CSL suspension improvements

[titan]

KW's uk presence is a box-shifting outfit, all of the expertise is in germany. So (I'm assuming your requirement is predominantly road) they won't have much experience in what you are asking for.

Its a shame ohlins don't do a "road and track" kit for the E46. That would be great and cheap as its off-the-shelf.

Best kit I ever had for road was from exe-tc. Top single adjusters, fantastic quality, could be made far softer than OEM or pretty firm. shame they don't do e46 either.

if you're looking to get something else, no-one has complained about intrax and simpsons seem to really know what they are doing. If you want to fix the issue without big spend, get softer springs.

[bryce]

thank you titan, i like to play nice.

the car will probably never be around a track (cos Im a shitebag) so entirely for road use.

I could put the std susp back on and cut the springs with my 9" grinder, then Id still have the comfort... Or put some weights in the boot :-/

[s.mac]

Its a shame ohlins don't do a "road and track" kit for the E46. That would be great and cheap as its off-the-shelf.

are you serious ?

So on full soft they take bumps and pot holes well but still handle like standard?

yes, but I need to drop the front as it is too high at the moment

I wouldn't change your set up! get another set of springs !

[bryce]

I bought them from Thorney, hopefully they'll chime in with info on springs. Though I believe they no longer deal with kw.

[shane@mbtech]

Why not just "soften" the damping on yours.

When I sold my CSL, my mate who bought it isnt as hardcore as me and probably wont go on track, its his daily drive as well vs me just using it as a weekend blaster/track car.

I softened both the bump and rebound and it drives spot on, very, very similar to OEM,

I drove it other day and for road use it was fine, would be a little too soft for track work mind.

Its running KW clubsport too.

[s.mac]

Lawsy is right with that, I dont change my springs for a softer ride

Daz should be able to give you a number to call for advice on springs, if you have a track rate you really do want to look at changing for a softer spring rate

[titan]

are you serious ?

yeah, ohlins have this product series called "road and track" which is an off-the-shelf kit. Specified by Ohlins in Sweden, made in Taiwan to lower costs. Its about the same cost as intrax 1k2.

[glendog74]

Daz should be able to give you a number to call for advice on springs, if you have a track rate you really do want to look at changing for a softer spring rate

Try KW UK:

KW Automotive UK Ltd.
Willow Tree House
Bromley Green Road
Upper Ruckinge
Ashford Kent TN26 2EQ

Phone: 0870 990 7536

http://www.kw-suspensions.co.uk/uk/index.php

[DuncanR]

and i'm prepared to accept a slightly stiffer ride
:smokin:

With your boat race Rob you should be grateful for any ride going ! :hahaha:

WB Bryce I have Intrax, but would say stay with what you have tbh, as others on here more experienced then I have indicated. Just had my Intrax refurbed and would say to anyone else running them, keep them greased up, if steel tubes WD40 then after each use...

[Thorney]

I think the reason there are so many 'experts' on suspension is that there is no such thing as the 'right' set up, only the right set up for you, end of the day its your car and you know what you want the car to do and that is likely to be different to the next guy. The issue gets worse when you consider that most people really have no idea how to communicate what they want the car to do or the problems that they feel they have. This applies to 90% of race car drivers too, most people lack the experience to communicate the problem well and even less to extrapolate that problem into a setup change to fix it. We now spend a larger and larger amount of time advising people on how to set up track/race cars, spending £x on shiny kit is about 10% of the answer.

To get to the question. One of the reason we dropped KW was partly due to the fact that Germany had all the skill on set ups but none in the UK or on UK circuits which are different to Euro tracks by and large. However Bryce has touched on the adjustment issues he's had and these are typical on the KW shocks (3 way or Clubsport) in that they adjust via a simple roller bearing valve system. THis means that you need to make very large movements in the valving to get differences in the damping and this damping adjustment is very finite. In short this means you really have two settings - too hard and too soft and very little in between. Compare the design to a monotube type adjustment - AST, Intrax, Nitron, Moton the adjustment is very different and allows far greater variance. Over the years we've been through every suspension supplier and they all have something to offer. We've now settled on Moton for road and track and Bilstein for road and some track and are happy with them. If I had my way we'd only really supply Moton but they aren't cheap so I have to offer an alternative which we do in Nitron and Bilstein.

With KW a spring change maybe the way forward but it needs a lot more detail on what is happening than a forum post, for example Bryce says thats it too bouncy when soft well that suggests the rebound needs stiffening up, simple job but on the KW shock he may notice little difference due to the adjustment set up as described.

Buying suspension is the start of the process not the end but as long as you are able to analyse the issues and communicate them to your chosen supplier you will be able to get the most out of them, 90% of handling issues can be reslolved with set up, the other 10% needs better suspension, its worth keeping that ratio in mind.

[DazBlackCSL]

Wrong number you muppett :hahaha:

No wonder no-one can get through !!

01233 733068

Try KW UK:

KW Automotive UK Ltd.
Willow Tree House
Bromley Green Road
Upper Ruckinge
Ashford Kent TN26 2EQ

Phone: 0870 990 7536

http://www.kw-suspensions.co.uk/uk/index.php

[glendog74]

Wrong number you muppett :hahaha:

No wonder no-one can get through !!

01233 733068

Cut and pasted from the website... Change required methinks! :whistle:

[DazBlackCSL]

Cut and pasted from the website... Change required methinks! :whistle:

They are heading back from the MPH show me thinks, ( saw them there this weekend ) so probably a little thin on the ground this morning as I think they were heading back this morning

Sure you'll get all the help and set up advice you need when you do get hold of them, and there are also dealers that have KW experience here in the UK :thumbs:

Been happy with both my V3's and now clubsport, the latter I played and tweaked around with for a while, including dropping a spring rate ( softer spring ) till I found a happy medium, im a lazy coont and can not be arse with all the fiddling around so want something that just does both about right.
:beer:

[DazBlackCSL]

Buying suspension is the start of the process not the end but as long as you are able to analyse the issues and communicate them to your chosen supplier you will be able to get the most out of them, 90% of handling issues can be reslolved with set up, the other 10% needs better suspension, its worth keeping that ratio in mind.

That is a spot on summary :thumbs: +1

FYI the best set up to date I had for road ( occ track ) was on my V3 kit at TMS, was an awesome set up they did with full geo and testing.

[J13NY S]

Comfort and control wise? Any experience with other susp to compare?

When I got a run in a car with Intrax I thought it was a good compromise, never get the cake & eat it scenario but close.

Intrax is the only suspension I’ve had in my CSL & I’ve no real experience with suspension set up but like everything else in life I believe in leaving it in the hands of those with the experience.

When I spoke to Simpsons they asked me what I intended using the car for & they’d set it up accordingly.

In my business we continually tell people there is more to buying something than just the product itself, set up & back up are two things that are all to often over looked. We regularly get people saying I bought this & it doesn’t seem to be working properly, normally it’s a case of I bought this on the net & I don’t know what to do with it!