Acura NSX KW V3 & Clubsport Suspension - Strut Tower Brace

Acura Nsx Suspension Settings Skipda Testing

Acura Nsx Suspension Settings Kw Clubsport Coilovers

The KW Clubsport features independently user-adjustable, low piston speed compression (bottom of the damper) and rebound (top) damping settings.

The KW Clubsport features independently user-adjustable, low piston speed compression (bot

In addition to KW’s attention to detail, much of the reason why we went with the company is because of its philosophy of using relatively lower spring rates, but better damping control for a softer overall ride and similarly effective handling prowess. While spring stiffness supports the weight of the vehicle under steady state conditions, proper damping control is what actually keeps the tires planted and the chassis stable. This is why KW allows for low piston speed rebound damping adjustment like most other adjustable dampers (which affects chassis motion) and compression adjustment (which controls dynamic grip and how well the tires stay planted as they bump through a corner). These adjustments are typically only available on much more expensive race shocks.

Bye Bye, Toe Steer
Now that we had some stiffer-than-stock spring rates, we wanted to compensate for some of the odd toe steer that Honda designed into the stock suspension. Although the NSX is, by design, meant for performance and already uses hard rubber bushings, we decided to take some of the rubber slop out of critical links that affect toe change. Shad Huntley of what was once Comptech, and now owner of his own shop Driving Ambition, supplied us with a Comptech rear non-compliance toe link, bushing and front suspension clamp. Both the rear toe link and the bushings replace the stock hardware with mono-ball type joints as these two components have the biggest affect on rear-wheel toe change. By changing out the stock hardware and eliminating excessive toe steer in the rear, we can also dial out a lot of the static toe-in from the stock alignment, which will reduce the excessive tire wear that NSXs are known for.

Acura Nsx Suspension Settings Non Compliance Clamp

The non-compliance clamp for the suspension simply slides over the stock compliance pivot and bolts to the chassis to prevent suspension movement. This isn’t necessary for a street car and can be a point to rub against if you’re running fatty front tires.

The non-compliance clamp for the suspension simply slides over the stock compliance pivot

On the front suspension, we also had to address one of the quirky designs that Honda engineers came up with. To prevent bumpsteer in the front suspension, Honda implemented what it called a compliance pivot on the front suspension, which in essence gives the front suspension even more slop to avoid toe change. It sounded like a roundabout way to get around bumpsteer instead of just increasing the spring rate. But now that we have a slightly higher spring rate, we decided to inhibit the compliance pivot by installing a non-compliance clamp from Driving Ambition. Now our suspension acts like how a double A-arm suspension should.

Last of all are the braces. We threw out the OEM steel rear strut tower brace for a larger Carbing aluminum brace that bolts to all three of the shock tower bolts instead of just two. In the front, we added a set of NSX R aluminum braces from ScienceofSpeed. And underneath, the stock antiroll bars are now replaced with Dali Racing adjustable bars for final roll stiffness tuning.

Next time, we’ll finish off our NSX project with some transmission work and find more speed with the same power.

Honda’s ingenious way of combating bumpsteer was this compliance pivot in front of each front control arm, which allowed the entire suspension to move backward during bumps. Unfortunately, it didn’t work to our tastes.
Honda’s ingenious way of combating bumpsteer was this compliance pivot in front of each fr
In the rear, the stock toe link and rear lower control arm bushings were replaced with mono-balls to minimize dynamic toe change in the rear wheels and allow us to dial-out some tire-wearing static rear toe.
In the rear, the stock toe link and rear lower control arm bushings were replaced with mon
The front of the chassis was reinforced with NSX R aluminum braces in front of the radiator as well as in the front subframe.
The front of the chassis was reinforced with NSX R aluminum braces in front of the radiato

At the track, our chassis setup work paid off. On the Figure 8 test, the NSX broke into the high 24-second range of lap times and pulled off an average of 1 lateral g. Not bad for very streetable Advan Neova tires. The only other time we’ve achieved 24-second lap times was in a hopped-up EVO 9 on race tires. While the NSX can pull off the numbers, it’s by no means easy to drive like an EVO or STi. Going fast through the corners means having the mid-engine car finely balanced in an inertial slide with neutral steering and very delicate throttle input. Too little and the car loses momentum and begins to push like all mid-engine cars do when they’re unhappy. Too much gas and the tail end will come around faster than you can catch it with the manual steering, resulting in a series of tank-slappers that you never want to experience as the owner of one of these cars. With more practice or under more skilled hands (our test driver just doesn’t fit inside an NSX), we could have easily matched our 24.5-second record Figure 8 lap time.

While KW frowns upon using pillowball upper mounts for street-only applications, it doesn’t mess around when it comes to the Clubsport’s upper mounts. The high-quality materials and even dust boot make these mounts easily cost twice what similar products cost.
While KW frowns upon using pillowball upper mounts for street-only applications, it doesn’