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KW V3 inox coilovers

6K views 15 replies 5 participants last post by  Phil 
#1 ·
Anyone has experience with the above? Looking to lower the ride slightly without compromising ride compliance too much. My XE doesn't come with adaptive suspension. Thanks!
 
#2 ·
I have no experience with those particular units but in general the spring rates on aftermarket adjustable coilovers is much higher than the stock spring, and they nearly always result in a much firmer ride. Have you considered lowering springs instead? I have the H&R springs on mine and the ride is great

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#3 ·
Thanks Phil for the quick reply? Any idea on the stock spring rates? Hesitant to use lowering springs as it will affect the lifespan of the stock absorbers.

Phil said:
I have no experience with those particular units but in general the spring rates on aftermarket adjustable coilovers is much higher than the stock spring, and they nearly always result in a much firmer ride. Have you considered lowering springs instead? I have the H&R springs on mine and the ride is great

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#4 ·
Lowering springs are generally such a mild increase that it does not cause any appreciable wear on the dampers, I've been using them for years on various cars and not had a premature failure yet. I don't have any data for the XE but for example, on my RX-8 the stock rates in N per MM are 27 front and 20 rear. Eibach lowering springs are 33 front and 24 rear. The softest adjustable coilovers we have on file are the Tein Street Basis units which are 60 front and 40 rear - quite a big jump as you can see.

Now obviously they are matched with much higher damping rates but this will still cause a very firm ride. I've never experienced a set of coilovers that give anywhere near the compliance of the stock setup as the increase in firmness is usually the main goal.
 
#6 ·
What model XE do you have? The reason I ask is that as I understand it there are no spring kits available for models with the AWD system.
 
#7 ·
I have had Eibach lowering springs with standard shocks on my Mercedes for 17 years. Original rear shocks are fine but I had to change the fronts about five years ago as I hit a pothole which caused a seal failure on one as well as a damaged wheel. I also run 18 in wheels.
I had no camber issues at all though I did have it checked.
Andy
 
#8 ·
Thomass said:
👍 May I ask if you had to install a camber kit after the lowering springs? To get back to stock camber settings
No - I wanted to set more negative camber at the front anyway and lowering has got it near to what I would have aimed for if it was adjustable. The rears stayed almost the same due to the geometry of the multi-link setup.
 
#10 ·
Phil said:
No - I wanted to set more negative camber at the front anyway and lowering has got it near to what I would have aimed for if it was adjustable. The rears stayed almost the same due to the geometry of the multi-link setup.
Thanks Phil. Very much prefer stock neutral camber. Will think abt it further. Thanks for sharing! 😃
 
#11 ·
No worries. Just to inform you though, the reason I wanted to change it is the front camber at standard ride height is very conservative and in my opinion contributes to the wearing of the outside shoulders of the tyres.

The standard values for a RWD R-Sport are (in decimal degrees):

Front:
Target -0.39 Acceptable range -1.14 to +0.36

Rear:
Target -0.95 Acceptable range -1.7 to +0.2

After lowering mine is now -1.7 front and -1.2 rear. As you can see the rear is still within Jaguar spec. The fronts are just over half a degree more negative than the standard limit but still a relatively modest figure and I would have aimed for around -1.5 to start with had I been able to adjust it anyway. I've put about 10,000 miles on the tyres I fitted new at the same time and the wear pattern is perfect, with no feathering to the shoulders and the turn in is slightly sharper although you would be hard pushed to notice this, the handling is still as good as ever (if not less wallowy thanks to the reduction in height).

Of course one way of looking at it is the stated figures in the service manual are relative to height anyway and are given for 'Showroom' ride height - the fact that the camber changes with height is a designed feature and it generally should become more negative the lower you go. Provided the figures are still sensible at the height the car will now be spending most of it's running time, I'm happy to keep them as intended.

Hope that helps!
 
#12 ·
Thanks Phil! 👍👍 for the sharing. It really helps to know the tyre wear is manageable. I suppose the steering feel is also "heavier" from the negative camber.

Can I assume that -1.7 for the front is after adjusting the stock camber bolts to the max allowable limit back to neutral position? Or you left it as that without any adjustment apart from balancing both front tyres?
 
#13 ·
There are no stock camber bolts - camber is simply not adjustable on the XE nor is the caster angle. I have been looking at the possibility of using eccentric washers/bolts in the lower lateral control arm or the upper wishbone but the height of the knuckle is going to make it impossible to achieve any reasonable adjustment. I'm afraid you will be stuck with whatever it is after lowering (which is not going to be bad).

No change to the steering feel that I noticed, it's still too light :D
 
#14 ·
Great to hear!

How much does the H&R springs lower the ride by? One key consideration for me is whether I would also face difficulties with speed humps/ bumps and also navigating multi-storied carparks with slopes.

Phil said:
There are no stock camber bolts - camber is simply not adjustable on the XE nor is the caster angle. I have been looking at the possibility of using eccentric washers/bolts in the lower lateral control arm or the upper wishbone but the height of the knuckle is going to make it impossible to achieve any reasonable adjustment. I'm afraid you will be stuck with whatever it is after lowering (which is not going to be bad).

No change to the steering feel that I noticed, it's still too light :D
 
#15 ·
There is no way of knowing how the ride will be with KW V3. KW won't divulge spring rates, so you can't tell how firm they will be. They are very good if you are building a track focused car, but most wouldn't want that degree of stiffness on the road.
 
#16 ·
Thomass said:
How much does the H&R springs lower the ride by? One key consideration for me is whether I would also face difficulties with speed humps/ bumps and also navigating multi-storied carparks with slopes.
I wouldn't want mine to be any lower than it is but it does still clear standard speed bumps. You do have to be careful with larger bumps though.

That being said H&R springs are among the most dramatic, you will get a milder drop with something like the Eibach ones. I'll get the figures for you later as I measured the before and after.
 
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