Viper

iTrader: (6)

I put the Koni SA's on today. Nothing like waiting till it hits the 90's!!

Rear is on full soft, hose mod on stock rear springs. Front is on lower perch, 4 clicks from full stiff. Piece of cake to put the whole shock/spring together, even with the 'picture-only' instructions from Koni. There's only 6 parts in the box; 2 shocks, 2 washers and 2 nuts. The washer goes on top of the shock before the rubber upper shock mount. Moving the snap ring to the lower perch is as easy as using your fingers to pop it out, then move it down one location.

Really like the ride of the Koni's. It sits MUCH higher than I'm used to, I had Strano revalved bilsteins with Eibach Pro's before hand.

This time around I also changed LCA's; I went back to stock with 1LE rubber, bought the parts from Sam and swapped the new pieces in about a 1/2 hour. Really like the way it rides , just came from LG poly/rod LCA's although I will admit the rod ends were shot ( 4 years old, 22K miles ). Kept my relocation brackets, and even kept it in the lowest hole although I may change that eventually.

What I'm waiting on is Sam's new springs to arrive; thus the entire change in suspension. Car has been down since Memorial Day so I decided to put stock back in for now. With his new springs I may change the location for the LCA's in the relocation bracket or take off the relocation bracket. I can say I get the same zero wheel hop I had with the LG arms.

Autox will be the test and tuning, looking forward to it. I'm sure I'm not testing the limits of the components on the street. On a side note, I had to send my Fikse's back to Fikse for repair so I'm running 17" WS6 wheels now with Kumho tires. I miss the offset of the Fikse's, these WS6 rims really sit inside the wheelwell.

Anyway, thought I'd post up my impressions.

HPP

What size are the Kuhmos?

How does it ride, all together?

Any pics?

Foxxtron

iTrader: (1)

Outstanding as usual from Viper.

I like people who not only perform modifications with the car of only one part installation at a time, but also tests by running in a safer, controlled environment that let's one legally push the limits of what the car's potential is and not just blindly throwing powder coated brand names at the vehicle.

This is yet another example of a "functional modifier" and not a bandwagon lemming.

Hope those Fiske's return real soon.

LvDemKings

Definitely, these are the threads that I love to read on here. It is great when someone can point out the good and bad in a review of a product instead of just liking it because it's what they decided to buy. Plus this is a review of something I've been thinking about buying, so even better.

Thanks for the review.

Viper

iTrader: (6)

Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback.


"What size are the Kuhmos?"

275/40/17. Kumho 712's with not enough tread to drive in the water safely

"How does it ride, all together?"

Just drove it to work on some nasty azz highway roads that are scraped down to grooves and getting repaved. I hate driving on those conditions, but I miss driving so bad I had to.

Anyway, it drives very smooth (best fitting word). Bumps are as others have noticed, one hit and then it's gone, not a harsh jounce at all. After driving around on the ground for 4+ years ( 25-3/4 drop front, 26-1/4" rear ) this is actually very nice as I'm not worried about scraping. I've lost no less than THREE y-pipes in those years due to some crappy roads in Ohio (and me not always using my head). So the height is between the stock 4x4 and the Eibach's. Enough where I'm actually quite happy with the height right now. I'll take pictures tonight.

BAD99TA

Excellent review Viper, looking forward to seeing some pics.

J. Brown

[QUOTE=Viper]Rear is on full soft, hose mod on stock rear springs. Front is on lower perch, 4 clicks from full stiff. [QUOTE=Viper]

4 clicks from full stiff? do you mean four full sweeps from full stiff? how many sweeps are there total from full soft to full hard on the front? I've set mine to four full sweeps from full soft and it's way to stiff for the street.

BAD99TA

It's all going to come down to opinion and what you like. I've got my Koni's set 5 sweeps from full soft on the front and I don't think it's too stiff for the street. I think the shocks have 12 full sweeps from full soft, but I'm not 100% sure about that, can't remember. Anyone know for sure?

Viper

iTrader: (6)

I counted 10 sweeps before putting the shock/spring together. I meant to write sweeps, not clicks. Anyway, I went ot full stiff, then backed it off 4 sweeps or 6 sweeps above full soft. It is preference, I had pretty aggressively revalved Bilsteins from Strano prior to this so this doesn't feel bad at all. Plus what is the stock spring rate, something really low like 292 right?

Viper

iTrader: (6)

I must not be counting correctly.

http://www.koni-na.com/adjustment.cfm

According to Koni, 12 sweeps are possible.

Regardless I'm around 4 from full stiff.

J. Brown

I'm four from full soft and I find it to stiff.............my hood shakes while driving down the road. I never noticed that before? On the HWY it feels great.....it's driving around town that it seems rough. I can't imagine four sweeps from full firm...........

BAD99TA

If your hood shakes while driving down the road I would seriously look your car over, that just doesn't seem right. I have mine set to 5 sweeps from full soft and even when I hit a bump my hood doesn't move one bit.

Viper

iTrader: (6)

No shaking here, poly motor mounts though.

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

I run 4 sweeps from full stiff on rebound and 5 clicks of compression on my front DA's. The rears are at 1 1/4 turn of rebound (from full soft) and 4 (or is it 6?) clicks of compression. I don't think it's too stiff, and it has won autocross events with that setup and I drove it to work all winter that way. But it all does come down to personal preference.

Viper

iTrader: (6)

trackbird

What spring rates are you running? I seem to have forgot. Thanks.

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

600/150's

35 solid/22 hollow sway bars

Viper

iTrader: (6)

Pictures can be found here:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/viper9...?.dir=/e4c4re2

Notice I still have a 'rake' to the car compared to the pictures on my website.

HPP

Looks great. More of a drop and rake than I thought it would be. Killer. (though it does seem to be sitting on inclined ground, which would affect the appearance of the drop)

You had said it rides nice. As we saw with the firmness of the shocks, everyone has their own idea of what is too firm and what is nice. Right now, I have pure stock everything (with the addition of SLP SFCs welded in and an SLP STB bolted on). It's harsh as hell.

I don't mind feeling bumps. I do mind crashing into them and worrying that I'm beating the every loving crap out of the car, even though I'm going like 15mph.

When I hit a bump, there's no rattle or squeak (other than the passenger side seatbelt rattling on the seat), but there is usually a heavy THUD or sometimes even a clunk. My Grand Prix doesn't do this, and I know it has a much less stiff chassis.

What air pressure are you running in the Khumos? I'm hoping my issues are a combination of shocks (but it seems bump damping being too stiff, which means rebound adjustability won't help - but if it's a case of the shocks simply being too crappy to properly react... it might still make a difference), and too much psi. Might be some loosnes in the interior too, but I really hate the thought of trying to track that sort of thing down.

Viper

iTrader: (6)

Well, my driveway is pretty flat, but perhaps the smallest of inclines in there. I can park it on the street and take more pics.

Pressures in Kumhos. 30 rear, 34 front. I'm used to running Nittos ( 4 years ) so I wasn't positive where to put these tires at. I too have SLP's welded in, although I left my STB off this time around. I have some engine work to do and it's always easier without that in the way.

With this setup I don't feel every bump in the road or have anything rattling around. Just a nice comfortable yet firm ride. I'm having a vibration issue at 70mph, but I think I know why:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...64#post5194564

HPP

Hmm... thanks for the info. I will try lowering pressure again. (I had been convinced a long, long time ago that tires should be at their max rated pressure to get the most stiffness out of the sidewall and help cornering by preventing the tire from rolling over. I have since let them down to 40 all 'round and noticed an improvement. I'll go even lower now.)

One can never have too many pics of a cool car. It might be illusion, it just seemed it was on an angle with the front of the car being higher (the ground at the front of the car I mean).

They really do look cool in silver.