The research continues. I'm looking for thoughts and reviews of ST XTA vs KW V2 coilovers. They seem very similar, but do have differences. ST has 5 year warranty, and camber plates. KW has better construction, and life time warranty. Both have rebound adjustments.

So, do you have them? What have you heard about them. What about prices. Let's hear it.

 

Depends on where you live and how you drive. I went with the XTA's since my MINI rarely sees rain, and is only driven about 4K miles/year. If you drive in the rain and snow, I would get the KW's and add camber plates if needed.

 

DD in SoCal. Last time I noticed we were in drought. Hope that changes, but mostly it's dry out here. Would that ST's really corrode that fast?

At what point would I need camber plates? I will only lower a bit, prolly minimum drop, 30-35 mm max.

 

ST is a subsidiary of KW, does that make them good? Meh, they're okay. Definitely not what you get when you buy a true set of KW's.

What you go with depends on what you want out of them, cheaper is always cheaper, quality always costs. They both will ride fine, they both will have rebound adjustment, and yes KW does have better construction and stand behind that.

You will need camber plates the second you go to coil overs, they are not compatible with stock mounts.

 

KWs are good, but not invincible. Up here in the northeast we have brutal roads, and even expensive coil-overs will periodically fail. I like KWs, and sell/install them, but beware of warranties on suspensions and exhausts: sometimes it's more of a hassle than it's worth to get the warranty serviced.

 

Warranty returns can be a hassle, and I don't abuse my things for the most part, but there are failures. As long as the product works and is installed properly, I'm sure I will be fine.

As for camber plates, is that true for all coilovers? Any brand, any amount of lower? Do I always need camber plates with my coilovers?

 

ST coil overs are great. I've installed these on everything from daily drivers to big horse power builds. They also hold up well in Colorado where it snows/rains. There is a really good article about their comparisons here. In my personal opinion and experience, ST's are a great bang for your buck coil over. With coil overs you'll want to invest in adjustable rear control arms. We recommend the Hotchkis arms here. For my coils I didn't do camber plates, but just went with stiffer mounts. Camber plates are a great investment though.

 

They're probably fine for SoCal rain, even during El Niño. I just wouldn't get them if you daily drove it somewhere like the North East. I installed my XTA's right out of the box about 6K ago and haven't touched the camber plates yet. One of the reasons is the adjusting bolts are covered by the strut towers since I didn't want to cut them.

 

I think your reply is a re-run as I have been researching coilovers for some time now and may have seen it before. I do agree that Hotchkis control arms are a must have. Camber plates come on the XTA's, that's why I'm asking for thoughts and reviews. Are the XTA's 'great bang for the buck' or do I go big with V2's and add on camber plates.

 

Could you write reply as to how your XTA's ride, perform, lower, feel? How was the install? Did you do it yourself? At 6K you must have had an alignment by now. How long did they take to settle? Sorry for the laundry list

 

They ride great! They handle a lot better than the stock sport suspension plus, and are less harsh over the bumps. I haven't been to the track with them, though.

I helped a friend with the install, but it was fairly easy, especially since he owns a shop and the fronts come complete with the camber plates already assembled.

Not sure on how long they took to settle, but I waited about 500 miles before aligning. The only problem I had was the need for a spacer on the front. Without one, the tire rubs against the front spring perch. Most people run 5mm, but it was still too close for me so I went with a 12mm and put the 5's on the rear. 8mm would be good, but I couldn't find them at the time.

All of this is on an '05 R53, but I would expect the same ride quality and results on a Clubman. Regular ST's on the R56 also need a front spacer according to what I've read on this forum.

 

I am very disappointed to hear that. I am running Neuspeed 7's 18 by 7.5, With Michelin Pilot super sports 225/35/18. They fit perfectly. If I have to run spacers, I might rub the fender covers. Especially if I'm lowered, and the way I corner, in going to get body roll to the point of contact.

 

It really depends on your setup and how much you lower your car which will put the wheels/tires in a different spot in relation to the spring perches. If I had different offset wheels I wouldn't need spacers. I'm running R90's, 17x7, ET48 with Michelin PSS 205/45/17's and the the ride height is about 5mm lower than what came out of the box.

Here are two threads which talk about ST's, spacers and tire clearance:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-pictures.html

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...coilovers.html

This is probably the same for KW since I think the only difference is the material the bodies are made of.

 

This should help show the differences from stock and your current setup... I just got the wheel offset from the Nuespeed website so hopefully it's correct. It shows your setup is 3.4mm closer to the strut from stock, and 9.4mm closer to the fender/lip.

 

This where I went to figure out what rim and tire combo I was going to use.

http://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp

First try to copy and paste a link. Hope it works.

Those links you used are old. I can't see the pictures. I get what you are saying though.

 

Well it really depends on what you are going to do with the car? If it's just a daily driver you don't really need the camber plates, or depending on how low you go as the lower you go you will get more neg front camber.

Out of the two I would go with the KW V2 as they are higher quality and adjustable valving. We offer both so if you want to call us and discuss it more we are happy to help

http://www.waymotorworks.com/kw-vari...r55-56-57.html

http://www.waymotorworks.com/st-xta-...7-r58-r59.html

 

Lots of people ask these questions, and I always have the same reply. I've been around a lot of ST installs on many different brands and have always been impressed with their quality/handling for the price. Especially when compared to other coils at the same pricing point. If you're wanting a camber plate option, the XTA's are a great bang for your buck. The KW's just offer much more adjustability control so if you're wanting more control over your ride feel and handling, then KW is the way to go.

 

Don't the XTA's actually have more adjustment than the V2's since they have camber plates? Both have the combo rebound/compression setting. I thought you needed to go to V3's to get separate rebound and compression settings.

 

As I understand it, the ST's have rebound adjustments only. Though I'm happy to be wrong about it. It would be great to have compression & rebound adjustments albeit combined into one adjustment.

 

Both have rebound only, I think 16 clicks. I probably incorrectly called it rebound/compression because I knew they didn't have separate compression settings. I thought changing the rebound might have some kind of effect on the compression even though it wasn't a separate adjustment.

In the end, it still looks like they're the same, but the XTA's also have the camber plates.

How is this different if we are only talking XTA's vs V2's?

 

Both have rebound only, I think 16 clicks. I probably incorrectly called it rebound/compression because I knew they didn't have separate compression settings. I thought changing the rebound might have some kind of effect on the compression even though it wasn't a separate adjustment.

In the end, it still looks like they're the same, but the XTA's also have the camber plates.

How is this different if you only compare XTA's to V2's?

 

I'm still bothered by the wheel clearance issue. Are there any $1500ish coilovers that have smaller coils, or different adjusters, so I don't need to add spacers. How about a strut/ lower spring combo that rides the same as a coilover?