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What s40 awd coilovers go lower

36K views 160 replies 23 participants last post by  onezero 
#1 ·
buddy is looking for his t5 awd and cannot decide between the evolve and kw v1 coilovers. Which set goes lower? Evolve claims their coils go 10mm lower which isn't that significant but after purchasing their "lowering" springs and being completely dissapointed with the drop they gave, we want to make sure before blowing $1500+ on a set of coils.

any opinions? right now it's on elevate springs that have 2 coils cut off front and rear.

we need it to go lower than this.
 
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#2 ·


There's my AWD on KW V1. That's the absolute lowest it will go, and I had to grind the front stabilizer bar endlink mounts on the strut bodies to allow for an extra 8mm. Not sure about the Elevate coilovers, but I found them rather pricey. I chose the KWs because they have a solid reputation and I saved about $500 compared to the Elevate ones.

Oh, and your buddy should invest in some sort of protection for his oil pan if he's gonna go any lower than that...as mine sits now, the skid plate is only inches from the ground.
 
#3 ·
thanks for the pic. rather disappointed in that drop (no offense if you're happy with it, everyone has their preference). Do they have a regular spring and a helper spring, or just a single spring?

not really worried about ground clearance, we come from the vw world if you haven't noticed from the username--slammed cars are our ****
 
#9 ·
Hey Moofluffen...just some questions for you...

How much lower did you go without those helper springs and how was the ride quality? Did you experience any issues with them out and why did you put them back in?

Any pics of the car without them? :)
 
#8 ·
Yeah, no problem man. Helper springs aren't actually there to increase ride comfort though...rather, they assist the main spring to seat properly during rebound should the wheel leave the ground. However, I would assume that the lower you go without them, ride comfort will decrease substantially. I noticed an increase in ride harshness when I dropped them that extra 8mm in the front. But hey, if comfort is no concern for you...do it up. If you're tracking the car though and throwing it hard into the corners, the helper springs will help that main spring stay in place properly.
 
#11 ·
Good stuff. Yeah, when I was faced with the decision of removing the helpers or grinding the stabilizer mounts, I went with the latter because I did some research and knew that I would encounter some issues like that. I may not be able to tuck my tires, but I think I made the right choice (even though I voided my warranty, lol). Next time I'll go to 235 tires from my current 225s...that'll help a bit.

Just for reference...here's a pic of my coilovers when I got them...I've circled the stabilizer bar endlink mounts and drew a line where I had to grind them in order to make use of the remaining threads.

 
#14 ·
+1
 
#21 ·
Nice! I can't wait to see how low that drop can go. Piks of your mkvi!


Sent from my iPhone4S using Tapatalk while on the toilet.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Nice! I can't wait to see how low that drop can go. Piks of your mkvi!

Sent from my iPhone4S using Tapatalk while on the toilet.


Here's one with my old wheel setup. I bought some staggered 18'' Work VS-Edition wheels, painted the roof and mirrors Black Magic Pearl a few weeks ago, and will have a few more treats before the season starts.

We ordered the KW coils for the volvo last night and most likely going with some staggered 18x8.5/9.5 Rotiform NUEs in a few weeks. i'll throw up some pics when everything is together.
 
#23 ·
Nice! That looks hot


Sent from my iPhone4S using Tapatalk while on the toilet.
 
#25 ·
Can't wait to see. Are you going to h2oi this year?


Sent from my iPhone4S using Tapatalk while on the toilet.
 
#26 ·
Can't wait to see. Are you going to h2oi this year?

Sent from my iPhone4S using Tapatalk while on the toilet.
yup i'll be there with my "crew" aka red FD rx7, volvo above, built evo9, and either a sr20'd s13 coupe or a fitted up b5 s4.

my friend ordered these stupid KW coils almost a month ago and they still haven't arrived. he got them from an eBay vendor because they were significantly less expensive than other vendors, but they've yet to deliver. supposedly they shipped on the 30th but i'm not holding my breathe since they also "shipped" the 19th.

Put a call into rotiform and they don't have any blank BLQs or NUEs for another few weeks. Hopefully we can lock something down in a few weeks otherwise he'll probably end up with CCWs and a very light wallet.

On another note, got my wheels on last weekend so i'll whore them out ;)
 
#37 ·
Yes on the tire sizes.

I'll have to see what I've got for photos on my computer at home. Or I can iPhone one right now lol.
Hey Jessica...quick question about the tire size difference on your AWD. I was under the impression that because of the AWD, we can't run two different tire sizes. With your set-up, there's a 1.24% diameter difference front to rear. I'm dying to run a 215/40/18 front and 245/35/18 rear...that give only a 0.09% diameter difference, but just wasn't sure if the AWD system would agree with that. Can you or anyone else shed any light on this?
 
#35 ·
Lol for not thinking Volvo people do anything cool. I've been trying to get these guys to start adapting or redrilling for different wheel options for years.

I got a set of Advan RS in 5x120 and just got quoted $400 for redrill to 5x108 which is a bit more than I anticipated :( Wheels are too wide for adapters.
 
#36 ·
Hey now! I've had pretty aggressive wheels every now and then. ;) $400 for a redrill isn't horrible, but if the wheels/ET make adapters impossible/unsafe then $400 is doable.
 
#39 ·
lol there are a few people on here that actually push the envelope, but as a whole the North American Volvo "scene" is pretty modest in comparison to other car enthusiast groups... But never mind lol

With regard to my staggered setup, it's a minor difference and the tire profile is the same front and rear (which supposedly is the trick). I'm on my second season with this setup and haven't had any issues :)
 
#40 ·
what does your gps speedo say in relation to your actual speedo is what i think he's referring to. this is assuming the gps speedo is showing the correct speed.
 
#43 ·
I've had multiple people say that on our models the AWD is nowhere near as finicky as the older AWD models. I've ran some slightly different tire sizes before without any issues, not to mention staggered. My Astons have 235/35/19 fronts and 265/30/19 rears.
 
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