KW V3 Coilover Suspension Released for Mach-E

[kennethjk]

Well of course! They have adaptive suspensions (like mag ride!)

Very sophisticated and very expensive.

To quote the article:

“This is the 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S front suspension, the struts attached to the anti-roll bar is what activates the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control system. The shocks are adaptive and called Porsche Active Stability Management.”

https://www.autoweek.com/news/techn...tech-911s-familiar-looks-hide-slate-advances/

I recognize that my cars had or have PASM and the 911s can be triple the price of the MME but the Macan which also had PASM even without using it had a better ride. My x3 is still way better and also has a version of PASM or magnaride. I just didn’t expect the MME is be this bad.

it’s not just that the car doesn’t have an adjustable suspension , it’s that every single joint or imperfection is felt. I know that it’s a mustang but I think most people buying this car are not interested in a pony car. I could be wrong and my error. I should have test driven it more. I thought three time is a charm but I was wrong.

I wish the Coilovers had auto electric , Bluetooth or something adjustments (I enjoy paying more, LOL) as that would make it a lot easier to fine tune any the suspension easily.

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[mkhuffman]

I recognize that my cars had or have PASM and the 911s can be triple the price of the MME but the Macan which also had PASM even without using it had a better ride. My x3 is still way better and also has a version of PASM or magnaride. I just didn’t expect the MME is be this bad.

it’s not just that the car doesn’t have an adjustable suspension , it’s that every single joint or imperfection is felt. I know that it’s a mustang but I think most people buying this car are not interested in a pony car. I could be wrong and my error. I should have test driven it more. I though three time is a charm but I was wrong.

I wish the Coilovers had auto electric , Bluetooth or something adjustments (I enjoy paying more, LOL) as that would make it a lot easier to fine tune any the suspension easily.

I agree but every approach to improve the suspension results in higher cost. Ford was working with a budget to enable them to produce and sell the car for a reasonable price. Would you have paid $2-3k more? Probably. But they have multiple models at multiple price points and not everyone would want to pay more.

It has been said multiple times by multiple people in this forum that Ford should have included Magneride as an option on all models. That probably would have been a good idea. At least then you could decide to spend the money or not. But it also creates production complexity that probably adds cost even to models without Magneride.

Compromises....

 

[kennethjk]

I agree but every approach to improve the suspension results in higher cost. Ford was working with a budget to enable them to produce and sell the car for a reasonable price. Would you have paid $2-3k more? Probably. But they have multiple models at multiple price points and not everyone would want to pay more.

It has been said multiple times by multiple people in this forum that Ford should have included Magneride as an option on all models. That probably would have been a good idea. At least then you could decide to spend the money or not. But it also creates production complexity that probably adds cost even to models without Magneride.

Compromises....

I know and I’ve said that several time before, in reality if they charged 2k for it I probably would have passed since I didn’t think it was this bad.

no one to blame but me

 

[mkhuffman]

I know and I’ve said that several time before, in reality if they charged 2k for it I probably would have passed since I didn’t think it was this bad.

no one to blame but me

But the good news - it appears to be fixable if you want to spend the money.

 

[helium89]

I agree but every approach to improve the suspension results in higher cost. Ford was working with a budget to enable them to produce and sell the car for a reasonable price. Would you have paid $2-3k more? Probably. But they have multiple models at multiple price points and not everyone would want to pay more.

It has been said multiple times by multiple people in this forum that Ford should have included Magneride as an option on all models. That probably would have been a good idea. At least then you could decide to spend the money or not. But it also creates production complexity that probably adds cost even to models without Magneride.

Compromises....

If a fully adjustable aftermarket coil over costs about $3k, Ford could have gone with more appropriately valved, non-adjustable shocks for a lot less than that. The Mach-e is heavy for a non-luxury vehicle its size, but it really doesn’t weigh any more than a similarly sized ICE luxury vehicle. This is hardly uncharted territory.

Ford knew it could run stiff springs and cheap out on shocks and people would interpret it as “sporty.” They’re certainly not the first company to use mismatched shocks and springs that give a ride that feels sporty on good roads but is unbearable on bad ones. We aren’t asking for lower trims to include five figure suspension packages. I think most of us with complaints would have been satisfied by an appropriately valved OEM version of a Bilstein B6.

 

[RP_GT]

Alright, I took care of my installation today, well, it was done by a very good friend of mine in Sterling, VA, while I was in his way taking photos and documenting the process.

The ride quality on factory settings is unquantifiable (very good). I do not experience any harsh rebounding effects on large dips or bumps, and the car finally has a comfortable, yet responsive feeling that it should have come with from the factory. The Mach-E comfortably coasts across any small and medium imperfections in the road - an experience I didn't expect to notice as much, post installation. I'm not going to say it's identical to Magneride, but it's very comparable (each solution has it's pluses and minuses).

The car is leveled to about 15mm lower than a standard GT height. The rear has flexibility to go about 3/4" lower or higher, and the front can adjust about 1-1/2" lower or higher. I will be making final adjustments in about 300-500 miles, after all settling is complete.

I also took the opportunity to slap on my Rokblokz mudflaps in prep for wheels to be installed. I'm getting the calipers painted in a week, so wheels will most likely be installed then.

Without further ado:

Totally awesome. Can we please see the install pics? I would like to know what I'm getting myself into. My coilovers were ordered with the group purchase. Are all the adjustment knobs accessible without removing the tire?

 

[Mach1E]

I recognize that my cars had or have PASM and the 911s can be triple the price of the MME but the Macan which also had PASM even without using it had a better ride. My x3 is still way better and also has a version of PASM or magnaride. I just didn’t expect the MME is be this bad.

it’s not just that the car doesn’t have an adjustable suspension , it’s that every single joint or imperfection is felt. I know that it’s a mustang but I think most people buying this car are not interested in a pony car. I could be wrong and my error. I should have test driven it more. I though three time is a charm but I was wrong.

I wish the Coilovers had auto electric , Bluetooth or something adjustments (I enjoy paying more, LOL) as that would make it a lot easier to fine tune any the suspension easily.

It’s not really a blame thing or being wrong.

You just got spoiled by awesome adjustable suspensions.

It’s kinda like how we are now spoiled by instant smooth torque.

Even when I go back to my wife’s brand new 400 hp 10 speed
Lincoln Aviator……. It feels slow and clunky now.

It’s easy to get spoiled. ?

I have posted this before but no one seems to have looked into it:

The Aviator weighs the same as a Mach E. And the base suspension is normal shocks……. But super smooth ride (not sporty though).

Has anyone seen if the Aviator shocks fit the Mach E??

 

[kennethjk]

But the gi


But the good news - it appears to be fixable if you want to spend the money.

Even my wife is telling me to spend the money , never heard that before

 

[connoisseurr]

Thanks for the write up and hope to hear more.

One problem I foresee is making adjustments since the top one can’t be done unless you have a lift and I think that is the damper adjustment

My feedback to your question:

Front rebound adjustment (top of strut) can be accessed by removing the upper engine cover shield, then making adjustments with the provided KW allen key.

Front compression adjustment (bottom of strut) can be easily accessed by turning the front wheels left and right, and reaching behind the wheel, where the strut meets the knuckle.

Rear rebound adjustment (top of shock) is difficult. At a minimum, you will need to jack up the rear, remove the wheel, and remove the protective cap from the top shock mount to access the rebound adjustment head with the KW allen key (or use your own).

Rear compression adjustment (bottom of shock) can be accessed by reaching your hand behind the wheel and making the necessary adjustments. Smaller hands will make this job easier - otherwise, jack up rear and remove wheel, then make adjustments.

Connor - that looks damn good! ? Any bottoming out or scrappage on speed bumps or driveways/inclines?

Nothing experienced thus far. After making the second adjustment, fender to ground measurements were:
Front = 750mm
Rear = 735mm

I will also get measurements of the front and rear lip/valance to ground measurements tomorrow AM and update this post accordingly. This information helps track how much the car settles of the next few hundred miles.

Totally awesome. Can we please see the install pics? I would like to know what I'm getting myself into. My coilovers were ordered with the group purchase. Are all the adjustment knobs accessible without removing the tire?

I'll be assembling instructions and editing some photos over the weekend into next week. I'll be sure to link to those here, as they will be posted as a how-to/DIY thread.

Accessible adjustment information is available at the first quoted response in this post.

 

[markboris]

Has anyone seen if the Aviator shocks fit the Mach E??

Assuming your Aviator front struts and rear shocks are the same design as the 2020-2021 Explorer, they would never fit. The mounting on the top and bottom of both are different than the Mach-E.

Edit: Even my 2020 ICE Mustang struts and shocks won’t fit.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Alright, I took care of my installation today, well, it was done by a very good friend of mine in Sterling, VA, while I was in his way taking photos and documenting the process.

The ride quality on factory settings is unquantifiable (very good). I do not experience any harsh rebounding effects on large dips or bumps, and the car finally has a comfortable, yet responsive feeling that it should have come with from the factory. The Mach-E comfortably coasts across any small and medium imperfections in the road - an experience I didn't expect to notice as much, post installation. I'm not going to say it's identical to Magneride, but it's very comparable (each solution has it's pluses and minuses).

The car is leveled to about 15mm lower than a standard GT height. The rear has flexibility to go about 3/4" lower or higher, and the front can adjust about 1-1/2" lower or higher. I will be making final adjustments in about 300-500 miles, after all settling is complete.

I also took the opportunity to slap on my Rokblokz mudflaps in prep for wheels to be installed. I'm getting the calipers painted in a week, so wheels will most likely be installed then.

Without further ado:

Glad it worked. The front looks too low for me. I'd be curious to hear about the adjustability, maybe most people won't need to mess with it? Also wondering how the alignment went and if you ran into adjustment range issues or hit all the specs.

 

[Mach1E]

Assuming your Aviator front struts and rear shocks are the same design as the 2020-2021 Explorer, they would never fit. The mounting on the top and bottom of both are different than the Mach-E.

Edit: Even my 2020 ICE Mustang struts and shocks won’t fit.

Different how?

Could someone make a bracket to adapt them to fit?

Shocks seem like the easiest fix. And usually are absurdly easy to install (a few bolts).

Edit: found a pic of the rear shocks.

Why are these so odd? Wish it had a normal single bolt mounting at the top.

 

[markboris]

Different how?

Could someone make a bracket to adapt them to fit?

Shocks seem like the easiest fix. And usually are absurdly easy to install (a few bolts).

Edit: found a pic of the rear shocks.

Why are these so odd? Wish it had a normal single bolt mounting at the top.

As far as the rear shocks go, the top mounting support can be removed and possibly put on the other shock and the lower mount can possibly be altered to fit but the issue is the Aviator/Explorer shocks are longer than the Mach-E shocks because the suspension on those cars have more travel. It's not just "will it fit" but the length has to be the same.

The fronts are completely different and again the Mach-E strut are shorter. Fist photo is an Aviator/Explorer front strut, second photo Mach-E front strut.

 

[connoisseurr]

Glad it worked. The front looks too low for me. I'd be curious to hear about the adjustability, maybe most people won't need to mess with it? Also wondering how the alignment went and if you ran into adjustment range issues or hit all the specs.

You’ll need to mess with height adjustment regardless because they don’t show up a standard height.

No alignment yet - waiting for springs to settle in.

 

[mkhuffman]

You’ll need to mess with height adjustment regardless because they don’t show up a standard height.

No alignment yet - waiting for springs to settle in.

I assume the max height setting will provide the best comfort, because there will be more travel room for the shocks, right?

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