Product Development Testing with KW Suspension

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The rear rebound damping adjuster is this large and easy to reach knob on top of the damper body. Having easy to reach knobs is a great asset when setting a car up at the track.
 
The adjusting knobs for the high and low speed compression damping are located on the bottom of the remote reservoir.  They are very easy to reach and use. Like the front struts the rear shocks have a corrosion resistant stainless steel body and durable OEM like seals for a long life on the street. 
It is important that a good test driver is used, one that is sensitive to changes, can drive consistent laps and can communicate how the car is behaving with engineers.  We used 2011 Formula Drift Champion and Time Attack record holder Dai Yoshihara as our driver.

Although Dai is known as a drift driver, he is also an accomplished road racer, driving Super Taikyu endurance racing for Spoon Sports in Japan, holding the American FWD Unlimited lap record and winning the inaugural MPTCC championship.

 

The first order of the day was to have Dai turn some hot laps on the car with KW's recommended base settings to see how they worked at this particular track.  We used Streets of Willow for the evaluation. 
Watching what the car is doing around the track can give the engineers a good idea of how to adjust the dampers. Streets of Willow has some bumpy areas and the bumps on the exit of the skidpad turn are pretty bad.  Here we are all watching and getting ideas on what adjustments to try. 
 

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