Tesla Model 3 was the fastest electric vehicle at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb 2022

Mission accomplished: The KW Racing Suspension-equipped Tesla Model 3 was the fastest EV up the hill

Dai Yoshihara literally felt like he was fighting a smoke screen felt at the 2022 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. After the drama in 2021, the Tesla Model 3 with its KW V4 Racing suspension and with new reworked aero parts displayed superiorly against other electric vehicles in its class. Congratulations Yoshihara-san!

Finger crossed before the race

Dai started 2022 with a slightly uneasy feeling in his gut because his Model 3 simply ran out of power during its last Pikes Peak Hill Climb Race in 2021. His Tesla didn’t go faster than 48 km/h back then. Luckily, things were very different this year.

During the entire week of the tests and training sessions, everything went like clockwork. The only thing that didn’t play along this year was the weather.

As mentioned on our last blog about the Tesla, they’ve adjusted the bars, link rods and spring rates of the 3-way damping adjustable KW V4 Racing suspension for the 2022 race. The custom spec racing suspension for the Tesla Model 3 (AWD) is available for purchase on request, but for everyday use on public roads we offer a range of street performance options.

This is not because not only does racing suspension not have a road legal certificate, but it is something we build completely different. With our motorsport components, we don’t have to make the compromise, as we do with something like our Clubsport applications. For those, the entire suspension design must work on a near-production vehicle. With our KW Racing suspensions the design is custom tailored to each specific project with design input from KW engineers and the car builders.

In everyday life, whether on the highway, a country road, or a well-maintained federal highway, the same forces never occur as on a racetrack. That’s also the reason why in motorsport championships like the DTM, they are using racecars and not production cars.

The difference between a current BMW M4 for the road and a BMW M4 GT3 racecar from BMW’s customer racing program is much more than just the road approval. For the Tesla Model 3, we have offered various coilovers from our KW and ST brands under the umbrella of the KW automotive group for some time now.

KW V3 coilover suspension kit for the Tesla Model 3 with all-wheel drive

The KW V3 for the all-wheel-drive models of the Tesla Model 3 enables a continuous lowering of 25 – 50 millimeters on both axles; the Model 3 with rear-wheel drive features 30 – 50 mm on the front axle and 25 – 50 millimeters on the driving axle.

If you want to know more about our KW coilovers for the Tesla Model 3 or Tesla Model Y you can find some Tesla features on our blog. A hint: In a couple of weeks, we will release our KW V3 leveling suspensions for the Model 3 and also the Model Y. After installation, the standard ground clearance will be almost untouched. But now it’s back to Colorado for Dai Yoshihara’s Pikes Peak success.

The higher the Tesla with KW V4 Racing suspension, climbed up the mountain, the colder it got for the electric car. But the cold temperatures and the humidity didn’t slow Dai down.

On the wet mountain pass road up Pikes Peak, Dai Yoshihara set a time of 11:06.205 minutes in the Tesla Model 3.

This made the Model 3 the fastest electric car at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb celebrating its 100th running! In its exhibition vehicle class, it was beaten only by local hero David Donner.

In the end, Dai even finished in the top-10 with his scored time, placing ninth overall and as basically with the stock performance of his Tesla Model 3.

Fotos MotoIQ, Larry Chen, Evasive Motorsports

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