Project Autocross BRZ: Swapping The Feal 441’s to KW V3’s

Project Autocross BRZ: Swapping The Feal 441's to KW V3's

by Bart Hockerman

Since the first installment some time ago things have changed with the BRZ. KW has graciously supplied us with KW V3’s for use on this Project BRZ. With that in mind the 2014 SCCA Spring Nationals was the last event for us on the Feal 441’s. So we went out and gave them the last “Hoorah”. We brought home a solid 2nd and 4th place finish at the ProSolo and another solid 2nd place finish for the National Tour.

Upon my return from Spring Nationals I made the arrangements with Wes to meet up with him to pick up the KW V3’s. I myself was excited to give them a try based on my prior experience with another BRZ that was equipped with them. Were they truly how I remembered them? Would they be the new ammo in our inventory to help us be more competitive? My codriver and I looked forward to having the ability to adjust the Rebound and compression to fine tune the handling of the BRZ. 

When I got back home with the KW V3’s I went straight to work on them taking them apart to swap the springs front to rear so we would have the same spring rate setup as we did with the Feal 441’s. It would be the best way to compare the suspensions, 7k front spring with the 6k rear spring. One of my personal favorite features of the KW V3 suspension are the stainless lined polymer adjustment rings and the stainless bodies.Their use of these materials allows for everything adjust with ease. No more stuck spanner nuts, I could run this car through a harsh Wisconsin winter and not even have a second thought about rusting collars.

Installation was a breeze, the swap to the KW V3’s went without an issue. The extra added bonus of the additional KW no rise front camber plates that were sent with brings a new element to this game allowing more travel without the sacrifice of the ride height. We were however still using the stock rear top mounts though which may need to be replaced with one similar to that on the front that will allow a lower ride height without the loss of travel. After installation was completed and the ride height was set it was off to the alignment shop.

KW's no rise front camber plates.

Can we all say best all season durable coilover on the market!

Such a smooth installation, I was so looking forward to putting the V3’s to task.