The Porsche Carrera GT is considered one of the greatest supercars ever made. Still, KW thinks they can improve it – at least in terms of ride and handling. The company offers a new adjustable coilover suspension with three presets and an optional hydraulic lift system, which are said to make the Carrera GT more livable, comfortable, and dynamic at the same time.
While the supercar was the pinnacle of Porsche engineering back in 2003, suspension technology has progressed in the following 20 years. KW’s solid piston dampers are three-way adjustable (low-speed compression, high-speed compression, and rebound). A trio of pre-configured setups is accessible through the adjustment wheel on each damper. The first setting is really close to ΟΕΜ, the second is more comfort-oriented, and the third is track-focused.
Read: $3.5 Million Is A Little Too Much For A Porsche Carrera GT, Or Is It?
According to KW, their coilovers are more comfortable than the original Porsche suspension with “more sensitive damping and fast feedback”. At the same time, they make the supercar more dynamic as “the steering becomes more precise, the handling is more direct and the behavior feels safer”.
One of KW’s clients is former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld, who installed the suspension on his personal Porsche Carrera GT which unsurprisingly refers to as his favorite car. After experiencing the new coilovers, Heidfeld concluded: “the feel and the DNA [of the original] haven’t been changed much but the feedback has become even more refined and direct”. An interesting detail is that while KW products are usually painted in yellow, the coilovers for Heidfeld’s Porsche are blue and red, matching the wheel hubs on each side of the vehicle (the original suspension is black).
For those who don’t find the stock setting low enough, KW can lower the car further by 10 mm (0.4 inches). However, Heidfeld suggests that the Carrera GT is already too low for usual daily driving scenarios. As a solution to this problem, KW offers an optional hydraulic lift system that can raise both axles of the supercar by 45 mm (1.8 inches) on demand. While this don’t turn the supercar into a crossover, it allows it to drive over speed bumps or ramps without scraping its underparts. Luckily, the button for activating the lift is hidden inside the ashtray on the center tunnel, so the design of the interior remains unaltered.
According to the official website, the cost of the KW V5 coilover kit for the Carrera GT is €15,195 ($16,227). We don’t know how many Porsche Carrera GT owners will opt for the KW V5 coilover update. Mind you, between 2003 and 2006 Porsche sold a total of 1,270 units of the Carrera GT. We bet that fewer than those are still in existence, and not many are being regularly driven on public roads.
