Opinions on Koni shocks

You don't say what car you have, but I've had Koni adjustables on my two Passats, first a 2000 1.8T FWD wagon and now a 2004 1.8T 4Mo wagon. In both cases I also installed lowering springs at the same time.

So depending what car you have and whether you keep the oem springs, what would change is the rebound damping you select for the shocks. If you keep the oem springs, I would say leave the Konis at full soft both front and rear; would need more details from you to suggest other settings if you're going with lowering springs and/or a car other than a Passat.

In terms of drivability, it will literally transform your car. On my first Passat I upgraded the suspension when at 160,000km. I was also told that the shocks were still "good". Never mind that, they may not have been much worse than new, but that only points to the fact that the oem shocks are not up to the task on the Passat. You need more damping to really benefit from the Passat inherent handling capabilities; they remain hidden until you change the shocks, whether the car is new of 5 years old. I didn't make the mistake of waiting this time, I changed to the Konis early and will enjoy the much improved ride for the life of the car.

Hi Rob,

although I did drive a Golf a couple of times, I couldn't give you an informed advice on the springs. You could try Vortex, I'm sure there are plenty of Golf owners there who have tried all possible combinations of shocks and/or springs and could better help you out.

As far as I can remember, the suspension on the Golf was not too bad to start with, of course it depends on what you are after. If you don't want to lower, you can still see most of the improvements you are after with the shocks, certainly on stability, maybe less so on body roll. The thing is it's the same installation cost ($250-300) whether you change the shocks only or both shocks and springs, so while you're there you may want to spend the extra $300-400 for stiffer springs and be done with it.

Good luck!

||Hello || ||I posted a while back about a noise from my rear suspension... VW dealer ||said everything is fine, took it to a place called R2SPORT this week, which ||is a VW/Audi performance shop in town - the mechanic got me to drive the car ||so he could evaluate the source of the noise, then he drove the car to get a ||feel for the suspension in general. He could find no technical reason for ||any noises (bushings were good, brackets, rubber bits, springs, bolts... ||everything good, shocks still had dampening left in them) but he said the ||shocks seemed to be getting a little tired from 5 years of use (I don't ||drive it on the nicest roads, and I like to take it down dirt roads every so ||often, so i'm not surprised that the suspension is worn). || ||He said he couldn't really say the shock was gone, because it wasn't, but he ||did recommend replaceing, at a minimum, the rear shocks. After comparing ||prices between the OEM, OEM sports, and Koni shocks, I think I want to go ||with the Koni's (100 bucks more in total for the whole car) - they are ||adjustable and even on the softest setting, are firmer then the stock setup. ||Does anyone have any experienced with them? I do drive my car on curvey ||roads, so less body roll would be nice, as well as better stability on the ||highway, which he said these shocks would provide.

Koni's are among the best shocks available. Very popular with road racers using production-based chassis'. They are also rebuildable at the factory for a fraction of the new price. Texas Parts Guy

I think i'll just stick with the shocks then... The suspension is firm enough, just a little more body roll then i'd like, so I think the shocks should take care of that (it's not even that bad body roll.... it's not like I have superwide 17" tires to take sharp corners with anyways.... I like it when the shocks limit is slightly lower then my tires limit, so I know when to back off.... I had it the other way around on my old Golf and had the car pitched sideways a few times..... tho fun, I don't want to do that with a car I care about)

Thanks for your help

Koni Yellows (sports) are very good at the price. I've run a set on my '01 gti for AutoX with stiffer springs and swaybars with very good results. Serious racers will spend more than the price of a set of koni sports on a single shock for serious equipment, and the difference definitely shows. Koni makes other shocks both cheaper and more expensive. Just don't get the idea that the Koni sports are the best in the world forever. Check out offerings from Penske, JRZ, Advance Design and others to fill that niche.

For a street driven car Koni Sports are probably overkill, which is just the way I like my handling :)

Performance shocks or struts will help in transitions but they don't really affect how much a car ultimately leans in a sweeping turn. You need to change sway bars and springs for that. Going through slalom course you will notice different shocks, going on the highway in 450 degree turn will not be nearly as noticable unless you come across some rough pavement.

You d>I think i'll just stick with the shocks then... The suspension is firm

Jim B.

||I basically meant a car that was comfortable at overwhelming the grip of the ||tires... Right now my tires seem to be gripping more then I "need"...

Hard to set up a proper drift! Texas Parts Guy

||Performance shocks or struts will help in transitions but they don't ||really affect how much a car ultimately leans in a sweeping turn. You ||need to change sway bars and springs for that. Going through slalom ||course you will notice different shocks, going on the highway in 450 ||degree turn will not be nearly as noticable unless you come across ||some rough pavement.

You must have some serious cloverleafs in your neighborhood! Texas Parts Guy

It is seems hard to drift a new VW... i've got my 91 to do it once, and not for long.... It was an incredible feeling tho, got to do it by a hard right turn, with slight hard brakes, then hard acceleration as the rear end broke loose, car came around the bend in style ;-).

||It is seems hard to drift a new VW... i've got my 91 to do it once, and not ||for long.... It was an incredible feeling tho, got to do it by a hard right ||turn, with slight hard brakes, then hard acceleration as the rear end broke ||loose, car came around the bend in style ;-).

I takes a big rear swaybar and little or no front bar. My '87 Jetta has 25mm rear, none in front. Fast way through a corner is with front wheels straddling the edge of the pavement, rear wheels both on the pavement, drift to the track-out point. Repeat as neccessary. Texas Parts Guy

I thought hard when I posted and now I know I screwed up. I guess a

Jim B.

||I thought hard when I posted and now I know I screwed up. I guess a ||270 but that 450 would be a delightful corkscrew. The mountain roads ||in North Georgia get you feeling that you are in 450's when you get ||the car up on three wheels first on one side then on the other. || || snipped-for-privacy@REMOVEtxol.net (Rex B) wrote: || ||>On Mon, 19 Jul 2004 22:29:01 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@doesthisblockporkmindspring.com ||>wrote: ||>

||>||Performance shocks or struts will help in transitions but they don't ||>||really affect how much a car ultimately leans in a sweeping turn. You ||>||need to change sway bars and springs for that. Going through slalom ||>||course you will notice different shocks, going on the highway in 450 ||>||degree turn will not be nearly as noticable unless you come across ||>||some rough pavement. ||>

||>You must have some serious cloverleafs in your neighborhood! ||>Texas Parts Guy || || ||Jim B.

Texas Parts Guy

Jim B.