From Koni to bilstein. I've seen the light. Thanks vorshlag!

[csamsh]

Well then, allow me to reintroduce myself.

Hi,

I'm Joe. I was about about 2.8 seconds quicker the last time we were in the same event (Equipe Rapide in Feb). Good to meet you.

You mean the one in a gravel pit in 20 degree freezing rain when you were on all seasons and I was on Rivals, testing new spring rates, and had no ABS? Yeah I thought that was the one. Tell the whole story or gtfo.

Ok, there is one person I know who runs konis and hasn't blown them. Had them dyno'ed or off the car lately by any chance?

 

[Boaisy]

 

[Mark Aubele]

The regular old Koni Yellow inserts found in most Ground Control kits should be good for up to near 600lb springs on the extreme end of the spectrum. 425 lb springs would be no issue at all.

Thank you, I do have OTS Koni yellows though, not sure how different the valving is.

 

[white86hatch]

Well then, allow me to reintroduce myself.

Hi,

I'm Joe. I was about about 2.8 seconds quicker the last time we were in the same event (Equipe Rapide in Feb). Good to meet you.

The Koni yellows that are on my car have been there for about 20 months and have been flawless. During that time I've autocrossed my car maybe a couple dozen times and 16 days on track for HPDE events. It's driven hard regularly.

Count me as a non-believer for the "team vorschlag" Koni hate. For a car that's only mildly lowered (about 1" in front and 1-3/8" out back) I rarely find the bump stops, and then only when I hit a radical train track way to fast. I've done so a handful of times. The normal daily crossings are no issue, nor do I feel anything when driving competitively. I did follow the instructions and reuse the stock strut bump stops, and use the shorter Eibach stops in the rear. If I remember correctly, Adam's car (white86) was lowered much more radically when he had his issue.

I've only ever had steeda sport springs on this car which advertise a 1" drop in front and a 1.25" drop in the rear. I'd hardly call that radical. Joe I know you've had good luck with your Koni yellows and I'm happy for you. It just hasn't been the case for me....twice. After the ER school at mineral wells last year the first set of yellows were toast. Then I replaced them and continued on my merry way until November or so of 2014 and the ride quality dropped dramatically and the dreaded popping started again. May 2014 to November 2014 is all they had in them. The second set never even saw an autocross event. Only daily driving. Life, work, wedding planning, and honestly a sour taste in my mouth kept me out of racing it most of last year. I've found something that works for me and I'm happy.
I know you don't like Terry and vorshlag for whatever reason but don't twist it as me being brainwashed by him to hate koni's. That's a conclusion I came to on my own. Look forward to seeing you at an event soon!

 

[kcbrown]

It's quite the bummer that Konis are failing for some people.

Has anyone who has had theirs fail taken them apart to find out why they failed?

Usually, when something fails on our cars, we want to figure out what went wrong so that we can improve things, or at least suggest to the manufacturer what they can do better. I don't see how this would be any different. While there may be only a few shops that can revalve Konis, there should be plenty of shops that would, upon taking one apart, know what they're looking at.

I think it would be quite illuminating if we understood the actual root cause of the failures.

 

[El_Tortuga]

You mean the one in a gravel pit in 20 degree freezing rain when you were on all seasons and I was on Rivals? Yeah I thought that was the one. C'mon, man.....get out of here with that shit unless you're telling the whole story.

Ok, there is one person I know who runs konis and hasn't blown them. Had them dyno'ed or off the car lately by any chance?

Gravel pit? Aren't you pampered? Literally the cleanest lone star has been in quite a while as they got the street sweeper after it during the winter. You've got to stay on line for blacktop autocross's. ER is generally great about running the blowers between heats, but not so much in the rain.

Rain doesn't freeze in the 40s. Felt pretty damn cold though as I got soaked working the first heat. Had my rain gear there too.Doh!

Zii s certainly are not all seasons. I didn't like the Rivals in cool temps either, but I did like them better in the wet than the Zii's.

If you really want to feel bad with your excuses, look at David whitener's times. While his top time (56 something) was dry, he ran a low 57 in the wet. Amazing.

Ran the Cresson 3.1 this weekend. It makes a pretty good test of vehicle dynamics. When the rain hit, I ended up turning the Konis down to soften things up in the wet and it was a help. So no, I didn't take them to a parts peddler as they are working great.

 

[El_Tortuga]

I've only ever had steeda sport springs on this car which advertise a 1" drop in front and a 1.25" drop in the rear. I'd hardly call that radical. Joe I know you've had good luck with your Koni yellows and I'm happy for you. It just hasn't been the case for me....twice. After the ER school at mineral wells last year the first set of yellows were toast. Then I replaced them and continued on my merry way until November or so of 2014 and the ride quality dropped dramatically and the dreaded popping started again. May 2014 to November 2014 is all they had in them. The second set never even saw an autocross event. Only daily driving. Life, work, wedding planning, and honestly a sour taste in my mouth kept me out of racing it most of last year. I've found something that works for me and I'm happy.
I know you don't like Terry and vorshlag for whatever reason but don't twist it as me being brainwashed by him to hate koni's. That's a conclusion I came to on my own. Look forward to seeing you at an event soon!

Cheers Adam. Hopefully my comments didn't ding your happy. My apologies if they did. Go forth and prosper. Agree that multiple viable choices out there. Caveat Emptor. I also understand how life gets in the way. 23 years of pickups between my old fox Capri and this car. Some of the best times of my life so far, but very little car fun. Life's a never ending series of compromises.

See you out there. I'm off the track and back on cones for the summer.

 

[white86hatch]

Cheers Adam. Hopefully my comments didn't ding your happy. My apologies if they did. Go forth and prosper. Agree that multiple viable choices out there. Caveat Emptor. I also understand how life gets in the way. 23 years of pickups between my old fox Capri and this car. Some of the best times of my life so far, but very little car fun. Life's a never ending series of compromises.

See you out there. I'm off the track and back on cones for the summer.

No dings. Just clearing the air. Can't wait to get back on track.

 

[white86hatch]

Haven't posted an update in a while so here it goes. Haven't had a chance to make it to an event yet but I slapped the Hoosiers on for a test drive last weekend. Holy. Mother. Of. God. No wonder it's called purple crack. Even on well worn and "cold" tires I've never experienced that type of grip. I'm happy to report I didn't get any rubbing in the front with a 3mm spacer. It pushed the 18x11 and 315 tire out just enough. Sadly I did find an oily residue on the driver side hub so I'm going to replace them both with the ford racing units with arp studs just to be safe. Anyways. Here's a photo.