Koni shocks and struts. Info and how to adjust
04-26-2012, 02:14 PM
#1
Koni shocks and struts. Info and how to adjust
Maybe someone will make this a sticky. I get a question about this every few weeks. Thought I would share in a dedicated thread.
First, are they any good? Yes! They are better than FE5, especially the rears. If you lower your car or you put on an added rear sway bar, you need to add Koni yellows. It will make a tremendous difference. The stock FE5 are fine if you stay with stock springs and no added sway bar, but once you start changing those, you quickly run out of enough rebound damping.
Why do you care about increased low speed rebound damping? Because it helps control the "slow" body motions involved when doing things like turning, or keeping the car from having that slow undulating feeling from side to side.
Should you get the front strut inserts? They are an upgrade, but not a must, like the rears. I would strongly urge that you replace all 4 at the same time, but I understand some people run on tight budgets. If you want the best, soon John Powell will be coming out with some revalved front Koni inserts. Yes, the install is tougher, but it's worth it. My advice for the install would be to get a cheap pipe cutter, and drill the end of the strut, drain all oil, then cut the strut with the pipe cutter, AT THE APPROPRIATE LENGTH!
So, how and where do you set the damper settings? The fronts are quite easy. Just use the included knob, and turn them. The knob tells you which way is soft and which way is harder. I recommend about 1/3 turn away from full soft for typical street springs. Do not be tempted to run them full stiff. If you do, the car will feel awful as it jacks down to the bump stops, because the springs aren't strong enough.
The rears are a little harder. They must be adjusted off the car. Compress them against a piece of wood, all the way down. The wider part of the shock should be on top. Making sure that they stay compressed, turn it all the way counter clockwise. It should stop. This is full soft. Turn it 1/4 turn clockwise, and that is a good street setting with typical street springs. Anything about 1/2 turn from full soft will result in jack down, and an awful ride.
Here is Koni's official document on adjusting the rears, which are 8040:
Koni North America - ITT - Adjustment
I personally do not change my shock settings when I go to the track. You could add a little more rear rebound if you like, but I find that somewhere between 1/4 to 1/2 off full soft is good for both street and track.
First, are they any good? Yes! They are better than FE5, especially the rears. If you lower your car or you put on an added rear sway bar, you need to add Koni yellows. It will make a tremendous difference. The stock FE5 are fine if you stay with stock springs and no added sway bar, but once you start changing those, you quickly run out of enough rebound damping.
Why do you care about increased low speed rebound damping? Because it helps control the "slow" body motions involved when doing things like turning, or keeping the car from having that slow undulating feeling from side to side.
Should you get the front strut inserts? They are an upgrade, but not a must, like the rears. I would strongly urge that you replace all 4 at the same time, but I understand some people run on tight budgets. If you want the best, soon John Powell will be coming out with some revalved front Koni inserts. Yes, the install is tougher, but it's worth it. My advice for the install would be to get a cheap pipe cutter, and drill the end of the strut, drain all oil, then cut the strut with the pipe cutter, AT THE APPROPRIATE LENGTH!
So, how and where do you set the damper settings? The fronts are quite easy. Just use the included knob, and turn them. The knob tells you which way is soft and which way is harder. I recommend about 1/3 turn away from full soft for typical street springs. Do not be tempted to run them full stiff. If you do, the car will feel awful as it jacks down to the bump stops, because the springs aren't strong enough.
The rears are a little harder. They must be adjusted off the car. Compress them against a piece of wood, all the way down. The wider part of the shock should be on top. Making sure that they stay compressed, turn it all the way counter clockwise. It should stop. This is full soft. Turn it 1/4 turn clockwise, and that is a good street setting with typical street springs. Anything about 1/2 turn from full soft will result in jack down, and an awful ride.
Here is Koni's official document on adjusting the rears, which are 8040:
Koni North America - ITT - Adjustment
I personally do not change my shock settings when I go to the track. You could add a little more rear rebound if you like, but I find that somewhere between 1/4 to 1/2 off full soft is good for both street and track.
04-26-2012, 08:54 PM
#4
nice good **** definately need to be a sticky!
i have pedders koni rears on the car already and the front konis in my garage and im getting prices on getting them instealled since there a pita or thinking about waiting and getting them revalved from john with the new spring arrive hmm what to do lol
i have pedders koni rears on the car already and the front konis in my garage and im getting prices on getting them instealled since there a pita or thinking about waiting and getting them revalved from john with the new spring arrive hmm what to do lol
04-26-2012, 11:03 PM
#6
Had the rears dynoed and compared to the stockers.
The graph is an excellent representation of how they feel. Compression valving is near stock, which is fine. More rebound at low speeds, like under 3-4 in/sec, and then there is a knee in the curve around 5 in/sec, so that bumps don't feel so harsh, and don't upset the car too much.
The blue line represents the Konis turned all the way up. WAAAY too much rebound damping at this point. The adjuster is supposed to be fairly linear, so half way in between is supposed to be half, but there's no guarantee without a dyno. That said, I still like the settings I put in my original post above.
The graph is an excellent representation of how they feel. Compression valving is near stock, which is fine. More rebound at low speeds, like under 3-4 in/sec, and then there is a knee in the curve around 5 in/sec, so that bumps don't feel so harsh, and don't upset the car too much.
The blue line represents the Konis turned all the way up. WAAAY too much rebound damping at this point. The adjuster is supposed to be fairly linear, so half way in between is supposed to be half, but there's no guarantee without a dyno. That said, I still like the settings I put in my original post above.
04-28-2012, 11:21 AM
#11
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Full stiff fronts do make the car fall into every dip in the road but I found it to reduce my inside wheelspin and makes my steering feel fantastic. Track only setting though
04-28-2012, 11:41 AM
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I was thinking of picking these up for my G5 im lowered on sportline with the rear sway bar and front tower bar. I noticed one of my rears is leaking so guessing time to change
04-29-2012, 11:24 PM
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Got a question. My Sportlines came with some black bumper guards glued on them pretty good and I was wondering if I should rip all them off before I install them or does it really matter?
05-18-2012, 10:06 PM
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My konis make a lot of noise... especially when i am stopped or going really slow and turning the wheel... why is that?
is this normal?
who else experienced this?
is this normal?
who else experienced this?