- Joined
- 16 December 2018
- Messages
- 177
After reading a bit last night about the v3's, I thought Id add to the collective information. I've been driving nsx for almost 6 years now. My car's set up for spirited driving, with some mild mods but nothing crazy. I have type S alignment specs I believe, I would have to double check.
My cars a 97
16/17 advan RG
215/255 falken 615's (30psi front and rear)
sos sway bars set in the middle
spoon collars
type r braces
Daves offset rear bushings
comp tech rear engine brace
KW v3, oem top hats, 9k swift front springs, 6k original rears
Coming from the laser sharp type r suspension I was excited to try the Kw's. I found an almost brand new set locally and bolted them right up. the 1st thing I noticed about the Kw's was that they squeak a bit. It's nothing crazy, but coming from a few different oem set ups, I could hear the difference. Also, they're pretty soft. that's not to say soft is bad, they're much more comfortable around town. Well, that solftness ended up not being super cool. At about the same front ride height, the car ate part of the front fender liner.
At this point I decided to look into a stiffer front spring to get some of that sharp turn in back, as well as save my liners. I found a 9k swift replacement on eBay for a fair price and got those installed along with a fresh set of tires and alignment. The cars handles great, without any bad behavior and is very east to drive.
I adhere to the conventional suspension setting guidelines for the KW V3 Rebound setting
Tighten the Allen key clockwise until it stops, then back off, counting the clicks as you go.
front; soft-9 clicks/ hard-3 clicks
rear; soft-7 clicks/ hard-5 clicks
When I changes those I can feel a difference for sure. It's a firmer ride, and handles sharper on the hard clicks. If im taking my girlfriend to the beach, we do the softer settings. I like the balance, the car will step out when provoked, but isn't twitchy.
I had my Compression settings at 4 clicks front and 6 clicks rear. they've been this way since I put the coilovers on and I never changed them. Possibly because they're more awkward to get to, and some reading had suggested they should stay for either rebound adjustment. After doing some additional reading last night I noticed some were suggesting 2clicks front/4clicks rear. I felt inspired to try the stiffer compression settings, wondering if that small change could possibly make the suspension magically feel like the type R suspension used to. Giving me a true duality, and the best of both worlds.
It's about 55deg here, Im on 200 treadware tires like always, and when I left the house it started dumping rain. This is not a unique scenario for me, as I love to drive in the rain, especially if Im testing out handling components or tires. There's normally less people on the road, and the threshold for traction is predictably lower. Interestingly, and surprisingly, the car felt stiffer. I could really tell across low speed pavement joints right when I left the house. Once I got out of town and started to open it up I felt a pronounced loss of traction. The car felt touchier and less forgiving. It wasn't anything crazy causing me to careen out of control, but under the same throttle inputs, I really needed to be mindful of the back wanting to step out. I also felt just a touch of understeer mid corner. I really wound not have guessed that such small changes were responsible for so much effect on the suspension.
About 45 minutes or so after leaving the house, I found a decently dry place to lay on the ground and adjust the Compression again. 4 clicks in the front and 6 clicks in the rear. I got back in the car and whoa. The car was noticeably softer again. A few power over slides confirmed it, it went back to feeling compliant. I have to say I was really amazed at how different the car felt. My theory is maybe I was just at the threshold of what I consider the firmer side of a well handling car at the 4/6 setting and the slight increase in compression just took it over the edge for me. I was cool, and made me appreciate that Im even into this type of tuning. Let alone that I can do things on my own, that I can perceive, and use to make adjustments to my liking.
So what is all this to say? Im not sure exactly. But maybe if you end up getting adjustable suspension like a v3, ohlin, or whatever brand, you can really have some fun adjusting things and getting real changes from your inputs. I got a lot out of just a single drive today and thought Id share what my thoughts are.
Thanks for reading,
Sam
My cars a 97
16/17 advan RG
215/255 falken 615's (30psi front and rear)
sos sway bars set in the middle
spoon collars
type r braces
Daves offset rear bushings
comp tech rear engine brace
KW v3, oem top hats, 9k swift front springs, 6k original rears
Coming from the laser sharp type r suspension I was excited to try the Kw's. I found an almost brand new set locally and bolted them right up. the 1st thing I noticed about the Kw's was that they squeak a bit. It's nothing crazy, but coming from a few different oem set ups, I could hear the difference. Also, they're pretty soft. that's not to say soft is bad, they're much more comfortable around town. Well, that solftness ended up not being super cool. At about the same front ride height, the car ate part of the front fender liner.
At this point I decided to look into a stiffer front spring to get some of that sharp turn in back, as well as save my liners. I found a 9k swift replacement on eBay for a fair price and got those installed along with a fresh set of tires and alignment. The cars handles great, without any bad behavior and is very east to drive.
I adhere to the conventional suspension setting guidelines for the KW V3 Rebound setting
Tighten the Allen key clockwise until it stops, then back off, counting the clicks as you go.
front; soft-9 clicks/ hard-3 clicks
rear; soft-7 clicks/ hard-5 clicks
When I changes those I can feel a difference for sure. It's a firmer ride, and handles sharper on the hard clicks. If im taking my girlfriend to the beach, we do the softer settings. I like the balance, the car will step out when provoked, but isn't twitchy.
I had my Compression settings at 4 clicks front and 6 clicks rear. they've been this way since I put the coilovers on and I never changed them. Possibly because they're more awkward to get to, and some reading had suggested they should stay for either rebound adjustment. After doing some additional reading last night I noticed some were suggesting 2clicks front/4clicks rear. I felt inspired to try the stiffer compression settings, wondering if that small change could possibly make the suspension magically feel like the type R suspension used to. Giving me a true duality, and the best of both worlds.
It's about 55deg here, Im on 200 treadware tires like always, and when I left the house it started dumping rain. This is not a unique scenario for me, as I love to drive in the rain, especially if Im testing out handling components or tires. There's normally less people on the road, and the threshold for traction is predictably lower. Interestingly, and surprisingly, the car felt stiffer. I could really tell across low speed pavement joints right when I left the house. Once I got out of town and started to open it up I felt a pronounced loss of traction. The car felt touchier and less forgiving. It wasn't anything crazy causing me to careen out of control, but under the same throttle inputs, I really needed to be mindful of the back wanting to step out. I also felt just a touch of understeer mid corner. I really wound not have guessed that such small changes were responsible for so much effect on the suspension.
About 45 minutes or so after leaving the house, I found a decently dry place to lay on the ground and adjust the Compression again. 4 clicks in the front and 6 clicks in the rear. I got back in the car and whoa. The car was noticeably softer again. A few power over slides confirmed it, it went back to feeling compliant. I have to say I was really amazed at how different the car felt. My theory is maybe I was just at the threshold of what I consider the firmer side of a well handling car at the 4/6 setting and the slight increase in compression just took it over the edge for me. I was cool, and made me appreciate that Im even into this type of tuning. Let alone that I can do things on my own, that I can perceive, and use to make adjustments to my liking.
So what is all this to say? Im not sure exactly. But maybe if you end up getting adjustable suspension like a v3, ohlin, or whatever brand, you can really have some fun adjusting things and getting real changes from your inputs. I got a lot out of just a single drive today and thought Id share what my thoughts are.
Thanks for reading,
Sam
