I recently swapped out my coilovers from ZEAL Function V6's to KW Variant 3's. The ZEAL's were no doubt an awesome coilover. My particular setup was mostly custom and dialed in for a drift car. 16kg/12ks spring rates with true rear coilover. You can imagine how stiff and rough the car drives but it handled like no other.

One of the main reason's why I opted for the KW's is because of driveability. While the ZEAL's handled great, it was just way too much for daily driving and my particular commute. Realistically, I had no reason to have this aggressive of a coilover for daily driving. I go to the track maybe 4-6 times a year and it just didn't justify driving a car this rough. A lot of my friend's in the industry told me great things about KW so I decided to try it out.

George from KW Automotive had a set of Variant 3's shipped over to Performance Nissan directly from Germany. The Z then went to Steve at M-WORKZ in Gardena for the install. M-WORKZ installed the coilovers then aligned and corner balanced the car. I must say that M-WORKZ did a SUPERB job on the work. Steve and his crew are very professional and with Steve's motorsport background, his expertise came into play perfectly and its not a wonder why chassis tuning is his specialty. Steve has many car's under his belt. He has built Verena Mei's JWT TT 350Z and he also has his own personal 350Z's and a NISMO R32 GT-R. He was even kind of enough to loan me a set of upper pillow ball mounts off of a APEXi coilover he had laying around.

Once my friend's over at M-WORKZ had everything dialed in, George from KW had recommended me to leave the dampening at mid setting and adjust from there. I drove the car for a week and there was definitely a difference. The Variant 3's were a lot more bareable for daily driving. Stiff and responsive yet subtle enough for Southern California road conditions. The dampening settings were still a bit too stiff for me so back to M-WORKZ I went.

The only complaint I had about the Variant 3's are that it does not come with upper pillow ball mounts and the factory strut mounts needed to be retained. This reason is because upper pillow ball mounts are not TUV approved in Germany, therefore was not offered. George tells me that later this summer, KW will release a optional upper pillow ball mount for the U.S market but nothing is set in stone yet.

After the second time the Z came out from M-WORKZ, WOW! I had M-WORKZ soften up the rear dampers by HALF A CLICK on both rebound and compression and there was a significant difference in the way the car handled and drove. The ride quality is bar none and is VERY comfortable. I have never driven a Z that had this comfort of a ride yet still have responsive and nimble handling. I must admit that it does not handle quite as well as the ZEAL's but the sacrifice was well worth it. I'm sure that on track days, I can adjust the dampening stiffer and I'll still be able to have lots of fun at the track.

Compression is adjusted from the bottom of the shock casing and rebound is adjusted from the end of the piston rod. Accessability is not any easier or any worse than my ZEAL's. There is way too much technical detail about the Variant 3's but the most important attributes are the patented valve at the bottom of the damper casing and the low-speed pressure adjustments.

At the end of the day, if you're looking for one of the best coilovers for daily driving needs, consider the KW Variant 3.

READ MORE ABOUT THE VARIANT 3'S HERE

ORDER VARIANT 3'S HERE

Special thanks to George at KW Automotive and Steve at M-WORKZ.

KW Automotive, North America Inc
1075 North Avenue
Sanger, CA 93657
1-888-713-5566

M-WORKZ
16400 South Avalon Boulevard
Gardena, CA 90248
310-713-8386

Pictures coming soon....

 

The pillowball upper mounts would be nice, though if they'd also offer linear rear springs in the back that would be real icing on the cake.

 

Yea, those features would be nice but lets not forget that this is a street application coilover.

 

I have zeals in 12/10's and wouldn't trade them for a thing.

 

I've been running Zeal 10kg front and 8kg rear with the non true coilover version in the rear using the OEM spring perch. Until I lowered the stiffness of my sway bars, I actually thought they were too stiff for street use because the tires would frequently come off the actual pavement.

After putting my rear 350EVO bar to the softest setting and completely ditching the front 350EVO bar and going back to the OEM front bar (OEM bar is just as stiff as 350EVO's on their softest setting, so why carry the extra weight) the car drastically gained more traction on the street. I noticed slightly more body lean, but the car feels more controllable and less twitchy now so I'm happy.

Both my front and rears have after market end links. The 350EVO front bar is too thick to work with aftermarket end links too, another reason I took it off and went back to the OEM bar.

If I was on a perfectly smooth race track all the time, I might think differently though

I think if you generally have stiff springs, you want soft sway bars, and visa-versa unless you're a dedicated race or drift car on constant smooth pavement. Then stiffened everything might work best

 

Glad to hear you are happy Andy...I hear nothing but good things abut KW V3 which is why I just ordered a set for my STi I also have been very happy with my M-Workz alignment and will be calling on Steve for my alignment and corner weighting after my new setup is installed.

-Erik-

 

Then why wasn't the variant 2 coilover purchased with it's rebound only control, indpendent compression and rebound control is far from the ordinary for a "street application coilover" and may not be the easiest thing for the average joe to set correctly to really benefit from. As a performance product, having a wide spring rate spread will impact at the limit behavior and car feel, thus deminishing what the product delivers to it's intented buyer. This can be addressed but with the design of their rear height adjustment system prevent's a simple off the shelf solution, unless Kw offer's linear springs own their own, correcting that aspect of the kit will be difficult but IMO a must do.

 

Pics as promised...

 

woot. i'm gonna visit Steve on Friday..

 

Awesome review. I am glad that I am not the only one who has tried multiple coilovers and ended up loving the KW V3!

 

Are you not using the rear lower rubber mount for the spring perch?

Just curious since I am considering removing mine to go a bit lower.

 

Are you talking about the stock ones? No I took those off.

So you went with Variant 3's too, huh? Dont they kick *** for a street coilover? Definitely limited for the track depending on your skill level but youll still be able to have a lot of fun at the track with these. Gotta give you props though man, its good to see people that try different suspension setups as well as going aggressive with wheel fitments!

 

How much do the KW run?? Thanks.

I have always read good reviews from the KW's...

 

so you wouldn't recommend these for a track only set up?

 

http://www.mynismo.com/products/?id=6020

 

If your car is a track car only then no. The KW's are limited for a dedicated track car. Other coilovers you should consider for a track ONLY car would be KW Sport Cup, ZEAL Super Function R, etc.

 

How easy/difficult is it to adjust these coilovers?

 

Just like any other coilover without some sort of electronic dampening systems.

 

I'm looking for a setup that I can live with on public roads even if it's only on some days, but still take to the track once in a while. From your review I'll be sending you more of my money one of these days Andy.

 

Im running these, and am more than happy with this setup.

European stuff is nice quality, and made to very strict standards.