For more and more vintage cars and classic cars, KW automotive develops and produces coilover kits. In doing so, we do not only focus on the „usual suspects“ but also offer numerous height adjustable sport suspension kits and KW Classic coilover kits including parts approval for classic verhicles such as Porsche 944 and a lot more modern classic car.
Even for persumed exotic cars like the Datsun Z or Datsun Skyline 2000 GT, we offer and produce our KW Classic coilover kits as well as KW coilover kits for current cars.
For various classic car models like the BMW E30 or Porsche 911 (F- and G-models), our coilover kits, more precisely the front suspension struts, even come with forged steering knuckles and of course, KW dampers. Depending on the vehicle-specific application, our coilover struts produced in Germany are made of aluminium, galvanized or stainless steel, and combined with the perfect KW valve-technology.
Therefore, there is no need for vintage car and young classics enthusiasts anymore to purchase new standard suspension struts and send in the components to KW for being converted to a state-of-the-art suspension technology. Our KW Classic coilover kits and applications also perfectly work with current tire compounds.
Who is interesed in a coilover kit for the so called Transaxle-Porsche, does not need to send in old suspension components either, but order the respective KW Classic application for the Porsche 944 directly at the KW speciality dealer.
After producing the KW Classic coilover kit for your Porsche 944, order-related in our suspension manufactory in Fichtenberg (Germany), we will send it to you directly or your installation partner.
With such a high demand from the classic Porsche-community, we now also offer our so-called KW Classic Clubsport 2-way coilover kit for the Porsche 944, besides the KW Classic Variant 3 kit, also adjustable in rebound and compression damping.
Porsche-944 drivers benefit from our know-how in motorspots, more precisely customer sports with car manufacturers such as Porsche.
All Porsche 911 GT3 R, Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport and special editions like the Porsche 935 (2018) and Porsche GT2 RS Clubsport are equipped with our dampers from factory.
Developments of our recent KW damping technology as for example used in the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport is, to a certain extent, also used in the Porsche 944 Classic Clubsport 2-way kit.
In the YouTube video above (which is already a bit older), you can see best what we mean. Long story short: With our KW Classic applications we bring modern suspension technology of the present into car legends of past days.
Difference of KW Variant 3 and KW Clubsport suspension
A lot of people interested in our KW coilover kits ask our specialty dealers or sales guys what exactly the difference between KW Variant 3 and KW Clubsport 2-way is. With our product categories „KW Street Performance“ and „KW Track Performance“, the difference is actually obvious you can visually see the difference.
To illustrate the difference, you can see on the left a KW Variant 3 with progressive spring, whereas on the right side, we have our KW Clubsport kit with unibal top-mounts, linear racing spring and helper spring.
In detail, especially with the “inner values” of a KW Clubsport, a KW Variant 3 coilover kit seriously differs. For coilover kits of our “Street Performance” product category, such as the KW Variant 3 kit, the driving comfort is also one of the main factors in R&D.
In contrast, our KW Clubsport applications focus on the handling and regular use of the car on track days with semi-slick tires. If you have been on a racetrack with your car, you know about the high-performance loads of the vehicle components on the track compared to the every-day use on the road.
All KW Clubsport components such as damping valves, piston rod, piston rod bearing, elastomer springs, main springs and pre-load springs are particularly developed for the higher loads and abrasion.
Also, the build of our KW Clubsport kits is way more up-to-date compared to the so-called “Cup dampers” as used for example in the Porsche-944-Cup at the end of the 1980’s. KW 2-way Clubsport dampers are independently adjustable in lowspeed rebound and lowspeed compression damping and therefore allow to adapt the driving behaviour to the track profile as well as to the tire stiffness.
The rebound damping is adjustable in 16 clicks. With each click, a bypass drain in the rebound valve is opened or closed. For example, this affects how fast the damper extends at wheel load changes. The rebound stage can also be described as increased connection of the body movements to the road. In the above-mentioned video you can see how easy it is to adjust the rebound damping and what effects the rebound stage also has.
The lowspeed compression stage is adjustable in 12 clicks in order to adapt the damping setup to the track profile by reducing or increasing the cross section of the lowspeed compression valve.
The lowspeed compression stage especially affects the steering precision of your car and the chassis support when accelerating or decelerating. It also influences the damping behaviour when driving over long bumps.
Sudden strong impulses on the dampers, pre-load and non-adjustable highspeed valves also “open” to enable a faster deflecting. This prevents the semi-slick tires to lose ground contact when driving over wavy road surface or aggressively cutting curbs.
Additionally, the KW Clubsport coilover kit for the Porsche 944 is equipped with unibal-top-mounts adjustable in camber. By the way –KW Classic coilover kits can also be combined with our rebound-adjuster-extension which makes the adaption of the rebound damping even easier.
The KW Classic Clubsport coilover kit is now available for all Porsche 944 including 944 S, 944 S2 and 944 Turbo. Thanks to the part approval, the KW Clubsport kit can be used on public roads with no issues.
The parts approval is included in the scope of delivery and enables a stepless lowering of 25 to 55 mm on the front axle and 20 to 45 mm on the powered axle (rear axle).
KW Classic applications as special purpose solution
At the beginning, we already mentioned that we are able to develop a suspension kit with individual lowering and adjustable dampers for every vehicle and every classic car on the market, no matter how exotic it is. For example, for the Ferrari 365 GT 2+2, also called “Queen Mary”, we developed a KW Classic suspension kit.
The owner of a beautiful Gran Tourismo, with a 320 hp and 4.4l twelve-cylinder engine, was urgently looking for a contemporary suspension solution for his car. In the end, he decided to contact us here at KW.
We developed a completely new coilover kit with adjustable dampers for the Ferrari, which uses independent wheel suspension on the rear axle. Just as a side note: The Ferrari 365 GT 2+2 has four dampers on the rear axle.
Before we begin the first test drives, we analyze the resonant frequency of the old Ferrari chassis on our 7-post rig. In order to achieve the best compromise out of modern driving, comfort, and driving dynamics possible, it is essential we do so.
In our manufactory, we can even produce individual, special purpose coilover kit solutions. In doing so, we consider all requirements needed. Looking at the many different fields of application such as use on the road, participation in classic vintage rallies, targa trophies or even in historic motorsport events, leads to different demands regarding ride height, ground clearance, wheel loads, spring rates, spring stiffness and damping setup.
Thanks to large documentation, even the special-purpose kits can be registered. Our special-purpose solution kits are not listed on our online shops, we recommend getting in contact with our sales team directly.