Project Nissan 350Z Part 2 – Installing KW Clubsport Suspension and Whiteline Sway Bars

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The shock’s foot valve lives on the bottom of the inner tube and regulates the flow of fluid between the inner and outer tubes. Another spring loaded needle valve controls the size of the low speed compression damping orifice located in the foot valve.  The needle valve is adjusted via an allen screw on the bottom of the shock body.  Like the rebound, the compression adjuster also mostly influences low speed compression damping, which like rebound is the part of the damping curve that influences body motion.  The cool thing about KW’s is that the foot valve is frequency sensitive, which means that the shocks have a surprisingly smooth ride even when the damping is set pretty stiffly.

Look at how the pillow ball mount is sealed against dirt and moisture, KW suspension units are full of small details like this!

Sera doesn’t have a large pit crew, in fact, she normally goes to the track by herself so being able to quickly and easily adjust the damping is important.  This is typical for most people.  Some double adjustable shocks require disassembly of the shock assembly so a button can be pushed while the shaft is rotated and other lame time-consuming methods.  The KW’s easy to reach external adjustments make dialing in the chassis a lot easier.

Howard Watanabe of Technosquare puts our KW front coilover in place.

The Clubsports have a large adjusting range, which is important for Sera since she participates in a lot of different types of driving events.  A wide range of adjustment means that different spring rates can be used without having to revalve the shocks.  The KW’s adjusters also have consistent discreet adjusting increments, which are consistent throughout the range.  Most adjustable shocks, especially the lower cost ones, do not have consistency in their adjustments.  The damping force adjusting increments varies greatly from click to click and the adjustment range is small.  We have come across some cheaper shocks where the adjusters do nothing!

The top and bottom mounts are bolted in.

Through the adjusters, the Clubsport's damping curve can be tailored from mildly digressive to heavily digressive.  A digressive damping curve means that there is more damping at low piston speeds.  At higher piston velocities, the valving blows open bypassing fluid to where there is less overall damping. Digressive curves give good body platform control while still allowing a decent ride and minimizing traction reducing tire shock and hop.

350Z's have little rear wheel bump travel so notice that the rear KW shocks are a lot shorter than stock.  You can see the soft progressive MCU bumpstops here as well.