Anyone tried the new Koni FSD struts?
Has anyone heard of or had experience using the new Koni FSD struts? Edelbrock had similar system with their IAS shocks. Once I used the IAS shocks I installed them on everything I drove, They were extraordinary. I am quite interested in these new Konis and would like to hear thoughts. Thanks
KONI: shock absorbers kit containing front & rear shocks |
I had some Koni FSDs installed on mom's 2001 VW Golf. The car was amazingly smooth over speed bumps, yet handled petty well. Not as good as high-end performance oriented shocks, but a good compromise for a street car where comfort and compliance over bumps is worth trading off for a bit less than the max performance.
For my 2001 box that I just upgraded to M030 springs, I opted for Koni sports rather than Koni FSD. Just because it's a Porsche, and I want it to feel more sporty. Don't mind feeling a little of the bumps. Still is not bad with the Konis sports. The FSDs also are not adjustable like the sports are (only the fronts are truly externally adjustable on the Boxster Koni sports - to adjust the rears requires they be removed). The Konis (both FSD and sport) are both still a pretty new product for the 986 Boxster, having been out for less than 1 year. Maybe someone else here will have tried the Koni sports, and can report. |
They are ok.
I prefer bilsteins with stock springs. O o |
I installed the Koni sports on my car about 5,000 miles ago and I really like them. Mine are set to the softest setting and are perfect for the street. Nice stuff ride but not so stiff speed bumps and rough patches are a big issue.
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[QUOTE=jakeru;470614]I had some Koni FSDs installed on mom's 2001 VW Golf. The car was amazingly smooth over speed bumps, yet handled petty well. Not as good as high-end performance oriented shocks, but a good compromise for a street car where comfort and compliance over bumps is worth trading off for a bit less than the max performance.
For my 2001 box that I just upgraded to M030 springs, I opted for Koni sports rather than Koni FSD. Just because it's a Porsche, and I want it to feel more sporty. Don't mind feeling a little of the bumps. Still is not bad with the Konis sports. The FSDs also are not adjustable like the sports are (only the fronts are truly externally adjustable on the Boxster Koni sports - to adjust the rears requires they be removed). Jakeru Thanks for the reply. My apologies for not responding. I somehow missed the reply in my own post!!:( I'm with you on the adjustable shocks. I've had several Adjustable Koni's and since they were a PITA to adjust they usually remained on the original setting. Quote:
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Inertia Active Suspension Technology |
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I have some dyno plots of the rear 986 Koni sports. Not quite as digressive looking as I was hoping to see, but I'll bet they're going to work very nicely. Would be interesting to compare it against a 986 FSD shock dyno plot, if anyone could muster one of those.
(I had to return the first set of Koni sport rears for exchange, due to unbalanced compression valving left to right. Koni made good on it and sent me the new replacements along with individually tested dyno plots.) I'm not really sure what you're asking about with the bump stops. But these 986 bump stops are rather long/tall and engage early, giving basically a progressive rate spring. |
Dyno plots for suspension?...
I'm lost :( |
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Shock Absorber - Shock Dyno - Reading Shocks - Circle Track Magazine |
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Interestingly, the "Bilstein Oval Track Technical Center" is eight miles up the road from me. Wonder if I can audit a class 'er two? |
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https://www.tirerack.com/images/pdf/koni_mclarenF1.pdf |
I just installed them on my 996 with eibach springs and sways. The car is about an inch lower but feels almost the same as before as far as dynamics go. It's as if the struts are slightly softer than stock and the springs progressively firmer. If you want a better ride height, but want the car to ride essentially like stock then I would recommend them. There was no transformation of the car like in my boxster when I switched to biksteins and hr bars and springs. I hope that helped.
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Here is the shock dyno plot for my two rear 986 Koni sports. (I believe set to minimum rebound setting.)
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1452313809.jpg The purpose of the dyno run (performed by Koni) was to verify that both sides matched before they sent my repalcements. This was the replacement set Koni shipped which I still need to install in the car. The set I initially got and returned were quite uneven in low speed compression damping (even without a shock dyno, it was blatantly obvious to me that one side compressed about 3x as fast as the other given an approximately equal force... which is definitely not the hot ticket as on konis only the rebound adjusts so you'd be stuck with screwed up shock valving and poor handling characteristics!) I'd be interested to hear what the above plots looks like (in terms of the "kinked" shape, etc) for someone really into suspension tuning who is really up in interpreting these things. (Although comparing against similar Koni FSD plots for the 986 rear, if they could be obtained by anyone else somehow, would be very interesting to see!) I take my suspension setup seriously as I have an interest in autocross racing and any serious competitor there knows the importance of good shocks. (In stock class, shocks are one of the few things that are allowed to be modified.) I trophied at SCCA Solo nationals a few years ago in a "lowly" VW. (But it was rocking custom-valved, double adjustable Konis front and rear.) I hate to say it but the lowly VW can still run circles around my 986 at lower speeds. (At higher speed, the aerodynamics of course favor the Boxster.) So I've got some more work to do on my fairly high-mileage 986 to bring it up to my performance expectations for what a Porsche should do. (The front suspension rebuild was already a huge improvement, but I'm really looking forward to getting the rear Koni spots on there.) For many years, I've admired watching Boxsters with the mesmerizing and amazingly neutral looking handling dynamics dodging autocross course cones at speed. |
Jakeru looks like a very well matched set of shocks. I'm certainly no shock expert, those guys are magicians, anyone that can design a suspension for a stadium truck that can launch 20 feet in the air and land on level ground like a butterfly with sore feet really knows their stuff. What I do see from the chart is that these shocks are very linear. The compression is linear in the slow speed until the transition to high speed where it firms up just prior to valve pack opening and is divergent in the high speed circuit. I see what you mean by not being as divergent as one would expect. In fact I would have expected the initial response curve to be much steeper. These are definitely on the full soft setting based on the rebound slope (no knee). It would have been really useful if they had made a few plots with a couple adjustments to the firmness setting. Guess that's for the experts.
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I have a damper plot for a standard S damper at 65k ish and an M030 at approx 105k ...
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I went the fsd route because the bilsteins and hr setup on the boxster was too stiff for my wife and lowered the the car too much. I also don't track my car so I was not interested in pss9 and the additional expense. I had Komi sports on my old 914 and had hoped they would be a good choice.
I appear to be a bit of a guinea pig on the 996 as most renlisters running fsd are 993s. My feelings are that the eibach and fsd combo is a little soft. But then again it still rides well and doesn't crash over rough roads. It certainly doesn't handle worse than stock, the ride height looks much better, and my wife still rides with me! |
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