Anyone, Koni shock upgrade?

SPDKING

I was gonna ask what's the best settings for street and canyon use for a place like Los Angeles? I was thinking close to full soft on the rear but I heard it's going to bounce too much and close to full firm on the front for better cornering ability. I know it's easy to adjust the front with the knob they give you when it's already installed but how easy is it to adjust the rear? Do you have to take the rear wheels off and pull a few bolts basically removing the shock just to adjust the firmness with a pin or some tool? Or can you just reach into the fender if the car is off the ground and adjust it through there?

240se

To adjust the rear you need to lift the rear but to the point where the wheel is off of the ground. You don't need to unbolt anything you just need enough room to reach up to the top of the shock in the wheel well with an Allen wrench. Too soft and it be floaty and uncontrolled, too firm and the tires will break loose and hop over bumps on the street.

markesc

Will Koni's do the following if setup correctly:

1) Eliminate the feeling of bouncy-ness (lack of a better term lol) on poured concrete surfaces/expansion joints?

2) Eliminate the back end wallowy / unattached when under load on uneven surfaces? The hotchkis front swaybar seemed to have tied down the front fairly well.

3) Still retain stock compliance on broken surfaces?

4) Reduce corner entry understeer atleast enough to notice?

5) Would a TEIN edfc setup truly be a better approach for one that wants max comfort on crappy roads?

I made the mistake in the past buying: Megan/BC Racing products, so I'm wondering if the Koni's would be a good step to accomplish the above goals, but with not so many adjustments that one is continually second guessing themselves and making adjustments on a nearly daily basis just trying to get them dialed in (I'm too old for that crap).

Car has about 55k miles / stock suspension / front hotchkis swaybar

Someone make me a mag ride setup for $1k please (wishful thinking).

SPDKING

1) It will eliminate a lot of bounce on the softest setting, I was surprised of how much more comfortable it was compared to stock.

2) It did eliminate a lot of (nervousness) over uneven surfaces but it is definitely still there, just not as bad as stock. On the hard settings it made things even more nervous over bumps which makes sense. I also have Stillen front and rear sway bars I have them adjusted to the softest setting where it's not much stiffer than stock but neutral outs the handling instead of being predominantly under-steering.

3) It exceeds stock compliance on different surfaces

4) I had to push my car pretty hard to get any hint of under-steer. That being said, I do have brand new Conti Extreme contact tires, stock sport diff (idk if you did or not) and the Stillen front and rear sway bars I mentioned earlier. Also, I forgot I don't have a spare or the jack in my car for weeks because I keep forgetting to put it back so that may affect my handling as well. IE your results may vary.

5) Me personally, I did not want to go with actual coilovers or any kind of springs that made my car any lower than stock due to the s*** road dips in Santa Monica and crap roads in Los Angeles all together. That's why I ruled out anything that made my car any lower or ride harder than stock but I want to be able to adjust the ride if I happen to find a good patch of road. I don't have the Tein's so I can't say what it's like but I know they weren't for me.

Personally, some Conti Extreme contacts or the Pilot SS accompanied by Stillen Adjustable sway bars (most aftermarket ones are way too stiff and unsafe for the crap roads in LA, New York or Connecticut) with the Koni's should be good for street. For me personally, it's the best setup since you will outperform the stock car or may even corner quicker than someone with coil-overs on a racetrack and still be comfortable on the street without having an extreme change in the handling characteristics of the car. Some people do like the extreme, I do not. (Update) I found out that with simply adding good tires and the Koni Dampers you will outperform someone with coil overs on the street without any adjustments if you don't want too.

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Stillen front and rear sway bars/Continental Extreme Tires/Annex Suspension Coilovers/Z1 Oil Cooler/Borla Catback Exhaust/K&N Drop in filters/SPL

cavemancan

No Disrespect intended but out corner coilovers? Common. I used to have Koni's on my Rx8 and they were amazing on THAT car but to say they can out corner a car with coilovers is both a generalization and a stretch to say the least.

I too have concerns with the bouncy characteristics of the Z. I currently have Swift springs (the ones that lower almost 2 inches) and I installed those years ago but when I did I saw no noticeable improvement in the bouncy nature of the car (just stating the facts/perception). Now if I were to add the Koni's in the mix based on what ive read here I am uncertain. One person said it makes it bouncier and another said it decreases the bounciness...LOL!

I'm confuscious

You know what ironically you helped me decide. I just realized the koni's will make me go even lower and I am riding on 20" Work Emotions right now and will definitely rub if I go any lower...Thanks!!!!

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Mazda Rx8 MT Titanium - SOLD!
2009 370Z T-Sport MT Black - Takeda Intake, Swift springs, Rear Camber kit, SS B Lines, FI Exhaust, Z Speed CMAK Flywheel/Clutch Kit, Stillen Brake Cooling.

SPDKING

Just stating first hand experience. My car was going through corners a lot quicker than two other guys with a 370Z sport package and one with the base model but some aftermarket diff that had the Fortune Auto Coil Overs and the BC racing coil overs. One did have the stock Bridgestone tires but the other one had the same exact tires as me. So I kind of boiled it down to them paying 1300+ to lose to someone with just some shocks even with all the time they did tweaking the settings for the road surface and corners. Keep in mind, this is strictly street in the canyons where the road surface changes where this happened, NOT A RACE TRACK. I assume just the shocks won't do well against someone with coilovers on the racetrack but I've never tried yet but with the sway bars and tires, it should be a good match up.

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Stillen front and rear sway bars/Continental Extreme Tires/Annex Suspension Coilovers/Z1 Oil Cooler/Borla Catback Exhaust/K&N Drop in filters/SPL

cavemancan

Your observations reveal the following:

1) Either you are a better driver then they were or your more comfortable with your setup then they are with theirs.

2) Their coilovers were not setup correctly/street use. One of my biggest complaints with the stock setup is how nervous the car feels when you hit a bump under engine load or how bouncy the car gets to the point of losing control at higher speeds. Improperly setup suspension can exaggerate this issue. I get so confused when some drivers say the 370Z is too soft. I would say dampening needs to be softened up so it can soak up the bumps and not make the car nervous. I plan to stiffen the hell out of all the other components like sway bars etc but soften the shocks and see how that works out. I could be understanding it in reverse but coilovers are a great platform to discover on.

3) You have a go baby go button in your car and didn't tell anyone

__________________
Mazda Rx8 MT Titanium - SOLD!
2009 370Z T-Sport MT Black - Takeda Intake, Swift springs, Rear Camber kit, SS B Lines, FI Exhaust, Z Speed CMAK Flywheel/Clutch Kit, Stillen Brake Cooling.