Koni "Yellow" Sport struts/shocks

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TheAverageEngineer
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Koni "Yellow" Sport struts/shocks

Post by TheAverageEngineer » Thu Sep 27, 2018 7:19 pm

Recently I finished the four corner Koni "Yellow" Sport strut/shock install. Two years ago I fitted the rear shocks (as they are super easy to do), and about a month ago I got the front struts installed. I was requested to offer some comments on the performance of the Konis, and I'll also add in comments on the installation process.

First Impressions
From my initial handling of the parts, it is clear that the Konis are high quality product. On the examples I have, the welds are nice and uniform, with corners wrapped to prevent stress concentrations. The paint is uniform and thick - thick enough that installing the strut-to-knuckle bolts was a bit tight at first.

Installation
Rear: Very easy to change out the rear shocks in general on these cars. Jack, jackstands, wrenches/ratchets are really all you need. The lower bolts for the shocks are E-torx heads, so it is nice to have the right socket/wrench for these.

Front: Honestly easier than I had expected. With a good selection of wrenches and ratchets/sockets (many different bolt/nut head sizes to deal with), jack, jackstands, and maybe an electric impact driver the task is relatively simple. There are several places where pass-through ratchets are really nice to have, because of Allen head studs with external nuts immediately adjacent. With my car I did not need to use a spring compressor, I was able to unthread the retainer nut for the top hats with just hand tools and the spring reached fully extended length just before the top hat came off. Just take your time and be patient.

Performance
The overall performance of the Konis is a very nice improvement over stock, on an otherwise stock suspension. With the front struts adjusted to just above full soft, the first thing I noticed was a nice reduction in ride harshness. Smaller bumps are particularly less noticeable than with the OEM parts, and larger bumps are at least dulled out a bit. It won't make the car ride like a Rolls Royce, but it makes driving around on the street nicer.

The real reason I wanted the Konis was to have an improved shock for autocross. Here they definitely do not disappoint. My butt dyno and hand dyno so far is telling me that the car overall seems noticeably more composed over bumps at higher speeds. Particularly with the OEM front struts still on, I would notice plenty that the car would sometimes have some odd movement of the front suspension when trying to accelerate hard out of tight corners, a sort of porpoising or jerkiness (wheel hop, maybe?). This phenomenon seems to have disappeared with the Konis from what I have felt so far in the last month. I first noticed the clear improvements at my home region autocross at the beginning of September, then right afterwards running hard at SCCA Solo Nationals. The car feels a bit more refined to drive hard, and I can focus attention on throttle usage more based on corner speed and positioning, rather than the car being upset by weird damping behavior.

Things I Don't Like
The list of dislikes that I have about the Konis is pretty short.

1. With the supplied adjuster knobs, it is slightly awkward to adjust the damping of the front struts, due to the limited space above the top of the struts. This is more of an issue on the passenger side than the driver side, due to the shape of the upper cowl panel in this area. Adjustment is still possible with the knobs. I have heard of people using alternate tools (very small wrenches) to do the adjustment, due to the space problems.
2. For the rear shocks, these are not externally adjustable for damping. The instructions indicate that the shock must be fully compressed to engage the adjuster mechanism, and for the operator to turn one end (while fully compressed) to make the adjustment. I've seen some comments that this is possible, with difficulty, to do with the shocks still on the car - with the lower bolts removed. Koni's own instructions recommend doing this with the shocks completely off the car, securing the shock in a bench vise. I haven't felt a great need to actually make adjustments to the rear yet, and I think even less so now that I have the front Konis in too.

As an addition, I did contact Koni about whether it was possible to have the rears built or converted to have an external adjustability. Unfortunately, with the manner in which our rear shocks are mounted (eyelets at both ends), Koni's standard type of external adjuster at the end of the shock rod is not compatible. If you absolutely need a rear shock with external damping adjustment, you will need to look elsewhere.

Conclusion
Although I am an engineer in real life, it has been many moons (10 years+) since I was well versed in vehicle dynamics so my comments are not highly technical on this subject. However, my general conclusion is that the Koni "Yellow" Sport struts and shocks are a very nice improvement over the OEM parts, and seem to have very few drawbacks, both of which are quite minor. They are certainly not cheap: ~$800 for new fronts and rears together, from the usual suspects. For me I think it has been a good purchase, and I would definitely recommend the Konis for folks wanting an intermediate improvement to their suspension.
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MadFiat
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Re: Koni "Yellow" Sport struts/shocks

Post by MadFiat » Fri Sep 28, 2018 6:14 am

Nice review. I have just the rear shocks and they definitely settled the rear a lot. I was able to adjust them off the car without a vise but it does take some muscle to push and twist at the same time.
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BecauseAbarth
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Re: Koni "Yellow" Sport struts/shocks

Post by BecauseAbarth » Fri Sep 28, 2018 6:43 am

I have the Koni rears and I am very happy with the results stated here - car feels more planted and composed over bumps - especially with the Neu-F lowering spring - with the stock rears and the Neu-f Springs - the car bounced a lot more in the rear - stock rears are garbage - very easy to compress when off the car - I am in the processing of saving to get the front Konis - The front stocks are not bad but at 77thousand miles I feel they are starting compress easier and easier and bumps that were no problem before are starting to bottom out the shock easily - Great review and I cant wait to jump on the bandwagon of the fronts also.

sportfan
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Re: Koni "Yellow" Sport struts/shocks

Post by sportfan » Fri Oct 12, 2018 10:56 pm

One thing I should have stated when I made the comment about the harsh ride is , I have racing seats which contribute .

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