ryanater

iTrader: (2)

Anytime anyone askes anything about shocks on this forum they always get a million responses telling them to get Koni's.

Are they really worth the extra $400 over other shocks? How much of a differance do they really make over my stock decarbons?

ryanater

iTrader: (2)

Oh and how much of a differance is there between the sport Koni's and the double adjustable 4/4 Konis?

JD_AMG

Here is my review, on otherwise stock suspension:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/showpost....21&postcount=8
Consider lifetime warranty (others don't give this, and some don't give any warranty with lowering springs).

Double adjustable adjust compression and rebound, and are over kill. Sam Strano says he used the DA's and they didn't make his car any faster, so he went back to the SA's.

wicknewman

iTrader: (13)

Yes, I think the Konis live up to all of their hype. I am not one to just go on what others say but they really did make a huge difference. I was disappointed when I bought my SS with 8400 miles and it still handled like a boat even with the low miles and new condition suspension. I even noticed our family sedan was more confident and composed in the turns. That is what really made me want to change out the shocks.

The Konis will make the car more comfortable and composed just driving down the road, lane changes, and normal daily maneuvers in general. When it comes to cornering and handling there is no comparison in my mind. The car is superior in feel, composure, handling, everything.

If you buy from Sam make sure you talk to him about set up. Even then it may take some time and adjustments to get the car to the point where you like the balance of comfort and handling. Don't expect the car to be perfect when you first get the shocks in. They are adjustable and with some time you will find that near perfect setting.

LS1W66

Excellent review JD
Your comments were spot on.

Anybody I've talked to online that has Koni's agrees that the cars should of came that way from the factory.

wvaboy

iTrader: (3)

worth every cent!

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

Koni shocks have really good valving that's adjustable so they work really good controlling your factory, drag, or lowering springs. And the difference between the Koni SA and DA (besides the cost) is that the SA only has rebound adjust ability the compression dampening is at a fixed rate. It also has a two snap ring groves in the front shock, so you can lower your spring seat to get a 1/2"-3/4"lowering with factory front springs.The Koni DA has both rebound, and compression dampening adjust ability and a fixed position for the spring seat. IMO the DA is overkill for street driving unless your car sees a lot of track time. The only compromise with the Koni SA, or DA is price, and IMO the build qualiy could be better.. On the other hand, with other non-adjustible shocks the compromise is the valving, build quality or both. Do you have to have koni's ...? No, it's just a matter of where you want, or need to make a compromise to suit your situation. And I've had Tokico,Bilstien, KYB, QA1, And both koni SAs,and DAs over the years and I'm currently running Edelbrock IAS shocks. So do your research then make you choice.

suzookiegsxr

I like my konis, konis are mandatory if you plan on dropping it.

If you can come up with the coin, get some koni's. The only time I wouldn't use konis, is if I was building a drag only car.

I would buy koni again, definately.

Major_Lee_Slow

iTrader: (1)

Let me put this as simply as possible. When I was running decrappins my rear axle would hop and skip over bumps in the road and in a corner, the back end would step out when encountering a bump. Before I installed the Koni's I found a "route" which had a nice set of curves, straights and bumps and ran the car thru this route a few times to get a real good feel for the car. After I put the Koni's on the car felt more stable over the bumps in the road.

Now I didn't buy the Koni's for the ride quality, I bought them for handling because my car is a dedicated autocross car and I like to win, therefore only the best parts I can find go on my car.

raptorws6

iTrader: (1)

To me mine are worth every cent I paid for them.

CranMaro99

iTrader: (10)

Worth every penny!

Bill Bowling

iTrader: (6)

I agree... Just installed my Koni's a couple of weeks ago. Work great.

Bill

LilJayV10

iTrader: (39)

I did strano springs and koni's this year. They are fantastic. I like taking friends out in the car now to "show" it off some. The only thing I have to compare them to is the factory shocks. Which freakin suck. There are other shock options out there and I have read people say they improved the handling of their car. The thing is you have to look at how shitty the stock dampeners are on these cars. So anything is going to be an improvement.

It's like headers for our cars. You can spend 1k+ and get a set or go with a cheaper option. I went with the LPP headers. It's funny that I won't spend 900 bucks on headers but I did in a heartbeat for the koni's. I think there are something that can be made cheaper and the performance is comparable but not shocks. That's my limited knowledge of an opinion.

Urban Legend

iTrader: (5)

Been using Konis since 2006 and I also have them on my wife's Honda. Good adjustable shocks for sure.

Cap'n Pete

iTrader: (2)

I installed the Strano suspension (springs, bars, and Koni's) in my car this year. I race frequently at a couple different tracks local to me. My times have improved 4 - 5 seconds per lap at every track compared to last year!! You do the math .

My buddy's Trans Am has a different brand of lowering springs, and KYB AGX shocks. It rides like a damn lumber wagon . Although if a "stiff" suspension is what you're looking for ........

My car is a DREAM to drive on a daily basis, and yet I can drive out onto the race track and it performs exceptionally well too. The Koni SA's alone are a BIG part of that .

b55baron

I've got the Koni SA's on mine as well as other parts from Strano. Very satisfied.

sneaky7980

iTrader: (15)

Mine are going on today, i'll let you know. FWIW i had a VERY hard time justifiying the money for these also, i had the money all along but it still took me about 6 months to finally go through with it. I'll be posting some reviews of soon. BTW i'm also installing a 2x adj phr, eibach pros (sam was out of springs) and UMI sfc's...

Redlinez

iTrader: (5)

I just installed the Koni SA's on the front of mine, running KYB AGX's in the rear (for now). I have an un-named set of lowering springs that I installed today as well. I must say, just drove it some after work and it is a totally different car. I've bought my parts as I could, the springs I got from someone NIB for a deal. I'm sure Strano's are great (probably not as low as mine- probably a good thing), but I love mine. My budget has changed quite a bit in the last 6 months as customers aren't spending NEAR the money servicing their cars with us. I have mine dialed about 3 1/3rd sweeps back from full hard. I'll probably try 2 1/3rd back tomorrow to see how it affects brake dive. The AGX's seem fine in the rear, I'll probably end up with 3rd gen Konis when the $ is right. Also planning on Strano's sway bars and some sort of upper strut bar if it's worth it. To me, the ride is better than stock, quick harsh impacts are more pronounced as most have mentioned, but driving it is awesome. And that's after a long day at work and I'm tired. I also installed a Spohn APHB, that's the only thing that added noise. It clunks in the rear on short hard bumps, I'm sure due to the poly bushings. We adjusted it about 1/2" and set the toe while on an alignment rack. I plan to get the special tool to have the full camber and caster alignment later.

Lopoetve

iTrader: (1)

Anyone know a good shop in Colorado, preferably near the Denver/Boulder area that will do installs of these, and actually knows what they're doing?

02Z28LS1

iTrader: (2)

just like with anything else, the correct answer to your question will depend heavily on your goals for the car. is it a daily driver? is it a drag strip car? is it an auto-x/road race car? is the car lowered (or will it ever be lowered)? or is it a combination of two or more of these?

for a stock-height car that will never be lowered, i'd personally save the money and go with a less-expensive brand, since most replacement shocks are not adjustable, and are (sometimes) valved to handle the spring rate of the stock springs. in this scenario, just search for the best option thoroughly, as not all "stock-replacement" shocks are created equal.

for a drag car, or a combination of daily driver/drag car, it depends on how often you drag the car, and whether or not you want maximum drag performance. if you can handle having the car be sloppy in the corners to give you that extra edge when drag racing, look for shocks specifically designed to improve your drag times. if you still want it to handle better than stock, and don't mind not having the absolute best shocks for drag racing, for a stock-height car that will never be lowered, look into some less expensive shocks....but if it will be lowered at some point, get the Koni's. keep in mind that there has been at least one person on this forum that has cut some 1.5-second 60' times when drag racing on Koni S/A's, which is not too shabby.

for a lowered daily driver, or a combination of DD/auto-x/road race car, look no further than the Koni's, as they are pretty much the best option for the amount of money you'll spend on them.

i personally have the Koni 4/4 S/A's and Strano springs on my lowered DD, and will not even consider any other options (barring some new product being introduced that is proven to be better....which seems unlikely at this point).