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After more than a month of finalizing the ride height and waiting for the springs to settle on my KW V2, I finally got alignment done today.
I was worried that the shop's machine wouldn't have our car's specs yet, but couldn't find anything on the web. I hope this would help those who are looking for the factory spec on F56.
Car suspension setup:
Front ride height: 13.0"
Rear ride height: 12.6"
Ride height measured from wheel hub center to edge of the fender.
KW V2 coilovers set at 10 clicks from full stiff on both front and rear.
The ride height might is within the suggested range by TUV as shown on KW's installation manual:
Alignment was done on a Hunter Hawkeye Elite machine. 70kg ballast weights on the driver and passenger seat. Here's the alignment sheet:
Alignment specs were pulled directly from the Hunter machine and it looks like it's the same specs as the R55/R56 Cooper S.
As expected, rear cambers were off. However, factory adjusters were able to bring the rear cambers back to factory specs. No aftermarket rear control arms were needed. I'm going to try the factory specs first and redo alignment again if I need more negative camber on the rears.
Front cambers were not adjustable (we all know this), however, it didn't need adjusting since it was within factory tolerance.
As long as you stay within the TUV minimum ride height (pretty darn low), these specs should be achievable on the JCW PRO suspension as well since it's very similar to the KW V1.
+1 thanks for the alignment sheet. It looks good. Now we just need a good way to increase front negative camber.
I'm not sure I'd lower the car any more than that, you'll start putting the front roll center too low for good mechanical grip. It's interesting how the KW guide suggest a fairly low ride height, much lower than the JCW Pro's. Now I'm wondering if the KW's are actually a different overall length with similar stroke [less droop, more compression travel].
+1 thanks for the alignment sheet. It looks good. Now we just need a good way to increase front negative camber.
I'm not sure I'd lower the car any more than that, you'll start putting the front roll center too low for good mechanical grip. It's interesting how the KW guide suggest a fairly low ride height, much lower than the JCW Pro's. Now I'm wondering if the KW's are actually a different overall length with similar stroke [less droop, more compression travel].
Yeah I agree with you, it is as low as I would go on this car. Within that one month period I had it higher and lower and finally decided on the current ride height. Also changed the rebound back to 10 clicks since 12 clicks from full stiff was a bit bouncy. Note that on the KW, it's only a little more than halfway down on the height adjusters. I reckon there's probably about another inch of adjustment downward. I don't know why they would let it go down so low....
As front camber goes, I'm waiting on reviews of the OEM FCAB.
Oh ok, gotcha, yea. It really depends how the Powerflex eccentric lobe clamps itself. If it's an eccentric like the rear lower control arm, then it could be reasonable. If there's no clamping and they're just hoping it'll stay there, then it would be a bad idea.
So, question mark Powerflex, expensive OEM knuckles that only add a fixed 0.5°, and then LAP Motorsports mystery secret top hats that are likely KW since they sponsor them.
Oh ok, gotcha, yea. It really depends how the Powerflex eccentric lobe clamps itself. If it's an eccentric like the rear lower control arm, then it could be reasonable. If there's no clamping and they're just hoping it'll stay there, then it would be a bad idea.
So, question mark Powerflex, expensive OEM knuckles that only add a fixed 0.5°, and then LAP Motorsports mystery secret top hats that are likely KW since they sponsor them.
Ryan, you're running 2 degree on the rear right? What do you say would be an ideal setting on the fronts? Usage would be mostly spirited canyon runs, not so much of track usage.
Yea, for now. I'm seeing how the long-term tread-wear goes and then I'll tweak it from there. The feel is good right now.
I would surmise that -1.5° front and rear would be a brilliant balance for spirited driving on fun roads. I ran more on my R53 track MINI even with much higher wheel rates but that was heavily biased for HPDE's on Hoosiers. Different answers for different purposes, ya know.
Oh, I just sent an email to KW USA. We'll see if they respond.
02-09-2016 | 02:15 AM
