During the development of our KW Variant 3 and the KW Clubsport 2-way coilover suspension for the Hyundai i30 N, we realized that the Hyundai has a lot of potentials. During the past months, KW Sales- and Service-Point NexD e.K. has dedicated itself extensively to the Hyundai i30 N and has experimented a lot to get the maximum of driving dynamics out of the 250 (i30 N) or up to 275 HP (i30 N Performance) compact sports car – his weapon of choice: our KW coilovers.
We previously blogged about our KW Variant 3 for the i30 N. Many who upgraded to this coilover suspension for everyday use do not miss the comfort functions of their electronic damper adjustment, thanks to our multi-valve damper technology. Even if you install a KW Clubsport 2-Way coilover suspension, you have to order the electronic deceleration modules as well to deactivate the damper adjustment.
Many people think that a KW Clubsport 2-way coilover suspension would basically only be a KW Variant 3 entry-level suspension kit with linear race springs and KW Clubsport unibal top mounts. That would be nice, and we would save a lot of resources in our R&D department. However, both suspension kits are very different.
Although the low-speed compression stage damping with 12 clicks and the low-speed rebound stage damping with 16 clicks can be independently adjusted on the KW Variant 3 and KW Clubsport 2-Way, both suspensions have a different design. While KW Variant 3 was developed for road tires, semi-slicks for example, only develop their full grip potential with a stiffer KW Clubsport coilover suspension kit with its much higher spring rates and damper valve spring settings.
Vehicle engineer, Udo Frey, has been supporting the automotive industry for many years with the development of high-performance brake systems, suspensions, electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Udo Frey, the managing director at KW Sales- und Service-Point NexD e.K., says very succinctly: “The standard damper adjustment – a nice feature for everyday use – has to be shut down when changing to the KW Variant 3 or KW Clubsport coilover suspension. A loss? Only in at first thought!” But more about that later.
When using sport tires and semi tires, the adjustment of the camber value at the front axle for the i30 N is existential for fast lap times and durability of the tires. In series production, the camber value is only just under 0°. Udo Frey recommends a camber between -1.5 to -2.5° according to his Nordschleife expertise. This is no problem with the unibal bearings of the KW Clubsport coilover suspension on the front axle:
“When you ride with KW Clubsport, you immediately notice that the suspension is much more agile and sensitive even with short impacts and provides much more feedback in fast curves. But it is not only on the Nordschleife than the KW coilover suspension kit shows more benign handling than the electronic dampers.” Udo Frey does not go as far as some of our active Nordschleife drivers from the Facebook community, who have the impression that the standard suspension would have been tuned in the gravel bed:
“The production chassis is fun – without question and is very safely tuned in terms of handling. But for fast lap times and more grip, reliable damping is required on the right sections of the Nordschleife. Regardless of the standard damping modes, the car either jumps more on short bumps and tends to teeter on corners. If you ride the KW Clubsport in everyday life, then driving with a moderate camber setting is just as much fun as on the Nordschleife – because everyone praises what Nürburgring is testing!
Photo Rebekka Winter – RingRaceShoot, NexD, KW
