A few years ago, we introduced Brian Dodd’s French Widow Maker on our blog, his Renault Clio V6.
The fact that the Brit sold his BMW M3 CSL (E46 model) to buy himself a Renault Clio V6 caused quite some buzz on our social media channels. Although, all the screaming and yelling didn’t stop Brian to deliver some fresh updates for his Widow Maker. Again!
“When I say that I sold my CSL for the Clio, they always think I’m crazy,” smiles Brian. “But unfortunately, many people don’t know what kind of ‘sporty monster‘ such a V6 Clio really is”.
With the installed KW Coilover Suspension Variant 3 Kit, everything remained the same on the Renault, at first glance. “The V3 is simply a dream. I have now only adjusted the dialed in damper setup a little bit because I changed the rims and tires since last time.”
Brian, who installed a KW Clubsport kit in his Cooper S JCW GP and a KW Variant 3 in his BMW M3 CSL back in the day, “I’ve adjusted a little bit of the compression and rebound setup to make it a bit more sporty for my Country Roads Adventures.”
The special thing about our KW Variant 3 suspension kit, compared to conventional aftermarket coilover suspension kits, isn’t our high quality, state-of-the-art materials for the struts and housings of the dampers, in our point of view.
Already in 2002, KW Automotive set a new benchmark for the global aftermarket industry. We have been the first manufacturer to innovate the production of shocks with stainless steel bodies and struts in inox-line quality.
The truth of success of our coilover kit is the handcrafted and fully adjustable shocks, which we developed exclusively for the KW V3. KW adapted its leading Motorsports technology for daily driving. At a certain level, you can adjust the compression and rebound stage dampening separately. And the best feature, you don’t even need to sacrifice the ride comfort.
Basically, the adjustable bump and rebound valves are made up of several valves: adjustable low-speed valves and, already in our production in Fichtenberg, preconfigured, not further fine-tunable, high-speed damper valves.
The job of the rebound stage dampening is to determine how the body structure is connected to the road; simply put, how strong the chassis is pulled to the road. Our two-stage rebound valve the KW TVR-A technology enables the small volume to flow through an adjustable, conical, low-speed bypass in the case of slow damper speeds. While in the case of higher piston speeds, the main rebound stage valve opens for the large volume flows.
With 16 exact click steps, you can either decide to adjust the low-speed rebound forces comfortably or sportier for improved handling. If, for example, you close the low-speed rebound stage, the entire handling, roll and pitch movements are tightened; the entire oil volume flow is controlled by the preset rebound spring valve on the piston.
The two-stage compression KW TVC-A technology can be adjusted either via an integrated purple adjustment wheel or via an Allen key with twelve clicks, interacts with the suspension springs to influence compression and supports the car’s body structure. If you want it to be sportier or more comfortable, you can, alltogether, fine-tune our already preset basic setup for the low-speed pressure stage with twelve clicks to your demand.
The vehicle specific, factory preconfigured, high-speed compression valve, as well the rebound high-speed rebound valve, will open in case of sudden wheel-accelerated excitations to avoid unintentional progressive force increase in the high-speed damping range.
Even with a stiff-adjusted damper setup, the factory pre-dialed, high-speed valves enable harmonious suspension travel. These high-speed valves open in a flash, even at maximum lowering and fast driving over transverse joints or bumps.
In plain words: Even with a maximum lowering, your car does not get bumpy on motorway bridges with transverse joints and side roads. It also remains safely controllable at the limits of driving dynamics in daily life. With our technology, we prevent the typical leaping of the wheels and rocking of the bodywork that always occurs with poorly adapted suspension systems in everyday life.
Having the size of 18 x 8 inches on the front axle and 18 x 9 inches at the rear axle, the mounted, yellow-painted, rims are one-piece magnesium wheels from Cromodora. Brian bought, for his Clio, a set of Yokohama Advan A052 Semi-Slick tires in 225/35 and 255/35.
“I decided to buy these wheels because in the old V6 Trophy racing series, they also used these rims. If I’m honest, I’m far from finished with the Clio; there’s more to come soon.”
Along with the appearance of plenty “Motorsports Decals”, a new transmission also came on board. “I installed the transmission from a Phase 2 with its better gear ratio, shorter throw and soon my old Quicksilver exhaust system will be gone.”
Brian plans to install a Janspeed, stainless steel, exhaust system; which should sound a lot sportier, louder, and features branched manifolds. The Brit doesn’t yet know how to continue with the “Widow Maker”. In any case, he wants to go on tour again soon with his Renault Clio V6 “Phase 1.5” …
Photo KW, Brian Dodd, crh_media
