KW V2 rebound adjustment question

[GrapeBandit]

These are on my b5 1.8t, but i figured id get more responses over here in the S4 forum since theres not many guys with these on non-S4 b5s.

Who here is using KW V2's? What are your rebound settings? im getting ready to install mine and theres 18 clicks(notches) for rebound adjustment, but the kw pdf and customer service at kw swears theres only 16. so customer service says "if i have 18 clicks, the last 2 are unuseable". so i ask is would it be the 1st and last click, or the last 2 clicks counting from full soft or the last 2 clicks counting from full hard? they reply refer to the pdf file i sent, but it specifies nothing of the sort.

Next, the recommended settings to start with say 9 clicks open in the fronts, and 12 open in the rears. I ask 9/12 clicks open from full soft or from full hard. they reply from full hard. i said are you positive that its not from full soft? that doesnt make sense, even though the car is front heavy, why would the car be softer in the rear if the car is prone to understeer? my other KW V2's were installed by a shop and they said the settings were neutral in the fronts, and +1 hard in the rear and handled like a champ.

im putting these in myself and dont want to put them in, only to take them out again if its adjusted wrong and rides like ass.
any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[Lunchboxhero]

These are on my b5 1.8t, but i figured id get more responses over here in the S4 forum since theres not many guys with these on non-S4 b5s.

Who here is using KW V2's? What are your rebound settings? im getting ready to install mine and theres 18 clicks(notches) for rebound adjustment, but the kw pdf and customer service at kw swears theres only 16. so customer service says "if i have 18 clicks, the last 2 are unuseable". so i ask is would it be the 1st and last click, or the last 2 clicks counting from full soft or the last 2 clicks counting from full hard? they reply refer to the pdf file i sent, but it specifies nothing of the sort.

Next, the recommended settings to start with say 9 clicks open in the fronts, and 12 open in the rears. I ask 9/12 clicks open from full soft or from full hard. they reply from full hard. i said are you positive that its not from full soft? that doesnt make sense, even though the car is front heavy, why would the car be softer in the rear if the car is prone to understeer? my other KW V2's were installed by a shop and they said the settings were neutral in the fronts, and +1 hard in the rear and handled like a champ.

im putting these in myself and dont want to put them in, only to take them out again if its adjusted wrong and rides like ass.
any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I wouldn't think that you have to take them out to re-adjust them would you? isn't it just a dial on the reservoir?

[GrapeBandit]

the adjustments are on the top of the shock. the v3's have the reservoir on the side

[james 408]

concensus is 'most drivers will not notice a few clicks one way or another'

that said, I don't know specifically which clicks are dead clicks (I would imagine they just don't change the internal valving for 2 of the clicks).

I would set them according to the manuf recommendations, ignore the missing clicks, and you'll be close enough. from there, tune to your preference.

generally less rebound is considered faster, but feels worse. the stiffer your compression, the stiffer you set the rebound to match. try playing with em, i think you'll find the difference is very subtle.

You may want to confirm they're rebound only adjustable, as a lot of coilovers link low speed rebound/compression, while high speed is relatively fixed (speed is in terms of shock speed not vehicle speed, but they are correlated)

[GrapeBandit]

they are indeed only rebound adjustable. less rebound would be more of a comfot ride while less stable at high speeds. if I were able to figure out exactly what the settings were before I sent them for warranty replacement, I can set them and not have to take them off for adjustment.
http://kw-suspension.com/us/kw_variant_2.php

as far as their recommendations, its seems backwards to have the fronts harder than the back. my old setup had the fronts at neutral and +1 stiffness in the rears. they call for 9 clicks on the front and 12 on the rear. someone at kw said the clicks are from full hard, whi h sounds hard to believe. it would make more sense if the clicks were from full soft as that would make them a tad stiffer in the rear helping create some oversteer and helping with the weight transfer while cornering.

[zillarob]

The idea behind more rebound in the front is to keep the nose low and flat when on the gas exiting.

Really doesnt matter which end you count from, so long you you always do it the same way.
On shocks that are not 0'd in the center, I would count from full soft because full hard is sometimes driving a needle into a seat and have seem them get jammed. Full soft usually has a positive stop while full hard feels a little vague because of the needle and seat.

Due to the tolerances they are built to there will be variance from shock to shock.
10 clicks from soft on one shock may not be the same as 10 clicks on another.

The higher end shocks I have played with were center 0 with 20 clicks either way. 40 clicks of adjustment, but had almost 60 if you went from one end to the other.
These shocks were put on a dyno and adjusted until they hit a target force/velocity and 0 marked. The extra clicks were there to adjust for the variance.
If you count clicks from 0 like this, dampers will be much closer to each other than ones counted from the ends.

[GrapeBandit]

zillarob, how can it not matter which end I count the clicks from? if I do 9/12 from full stiffness, it would be 43.75%/25% stiff. if I counted 9/12 from full soft, it would be the total opposite and give me 56.25%/75% stiffness...thats a hugh difference.

[GrapeBandit]

above pic in 3rd step is supposed to say counterclockwise. not sure how KW proof readers missed that. lol

so can anyone confirm if these 9/12 clicks are from full stiffness (closed), or from full soft (open)? the pdf just says 9/12 clicks open. they should have specified by saying "from closed" or "from open" but I guess thats what happens when they translate from German to English, words get lost.
I know the front of our cars are heavier, but 9/12 clicks from full still would mean about 43.75% stiffness in front and 25% stiffnes in the rear. dont think that would help with the horrible understeer these cars have.
I would call the shop that set my old V2's up and ask them(R&A Applied Arts in NJ, specifically Andy King), but they been out of business for years

EDIT: now that I think about it, 9/12 clicks open should mean exactly that, 9/12 clicks from full stiffness (closed)

[zillarob]

zillarob, how can it not matter which end I count the clicks from? if I do 9/12 from full stiffness, it would be 43.75%/25% stiff. if I counted 9/12 from full soft, it would be the total opposite and give me 56.25%/75% stiffness...thats a hugh difference.

Lol, should clarify. Using the 40 click example, 10 clicks from soft would be 30 from hard.

[GrapeBandit]

Lol, should clarify. Using the 40 click example, 10 clicks from soft would be 30 from hard.

that is correct. I took it as you were saying that it doesnt matter if I do the 9/12 clicks from full stiffness or full soft. lol.
only thing that sucks is that im going to have to take these off to adjust them since I most likely wont get them right on the first shot. im going to go pretty low, so I was thinking about starting at 8/11 from full stiffness clicks to add some extra damping

[james 408]

that is extra rebound damping compared to recommendations, albeit a tiny amount. i.e. more stability (feels better). i.e. slightly less grip.

should be fine. i would try respecting their ratios of front vs rear rebound though for the first go at it. the stiff front rebound is probably partially compensating for insufficient spring/compression rates in the rear. Note for track s4s, the spring rates are typically 1200lbs up front 1600lbs rear, track depending, with compression ratios to match.

[GrapeBandit]

that is extra rebound damping compared to recommendations, albeit a tiny amount. i.e. more stability (feels better). i.e. slightly less grip.

should be fine. i would try respecting their ratios of front vs rear rebound though for the first go at it. the stiff front rebound is probably partially compensating for insufficient spring/compression rates in the rear. Note for track s4s, the spring rates are typically 1200lbs up front 1600lbs rear, track depending, with compression ratios to match.

well its a recommendation for a starting point, not exactly end all be all adjustments. every driver and car has a different feel. depends on size/weight of tires, how low, any additional weight rreductions. etc...I will try 8 clicks soft for fronts, and 11 clicks soft in the rear. close to their recommended 9/12 clicks. or maybe ill just do the fronts at 9 and rears at 11 to make a little oversteer. but like I said, im going low with the car and im sure it can use a little extra rebound, dont eant just be riding on springs with no rebound, that would be bouncy as hell. I will obviously have to set it, take some spirited drives, and adjust accordingly

[james 408]

sounds like you're on it. njoy

[zillarob]

Just be careful, too much rebound can suck it down to the stops in bumpy stuff.

To combat understeer on some of the cars we ran (non s4) we ran like 75% f reb, 25% r reb, and raise the rear a bit.

[GrapeBandit]

sounds like you're on it. njoy

thanks man. I will definitely enjoy after I get dialed in. this will be round 2 for KW V2's

Just be careful, too much rebound can suck it down to the stops in bumpy stuff.

To combat understeer on some of the cars we ran (non s4) we ran like 75% f reb, 25% r reb, and raise the rear a bit.

understood. I know too much rebound will make it unsafe on super bumpy and or wet roads. also too much rebound can cause the jacking down effect, where the damper doesnt allow the spring to return back up before the next bump.
im no suspension tuner, so I there will be some trial and error until I get it just right

[DolphinV8]

If you read the step 2 & 3, it's pretty clear that they want you to start from the full hard (clockwise).
IIRC, your front rebound must be set before you install the shocks. If your rear shocks are like the V3, you can make a cutout like this and make the future adjustment easier.
For my avant, I use 8 front and 8 clicks front and 9 clicks open for the rear.

[GrapeBandit]

If you read the step 2 & 3, it's pretty clear that they want you to start from the full hard (clockwise).
IIRC, your front rebound must be set before you install the shocks. If your rear shocks are like the V3, you can make a cutout like this and make the future adjustment easier.
For my avant, I use 8 front and 8 clicks front and 9 clicks open for the rear.

correct, the fronts must be adjusted prior to the install as my fronts are adjusted from the very top like in the pic below(far right). I wonder if I would be able to drill a hole in the engine bay above it somewhere so I can make adjustments without having to uninstall them.
the rears on the V2's are like the V3's you posted a pic of. same as the pic below (far left). your idea of cutting that slot out on the rear mounts is genius and would make it so much easier to adjust if need be. I am definitely going to do that. thanks for sharing that idea

let me ask you this, when you first installed, did you even try the recommended setting starting point of F:9clicks R:12clicks?
I bet your setup of F:8clicks R:9clicks helps a lot with the understeer issue our cars have.

above pic in 3rd step is supposed to say counterclockwise.

[DolphinV8]

Yes, you can drill a couple holes in the engine bay to make the adjustment easier.
I installed my V3 a while ago, but I believe I did -1 or -2 than what KW recommends.

[GrapeBandit]

Yes, you can drill a couple holes in the engine bay to make the adjustment easier.
I installed my V3 a while ago, but I believe I did -1 or -2 than what KW recommends.

sweet man, you are on point! appreciate it. that is exactly what im looking for.

[GrapeBandit]

I got the rears on but I have a question about the fronts. whats the best way to tighten that nut on the top of the strut? I can't get it down all the way and theres no way to stop the rod from spinning. obviously I cant do it the conventional way with an allen key because the allen key is for the damper adjustment. if I do it that way I can ruin the damper.