Koni and strano VS qa1 and eibach pro kit
Koni and strano VS qa1 and eibach pro kit I currently have the qa1 and prokit on the car, and am seriously debating on puchasing the koni and strano springs. I am just worried about the quality of the ride. The setup I have now it really rough, will the koni and strano spring be a much nicer ride?
You are probably going to have to expand on the "rough" part - are we talking riding the bump stops rough? Springs too stiff for you? Bounce all over the place? Rough means different things to different people...
You are comparing apples and oranges.... QA1's are lousy shocks. While the Eibach's aren't the best springs your ride really sucks because the shocks are horrible--period.
Will Koni's and my springs be a better ride? Hell yes. So would Koni's and Eibach's too--in fact you can't get much worse than what you have now....
Will Koni's and my springs be a better ride? Hell yes. So would Koni's and Eibach's too--in fact you can't get much worse than what you have now....
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Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
QA1s are best suited for drag racing, even if you had QA1 DAs you would never get them to ride or handle as good set of street stocks (Koni's, Bilsteins,Edelbrock, etc....), I've been there and done that, more than once! 
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Like Sam said, you're making a huge comparison difference here. You've got QA1 shocks which were probably meant for stock-like front springs for weight transfer in drag racing, but you're paired up with lowering springs which doesn't help weight transfer. Those shocks are meant to dampen springs for drag racing. That combo seems like an obvious mismatch.
Konis and stranos your looking at the cream of the crop for perfect street/performance car setup in my opinion. The springs firm the car up, but they can absolutely absorb most small-medium bumps very nicely. Big bumps though, that's another story. Konis have a very good compression setting and the range of rebound settings allows you to underdampen or overdampen most aftermarket springs out there. For a while when I had my STI, I was favoring driving my Camaro on strano/konis because it was way more comfortable by far compared to my STI on stock suspension. My Camaro was nice and stable and wouldn't give me a headache like my sti.
In any case, you need to figure out what you want to do with the car and have a goal. Understand what it is you're putting in the car. Then tune it to the way you want it. No one setup is the be-all-end-all answer for everyone. Though for people starting out, you would be throwing away a good opportunity by not taking advantage of Sam Strano's recommendations to get you pointed in the right direction.
Konis and stranos your looking at the cream of the crop for perfect street/performance car setup in my opinion. The springs firm the car up, but they can absolutely absorb most small-medium bumps very nicely. Big bumps though, that's another story. Konis have a very good compression setting and the range of rebound settings allows you to underdampen or overdampen most aftermarket springs out there. For a while when I had my STI, I was favoring driving my Camaro on strano/konis because it was way more comfortable by far compared to my STI on stock suspension. My Camaro was nice and stable and wouldn't give me a headache like my sti.
In any case, you need to figure out what you want to do with the car and have a goal. Understand what it is you're putting in the car. Then tune it to the way you want it. No one setup is the be-all-end-all answer for everyone. Though for people starting out, you would be throwing away a good opportunity by not taking advantage of Sam Strano's recommendations to get you pointed in the right direction.
qa1's are hands down best suited for drag racing one of the best shocks! next to afcos for drag racing however i had koni's and eibachs before my drag race setup and the car would handle really well, however thats not my cup of tea im a drag racer so. ive played a round with my qa1 shocks and springs and im convinced that with the addition of swaybars and wider front wheels 5 inchers dont cut it that the car would handle better than the koni and eibach setup
if you use them you need the 230 lb spring with a nose heavy f-body
mr. strano how do you figure that qa1s are lousy? because its drag shock? its purpose is better suited for straight line performance makes it lousy? if you are building a dual purpose car qa1s are the ticket its the springs that kills most peoples setups
if you use them you need the 230 lb spring with a nose heavy f-body
mr. strano how do you figure that qa1s are lousy? because its drag shock? its purpose is better suited for straight line performance makes it lousy? if you are building a dual purpose car qa1s are the ticket its the springs that kills most peoples setups
qa1's are hands down best suited for drag racing one of the best shocks! next to afcos for drag racing however i had koni's and eibachs before my drag race setup and the car would handle really well, however thats not my cup of tea im a drag racer so. ive played a round with my qa1 shocks and springs and im convinced that with the addition of swaybars and wider front wheels 5 inchers dont cut it that the car would handle better than the koni and eibach setup if you use them you need the 230 lb spring with a nose heavy f-body
because they are a drag shock. The are basically designed to let the spring do what it wants. the whole purpose of a shock (especially a handling shock) is to control a spring - a drag shock does just about the opposite of that.
Originally Posted by SUSPENSION FAQ
Shocks: You need shocks that can damp your spring rates and the unsprung weight on each corner. Those big 19" wheels and tires are unsprung weight and the shock has to control that too. The stiffer the spring, the more control you will ask your shocks to provide. The shock is a damper and its job it to reduce chassis motion and oscillations. You don't want to be bouncing down the road like some of the old beaters we've all seen, the ones that hit a bump and bounce down the road for another 1/2 mile. That's one of the jobs of the shock absorber. With drag shocks, you can have a car that acts like that and is constantly crashing into the bump stops due to the greatly reduced damping of the drag shocks. This can lead to an unpleasant ride. However, the opposite can be true. If we get way too much compression and/or rebound, we can make the ride harsh by effectively limiting or eliminating the suspension motion. This is one reason that quality adjustable shocks are nice, you can get what you need/want and nothing more (or less). Do not confuse shocks that are "stiff" with shocks that are properly damped. There can be a big difference between the two and often will be. Just because a shock can be turned up until it is very stiff does not mean that it is actually controlling the suspension properly. Remember that reduction in suspension motion from too much compression or rebound that was mentioned a few lines ago?
Shocks and drag racing. In a typical drag application, we want the nose to rise quickly to put weight on the back tires. This is helped by using soft/low spring rate springs (as discussed above). This is also helped by using shocks with very little rebound damping. Rebound is the valving you use when you are extending a shock, such as letting the springs extend to push the nose up. Too much rebound damping will limit how quickly those springs can move. If they can't overpower the shocks and extend the wheels quickly, the benefit of those softer/longer drag springs will be lost. So, drag shocks typically offer very little rebound resistance. This can also cause them to allow the car to bounce up in the air over bumps. Drag shocks can act similar to worn out shocks in many cases. Some of the better quality ones have velocity specific valving to attempt to sense the difference between a pothole and a drag launch, others don't.
For performance handling, this is the opposite of what you want. You want rebound damping primarily to control the roll rate of the car in a turn and it also will impact how quickly the nose and tail rise under acceleration and braking. We want a "lot" of rebound damping to prevent the car from feeling like it's just flopping around when we turn into a corner. We also need enough compression damping to control the weight of the wheels, tires and suspension parts (unsprung weight). Springs keep the car from bottoming out, compression damping controls the weight of the suspension parts and wheels when they are traveling upwards, such as after hitting a bump with one wheel that tries to bounce that wheel and tire up off of the ground. Though many guys report running acceptable numbers, performance/handling based shocks will always slow your drag times down slightly over a setup using softer shocks.
Shocks and drag racing. In a typical drag application, we want the nose to rise quickly to put weight on the back tires. This is helped by using soft/low spring rate springs (as discussed above). This is also helped by using shocks with very little rebound damping. Rebound is the valving you use when you are extending a shock, such as letting the springs extend to push the nose up. Too much rebound damping will limit how quickly those springs can move. If they can't overpower the shocks and extend the wheels quickly, the benefit of those softer/longer drag springs will be lost. So, drag shocks typically offer very little rebound resistance. This can also cause them to allow the car to bounce up in the air over bumps. Drag shocks can act similar to worn out shocks in many cases. Some of the better quality ones have velocity specific valving to attempt to sense the difference between a pothole and a drag launch, others don't.
For performance handling, this is the opposite of what you want. You want rebound damping primarily to control the roll rate of the car in a turn and it also will impact how quickly the nose and tail rise under acceleration and braking. We want a "lot" of rebound damping to prevent the car from feeling like it's just flopping around when we turn into a corner. We also need enough compression damping to control the weight of the wheels, tires and suspension parts (unsprung weight). Springs keep the car from bottoming out, compression damping controls the weight of the suspension parts and wheels when they are traveling upwards, such as after hitting a bump with one wheel that tries to bounce that wheel and tire up off of the ground. Though many guys report running acceptable numbers, performance/handling based shocks will always slow your drag times down slightly over a setup using softer shocks.
well im one to stir the pot a lil lol heres a bold statement. you never can build a true dual purpose car and expect it to excell in all areas you have to give to get!!! for maximum traction you will have to give up handling or ride quality or vise versa...
there is a huge diffrence between single adjustable and double adjustable qa1's and spring choice is what makes them work.
to build a great handling car u may want to go with konis and strano springs but im not seeing that setup win very many drag races track or street unless you have a huge power advantage and can drive around the other car spinning tires
the biggest mistake f-body owners make are trying to build a car that can do it all a triple threat well quit chasing that dragon cause you never will catch it ! some can do okay at best at ride quality handling and traction but to be honest with you it leads to piles of used parts in the corners of your garage. just do your research and plan and map your build ups so that your not buying parts twice
i feel that people have not really expiremented enuff with them! a double adjustable qa1 has 576 diffrent valving combinations and im sure that if your play with it enuff that you can match other strut and shock manufactures
well im one to stir the pot a lil lol heres a bold statement. you never can build a true dual purpose car and expect it to excell in all areas you have to give to get!!! for maximum traction you will have to give up handling or ride quality or vise versa...
there is a huge diffrence between single adjustable and double adjustable qa1's and spring choice is what makes them work.
to build a great handling car u may want to go with konis and strano springs but im not seeing that setup win very many drag races track or street unless you have a huge power advantage and can drive around the other car spinning tires
the biggest mistake f-body owners make are trying to build a car that can do it all a triple threat well quit chasing that dragon cause you never will catch it ! some can do okay at best at ride quality handling and traction but to be honest with you it leads to piles of used parts in the corners of your garage. just do your research and plan and map your build ups so that your not buying parts twice
there is a huge diffrence between single adjustable and double adjustable qa1's and spring choice is what makes them work.
to build a great handling car u may want to go with konis and strano springs but im not seeing that setup win very many drag races track or street unless you have a huge power advantage and can drive around the other car spinning tires
the biggest mistake f-body owners make are trying to build a car that can do it all a triple threat well quit chasing that dragon cause you never will catch it ! some can do okay at best at ride quality handling and traction but to be honest with you it leads to piles of used parts in the corners of your garage. just do your research and plan and map your build ups so that your not buying parts twice
i agree with what you are saying here...but you contradicted yourself by saying a qa1 car will out handle a koni/strano car. that just ain't gonna happen.
well im one to stir the pot a lil lol heres a bold statement. you never can build a true dual purpose car and expect it to excell in all areas you have to give to get!!! for maximum traction you will have to give up handling or ride quality or vise versa...
there is a huge diffrence between single adjustable and double adjustable qa1's and spring choice is what makes them work.
to build a great handling car u may want to go with konis and strano springs but im not seeing that setup win very many drag races track or street unless you have a huge power advantage and can drive around the other car spinning tires
the biggest mistake f-body owners make are trying to build a car that can do it all a triple threat well quit chasing that dragon cause you never will catch it ! some can do okay at best at ride quality handling and traction but to be honest with you it leads to piles of used parts in the corners of your garage. just do your research and plan and map your build ups so that your not buying parts twice
there is a huge diffrence between single adjustable and double adjustable qa1's and spring choice is what makes them work.
to build a great handling car u may want to go with konis and strano springs but im not seeing that setup win very many drag races track or street unless you have a huge power advantage and can drive around the other car spinning tires
the biggest mistake f-body owners make are trying to build a car that can do it all a triple threat well quit chasing that dragon cause you never will catch it ! some can do okay at best at ride quality handling and traction but to be honest with you it leads to piles of used parts in the corners of your garage. just do your research and plan and map your build ups so that your not buying parts twice
You'll have to humor me...I'm a little dense sometimes.
QA1's use a cheap bypass valve between the inner and outer chamber to effect the stiffness of the shock, which works without regard to piston speed. And that's important because damping needs and forces need to change in relation to piston speed, much like you have different needs for ignition timing based on load.
I've said this before, and I'll say it again. I don't see QA1's on cars that demand serious shocks. Hell, you see Koni drag shocks on serious drag cars, not many QA1's.
You can think that QA1's are great. Being able to make something stiff vs. soft isn't the only test of a shock's ability to damp. And I've seen far too many times when folks equate "stiff" with the generic idea of handling. They are not the same thing.
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Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450
Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
well im one to stir the pot a lil lol heres a bold statement. you never can build a true dual purpose car and expect it to excell in all areas you have to give to get!!! for maximum traction you will have to give up handling or ride quality or vise versa...
there is a huge diffrence between single adjustable and double adjustable qa1's and spring choice is what makes them work.
to build a great handling car u may want to go with konis and strano springs but im not seeing that setup win very many drag races track or street unless you have a huge power advantage and can drive around the other car spinning tires
the biggest mistake f-body owners make are trying to build a car that can do it all a triple threat well quit chasing that dragon cause you never will catch it ! some can do okay at best at ride quality handling and traction but to be honest with you it leads to piles of used parts in the corners of your garage. just do your research and plan and map your build ups so that your not buying parts twice
there is a huge diffrence between single adjustable and double adjustable qa1's and spring choice is what makes them work.
to build a great handling car u may want to go with konis and strano springs but im not seeing that setup win very many drag races track or street unless you have a huge power advantage and can drive around the other car spinning tires
the biggest mistake f-body owners make are trying to build a car that can do it all a triple threat well quit chasing that dragon cause you never will catch it ! some can do okay at best at ride quality handling and traction but to be honest with you it leads to piles of used parts in the corners of your garage. just do your research and plan and map your build ups so that your not buying parts twice
You seem to claim that you can have it all with QA1's over Koni's. I don't agree at all, and there are plenty of folks here who've made that swap to Koni and found the difference to be immense.
For what it's worth, and I've said this before to, there is a man here who cut a BETTER 60 foot on Koni's than on QA1's and Afco's. Better to the tune of 1.50 vs. 1.58 before with the "Drag" shocks.
And I think you can build a jack of all trades car. I have a lot of customers in the 1.6's and 1.7's with setups meant to handle (and that have been proven time and time again via championships and lap times). Further, a ProStock car isn't very good at turning corners. And an stock car isn't meant to drag race. You want to go ***** to the wall drag racing? Ok, then certainly a setup means to not let weight fly back and forth isn't the idea way to do that. But the opposite is true to, a drag setup isn't very good when you want and need stability and composure at speed.
You can have a great compromise if you are willing to prioritize your needs. Most folks are lazy though, and most don't want to that, they just want a simple answer to a very unsimple question--and for those folks there are other companies that will sell you want you want. I am more demanding because I want my customers to understand what they want, so I can sell them the correct part.
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Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
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13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450
Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
I was wondering the same thing....
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www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450
Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450
Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion