I finally bit the bullet and ordered Koni SA's for my car. I went with the 4th gen all around. I'm pretty excited to see how much they improve the ride and handling. I probably would have waited if it wasn't for the price increase coming 4/1. But I decided that since I'll eventually get them anyway, I might as well save the $50 by ordering now. Needless to say, I'm very anxious to get them on the car. I don't autox or road race any, and I will only drag race occasionally (maybe more if I had a better rear end). But I decided a good ride on the street was the most important. Plus, the adjustability might help some at the track over non-adjustable shocks like Bilsteins. I can't install these until May though. But come May, I'm going to have a totally different car....new QTP headers, Lane's duals, Koni shocks, possibly HPTuners w/wideband to tune it, hopefully SFC, etc. Anyway, I just wanted to share the good news...hopefully they are as good as what I have heard.

 

I've got a set of the SA's too setting on the work bench waiting to find the time to put them on now that the weather is finally getting good enough to get the ride out of storage and I can't wait to feel the difference.

 

I've got a set of SAs sitting here also. They are going in on saturday. I can't wait

 

If you need info on adjusting them or something, let me know.

 

Awesome, I'll keep that in mind. They told me what to initially set them to, so I'll try that and see what I think. I can't get them on until May, when i go on summer break from college.

 

Just a heads up if you haven't check your SA's for adjustment better do so now, I was going to install mine yesterday and one of the 4TH gen. rears wouldn't stop on the adjuster from - to + it just keep spinning so now Strano has to call Koni to se how to handle it.

 

Yea how did you set yours right off ? What would be a good setting front and rear for some spirited twisty driving I'm running the stock SS springs and a hollow 35mm front sway bar and a 21mm solid rear with the hose mod on the rear and the front struts on the lower perch.
Thanks!

 

Ok, here's the a little thing on physically adjusting the controls.
http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=521349
That's what I originally meant.

Dailing them in for your actual car is a trial and error process. First get your tire pressures in order. Typically 31-33 in the front is normal for a 275, out back 25-29 or lower for a softer sidewall tire like the Nitto DR. Once you get that done I think you can move to the shocks.

Since we are talking about the SA we only have the rebound to look at. If I remember right, the rebound effects mostly the low speed circuit (whichs controls body motion) and only a little of the high speed circuit (which controls high speed bumps and dips). I would start with the rears all the way soft. Try turning them up and actually driving them. I found out pretty quick that all the way soft was the best setting for me. Anything more made the car too stiff feeling and offered no increase in performance. Now I am running 175lb rear springs, so if you are running lower rates you might like the way a little rebound feels in the rear, but you will probably prefer full soft, most folks do.

The front is a bit trickier. Too little rebound will make the car feel sluggish. Too much will make it skate (quick turn in to a corner won't allow the inside tire to drop quickly enough to maintain traction so it slides initially and then grabs). There is also a comfort limit. On my car the front can feel too stiff to the point that freeway driving made my stomach upset before the car got to the point that the front would skate. I like a quick turn in, but didn't want it to ride too stiffly as mine is a daily driver. I started out with 4 sweeps from full soft and added 2 sweeps after that. I test drove the car for a couple of days in between each adjustment. When I got about 7 or 8 from soft I could tell it was too much for daily driving so I backed it off 1 or 2 sweeps. Now it has as much rebound as I can stand for a daily driver. The ride is good and still has a quick turn in. I'm running 550lb front springs and a solid 35 bar, BTW.

I hope that helps some of you guys. Here are some more threads on the subject:
http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread...hreadid=290931
http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread...hreadid=272026

 

The woman I talked to at Strano told me that Sam recommends setting them like this:

Rears - Set to full soft and then 1/2 turn back
Fronts - Set to full hard and then 4 sweeps back

Does this look decent to you guys?

 

You probably talked to Arlyn, Sam's mom. Settings will vary depending on your tires and springs and a whole bunch of things.

I'd say somewhere in the middle of the front and somewhere near full soft in the rear is about right.

 

Is 4 sweeps from full hard about in the middle? How many sweeps are possible?

And a stupid question: What exactly is a "sweep"?

Thanks Jason

 

Everything is answered in post #8. I did a whole write up of adjusting them. Click the upper link.

 

Thanks for the info JasonWW!

 

Glad you put all that info up. I got my lowering kit put in with the SAs on saturday. The shocks haven't been adjusted yet but they are almost at full firm. The ride right now is way too harsh. IT makes my back hurt its so bad. I was going to adjust them today but I can't find my **** to adjust the shocks and I didn't want to adjust anything till I asked around about adjusting. I guess I'll start on the fronts and work on the backs later.

JasonWW what kind of springs are your running?

 

You should take some pliers and carefully turn the rears to full soft. THEN work on the fronts. Maybe start at the halfway point and then go higher or lower in 2 sweep increments. It can be difficult to feel a one sweep difference.

I'm running the GC fronts with 550lb springs, rear are custom made by me with 170lb linear rate with 35 solid/19 rear sway bars and Koni SA's all around. Here's my stance at 26" front and 26 1/4" in the rear:

 

Looks good. Do you have any idea how much that is lowered compared to stock? I like the overall height. I probably won't lower mine though since I am running under the axle duals in the near future.

 

I never really calculated the drop as it was irrelevant to me. On my stock suspension, the fender lips were 27 1/2" front and 27 3/4" rear. Most stock cars are about that height, but factory ride height does vary.

More info here:
http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread...=1#post5638157

 

Which way do I turn for full soft? thats part of the problem, I think I need to turn it to the right but I'm not sure

 

here is a little peek at my car with the new BMR springs. I think it sits about the same as yours does



I'll have to get my paper out of the car but my car with stock suspension sat around 28 on the driver side and 27 3/4 on the pass side. I'll get the pater and post it up tomorrow

 

Did you see the link?
http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=521349
There are pictures and everything. Just in case, turn the rears counter clockwise to get full soft.


Koni also has an online store if you need to order another ****. They are cheap.