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

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The rear KW shocks have a separate independently mounted tender and main spring since the Z does not mount the rear springs on the shocks but rather to the lower control arm instead.  This isolates the rear shock from spring kinking force which improves ride quality and traction. The KW independent springs have separate adjustment collars so you can still adjust the ride height and corner weight the car, a cool feature!  This is where Dai’s car and Sera’s car differ.  Dai uses a semi custom setup, which turns the rear shock into a true coilover.  Although this is much lighter, it still has the typical coil over issues with spring induced shaft bind so we wanted to see if Sera’s car would act much differently.

Read about Dai's setup here!

The rear lower spring seat bolted in place.

The Clubsports have a spring rate of 855 in/lbs in the front and 455 in/lbs in the rear, reasonable for a 3300 lb car.  A significantly higher front spring rate is used because of the front suspension's high motion ratio. The main springs are also paired with helper springs to keep tension on the main springs even when the suspension is at full droop.  This helps keep the coilovers quiet.

Howard drills the shock tower out so the rebound adjustment can be made with the shock in the car by reaching through the hole with an allen wrench.

The shocks have microcellular urethane or MCU bump stops, which are soft and progressive.  This is important as a progressive bump stop is less likely to upset balance if the car bottoms out while cornering.  If the chassis is heavily loaded as in a steeply banked turn, the MCU bump stops are much more forgiving if the chassis touches down on them.

The rear coil spring and tender spring in place.  The upper spring seat is threaded and allows for several inches of ride height adjustment and the ability to corner weight.

Finally, the Clubsports use spherical bearing equipped pillow ball mounts for the front shocks. V3's usually run the stock rubber mounted upper mounting plates which is better for street use as the rubber isolates noise and vibration.  For track use, spherical bearings transmit every bit of suspension movement through the damper giving a lot better feel and precision to the damping.   The Clubsports mounts are sealed to prevent moisture and dirt from getting to the spherical bearings, this is a really cool feature that we have never seen before.  This allows sphericals to be used for long term street use with little maintenance.

Howard confirms the shock adjustments before installing them.  We started with the compression and rebound damping set in the middle of the range where KW recommends them.