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| KW is perhaps the only aftermarket suspension company to own a 7 post shaker rig. This multimillion dollar highly sophisticated piece of machinery is something that only the biggest OEM manufacturers and a few F1 teams have. The rig can simulate any type of road surface or even laps around a track from data. It can simulate wheel load, cornering dynamics and aero load. The shaker rig is the centerpiece of KW’s engineering department. |
KW’s engineering department is quite impressive, along with the prerequisite suspension dynos and CAD work stations is KW’s multimillion dollar 7 post shaker rig. A shaker rig is a highly sophisticated hydraulically actuated computer controlled road surface simulator. 4 actuators move the wheels, two are for roll and pitch and one simulates aero loading. The power and hydraulics of this marvelous machine go down two stories below the surface. The hydraulics needs hundreds of horsepower to be able to move quickly.
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| The shaker rig extends two stories below the test platform. On the second floor level underground you can see the hydraulic actuators that are computer driven to simulate road conditions. This pictures doesn’t quite put into perspective how huge this area is or the high pressure hydraulics. |
The computer driving the rig can simulate nearly any driving condition or even simulate an entire track! No other aftermarket suspension company can boast this sort of technology; it is usually reserved for the largest OEM manufacturers and some of the top F1 teams. Not all OEM manufacturers have this sort of capability and KW often does consulting for OEMs and race teams with this rig. A lot of KW’s calibrations are initially developed on the rig.
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| The hydraulic rams simulate road load on the wheels. You can see the accelerometer mounted on the wheel to measure wheel reaction to ram input. |
For fine tuning of the calibrations German roads are used. There is a tight twisty and rough section of German country road near the KW factory. A lot of ride and handling development is done on this stretch of road which is really a test of any suspension. Further testing is done on the Autobahn and even on the famed North Loop of the Nurburgring.
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| Three stories down in a concrete pit, a huge several hundred horsepower electric motor drives a huge hydraulic pump that powers the shaker rig. This picture doesn’t really give the perspective on how big this really is. The capital investment in this sort of equipment is tremendous and shows the level of commitment that KW has toward R&D. |
In fact, KW has just broken ground on a new technology center at the Nurburgring so that they can easily do more testing there. Narrow, rough and twisty, the Ring is perhaps the ultimate test of any Motorsport suspension system. Most OEM’s consider that one mile on the ring is equal to 16 miles of regular German driving. One mile of German driving is probably like 10 miles of US driving if our experience is an indicator of typical German driving. It’s no secret than a large percentage of Ring racers run on KW. We witnessed that first hand during the 24 hour race.
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| The computer that drives the shaker rig. The rig is pretty expensive to run but it is used for OEM and other critical work. Most high volume or hard to engineer kits for cars that are hard to improve upon like the Nissan GTR see time on the rig. Many OEM’s and Race teams also use KW’s consultation on the rig. |
