KW Automotive has launched the V3 Leveling suspension for all-wheel drive versions of the Tesla Model Y and Tesla Model 3. This stainless steel suspension combines the driving dynamics and ride comfort characteristics of KW’s KW V3 coilover suspension with near-original production ground clearance, while adding individually adjustable compression and rebound damping, and selections for sportier ride comfort or handling.
The standard ground clearance of the Model 3 and Model Y can be increased by 5mm at the spring struts at the front or rear axle. Alternatively, a discreet, continuously variable lowering of 0-20mm is possible when the V3 Leveling suspension is fitted on both axles.
“With the KW V3 Leveling suspensions, the focus is on sporty ride comfort and increased handling on poorly constructed secondary roads and traffic routes, as well as maintaining the standard ground clearance,” said KW’s brand manager, Sascha Daucher, adding that the new KW V3 Leveling suspension is part of a ‘Street Comfor’” product category. “Compared to other vehicles, the Model 3 has a long wheelbase and relatively little ground clearance. For many, our KW V3 coilover suspension in the Model 3 is apparently too low and we responded to the multiple requests from the Tesla community for a suspension that does not offer maximum lowering but still convinces in driving dynamics and ride comfort, like a KW coilover suspension.”
The shock absorber housings and struts of the KW V3 Leveling suspension are also made of stainless steel. The ground clearance is adjusted directly at the strut via the spring perch and the height adjustment. The standard ground clearance can be increased by 5mm on both driven axles as part of the parts certificate, while the stepless adjustment range for lowering is a maximum drop of 20mm.
With the KW V3 coilover suspension kit, the Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y with all-wheel drive can be lowered by 5-50mm. Like the V3 coilover suspension, the multi-valve dampers in the V3 Leveling suspensions can be manually adjusted separately in compression and rebound. With 16 clicks, a low-speed bypass channel in the rebound valve is opened or closed to set up the compression and rebound forces to a certain degree. For example, this can be used to influence how quickly the car body rebounds when the suspension is compressed during fast load changes. Independently of this, the cross-section of the low-speed compression valve can also be reduced or increased with 12 clicks to further tune the damping. The manually adjustable dampers gives the option to specifically affect the body roll of the Tesla when turning in and pitching, when braking and accelerating.
“In addition to dialing the suspension setup to one’s own driving needs, suspensions with multi-valve technology dampen much more harmoniously. In addition, we can already take a much broader characteristic curve field for damping into account during chassis development when designing the V3 leveling suspensions. This gives us much more leeway in advance for the best possible compromise between driving dynamics and ride comfort. Compared to OEM sport suspensions, the entire basic tuning of the dampers, suspension springs and spring travel of the KW V3 Leveling suspension is designed much more for rolling comfort and direct handling,” added Daucher.
KW Automotive reports that demand for accessories for electric vehicles is growing, with the Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y joining a range of coilovers for EVs such as the Cupra Born, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Polestar II, Skoda Enyaq iV, Smart EQ fortwo, VW e-up! and VW ID 3.
