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Thanks for taking the time. I'm looking to decide what do when my current 10 year old suspension is ready to be replaced. The OE set-up I feel is pretty good and about right from a comfort perspective, but doesn't feel quite sporty and controlled enough for me on a b-road blast. I don't do track days. The turn-in feels a little lazy, I'd like the steering to be a bit sharper, but that may be down to the Uniroyals the previous owner put on the front. I wouldn't want to do anything that makes it feel less sporty than it does now, ideally I'd like a little improvement without spoiling the ride.

So my question is, do the KW Streetcomforts change the handling sportiness for better or worse? Does the extra comfort come with trade-off would you say? Or is it win/win (which would be ideal for me)

After an brief 6 month test period, and not me just forgetting to write down my thoughts it's time for my review of the KW Street Comfort Coilovers!

Have you ever modified suspension before?

No I haven't, for various reasons ranging from I'll bottom out at work and catch the plastic oil pan to a 60bhp faded red 2000 Ford Fiesta will never be cool...

Why did I decide to replace my perfectly capable OEM suspension?

Well after approaching 50k miles and with a rear shock needing replacing I thought to myself, I could replace my rear shock and happily wait for another one to go, or I could be a moron and pay more money to replace the whole lot...so I fetched my finest crayon and signed a cheque for my new suspension!


I just came for the pictures
Original Suspension




Lowered after install




Enough waffle, tell us about the suspension!

So after a lot of reading reviews and test drives in friends cars with different suspensions, such as Bilstein B16's, Racingline Springs and Dampers, KW V3's, I opted to go for KW Street Comforts.

Reasons why:

• As I'm new to changing my own suspension, I wanted to retain as much comfort as possible
• I wanted the option to adjust my suspension for different settings
• I didn't want a big drop, I wanted functionality over form
• I wanted high quality that will last

My honest thoughts

I got the KW Street Comforts at probably a bad time, I got them in at the start of October '25, and was straight into road salt, potholes and cold weather. So I knew that it would likely be a make or break few months and at the time of writing this I am 6 months into ownership, covering a lot of miles on a mixture of surfaces (roads seems too much of a compliment) from motorways, carriageways, B roads to well straight mud and stone and have to say...

Wow

The KW Street Comforts exceeded my expectations, especially when coupled with 18 inch alloys with 225/40 tyres. I have the suspension set at 20mm lowered over standard GTI suspension and the dampers set to a comfortable setting, and I must say

Comfort is subjective!

on 18 inch alloys it is:

• 15% more comfortable than the standard suspension
• Gives greater handling feel
• Less body roll
• Zero difference in feedback from potholes

On my BBS (8.5J ET44 w/235/35R19)

• 5-10% more comfortable than the standard suspension
• Gives greater handling feel
• Less body roll
• 5% more noticeable feedback from potholes

This is quite interesting what if I want to try and hide this from my other half?

I've had a lot of passengers in my car and none of them noticed the suspension was changed, so you'll be safe on that front.

This sounds a bit too good to be true, are you getting commission?

Unfortunately I'm not getting an commission for this post, but the only drawbacks I have with the suspension is:

• I can't clean my wheel arches as well as I used to...pedantic yes, real world advice also yes.
• I have to slow down more for speed bumps.

But seriously I've no criticism of the suspension itself, I do have two items of suspension I am troubleshooting at the minute of suspected front ARB and a worn drop link, but they were present prior to the install of the suspension.

Happy to answer any questions anyone has about the suspension.

Mine doesnt sit at 1200 rpm all the time but 2 observations,

Even if up to full operating temperature, if you park up for 15 mins to pop into a shop it's noisy for about 60 secs on the restart. The ECU must be doing 'something' similar to a cold start.

The harder you work the HVAC the idle speed will increase. My GTD did this too.

Did you say you were going to report on the coilovers sometime ?

Well that's odd: mine was due to be there this week but our flights to Dubai to visit family working there was cancelled (unsurprisingly). That would have made 3!