Shocks and springs
#11
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There's a lot of good information about shocks in this thread. I wanted to add that if you change the springs on the car to anything but OEM, it will put you in BSP for autocrossing instead of the stock class AS (assuming that you're not already there for other reasons). You can change the shocks to anything that keeps the OEM mounting points and stay in AS.
Koni Yellow shocks are a common, effective and relatively inexpensive replacement shock when the OEMs finally do wear out.
Koni Yellow shocks are a common, effective and relatively inexpensive replacement shock when the OEMs finally do wear out.
#13
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jyeung528 Posted on Jun 17 2007, 10:37 AM
Very true!
OEM's are a LOT harder to compress by hand.
With the rebound valve closed the Koni's stay compressed (almost).
It's the rebound that matters most during driving, I guess.
During the Koni install I was getting worried I was making things worse with aftermarket parts, having the OEM's out and comparing them with the Koni's.
At first I closed all rebound valves completely, that gave a very bumpy uncomfortable ride.
After opening them up a little it became a lot better, under certain circumstances better then OEM in my opinion.
IIRC the fronts are now half a turn open, the rears 3/4 of a turn.
Close to where I live is a long (1200 meter) left hand turn in the highway.
It has some "waves" in it.
At speed (lets say 100-110mph, and NO that's not legal!) I found the rear a bit unstable with the OEM shocks, now with the Koni's its a lot better.
CoralDoc Posted on Jun 17 2007, 12:09 PM
And they are rebound adjustable
Not to mention they (Koni) are Dutch
how do the koni's compare to oem?
i hear koni is not as stiff (compression)
i hear koni is not as stiff (compression)
OEM's are a LOT harder to compress by hand.
With the rebound valve closed the Koni's stay compressed (almost).
It's the rebound that matters most during driving, I guess.
During the Koni install I was getting worried I was making things worse with aftermarket parts, having the OEM's out and comparing them with the Koni's.
At first I closed all rebound valves completely, that gave a very bumpy uncomfortable ride.
After opening them up a little it became a lot better, under certain circumstances better then OEM in my opinion.
IIRC the fronts are now half a turn open, the rears 3/4 of a turn.
Close to where I live is a long (1200 meter) left hand turn in the highway.
It has some "waves" in it.
At speed (lets say 100-110mph, and NO that's not legal!) I found the rear a bit unstable with the OEM shocks, now with the Koni's its a lot better.
CoralDoc Posted on Jun 17 2007, 12:09 PM
Koni Yellow shocks are a common, effective and relatively inexpensive replacement shock when the OEMs finally do wear out.
And they are rebound adjustable
Not to mention they (Koni) are Dutch
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Originally Posted by SpitfireS,Jun 17 2007, 03:50 AM
Haha!
Be carefull.
All you hear from the Honda F1 team drivers this season is complaints about handeling under braking.
They didn't do that well during classification for the American Grand Prix at Indianapolis, #13 and #15.
Be carefull.
All you hear from the Honda F1 team drivers this season is complaints about handeling under braking.
They didn't do that well during classification for the American Grand Prix at Indianapolis, #13 and #15.
Since Honda is having a hard time with their race cars right now maybe we should look at bikes. I never saw a set of Showa forks or bike shock that was anything less than first rate.
If there is a problem with Showa it's in their technical support (for small timers like me ). It's easy to find reams of information about their motorcycle products, but I have not been able to find any direct contacts for automotive support. Admittedly, I haven't looked that hard yet, because I'm not ready to start spending money yet (and support never comes without the potential of money changing hands), but from what I have seen I may not be able to deal with them. Eibach doesn't make the same kind of hard core suspension components Showa does, but one of the reasons I went with their springs is because they were the only company willing to supply me with the kind of product information I needed to make a decision. With a full up competition coil over system I expect support in determining optimal valving and every other aspect of the suspension setup, and I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to get that from Showa. LOL, now I'm talking out of school, because I have absolutely NO experience in dealing directly with Showa.
Are any of the guys racing or autocrossing on aftermarket Showa's? If so, are they getting good support?
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