Which ones are better for street and drag racing.

 

Street = Koni
Drag ONLY! = QA1

 

QA1s. Konis aren't made for drag racing. You will sacrifice some handling capability with the QA1s, but I doubt you will feel it on the streets.

 

I know plenty people who run their daily-driver/strip 4th gens with QA1s on it. On the street, you don't even come close to pushing your car's limits, so QA1s should be fine. It wouldn't be the best, but it would be an OK compromise. You would be disappointed at a auto-X/road- racing event with the QA1s, though.

 

I agree. You will only see the Koni's potential at an AutoX event, and the same goes for the Qa1's. You would see there potential drag racing.

 

What you want for drag racing are essentially no dampers so you get big weight transfer and you get it now. Every notice how many 10 sec. Nova's are on some old worn-out Napa shock or something?????

What you want for handling etc. is the opposite. You want to control the pitch and roll rates of the car so it goes where it's pointed, tracks well, does not float around and responds quickly.

Koni's are so much better shocks it's not funny. Way better valving, adjsutment mechanism, gas pressurized and so on. And you can turn them way down to maximize the weight transfer, plus the rears already have a lot more compliant compression damping than the stock DeCarbon's do, which also helps.

If the car is not a really, really serious drag car (serious meaning you have the stick to make drag shocks work and it only ever go straight) then the QA1's are more and more appealing all the time. However, the way I see it the suspension is the one part of the car that's always in play. Anytime the car is moving the dampers are working. And while many say they don't care about handling, it's crap. You don't buy a car like this unless you drive it hard. Trouble is folks seem to think that "hanlding" means racing or driving like a madman and that's not the case. The floating that you get when driving down the road @ 70 mph is a lack of rebound damping and while you aren't cornering, it's part of "handling". Notice it also doesn't make you feel very secure, even going straight. That's the easiest things shocks do, and it gets tougher from there and the better the shock the better the car drives. Period.

 

FYI; Koni does make pure drag racing shocks, but they are very $$ and much less streetable than Hals (QA1s).

 

Good point, I was just assuming he was looking into the SAs or the DAs like most others.

 

Sam, I'm curious about this. Koni is a very old name...with an equally long reputation. In a street car that will be driven moderately hard (say, smooth sweepers, mostly positive camber, 50-90mph), in my previous experience with an '80 Porsche 911SC with the "sport" Bilsteins, I found that the high speed compression damping is a bit harsh (probably exacerbated by the torsion bar spring rate), so what I'm looking for is a very well controlled ride with stock springs on my '01 SS - no rebound "float," just one cycle to neutral, with perhaps a bit better pitch control, and without a big increase in compression harshness...is there such an animal out there?

I plan on doing just one change at a time, because any scientific method limits the number of variables to validate the change, at least, to me. Thanks.

 

Sure, the Koni's will give you just that. I've had a lot of customers ride in my car back when I ran in F-stock (where only the shocks and the front bar can be changed from stock), and they were convinced the car must have had springs of some sort on it because it was so much better controlled than their own cars were. But at the same time, I'd come around a corner or over a hill and there would be a bump, or pothole that was pretty nasty. And it was fun (and still is even with higher rate springs) to watch the kind of curl up like "this is gonna hurt" and we went right over them without drama, and usually without any cowl shake either. On stock shocks, it would have, and did, hurt badly and every one would make the dashboard dance and the steering wheel shake in my hands. When I first put My Koni's on my own car, I just could not believe how much better the really sharp impacts were sucked up too. You feel them, the car is firm and taut. But it's more BMW and Porsche like. While you feel them, they are damped well and impacts that rattled you teeth before now don't, and you have the rebound control you want as well.

Shocks first on these cars. I say it all the time. Then most of the time folks want better roll control, which is when we start using different swaybars. While I make my own, and it'd be easy to sell you those seeing as they cost less and it moves stocking items, I still feel shocks are the place you need to start and would rather see you change what's most needed first.

Edit to note that I didn't mean to imply I don't have Koni's. I do, I just drop-ship them instead of keeping lots in stock and carrying that overhead. There are plenty and I can ship them anytime.

 

If konis were in the car would they hurt your drag times or could you adjust them to help you?

 

I just installed some double adjustable QA's all around... have compression and rebound adj, will be taking to road Atlanta in spring, we'll see how it goes...

 

QA1S all the way!!!

 

if you had koni's couldn't you just turn the damping all the way down for dragging???

 

I have QA 1's all the way around with coilovers up front, I wouldn't have it any other way and this car see's Texas World Speedway (road course) at least once a month.. QA1's are effen great on the street!

 

I have Koni's and wouldn't have it any other way...

Sounds like you need to talk to someone who does the kind of driving you're going to be doing and who has had both koni's and QA1's... happy hunting

 

OldeSkool hit the nail on the head, you want to talk to someone who's had both. Few have, but I know there are some because I've sold Koni's to folks who had QA1's and were blown away by the difference. Hopefully someone who's had both will chime in here.

Koni's aren't drag shocks, and QA1's aren't handling shocks. While the Koni's will allow you a pretty fair amount of wieght transfer, they never will get as loose as QA1's will. There is a reason you see so many quick cars at the strip on old junk shocks..... it's what you want for weight transfer.

Handling and drag racing are diametrically opposed things in almost every respect. Shocks being a HUGE difference. Koni actually makes true drag shocks for our cars. If that's what you do, run those. If you want the car do be dual purpose, handle and ride well and give you adjustment you can really use, then you use the Koni Sports.

Here's how I see it; Most cars even if drag raced a lot see the street a lot more than the strip. If you don't have decent traction to get half-way good bite the shocks won't matter much anyway there, but you benefit from good ones pretty much anytime the car is in motion on the street. Even when not driving hard. Your shocks work @ 55 mph too, rolling down the freeway. Anytime the car is in motion the dampers are at work, and that builds heat (shocks converting energy from the springs). That heat makes the oil warmer, and the hotter the oil gets the more it will cavitate and make your shocks not only less effective, but also wear them quickly.

Folks, shocks are NOT as simple as an exhaust system. There are a lot more parameters that need to be handled, parts that need to be installed.... Koni's aren't cheap, but QA1's are just as much. If you are hell-bent on having aluminum body shocks and really don't give a rat's *** about damping, then go for the QA1's. If you want the shocks to work as they should and want them to last (and be covered by a lifetime warranty), then I'd suggest Koni's.

Not much more I can add... Comparing the performance of these shocks in anyway other than a 60' time is like comparing to Vette's... Chevette vs. Corvette.