Whether in Germany, Europe, America, or Asia, customer motorsport is booming worldwide. This is also having a positive impact on suspension manufacturer KW automotive. More and more car manufacturers are relying on the developments of the KW automotive group in this segment.
The five-way adjustable and two-way adjustable KW Solid Piston dampers are homologated in the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo and Aston Martin Vantage GT4 Evo, which will be delivered to motorsport customers in 2024
Motorsport has been the DNA of Aston Martin for over 100 years. “We are very pleased with KW automotive that we have been able to win Aston Martin Racing as a customer,” says Thomas Rechenberg, Head of KW Motorsport. “The British brand is a motorsport institution with a great global reach.”
KW Solid Piston Shock Absorbers for GT3 and GT4 Racecars
“The new Evo variants of our existing GT3 and GT4 cars have taken a big step forward in precision and driveability, which will allow drivers to maximise performance during a race weekend. The introduction of KW dampers has played a key part in the Evo upgrades, with the test drivers immediately enjoying the improvements they provide”, says Huw Tasker, Head of Partner Racing AMR.
“Benefiting from experience of the KW engineers, and through the use of their vehicle rigs, we were able to hit the track with a well-optimised damper package from one of the world’s leading suppliers of race suspension systems.”
Due to the axle geometry and layout, space is extremely limited on the front axle of the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo. We have devised a bespoke solution for the double wishbone axles. For the five-way adjustable V6 Racing dampers utilized on the GT3 Evo, KW automotive employs its Solid-Piston technology.
Unlike other design philosophies, this approach does not allow oil to flow through the working piston; instead, the entire volume of oil is displaced by the solid piston and through the valves. The damper valves are connected in series and are not located in the working piston but in a separate valve housing.
This modular valve technology allows the valve cross-sectional openings to be tailored to customer requirements in the low-speed range and the valve spring preload to be individually adjusted in the high-speed range. This flexible design enables the response behavior of the dampers to be specifically configured.
In addition, the V6 Racing has an adjustable blow-off function to dampen the sudden vertical force increase when aggressively driven over curbs. The KW Solid Piston dampers are convincing with their high-frequency, precise function at low valve travel.
During the development, measurement, and test drives, the drivers reported back to us that the V6 Racing damper in the GT3 Evo gives them a great deal of confidence and that they have consistently high performance.
Therefore, Aston Martin Racing relies on our solid piston shocks in the GT4 Evo. While the dampers are five-way adjustable for performance reasons in the AMR GT3 Evo, the KW V5 Racing dampers for the AMR GT4 Evo have two-way adjustable valves in the low-speed range of compression and rebound.
You can find more about our motorsport engagement on the KW website as well as on the blog.
Photos Aston Martin Racing, KW
