Our height adjustable KW coilover springs are available for more and more selected vehicles. Already since years, we have had these springs in our product range and recently they were also released for the current Audi RS3 (8V). Before we take you on our KW automotive blog to our KW specialist dealer TVW Car Design for a height adjustable spring kit installation, we will refresh your suspension spring knowledge.

Springs in detail

For many people, suspension springs are just a helically bent wire and nothing else. But if you are more concerned with springs and especially with suspension springs, you know that a suspension spring is only as good as the damper that holds it in check. The main task of the spring in a car is to carry the weight of a vehicle.

They are also responsible for keeping a car at a certain height. When driving in easy words, they absorb the “shock energy” acting on the vehicle by the compression movement of the wheels and convert it into vibrations. So to say they keep your car controllable in conjunction with the dampers and the suspension. The higher the spring rate, also called the “degree of hardness” or stiffness of the spring, the more force is needed to compress the spring. The unit for this is called N/mm or as a rule of thumb kg/cm, which means, with a 90 N/mm spring, it requires 90kg weight to compress the spring by 1 cm. The spring rate mostly influences the body frequency of the vehicle.

Stiffer springs lead to a high body frequency and have the advantage that the vehicle lowers only little with additional load. In curves, the body tilts less. If the spring rates are too stiff or high, your car will lose a lot of ride comfort and, ultimately, also grip. Here it is always important to find an optimal compromise. Depending on the design, a distinction is made between linear and progressive spring rate. A linear spring rate means, the spring rate remains the same over the full suspension travel (the linear spring is on the right on the image), but with a progressive spring (left in the image) the spring rate increases over the suspension travel.

If you do not want to read anymore, you can also watch the YouTube video in which we have installed our springs in an Audi R8 V10 plus 5.2 FSI quattro. You don’t have enough? Then we will now start with the small installation post in the RS3 (8V).

Our height adjustable KW springs differ from conventional lowering springs in the fact that they, similar to a KW coilover kit, allow a stepless lowering. Adjusting the lowering is carried out by our height adjustable spring perch.

Before-After-Show at the Audi RS3 (8V)

With its five-cylinder turbocharged engine and quattro drive, the new Audi RS3 notchback sedan is a real eye-catcher except for the wheel gap. However, if you do not want to switch to the “performance stance” with a maximum lowering, you can continuously lower the RS3 with our KW coilover springs in a smaller range as with a KW Variant 3 coilover suspension kit.

After the RS3 has been jacked up and the wheels have been dismantled, the standard suspension must first be removed to be able to install the KW coilover springs. To do this you or your KW specialist dealer, who carries out the installation of the KW springs, shall comply with the specifications from Audi.

Also, on the rear axle, the series dampers and series springs must be removed to install the height adjustable KW springs. At our KW specialist dealer TVW Car Design, the boss Sascha Wolfram (right image) of course still work on customer cars.

But before you unpack the KW coilover springs enthusiastically, you better want to have a look into our installation documentation, even as an old “suspensions installation pro”.

The documents show step by step how to install the KW springs in the Audi RS3. A look is always worthwhile because in most cases it is actually different than you believe and our experience shows that there are usually only dissatisfied customers through installation faults – what we actually always preach in our dealer training.

Many of our KW specialized dealer partners also use our special tool case. The box contains a variety of special tools and adapters from the automotive industry; so that the installation of a KW coilover suspension or height adjustable springs does not fail due to the lack of special tools. After the top mounts on the original series damper of the rear axle have been dismantled, you remove the serial bump stops and mount our vehicle-specific bump stops.

Another small request: If you work on a strut or damper with tools, please banish the impact wrench and rather take a ring spanner or a ratchet.

On the left, you can see the OEM main spring and the spring perch. On the right, you can see the linear rear axle spring with the KW adapter ring and the rear axle height adjustment. On the lower right of the right picture you can see the standard spring pad and on the top right the purple colored KW adapter.

Also in the RS3, a four-link rear suspension is used. Put the KW adapter into the lower wishbone, where previously the standard pad of the spring was placed. But before you mount the rear axle height adjustment, you turn the thread to “zero” – the maximum lowering (we did not write that just now).

After the rear axle height adjustment was set on top of the rear axle spring, you insert the KW spring into the wishbone and re-assemble the damper and spring. Just the same steps as when removing, just in the reverse order. Once again: the standard spring pad on the bottom and above the purple-colored KW adapter disc.

Before you can mount the KW spring on the front axle standard strut, you have to disassemble the top mounts, the series spring and the original dust cover. Important: do not remove the lower rubber pad in the standard spring plate! To take this off would really not be a good idea.

Before you put the supplied threaded sleeve with the dust cover on the KW spring, you have to set the lowering within the context of the technical component report. Now it is only necessary to re-assemble the standard top mount and the standard strut with the KW coilover spring can be returned into the wheel arch. But the team from TVW Car Design is far from being finished. In the same step, the RS3 also gets a nice set of wheels mounted.

But without wheel spacers, the wheels look only half as good and that’s why our ST spacers enter the game with their ST adapter rings and multi-hole circle.

Our animated YouTube video will briefly explain the benefits of our ST wheel spacers and why your dealer does not necessarily have to order spacers when you are driving to your customer service appointment at your dealer.

And here you can see the comparison with the standard wheels and the standard height as well as the RS3 notchback sedan with the installed KW height adjustable springs and the 20-inch LAS-R Rotiform.

The KW coilover springs in the RS3 with or without Magnetic Ride suspension allow a continuously lowering of 15 to 25 millimeters at the front axle and 5 to 20 millimeters at the rear axle.

The RS3 looks pretty good with the height adjustable springs in conjunction with the Rotiform wheels. At the rear axle, a lowering of 20 millimeters was set.

At the front axle, TVW Car Design has chosen a lowering of 20 millimeters; according to the technical component report, the RS3 can be lowered at the front between 15 and 25 millimeters with our height adjustable springs.

And only by the height-adjustable KW spring set, the ST DZX wheel spacers and the Rotiform rims, the RS3 sedan looks already stunning. For all RS3 drivers who want to get more in terms of driving dynamics and especially in lowering, of course, we have also developed various KW coilover kits.

Our highlight for the road is the adaptive KW DDC ECU coilover kit for the RS3. The coilover suspension for maximum lowering and, like every KW coilover suspension, also for a huge plus in driving dynamics.

The DDC ECU coilover kit also allows to select between the driving modes “Comfort”, “Sport” and “Sport+”, or to set up to five individual damper characteristics via the DDC App. Only a wireless LAN module has to be installed with the KW suspension control unit, which afterward creates a secured WiFi connection to the input device.

If race tracks like the Nürburgring Nordschleife are your second home, there is no way around getting a KW Clubsport 2-way or 3-way coilover kit. On our homepage www.kwsuspensions.net you will find all detailed information about all other KW coilovers available for the Audi RS3, such as the KW Variant 3 coilover kit.