kit for our car.

Thank you.

[HP Autosport]

Originally Posted by escobar929

can you give us more detail to what needs to be machined?

The front lower perch, it's the component purple in color in the third photo, at the bottom of the spring. Basically, it needs to be 60mm for the spring and thrust sheets to fit over it.

[HP Autosport]

This coilover conversion kit is meant for both street and track use. Because of the great selection of spring rates, you can still have a car with excellent street manners. Most of you through proper selection of springs will end up with a car that rides better than what V2 and V3 are originally designed, not to mention much better handling performance and reduced overall weight of the vehicle.

The Swift springs are made out of a better material, thus allow thinner coils, less coils, and result in less weight(we are talking about a few pounds per spring here!) and more available stroke or travel. In addition, lighter springs react to road irregularities much quicker to smooth out the ride, and the dampers have a easier job controling the oscillations of the springs.

Some of you PM regarding thrust sheets, this is what it does:

"Thrust sheets provide a variety of benefits to coilover systems. As a spring becomes compressed the coils attempt to distribute the energy by unwinding. This is called twisted force. The unwinding makes the spring rate irregular. By allowing the spring to smoothly rotate around the perch during compression, the spring rate will return to normal. Thrust sheets also help dampening and rebound of struts too. Thrust sheet’s bearing action allowing the rotation of a spring allow the load on the spring to be more evenly Distributed which reduces lateral shock shaft load. Increased lateral load on shock shafts cause a reduction in the struts ability to rely on valves for dampening force."

Guess what? The thrust sheets also yields much better ride quality through some of the actions mentioned above.

Just to clearify, the narrow spring diameter has nothing to do with how much camber you can run on the E82/E9X chassis as the strut moves with the wheel/tire when adjusting camber. The relation of the the above two components does not change. The clearance between the wheel/tire and strut/spring/perch is neither reduced or increased with this coilover conversion kit.

[Evolution Racewerks]

Great stuff Harold!

It's essentially changing your V3s to Clubsports.

You're changing your springs to standard coilover spring setup. This frees up so many options for spring rates.

[HP Autosport]

Originally Posted by Evolution Racewerks

Great stuff Harold!

It's essentially changing your V3s to Clubsports.

You're changing your springs to standard coilover spring setup. This frees up so many options for spring rates.

Thanks!

Yes, the end users will have a wide range of spring rates to choose from.

This is basically what Berk Technology has on their car with the V3.