Anyone using KW Variant 3 coil overs?

What are your thoughts?

So Manthey won the 24 hr Nurburg on KWs in 2005 and I am told they are in use on a lot of the Porsche cup cars in Europe, but I am not hearing a lot about them in the USA.

What have you heard or experienced?

I am looking at the Variant 3 version...

Fair weather car for me and hoping to more than 10 track days this year.

Any insight would be helpful and yes I used the search function... found some guy in a black s2000 waxing Porsches with his variant 3 suspension...

How would these compare to Pss9s, moton, JRZ etc... obviously Motons and JRZ are more expensive etc...

What do you know?

 

Not only has Manthey had success with KW. But The Flying Lizard race team has used KW to win a few of Championships with. One of the head techs at Lizard told me that the KW's are FAR supirior than the other shock options they tried.

I don't think you will go wrong putting them on your car.


Theo

 

KW are being used on the new ACR viper.

 

Manthey did not use V3's in his cars. KW made custom CO for him, with remote reservoirs, 3-way adjustable, and trick sleeving. You can't buy them, they provide them to race teams only. I checked.

V3's are nice but do not compare to JRZ, Moton, Penske, Sachs, Ohlins, etc on the track. Get the good stuff, you'll regret it if you don't and end up paying for a suspension kit twice.

 

PSS9s are like a street track option with the street getting the most usage. They are not the most aggrescive option.

 

I have the KW V3 on my turbo. While I dont do trackdays, they are more than sufficient for auto-x and canyon runs.

 

You are not the first person to advise me this way... essentially I am getting a lot of "save for the motons" type of advice...

I was aware that Manthey had some type of "special" version... but did not pursue it. Thank you for confirming.

My dilemma at this point is that I can get a pretty good deal on the KWV3 set up... and I am not sure I want to spend essentially double for motons...

So -- are the moton/jrz etc worth double the $? Truly a question that I can only answer I guess...

Thanks for all the responses and keep them coming.

Old Guy -- PSS9s are not in the running and I am told that KW are significantly better... but I have no seat time to validate.

I know the KW are on the new Viper ACR... not sure which version...

decisions decisions
as my friend says -- these are "rich guy" problems

Thanks again for chiming in...

 

I have the KW Varient 3's on another car and they have been brillient! I'm sure that the Motons' and JRZs' are better but for a street car, that that will only see limited track time, the KW's are more than adequate for your needs.

 

PJ, I am buying a set of either KW V3 or the JIC next week. Like you I just can not commit to one or the other.Bang for the buck I think the KW V3's are the best deal out there...Give me a call and let me know who you are getting the KW's through, maybe if we can buy at the same time we can get a better deal.

Josh

 

PJPPJPJPJPPJPJ. Get a Cupcar soon.

 

KW V3s are aswome, had them on a few cars, and great. while i have never driven the same car with motons or ohlins, the V3s are just an amazing setup, paired with a great sway and tire combo, ull be more than happy!

 

The reality is you have a GT3 and you and it deserve the right setup from the start. I say this because I just went through this process myself. Buy KW, JIC or Moton? $3K difference, that's a lot of money to me but at the end of the day after going to PCA DE events, seeing the cars that perform, riding shotgun in properly setup cars, I was convinced that I should spend the money once and be happy. I just had Moton's installed but cannot tell you anything about them (other than being gorgeous) yet as its snowing here.

Here is a link to a Moton setup on a 04 GT3

http://gocpt.com/gallery/gt3_motons/index.html

 

About these super expensive suspensions, I'm not disagreeing but on most track days, the street cars which are the most modified are not the fastest at all!

I'm all for Motons because that's what the race cars use...But are they that essential for a club racer ? At least I've yet seen a car with Motons go past me on the Nürburgring...

Btw. KW var3 should be a very good option, all the reviews about it on 996's are great, it seem to be a much sportier choice than the PSS9 and more adjustable too.

You can get the var3 suspension with full Manthey-Racing specs with a bit more than the regular price, go for that (available from Manthey-Racing) if you need a real upgrade!

 

Minid -- you are right... screw it all... I am just going to buy a cup car
I wish buddy....


JP: when I get back into town, I will give you a call... I am pretty sure that a 2 person group buy is not going to change the price from my guy as he is quoting me a good price based on the "whole package" that I am throwing his way... I will mention talk to him.

Respect: That is precisely what I am being told by seller... I have not heard anything negative about the KWV3 set up... only that it is not as good as the moton CS system...

C2Mojo: I am right there with you -- going through what you went through... you may be exactly right.

Kaizu: any idea who sells the Manthey set up in the USA? Is it just me or is Manthey missing out on the USA market in a big way? It could be just me though...Their website sucks.. download the parts pricing list... no pics... whatever... I could be wrong... However the $ is so weak right now, that I cannot believe I could afford the EUROS...

Thanks again guys for chiming in...

 

The same way with most German companies unless they're really big...ask via www.rennworx.com

Their setup should be very good, you can ask comments and the detailed specs from users from some British forums in English.