FormulaRX

I'm about to drop money for coilovers. Decided on KW V3s for my 90 C4 but heard that the spring rate is on the "softer" side...whatever that means I'm not sure but soft is relative.

I'm currently running H&R sports/bilstein HDs setup and want something more stiff and lower. Will V3s do it?

Anyone get V3s and wish they had gone with the stiffer ClubSports instead? I know ClubSports have no warranty so that's one thing I must consider

Undutched

I run the clubsports (incl. top mounts) and don't find the too hard at all. I've driven the V3 as well.
Honestly there is some difference, but it is not huge, as both are on the harder side of the KW spectrum.
Either one will be fine. The price difference was too small for me not to take the Clubsport.

RobertPaulson

I had a long chat with chris at CoG on this very subject recently, his view was that clubsport springrate is too high for road use (stiffer than 964RS) and I should go for v3's on anything other than a dedicated track car. I will find out next week when they are fitted!

koenig_roland

my friends and me have different setup settings in our 964.

We`ve one Bilstein PSS guy, one H&R coil guy (my convertible), one Bilstein/H&R green guy (my old convertible setting), had one KW V3 guy and my blue car with the RS-springs and f-cup/r-rs shocks.

In my opinion, the more expensive setups are far more precise and have a far better responsiveness. The "better" or more expensive coils are usually the stiffer ones with better damper technology and in the end, they do not feel brutal hard - except for real cup oder supercup setups with quite stiff spring settings.

So, if you`re affraid to get to less spring-rate from one of the pure street coils like the kw-v3 should be, i would recommend you the clubsport or something like a Öhlins coil or my loved rs-setup!
The kw-clubsport has round about 10% stiffer springs than the euro-rs spring-rate is...

porsche mania

Isn't the kw set up a linear spring? If so then comparing stiffness to the progressive rs springs isnt going to tell you anything. Personally I didn't think the rs springs were harsh, quite the opposite really. The valving is better for the road with the cup shocks rather than the rs ones but the springs still aren't stiff enough for track use. I'm in the process of swapping mine for moton clubsports with linear/helper springs at the moment.

Talat

Agree. My current car has Clubsports and my previous 964 had V3's. Can't really go wrong with either - on the road there isn't a huge difference.

FormulaRX

Really? I'm just looking at that front spring rate...170 lbs seems rather low, but maybe 170 lbs in a V3 progressive spring is different than ClubSport linear spring? ClubSport front spring rates I think are over 300 lbs...that's quite a difference for some to say there isn't much difference on the road between the two setups. I just don't want to be stepping down to a softer setup from my H&R sports/bilstein HDs by going with V3s. Maybe I can't just look at spring rate? But again a 170lb front spring seems awfully low for a performance coilover. Can someone shed some light on this?

HalV

I have V3s and would not consider them too soft. In fact, I wouldn't want anything harsher for street use. What are your goals and how do you plan on using the vehicle (dual use, full track, aggressive street)?

FormulaRX

More aggressive street with occasional track use. The thing is just looking at the V3s with a 170lb front spring rate makes me wonder if they'll be any stiffer than my current H&R sport springs. People have said the V3s are stiff, but 170lb front spring rate seems too low to be considered stiff. Maybe there's something I'm unaware of

Matt Andrews

what will you use the car for? Many people believe that "stiffer" = better performance, and its just not true. While the V3 use a lower spring rate, KW as a company matches compression valving to compensate for this. So unless you are worried you are going to run the car super low and risk bottoming out the suspension as you drive, I wouldn't hesitate to use V3s on a street car with light track duty...

HalV

The V3s are progressive springs so you can't easily compare them to linear springs. In addition, you need look at your complete suspension package. In any case, V3s are well suited for "aggressive street with occasional track use."

davidwilson11

I went with silvers v3 neomax. Awesome

kos11-12

You can can buy any springs you want for the V3
I upgrade my front ones before fitting them ,
The idea is to get the right proportion from front to back , the rears are OK the front are too soft
Obviously C2 and C4 are not the same, needs to be harder for C2 . It also depends what you set on the compression and rebound but also if you fit better roll bars with good quality drop links it will really make a difference too.

02m2

Anyone running JRZ RS1 on their street car?

PorscheG96

I love KW V3 on my 93 C2. The spring rates are perfect IF you still want to enjoy driving on the street occasionally. Of course, my other Porsches have much stiffer suspensions than the 964 has but the 964 is the most fun to drive when not on AX or track, BY FAR. I feel that if you will run street tires then the KW V3 is a good choice but if you will use DOT-R tires then the KW Clubsport would probably be a better choice.

I don't understand why others here are making the front springs stiffer. With 225/255 tire combination, my C2 is completely tossable and slides all 4 tires at the limit. I'd imagine that with stiffer front springs the car would understeer quite a bit. Just my 2 cents...