S550 Coilovers

Pondering over some coilovers for my 2017 GT.

Can any members give me real advice from personal experience in what is good and what sucks please?

I realise KW V3 is probably the Rolls Royce coil over kit for the S550, but do I really need to spend that much when V1 might be fine for everyday road use. I don't think I'll ever do a track day on my Mustang, but I really don't want cheap junk that knocks rattles and leaks.

All advice will be greatly appreciated.

padders half the price pretty much of the v1's and pretty much identical know a few people with them fitted now and they all say nothing but good things baout them

I would say KW V3s are the Lexus ES350 of the coillover world, not Rolls Royce. Rolls Royce of the coilover world on these cars says Penske or JRI or Motion Control and costs $8K+

Check out the Steeda coilovers. Great valving setup and price isn't bad. KW's are good. I know someone with Pedders, he seems to like them and hasn't had any issues after a couple track days.

I'm running pedders, i rate them, just locktite the bolts because they do have a habbit of shaking a tad bit out if you go too fast over some rubbishy surfaces ;)!

You’re welcome to come and drive our demo with Pedders on just drop us a line...

What's the point of these kits on UK roads? I drive on a lot of rural A and B roads and the standard UK PP kit is on the choppy side. I actually think the Mustang needs more damping and better control rather than more firmness!

23TGrabberBlue said:

What's the point of these kits on UK roads? I drive on a lot of rural A and B roads and the standard UK PP kit is on the choppy side. I actually think the Mustang needs more damping and better control rather than more firmness!

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Having watched numerous cars do a hill climb at nemesis, one guy ran with coilovers, some with just lowering springs... one guy with standard suspension, that car floated all over the place, it was disgustingly horrible to watch.

It stiffens up the suspension, coilovers allow you to change the dampening rate and ride height etc.

In short, it drives nicer, less harsh, changes center of gravity of the car to improve handling etc.

I'll obviously give you the simple explanation. Gibbo can give you all the stats and shiz.

I'm running KW V1's which I obtained from the venerable Guy @ Nemesis and yes, they do give a firmer ride which is noticeable on poor road surfaces, but this is a Mustang and not a Lincoln Town Car so I don't want something that rolls like a boat and makes me want to have a kip at the wheel.

While I haven't got the bounce/rebound adjustability on the V1's, just height, I find that to be enough. My initial reason for buying was just to improve the stance/lower the car but retain a matched spring/damper rate (I've been down the route of just fitting lowering springs on other cars before and I've never been overly impressed with the somewhat 'crashy' feel that's resulted), but I've also found it makes the car feel much more drivable at a pace.

Having had a fair few Audi 'S' cars in the past I'm used to firm suspension and I like it because I can feel the road through the tyres, which when you've got an engine pushing over 420hp at the flywheel towards the rear end is vitally important in my mind. Break point on the grip at the rear (I'm on 20" 295/35 MPSS K1's) is infinitely more discernible and I can feel every skip and spin as the TC/rear diff do their job.

I recently ran the car in our local MSA sprint, which is on a non-straight 1/4 mile with a sweeping right/left bend, and the car handled beautifully (also thanks to uprated Steeda sway bars/billet mounts and BMR lockout/chassis brace) at WOT through the entire run with no perceivable roll and a reassuring feel of control.

Write-ups on the Pedders seem positive through and through with full bounce/rebound adjustability to boot, so they're certainly a great all round reasonably priced option for everyday driving/touring and the occasional sporty run. KW's have the long established reputation for engineering excellence and quality but cost a little more and are probably suited to more spirited driving and if you're thinking of more regularly putting the car through competitive events.

23TGrabberBlue said:

What's the point of these kits on UK roads? I drive on a lot of rural A and B roads and the standard UK PP kit is on the choppy side. I actually think the Mustang needs more damping and better control rather than more firmness!

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KW offers vastly improved damping and much superior body control.

I've done:

- Standard
- Standard with lowering springs
- FRPP full kit
- KW Clubsports

- Standard: Just an un-controlled floating mess
- Standard with springs: Better but still poor body control and harsh, the stock dampers are cheap POS.
- FRPP Kit: An improvement but still a touch jittery in rear and quite harsh, not enough compliance.
- KW Clubsports: Firm but vastly more compliance which resulted in better ride quality and with the Steeda rear top mounts the body control and any rear jittyness/float was completely eliminated.


Damping is the most important aspect, KW make some fantastic dampers and not only that they last too and KW are UK based so if the car is a lifetime keep should a damper need a rebuild in 5 years time you can post it to KW and they will rebuild it for around £100.


KW, Intrax, Ohlins are the top European brands and KW is tried and tested on the S550 as working very well. Also I cannot recommend enough the Steeda rear top mounts, the stock items are constantly in bind (rubber bushing) hence the rear always seems to never have 100% precision, its down to this rubber bush. The Steeda mounts are spherical and they cure that issue, I am hugely sensitive to NVH and how a car rides and handles more so than most but once I got KW and Steeda rear mounts on the car it was absolutely amazing. So much to the point that half the other tat I had previously bolted to the car was no longer needed.

In short when it comes to S550 suspension and stance the short list should be:
- BMR CB005
- KW coilovers
- Steeda rear top mounts.

That is all you need to make these cars handle and ride nice. Of course for aesthetics new wheels or wheel spacers finish the look of.

Manders Mustang said:

Having watched numerous cars do a hill climb at nemesis, one guy ran with coilovers, some with just lowering springs... one guy with standard suspension, that car floated all over the place, it was disgustingly horrible to watch.

It stiffens up the suspension, coilovers allow you to change the dampening rate and ride height etc.

In short, it drives nicer, less harsh, changes center of gravity of the car to improve handling etc.

I'll obviously give you the simple explanation. Gibbo can give you all the stats and shiz.

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Cheers, I guess I'd need to test drive one on familiar roads to see the benefits for myself. If it can stabilise the car without compromising ride quality I will consider it.

Gibbo205 said:

Damping is the most important aspect

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Cheers, damping and improved control is what I'm after, asthetics are secondary. The car looks amazing on stock suspension.

23TGrabberBlue said:

Cheers, damping and improved control is what I'm after, asthetics are secondary. The car looks amazing on stock suspension.

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Wait until you see it sat without that massive arch gap :love::love:

Ive got a set of Roush Coilovers waiting to go on. They are actually KW V1s with Roush stickers and Roush tax, but I got them silly cheap, so thats OK.

Will report back when they are on in late November.

Gloucesternige said:

Pondering over some coilovers for my 2017 GT.

Can any members give me real advice from personal experience in what is good and what sucks please?

I realise KW V3 is probably the Rolls Royce coil over kit for the S550, but do I really need to spend that much when V1 might be fine for everyday road use. I don't think I'll ever do a track day on my Mustang, but I really don't want cheap junk that knocks rattles and leaks.

All advice will be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

I am running Pedders xtreme courtesy of David Jones at GT101. Previously I had Steeda Linear springs only. I am now running a FR/Roush Stage 3 Supercharger at 740bhp and after much research decided that KW3 were overpriced for what they are and made the move to Pedders coilovers. Best coilovers so far for the price. I spoke to Mike at Modurstang last week and he has a set on his Whipple supercharged Mustang and he rates them as well. When I was at his garage a S197 Mustang was being fitted with a set of Pedders non adjustable. Speak to David Jones at GT101 as he was very helpful and knowledgeable on the Pedders set up for the S550.
This is only my thoughts and hope it helps.

WOLFMAN said:

I am running Pedders xtreme courtesy of David Jones at GT101. Previously I had Steeda Linear springs only. I am now running a FR/Roush Stage 3 Supercharger at 740bhp and after much research decided that KW3 were overpriced for what they are and made the move to Pedders coilovers. Best coilovers so far for the price. I spoke to Mike at Modurstang last week and he has a set on his Whipple supercharged Mustang and he rates them as well. When I was at his garage a S197 Mustang was being fitted with a set of Pedders non adjustable. Speak to David Jones at GT101 as he was very helpful and knowledgeable on the Pedders set up for the S550.
This is only my thoughts and hope it helps.

Click to expand...

I have read that Pedders are a branch of BC coilovers, which in my experience in the world of the GT86 are, at best, troublesome!!

I know KW are great on the quality front, but are they pricing their kit on their laurels??

I currently have Tein flex something or other on my GT86 and love em to bits. I really like being able to change ride height without changing spring preload. The Ohlins Street kits also allow this but are way overpriced as they are also made in Taiwan but have the Ohlins name attached to them.

If Pedders really are that good I will get them, (Sorry Nemesis), but I need some convincing!!