Review: T32 CRS KW coilover suspension

Many thanks for the reply! I've been in contact with Toperformance, and have pricing on Koni Active dampers. Trying to determine if i can use the original springs all round, or just go for new front springs to get rid of the weird look from the front sitting higher than rear. Pic enclosed to demonstrate this (skippy for scale ;)).

Would be great to hear from other owners who have gone for Koni shocks and eibach springs or std springs - might search the forum separately.

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A while ago now @CRS Performance fitted my LWB 4Motion camper with the Koni Active dampers and I just kept the standard springs as I was happy with the ride height.
The ride and handling was far better than my standard 2016 suspension and in a back to back test was marginally better than my mates new T6.1 also LWB camper IMHO.
So would for sure recommend the Koni active dampers but they might not be as big an upgrade on your standard T6.1 as they were on my early T6.
 
A while ago now @CRS Performance fitted my LWB 4Motion camper with the Koni Active dampers and I just kept the standard springs as I was happy with the ride height.
The ride and handling was far better than my standard 2016 suspension and in a back to back test was marginally better than my mates new T6.1 also LWB camper IMHO.
So would for sure recommend the Koni active dampers but they might not be as big an upgrade on your standard T6.1 as they were on my early T6.
trying to make sense of this ?? most of the clients that come to us with new T6.1 vans say they dont ride as good as the older T 5 and early T 6 vans that they have owned , we always put this down to the T6.1 having Spanish made shocks in stead of the older vans with Monroe from Belgium . However if you compare a brand new van with new shocks they do feel a little better for a while , Generally like for like the Special active is in a different league technology wise and comes factory fitted to Lambos Mclarens Aston Martins and a few other serious name drop models . It is a patented product and a few other manufacturers have tried to replicate with poor results/

It remains a big seller here at ours but needs careful consideration on applications.
 
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
As an aside I've got the KW yellow springs looks cool with the van dropped by 50mm it goes under 2.0m carpark barriers ....win...win !
 
trying to make sense of this ?? most of the clients that come to us with new T6.1 vans say they dont ride as good as the older T 5 and early T 6 vans that they have owned , we always put this down to the T6.1 having Spanish made shocks in stead of the older vans with Monroe from Belgium . However if you compare a brand new van with new shocks they do feel a little better for a while , Generally like for like the Special active is in a different league technology wise and comes factory fitted to Lambos Mclarens Aston Martins and a few other serious name drop models . It is a patented product and a few other manufacturers have tried to replicate with poor results/

It remains a big seller here at ours but needs careful consideration on applications.
Sorry, not trying to sow confusion and as you know more than most analysing suspension by the seat of your pants is clearly a very subjective task. We took both vans out on the same test route, a mix of B roads and A roads. The focus was on comfort and handling but not 'sport' they are both LWB campers. my 2016 T6 and 2021 T6.1 which was almost new at the time. The main difference is that I have the 4Motion and the T6.1 is FWD which do ride a bit quieter IMHO.
Before you worked your magic fitting the Koni Active dampers no one would have thought my van rode well or handled at all, it was pants. Afterwards it was really good to drive, quieter and far more comfortable.
The T6.1 was subjectively close to the feel of the Koni set up. But as I said above not as good and I think the Koni handles better. Also have no evidence for this but pretty sure the Konis will last longer than the OEM will.
For sure getting the kit fitted to my van was one of the best value upgrades I made and haven't regretted it for a minute and totally recommend getting the job done by @CRS Performance
For the money spent getting my 2016 van to feel even a little better than a brand new later model was a no brainer and a hell of a lot cheaper than a 6.1 :)
 
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