Well they are finally here. This is a non-production Koni DA's setup (double adjustable, rebound and compression) made for me by a Koni Authorized Rebuild center called Truechoice.

These shocks use a modified front Evo lower housing modified to accept Koni 8611 inserts. The rears are modified Camaro Konis with the stock Evo perch welded on at stock perch height.

Long story short, I got them on this weekend, aligned Sat. morning (woke up at 4; drove 3 hours), and raced in Greensboro. They felt awesome at first, but a little vague in certain corners. Jacking up the car and getting underneath revealed I had turned the rebound adjustment knob on the front left in the wrong direction. It was almost at full soft! To say the least, the car is very very different. It transitions beautifully, but unfortunately the course was very tight and I was unable to stretch their legs very much.

I definitely need a some more driving and tuning time on them, but we shall see how they fare this coming weekend at National Tour in Arkansas (only a 650 mile drive for me, yay!). Next stop, front sway and then some V710s, since I'm still running on RA-1s and will be at NT.

Can't wait to test them out again.

Pictures:












Devin

 

interesting, good stuff, I would like to do a nice shock setup for my AS sti but no $$$ right now to do something like that

 

I also have a set of Koni DA's courtesey of silencer. I had them on most of last year, but it wasn't until the end of the season that I think I figured out what I really needed to be doing with them. I started out trying to go with a more or less balanced approach leaning towards the stiffer end of the spectrum on both ends. Then I came down on the front rebound a bit to deal with some hopping that I was getting in the front end under certain conditions. At that point, I thought I was pretty much done, except for event-specific fine tuning. As the year progressed however, I found myself going to a bigger and bigger differential in front & rear tire pressures (V710s) in an attempt to mitigate the midcorner understeer I got from having a bigger front bar. What that resulted in was a car that was way too eager to swap ends in transition. As you may have read, a bigger front bar does really seem to help Evos in transition, and using tire pressures to compensate for mid corner understeer just made it really loose turning in. What should have dawned on me sooner was that shocks really only work in transition and I could use those to offset the twitchy turn-in while maintaining decent mid-corner balance. So now I am running stiff up front and soft out back. I want to get more events under my belt with this setup before I proclaim victory, but it does feel a lot better so far...

JW

 

Interesting - so then maybe base shocks in the front and MR shocks in the rear?

 

Upon inital testing, I had little excessive compression issues, but again, the lot was very smooth. The car, on the setup I wound up with last weekend, seems very neutral even though I have it setup for entry slip angle (ie. softer front compression than rear, and more rear rebound than front.)

And yes, shocks only work in transition. They don't affect overall roll, grip, etc, they just affect the rate at which you get there. I'm trying to hold off on 710s until it gets closer to nationals (putting me at a pretty significant disadvantage this weekend at Walnut Ridge), but I will prob. opt for a front bar soon.

Which one did you end up with and did you try an array of them out?

Devin

 

As a realtive newcomber, and someone who approaced this in a similar path to you. Albeit in a different car. I would highly recommend getting the V710's on ASAHFP. You will have to relearn the car. And it will take several months of seat time.

In addition to that, I would highly advise against making any significant changes before nats, especially going to a completely new tire.

Keep us updated on the progress, I will see you this weekend. Make sure to say HI.

Jeremy Foley
GS #80

 

It's not so much that I don't want to get them. Believe me I know what a change they are, it's just money. I'm in college, and it took me a while of working my *** off to save up for these along with paying rent, insurance, etc. It's just that I can't justify burning through a set of 800 dollar tires when I can get takeoff RA-1s for 1/4 of that price. That being said, I will have them a few events before nats to get some testing done on them and get them into their prime heat cycle range.

I'll make sure to say hi this weekend, Jeremy. Good luck!


Devin

 

I went with the Cusco 25mm coupled with their adjustable brackets. Since it was the only one available back then (early 04), I didn't have to think too hard about which one to get. There are a lot more choices these days. I'm hoping we can get some feedback on those as people try them, but I'm in no rush to change mine out given the labor involved.

As for the hopping/porpoising I was getting, I believe it was happening because mid corner, the outside front was (nearly) fully compressed and I would hit a bump and the shock wouldn't rebound quickly enough after the bump to settle things down and the car started bouncing on its tires instead of the springs...

JW

 

How does the ride compare to the stock dampeners? softer or harsher?

 

Depends on where you set the rebound and compression. I haven't turned them all the way down in either respect yet because I am trying to get a feel for them, but I am 100% positive that they would be softer. I am about midway on compression and rebound right now, and the compression feels similar, but the car rebounds more quickly than stock shocks over road imperfections. All the way down, though, I'm sure it would be a smooth, silky ride.

Devin

 

Have to had a chance to ride in an EVO MR or EVO with MR bilsteins? If so how would they compare?