I’ve had my van a year from new now and one of the things on the to do list was to inevitably get it lowered but also improve the comfort. Previously on my old T5.1 I went through the whole spectrum of suspension lowering, firstly springs only, then B14s and finally onto ABP air suspension. So basically I feel I have got the t-shirt where it comes to suspension on Transporters. With my current van though just a subtle drop is all I want with comfort being key. So after a year of looking at threads on here I finally thought I’d settled on
@CRS Performance notorious H&R/Koni suspension setup.
I had a few emails with Steve to tell him what I wanted and he recommended I go for his private label KW coilover kit based on the KW V1 kit that gives a 35-60mm drop set to around a 50mm drop. He assured me that at that level of drop the KW kit would be just as comfortable as the H&R/Koni set up. But he also guaranteed that if I wasn’t happy with it then he’d swap it out to the Koni/H&R kit. So what was there to lose but to go ahead and get the van booked in.
So today I took the 30 mile drive from my home to Cannock where
@CRS Performance is based. I pulled up and was greeted by Steve who told me to drive the van into his workshop. He made me a coffee and by this time it was 9.20am. By 10.50am the KW kit was on and set up and the van backed out his workshop. It was time for the test drive. Steve sat in with me and directed me round some local roads and asked my opinion. I told him honestly that it initially felt no worse but slightly better than the ride of the standard suspension but I would get a feel of it more on the drive home. So after parting ways and paying I set off home.
It was the 30 mile drive home I could now truly appreciate the difference the KW suspension has made to the van. Not just the handling and road manners which have significantly improved but it is how the KW deals with the bumps and potholes. Yes they are still there but the KW deals with them so much better. There is no crashiness anymore, the steering is less affected by them but the big difference is the transmission of the road through the van. It just feels like the suspension is doing it’s job better rather than the chassis feeding the imperfections of the road back into the cabin, so it just feels a more relaxed place to be. So after the 30 mile drive home I am very happy with how my van sits and rides now. I would definitely recommend this coilover kit to anyone with a T32 and most definitely getting it fitted by
@CRS Performance
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The KW kit CRS fitted(Please note the image shows theT28/30 kit). This kit has stainless steel struts and differs from the KW V1 kit as the springs and shocks are black, rather than the usual purple and yellow colour scheme.
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Standard suspension standard height
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CRS KW kit dropped 55mm
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