Thoughts on KW V1 coilovers

[a_almonte]

Hey all,

I got a good deal on some KW v1 coilovers for my s650 and was wondering if they would be good for mixed use? The car is both for street and track (as I get more experience it'll see more track). At the moment the car sits on stock shocks and steeda progressive springs. Is there anything I should watch out for on these coilovers? Any input is appreciated!

 

[GAR944]

Hey all,

I got a good deal on some KW v1 coilovers for my s650 and was wondering if they would be good for mixed use? The car is both for street and track (as I get more experience it'll see more track). At the moment the car sits on stock shocks and steeda progressive springs. Is there anything I should watch out for on these coilovers? Any input is appreciated!

I'm currently running ST XTA+3's which are made by KW. I actually went with them over the KW because they came with a billet camber plate as part of the kit.
Mine was also to be a fast road fun track car. I should have known myself better.
The issues you may also find with the V1's is they are an adjustable height coil over that utilizes a tapered spring. Being a V1 they are more a street (read soft) spring rate in the grand scheme. The issue becomes they need to be a long spring, which means that running large width rims wide maxed tyres and camber on the strut, the tyres tend to hit the spring platform, or in my case lock up. Doesn't help i'm running 20's to fit GT350 brakes. I'll get to Apex when the Australia dollar climbs out of the toilet.
Upping the spring rate considerably also allowed me to run shorter springs sitting the spring platform above the tyre while still maintaining the 4 deg neg. Most of that coming from the strut leg. Remember the factory spring platform sits above the tyre surface.
The other issue is these will be a short term proposition. I went through your build quickly to see where the car was headed.
My advise for what its worth. BUY ONCE, CRY ONCE. While the KW is a great brand, i come from the Porsche world, they are a short term proposition for the Mustang.
I'm sure the guys on here can propose any number of setups that wont be much more expensive but give you the opportunity to upgrade progressively.
If you are going coilover, the KW's are metric, 60mm springs as opposed to your freedom unit 2.5' springs, go with a local product. Even the Australian is saying BUY American. I've converted mine to imperial just to get a larger cheaper range of springs.

 

[a_almonte]

I'm currently running ST XTA+3's which are made by KW. I actually went with them over the KW because they came with a billet camber plate as part of the kit.
Mine was also to be a fast road fun track car. I should have known myself better.
The issues you may also find with the V1's is they are an adjustable height coil over that utilizes a tapered spring. Being a V1 they are more a street (read soft) spring rate in the grand scheme. The issue becomes they need to be a long spring, which means that running large width rims wide maxed tyres and camber on the strut, the tyres tend to hit the spring platform, or in my case lock up. Doesn't help i'm running 20's to fit GT350 brakes. I'll get to Apex when the Australia dollar climbs out of the toilet.
Upping the spring rate considerably also allowed me to run shorter springs sitting the spring platform above the tyre while still maintaining the 4 deg neg. Most of that coming from the strut leg. Remember the factory spring platform sits above the tyre surface.
The other issue is these will be a short term proposition. I went through your build quickly to see where the car was headed.
My advise for what its worth. BUY ONCE, CRY ONCE. While the KW is a great brand, i come from the Porsche world, they are a short term proposition for the Mustang.
I'm sure the guys on here can propose any number of setups that wont be much more expensive but give you the opportunity to upgrade progressively.
If you are going coilover, the KW's are metric, 60mm springs as opposed to your freedom unit 2.5' springs, go with a local product. Even the Australian is saying BUY American. I've converted mine to imperial just to get a larger cheaper range of springs.

View attachment 95412View attachment 95410

I didnt think about the long spring being an issue. Now I am concerned that my wheel and tire set up will hit and cause lockup. Right now I have a set of gt350 base wheels on 305/35/19 tires with an offset of +30 at the front. Going to use the steeda camber plate and forego camber bolts, would I still run into issues?

 

[GAR944]

I didnt think about the long spring being an issue. Now I am concerned that my wheel and tire set up will hit and cause lockup. Right now I have a set of gt350 base wheels on 305/35/19 tires with an offset of +30 at the front. Going to use the steeda camber plate and forego camber bolts, would I still run into issue

As long as you don't dial on too much camber at the strut leg you probably wont hit. Not sure how wide the S650 guards are but they may poke a bit. Unfortunately you are just going to have to try it and adjust as required. That why i looked at your build. Going to extreme on wheel sizes means everything has to work together. Same process i'm going through. Even Apex mention about strut clearance for their extreme fitment.

 

[Steve68Cougar]

My '18 Roush came with their version of the V1 package. It's what they used from 2015 to 2018 until they started tuning the Magneride. I have since changed over to the (Roush) V3 version. On mine, they used the same springs on the V1 as what came with the V3 version. They are pretty stiff. It rides significantly stiffer than my 08 with the FR3A package, even with the front struts at full hard adjustment. For street, I'm not sure I'd want any stiffer springs than what it has. I have no idea how comparable the S650 version is, but I run 305/30-19 RT660s all the way around. When I installed everything I put a spacer between the tire and strut to set that gap evenly on both sides. I do the square setup with 1" spacer on the front, so it's a little different than a stock GT350 setup. With my Vorshlag plates, I took it in to get aligned and they said one side was at 3.2 negative camber and the other was at -3.5. That was not completely adjusted in, either (I notched the strut mount area). I ended up having them back it off to 2.8 for the negative camber and 0 for toe. I've done both HPDE and autocross with it, and have been happy with it. I think to really get much better you'd have to spend $5k+ on some of the other brands.

 

[mavisky]

An option that may also be available to you @a_almonte is to use a camber bolt in the top strut mounting bolt at the knuckle to add positive camber and then to cancel it back out with negative camber at the camber plate. Depending on what your goal is for overall camber you may have enough room to both get camber you want and actually add spring clearance.