A few months ago I undertook my suspension upgrades over my Mo30'd 944 turbo. There were many moments of doubt and despair hoping that it would all work and not be ridiculously jarring on the road and fantastic on the track. Well finally having had the last of the components installed recently I am now very happy with all the mods which I'll list below. This is really just to give an opinion that may be useful to anyone who is considering similar upgrades but perhaps nervous about ride compromise for the street.
Custom KW 2-way race suspension with approx rear 708 lbs/in and fronts 616 lbs/in effective coilover rate. Multi adjustable system with their adjustable camber plates.
RacersEdge A-arms with solid bushings and monoball bearings on the front with their billet hubs and solid Banana arm bushings on the rear + solid rear sway bar bracket.
Elephant Race PolyBronze bushings on the rear.
KLA strut tower brace, front sway bar supports, and rear spherical drop links.
Mo30 sways.
Plus I run on my R-spec rubber which obviously rides firmer more than my street tyres through laziness and I love the R-specs grip and look. They're 18" x 255/30 f 285/30 rear.
It's all very good if not a little firm but easily acceptable for my liking. We have pretty ordinary streets in Sydney. I think some were built by the convicts over 200 years ago. lol and to be fair I don't drive it long distances very often so ultimately it is up to you to decide but take it from me you can have your cake and eat it too. Just by adding the KW's without all the R-Edge and Elephant stuff allowed me to knock off 2.5 sec's from my best times at two different tracks and this was on the delivered settings ie fairly conservative. More to come I'm sure...so hope this is informative to someone. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />
Cool....but what does KW stand for? Kenworth? *lol*
Hehehe Kenworth lol. No actually they aren't known as much as some other brands in the U.S. but they're a top company out of Germany with a lot of success in many Motor racing classes.
One of the best aspects I find is the use of a high speed release valve which allows you to hit the kerbs and not suffer bad bump steer due to too hard suspension. It releases the pressure briefly to keep everything nice and smooth. I find them fantastic. Much better than the old Mo30 stuff which I had completely rebuilt and improved upon.
http://www.kw-suspension.com/en/
Can you post some pictures, I am curious about your tire sizes and stance of your car.
[quote name='badberry68' post='27988' date='Nov 16 2006, 12:12 PM']Can you post some pictures, I am curious about your tire sizes and stance of your car.[/quote]
OK I'll try to do this. I've tried posting pic's before and they don't seem to happen. I'm a bit of a technopeasant as far as all the pc stuff goes. Also remember the 944 turbo and the 968 might have different sizes possible? Different offsets too. What's going on in your car, it looks pretty serious with the 'Y' front air filters?
Any luck posting pictures?
[quote name='KMR968Turbo' post='28058' date='Nov 17 2006, 10:22 PM']Any luck posting pictures?[/quote]
Sorry I've been too busy a.t.m. I believe I'm running about -1 degree camber in the rear and -3 in the front. I've also reindexed the rear torsions to lower the car to accept the new suspension. I'll try and do the pic's soon.
Nice looking car! How much did the 944 Turbo front and rear conversion cost you? <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />
333,
What did the KW suspension end up costing you? I am looking into alternatives and this is one of them. You can PM me if you would like, or post it publically.
Thanks,
Wes
Nice looking car! How much did the 944 Turbo front and rear conversion cost you? wink.gif
Now that would be different! Changing a 968 into a 944. That would be the only member in a very exclusive club I would think. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/laugh.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />
As for the KW's what I paid and what you would pay would be too different. We seem to pay a lot more in Australia for imported goods and also remember mine was not the off the shelf gear, it was made for my car exclusively. You can do this too of course by getting their 2 or 3-way race systems. Definitely worth doing in my books for all the reasons that I've previously posted. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />
Here are some more pic's. Showing many new parts such as Billet aluminium hubs, A-arm, solid bushings, KW's front and rear, solid rear sway bar mounts, spherical drop links rear etc...
Hard to tell just what improvements are made by each part, just have to recognise that the system as a whole is way improved. Can't wait for next season.
PS note that I have done handling and brakes before any major engine upgrades. Must be able to turn and stop before learning to fly!
As I recall, for my 968, KW wanted about $2,660.00 plus shipping, for a 50/50 type shock setup with coilovers, but they do look soooo nice and I expect they perform as nice as they look!
That's about 10% cheaper than here in Australia for a set of V3's. The 2-way race setup costs about an extra $1k ($US750) over the V3's here.
Michael
I also opted to get their adj. camber plates which added about 300 euros from memory. You'd have to convert that into your currency. The whole system was more than $5k aussie which is about $3900 u.s.
Yes their system is great in all aspects. Having said that It's possible that other brands are using similar technology, it's just that they came highly recommended by guys on the U.K. sites that attracted me first to them and I am v.glad that I listened.
Hey Pat.
Do you have any more pics of your rear suspension please...
Especially ones that show the bushes ...If poss....
Yes Dave I do, but they won't show the Elephant PolyBronzes very clearly although you can see the grease nipples protruding. I'm at work so I'll try to post something a bit clearer tonight. I'm actually going to the local KW guy tonight that I purchased from to show me how to do all the tweaking. I'm still running around on the factory settings which I presume are somewhere in the middle.
[quote name='333pg333' post='28181' date='Nov 22 2006, 11:40 AM']I'm actually going to the local KW guy tonight that I purchased from to show me how to do all the tweaking.[/quote]
Ask Dragan about his drag run at the WSID last week 12.7 secs...
Michael
[quote name='au968' post='28183' date='Nov 21 2006, 07:47 PM']Ask Dragan about his drag run at the WSID last week 12.7 secs...
Michael[/quote]
No doubt he'll tell me. Just to clarify for the readers this is in a VW R32 that has been turbo'd so don't get your hopes up for this sort of time in a n/a 968. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.gif" class="smilie" alt="" /> Hey I would have to chance frying the clutch on mine to get that sort of time....next year though could be a bit easier. heheheheheh.....
More pic's of suspension...
[quote name='333pg333' post='28152' date='Nov 20 2006, 09:17 PM']I also opted to get their adj. camber plates which added about 300 euros from memory...[/quote]
I'm also looking at KW V3.
I noticed you said you got their camber plates (and they can be seen in your photos).
However, the US distributor for KW doesn't seem to know anything about the camber plates.
If you still have your original order and or receipts, could you dig up the camber plate part numbers?
That would be a big, big help.
Thanks.
Karl.
Karl,
through the Australian distributor I dealt directly with a guy in their German tech dept. At the time that I ordered my KW's they didn't have what they call their 'Racing top mounts' but through the course of ordering and making enquiries, they became available so I'm not sure what arrangement your guy has but ask him if he know's Michael Grassl of the head office. In fact you could email him yourself at:
Michael.Grassl@kwautomotive.de; tell him you've been in correspondence with me in Sydney, Australia and see what he says. I went to one of our best tracks the other day and am now doing 5 seconds better around there than I was on the mo30's. With better brake pads as well but the suspension is excellent.