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KW Coilover Woes


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I regret the day I ever fitted these blasted things. I should make that clear now. They sort the handling, but the rides crap and now ones broken on me. :)

Anyway, feel better for getting that out.

GTI had been handling badly in recently weeks and the near side coilover has a bad fluid leak so its gone in for an inspection.

What are my options? Do KW sell a single V1 inox? (they haven't replied yet) Can they be rebuilt? (my VW independent isn't sure as they've never had one go) Has anyone ever claimed on the KW Warranty?

Having a quote to return to standard, but I suspect that won't be much different to replacing the whole set of V1's.

Any advice, has this happened to anyone?

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Yep, bought new, but I've since found out its just a two year warranty (been on the car for 3 and half years).

Anyway, had a call back from a very nice chap at KW. They can rebuild, but you have to send it to them, can't be done locally. Cost varies (waiting to get the serial number from vw indie), but roughly £40 to £80. Plus shipping a very heavy item!

Its easier to replace the offending leaky parts (the strut itself?), which they quote at £140-150, again to be confirmed.

Going to decide what to do tomorrow when I can find out how long the rebuild would take.

As for the ride, it makes a 996 GT3 RS seem soft, for the rough country roads I drive on coilovers are too much of a compromise. Hell, even in town with pot holes and variations in surface quality its pretty bad. The standard car is a bit roly poly, but at least you keep all your teeth. For the track, the coilovers are great, perfect in fact.

Edited by AndyW
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I thought they had lifetime warranty?

And as for the ride, they're one of the best for coil-overs. If youre expecting them to be like oem standard/ sports suspension then you'll be disappointed.

Pretty sure if you put KWs on a 996 it'd feel just as bumpy :P

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I'm not looking for S-Class levels of waft, but to me, when up against something comparable like a Clio 200 with the Cup chassis, a Lupo on coilovers is too harsh. On billiard table surfaces, great, no bumps, no scrapes, but on rough country b-roads I was forever scraping bits of the car on tarmac. I asked the advice on here, but I didn't try before I bought, which was a mistake. Its been a lot better since running it on a higher ride height so its a bit closer to standard, but I have no idea how those of you with ultra low cars can even get to A-B in Britain.

That said, on track and some roads its fantastic, so I guess sometimes they pay for themselves.

BTW, have been in a boggo 996 C2 on KW's and it felt fine, not too bumpy, just like the stiffly sprung GT3's.

The GTI is a forever car, so I can take the long view and go through suspension changes, when I start to use it less maybe the coilovers will bother me less. I don't miss the body roll, so maybe I'm just being grumpy today. :)

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Hi Andy!

Mine have now been on for 50,000 miles + as LoopyLupo got them fitted when the car was new (as far as I could gather from historic posts).

Never had any issues with them apart from on really bad roads; I'm not stupid ;low though. Getting a bit noisy now though so was going to start looking at "repairs\refurb".

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Yes, I thought the refurb price wasn't too bad either. Just waiting for full quotes from KW before making a decision.

Deciding factor will probably be turn around time, I'm guessing a rebuild isn't going to be a couple of days, but waiting to hear back.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Good afternoon - long time lurker here, looking for some advice.

What was your final decision OP?

The exact same thing has happened to me today. My GTI went in for service and MOT and within 10 minutes of dropping it at the garage I had a call to say that the o/s/f shock had a major leak. I've got KW coilovers all round but I don't know which model. They were on the car when I bought it and will be out of warranty.

I think my options now are:

1. to replace the broken part like-for-like and leave the n/s/f as it is. Is this considered a stupid thing to do? (ie, not to replace both fronts at the same time)

2. Replace both front shocks with new KW parts.

3. Replace front and rear shocks and springs with OEM parts

4. Replace front and rears with KW parts.

If anyone could hazard a guess at combined parts and labour for each option that would be superb. I haven't had a chance to investigate kits or anything else since getting the news.

Right now I'm favouring option 3 as this will make he car easier to sell when the time comes. However, if option 1 is possible then that would be cheapest (I guess), and I'd do that as long as it's not stupidly risky.

My MOT runs out next Friday and I was actually thinking of selling the car soon so the timing is awful. On top of the coilover issue I also need a new high-level brake light and a section of the wheel arch too. Looks like I'll be keeping the car for longer than planned!

Any advice appreciated!

Skyetom

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Interesting reading Andy. I always wondered how you got on with them.

I fitted KW V1's to my GTI and I always thought the same; handling was excellent, the car felt very sharp and tight to drive, but the ride was too hard for my favourite B roads. Next time I would go for the Bilstein B12 Kit rather than coilovers. They were fine on smooth roads and very well controlled over bumps, but just a little too hard and jiggly for me.

It is a shame to hear about the KW's failing on people as I always thought they seemed a high quality product.

I have recently fitted a H&R Cup Kit to my TDI (30mm spring & shock kit like the B12 kit). The ride is better than with coilovers (obviously), and there is more suspension travel. Damping is very firm meaning the car is very well controlled at speed, but can still be a bit jiggly at low speed (not as bad as the coilovers were). I think the driving experience over your typical B road is better than coilovers, as it is more compliant. On a track or a billiard table the coilovers would win but unfortunately my route to work or the shops doesn't include either of those!

It is always best to replace suspension components in pairs across the axle. Perhaps whoever replaces their shocks first could give their spare used shock to the other person! (assuming they are the same part number)

I also have a set of standard GTi suspension in my garage which I keep meaning to sell if either of you get stuck.

Jon

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Hi Jon

Thanks for the advice. As you suggest, I think I'm going to need to get replacements in pairs but I still can't decide between two new KWs or a complete kit of OEM parts, front and rear.

If you decide to sell the parts you have then I could be interested. I'm waiting on another seller to give me a price including delivery but nothing is definite yet.

Cheers

Thomas

edited because I can't spell :doh:

Edited by skyetom
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  • 4 months later...

<Severely delayed reply>

You can see I don't come on here all that often any longer!

Apologies, your reply Jon was very concise. I tend to get grumpy about the ride quality in winter time, you know how it is when your commuting and you've yet again had your fillings come out due to another pot hole and I curse the day I ever swapped. :)

So, in the end I had to go for a new replacement single unit. The VW indie that was doing the work were unhappy with having a car with no suspension sitting in their work shop while KW turned the unit around to rebuild it. I can't say I blamed them, so I just ordered the new one from KW and it was shipped from Germany, fitted and I was on the road within a week.

In ideal circumstances I would probaly have gone back to standard, but was quoted £800 for a full OEM replacement, which for the moment I declined. Long term I'm unsure what to do, as I've said numerous times over the last 9 years (yes, 9 years of ownership last month) its a keeper, and when I eventually stop commuting in it (currently on 93k) I will do a tidy up job on the whole car. If another damper leaks, I think I will rebuild and try and remove it at home to send it off, or contemplate going back to standard.

I've done over 2000 miles in a GT3 and the rides still better than a Lupo GTI with coilovers. :)

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