KW v3 bump and rebound settings

[el_ringo]

Hi All,

I would like to share my thoughts with you all on how I have found the KW v3s over the last two months after fitting.

Firstly, it is a huge improvement over the DRC as we all know. If you still have DRC stop kidding yourself that it is working, because it isn’t. I wish I had made the change a lot sooner. I also had the anti roll bars upgraded and together the car corners so much better. It feels like the dead horse nailed to the front bumper has been on a diet.

I would like hear from those who have tried any different settings as it isn’t exactly easy to adjust them unless you have all the kit needed.

The suggested settings are:-

Front axle REBOUND 1.00 Turns open BUMP 0.75 Turns Open
Rear axle REBOUND 1.50 Turns open BUMP 0.75 Turns Open

Or for newer shocks

Front axle REBOUND 6 Clicks BUMP 0.75 Turns Open
Rear axle REBOUND 9 Clicks BUMP 0.75 Turns Open

The range is 3 full turns or 18 clicks from fully closed (hard) to soft

I had mine set to +2 units harder rebound (two units less open) from the recommended which works well but I personally feel this is a little hard but forgiving. I don’t want to go too soft and waste the new ARBs but need to make the commute more comfortable.

I have been e-mailed KW in Germany and if I can get any other info I will post it. They apparently didn’t know anything about the “Nürburgringâ€

[hahnmgh63]

Thanks el_ringo. I am doing an install in the next couple of weeks with the Hotchkiss swaybars also. I'll share some feedback on what I find too. MGH

[Nige_RS4]

Are these graphs specific for the RS6 or all KW V3 dampers?

[el_ringo]

It would be good if we can get a few different settings that work well.

They are the same ARBs I had fitted by Grizz.

As for the charts, I think they are for all the v3's with minor differences for a specific car. I got them from the main KW web site a few weeks ago. I'll have another look later and get back to you on that.

[el_ringo]

KW got back to me and they say the weight is why it is tricky to get ideal settings. They couldn't be any more specific unfortunately.

Has anyone tried any other settings yet?

[GardinerG]

I can tell you that very firm is indeed very hard.. but fun.

[Balchy]

I'd love to hear from other KWv3 owners the specific settings they're happy with.

[el_ringo]

I thought I would give a little more feedback after running the KW's for the just over 6 months and 10,000 miles.

I have kept them at the “+2â€

[piooly]

I have these KW's fitted to my RS6. Only had the car less than a week but it handles very well, not too harsh and quite supple. Its on road settings but I dont know what yet. Not had chance to check them. I was surprised how well the car rides as I had coilovers on my lotus elise and they made the car very scitish on road driving even on full soft ! Great for track time though.

Whatever settings they are on, I wont want them any harder as its as hard I I would want them to be, if not slightly too hard already. I will have a play with settings and post back.

[GarethRS]

Hi all,

I too have just purchased a RS6 with KW's already installed.

I currently have all four wheels off, can some explain how I would adjust them as i'm new to this.

Kind regards
Gareth

[el_ringo]

They are a little tricky. The compression (bump) damping is done at the lower end of the strut using a mini hex key. You might be able to get there with just the wheel off but the rebound adjustment is at the very top and unless you fancy doing some drilling (not reccomended) it has to come off! I have the pdf on how to adjust it if you need it.

[GarethRS]

I have the pdf on how to adjust it if you need it.

That would be handy if you could.

thx

[el_ringo]

I have reset my KWs to the default settings (not an easy task I might add!) and the car is more comfortable. It does float a tad at speed as you’d expect but this is not a bad thing, and certainly not a wallow. It is more in keeping with the GT nature of the car.

There is still that firmness over the DRC but the car now feels similar in damping to my wife’s Boxster during urban driving and a little less so on the dual carriageway. I can see why just +1 turn (approx 25% more damping) on the front is favoured by some. I may do that later but the rear is just right.

If you choose the +2 (50% more) settings suggested by grizz, I think the compression damping may need to be hardened too. I felt the car was skipping and pumping down at times on rough tarmac and especially some of those thick yellow lines they put at the end of a dual carriage way.

Is anyone running softer than default or harder than +2 turns?

[GardinerG]

I imagine mine is harder than 2 turns, but can't confirm without starting from scratch.

[pete2144]

Mine are set to the firmest positions, probably to firm for some but IMO just right