Guys,

I've already purchased the variant 3 (on its way) and wondered what experience you have with the stock spring rate. Any opinions and also what spring rate are you on now if you modded your spring rate? Thanks!

 

Well....................A Captain! I was just a S/sgt when I got out in 1968! However,
we all stick together. I have kwvarient 3's and the car is a road race machine.
Slight over-steer into the corners that keep the car fast and netural. 9K springs
in the front(stock) and 8K in the rear(not stock!) The car pushed with the stock
springs in the rear, even with a 25mm adj rear sway bar. Also rear lower arm bushings, bump steer kit, front precision steering kig(white line, front motor mount
bushing(Powerx) & center Diff bushing. Front camber maxed out(-2.4deg-no camber plates) rear -1.0 deg). Wheels are 5Zigen Fnoir 9x17 with Toyo Ra1s
255/40/17,rear Cusco strut brace & lower front frame brace. I have tracked
Vipers, Corvettes & Subarus. This 2005 MR is the easiest car to go fast in, I
have ever driven. (Buttonwillow, Thunderhill, Willow Spriongs)

Chuck Clanton
Milpitas,Ca

 

Chuck,

Thanks for the info. So in that case, I should push for stiffer springs in the rear? Sorry, pretty noobish in suspensions but wish to get more experienced as I go along. I will noob track my evo at Nurburgring this year when I get stationed at Ramstein. I will be getting a 23mm cusco rear sway bar. Do you think a stock spring setup will be okay? And also, what do you mean by "push"?

 

Okay Capt. J...............Push is understeer. Common on 4 wheel drive cars.
You go into a turn, hit the apex perfect and low and behold the car wants to
"push" off the outside of the track at the exit of the turn! Again, 9K(505#)
springs in front, 8K(450#) springs in rear. Max neg. camber in front. -1deg.
in rear. 25mm Progress Adj. sway bar in rear. (23mm not enough!). Next, but not
last put 17x9 5Zigen Fnoir wheels (35 mm offset) with a good 255/40/17 tire. The
car with a proper alignment will "rotate for you in the turn" always on the GAS,
no panic breaking. Finally, get an instructor in the car with you. when you start
going faster, up-grade your brakes!(another story). You started on the WRONG
things with your car. Power is the LAST thing you change. Handeling, breaking,
experience and then POWER.

Chuck

 

Amen to that!

 

it's somewhat true, but see, most evos i've seen have this hp control device....

a boost controller.

If you're a noob out there, first time out, heck, run 15 psi.

 

Hey guys I to have a set of kw's to go onto my VII. They are second hand so i dont know if the bump and rebound has been messed with. So like in the instructions on the kw site i am going to turn them all the way tight on all settings and try set them to what they recommend on their site. But what I am wondering is how do you know if you are turning them a 1/4 turn at a time, how will you know if they are all at the same setting. Hope I have explained my question properly.

Cheers,

Paul.

 

on the bump, it'll click. when you get all the way clockwise (when looking at it from the bottom), it'd get hard. Then count your clicks. Unless you modify an allen wrench, don't do more than one click per turn (turn it til it clicks, reset allen wrench, turn, click, reset).

On the top, the same, put the knob on top (or anything to turn it til it gets hard, clockwise, looking down at it.) Then just measure how much you turn.

 

Cool mate thanks. And what about on the rears where you slide back the black cover and use a pin to adjust do these click as well of how do you know how much to do this?

 

the bump clicks (bottom), the rebound (top) does not.

I don't have a trunk liner, so it's much easier to see.

 

chuck, I am getting the 8k springs for the rear so i guess I am copying you

So here is what I've learned so far....the higher the spring rate, the less understeer.

Also, rear sway bar also corrects understeer. I think this is why front swar bars are really not used.

BTW, I will report on how things go with this setup in germany!!

 

Partially true.
A softer suspension(doesn't matter if it's in the front or rear, springs, damping adjustments, swaybars, etc) will increase grip beacuse the inside tires can travel farther, maintain contact with the pavement. Stiffer setups can actually reduce grip, ESPECIALLY on bumpy roads or tracks. (I'd hate to fly into a high speed corner with lots of stutter-bumps, a really stiff setup would skip across the track potentially going out of control).. Most people want stiffer setups because it quickens weight transfer, reduces body roll, helps stability, and greatly increases the "feel" of the car. Stiffer swaybars also have a nasty side effect of reducing the independence of the left and right wheels, which may or may not be in the books for your needs.

All production cars are factory-tuned to be "safe". This means they understeer a lot, which makes them much safer for mom to drive the kids to school than suddenly having the ***-end whip around by just turning normally.

On the other hand, a stiffer setup if balanced properly, keeps the suspension from moving TOO much on a road course, so you can maintain correct alignment under heavy cornering loads. This can actually increase grip, because the tire's contact patch is at it's maximum footprint under heavy lateral load, but it needs to be set up properly. Get your car corner balanced (or corner weighted, same thing) and get a good alignment. I'd reccomend -2° camber, in the front, -1.5° camber in the rear. 0°toe all around. You can also adjust tire pressure to affect cornering. Higher pressures will react quicker and change direction faster, lower pressures will react a little more sluggish and "squish" a little more. I'd run 5-10psi higer front pressure, as this will help turn-in. (Turn-in is the initial moment of a turn, when the front tires begin to grip laterally.)

So, if you stiffen the rear end and lower tire pressure, you reduce traction, allowing the rear end to lose grip first. This doesn't mean you'll whip the tail out, it just means the car "rotates" around the corner in a more natural manner instead of "pushing" or "plowing" the front tires through the corner.


I'd also HIGHLY HIGHLY reccomend going to a HPDE day and taking professional instruction. If you want to learn to drive, you need to learn from an instructor. Driving on a track is fun, but doing it safely and under supervision is MUCH more rewarding because you know you're learning things correctly.

 

John....you absolutely must do some laps at the Nurburgring. Be careful though.....

Our guy with an STi and KW Competition 2 ways basically commutes to work on the Nurb, he helped test our brake ducts. Lucky guy.

In any case, if you have any questions give us a call or drop me an email. You'll love the new rates.


- Andrew

 

Hey Guys I am having my kw fit by my mechanic I have them set as per kw settings on their website I am wondering are these the settings most of you are using or what do you recommend.

Cheers,

Paul.

 

+1

I just put on my kw's this week (stock spring rate), and they feel great so far. My next autox is next week, and i was just curious what compression/ rebound settings seem to work well at the track.