Remote reservoir dampers.

Just wondering how over kill are these on a road car, whats the actual benefits and purpose of the remote reservoir?

Not overkill at all if you want optimum performance.

In a normal strut, the damper fluid gets hot as the oil is squeezed through the valves constantly. When it gets hot, the viscosity changes and therefore the damping behaviour can change. You've probably noticed how much 'softer' the car feels in summer compared to winter with the same damper settings? The damper oil is warmer and thinner, along with the tyres being softer.

Remote resevoirs increase fluid capacity and being off board aswell, keeps the fluid temperature cooler and more consistent.

AST do a lovely 3 way setup for Corrados with remote fluid pots, but it's an eye watering £2,500!

Nice price, yea i had noticed the different damping qualities between hot and cold etc, i was hoping this would be the answer but thought i was going to sound daft saying it.

Anybody else do kits, infact dont KW do the kit too, not sure on cost.

That's the advantage of having adjustable dampers You can tailor the damping behaviour to any circumstance. I find I need to increase rebound a click or 2 in summer.

I think KW's 3 way is £2000+. It's a much smaller market, so prices are higher, plus there's more technology & labour involved.

Leda also make good 3 way setups with many options.

The only trouble with custom setups is you have to know exactly what you want or it could end up being a big waste of money.

Remote pots are mainly for track cars that give the suspension a real pounding.....but they'd still work well on a road car. Like the Clio Cup Trophy for example....that had bespoke Sachs racing dampers with remote pots from the factory.

The KW 3 way are not that much but maybe the clubsports they do are.

I tend not to adjust them much nowadays on the damping as its set up pretty much spot on, spent a long time getting it right, tweaking here and there, its got the best compromise now for most but not all conditions.

Thats why i was asking is it over kill really due to it been mainly for track.

Are you sure? The 3 Way KWs are from their custom range. Well, they were the last time I looked, with solid top mounts etc etc. They might be cheaper now!

The Clubsport is just a slightly tarted up V3, which is a 2 way (low speed bump + rebound). Not much different.

I don't think it would be over kill tbh. If you can set it once so that's good all year round, then that would be money well spent in my book. Currently I'm tweaking the dampers quite regularly!

Ah when i say 3 way i was talking including the height as thats how they are commonly referred to then.

So whats adjustable in a 3 way?

Dont get me wrong its not perfect all the time but prob 90% of the time, cant really get much better than that though for varying roads types, surfaces and speeds.

Im planning on getting KW V3 club sport for my golf. Retail price £1100!
They are V3's with solid front top mounts.

How come James i thought you were on custom Leda's last i knew.

Are solid top mounts a good idea for a road car too then.

3 Way refers to how many damper force adjustments you have mate. The ride height is ignored, but think of it as the 4th way if you like

The adjustable forces in a 3 way are; Low speed compression, High Speed compression and Rebound. Some people call compression bump, or bound.

Low speed compression = Slow spring movements, such as :- corner turn-in, brake dive, road undulations, hump back bridges etc etc.

High speed compression = Fast spring movements, such as :- Pot holes!

Rebound = Resistance to return back to static setting.

High speed compression is usually always preset (2 ways) with budget setups because there aren't many occasions where you'd want to change it and you have to be careful not to make HS bump too soft, or you'll smash into the bump stops over every bump.

If you're into motor or mountain bikes with adjustable forks and understand the principals, you'll have no problem setting up a 3 way car system.

junkie wrote:How come James i thought you were on custom Leda's last i knew.

Are solid top mounts a good idea for a road car too then.

I am, but they are fixed rate and were valved for road use. I need to be able to fine tune them for the 1/4 mile.
Solid mounts are a bit harder than normal but well worth it. Standard mounts move alot under hard acceleration.
I'm hoping this set up will take a couple off 1/10ths off my 1/4 mile time!

Hopefully heading for the high 9's then now.

Obviously you will fine tune them for maximum traction then.