[JAJ]

The eighth post is where I tie it all together.

My conclusion after all the research, and a very helpful online discussion with ORB, was that the KW Clubsport would be the best choice to meet my needs. I've placed the order and I should have it in a few weeks.

My goals were:

- stockish ride height (maybe 1 cm lower)

- improved precision

- little or no increase in NVH

- more negative camber than stock - 2 degrees or so, switchable back to 1.1 (stock) for just driving around

- linear springs that don't bottom, that don't ride the bump stops and that are properly damped

- overall, I want a car that is predictable and consistent on the track with a decent "drive to work" ride

My intent is to install it (maybe even do a DIY) and run it exactly the way it comes out of the box. I will contact KW directly to get the "bad news" about a rear coil-over conversion, but I expect the cost will put it out of reach for this year.

One conclusion I came to during all this was that there are "damper companies" that make suspensions on the side and "suspension companies" where integration is their core competence. The only "damper company" that has a well-integrated kit at this time (January 2010) is Bilstein and it's Type Two. Moton isn't there yet, but they will get it right in due course and it's reasonable to expect that Ohlins and Sachs will too once their kits are out. Strangely, Koni is conspicuous by their absence. As for "suspension companies", KW is the only one that really jumps off the page with a high level of integration. I'm not discounting GC and TCK - they're good people doing good work - but they don't present as cleanly as KW. JIC Cross shouldn't be discounted, but frankly I just didn't look at them - they don't have an M3 "purpose built" kit, so I didn't see the point.