School me in suspension

[Racer X]

Jesus. Mustangs are the best in the world! Not really but that's what we drive. Koni's are the best in the world! For our Mustangs. $800 for a set vrs. $500 for a set of shitty Tokicos. I was just speaking comparitively. If you are spending $2k for dampers on your Stang, you really need to re-evaluate your choice of automobile.

Guess I should have said KONI's are the best damper that a normal Ford Drivin' kinda guy should ever consider putting on his built-to-a-price-point-car. (i.e, a Mustang)

What I meant was.....ahhh forget it!


P.S KONI still has the best WARRANTY in the world!

 

[Pony DNA]

Jesus. Mustangs are the best in the world! Not really but that's what we drive. Koni's are the best in the world! For our Mustangs. $800 for a set vrs. $500 for a set of shitty Tokicos. I was just speaking comparitively. If you are spending $2k for dampers on your Stang, you really need to re-evaluate your choice of automobile.

Guess I should have said KONI's are the best damper that a normal Ford Drivin' kinda guy should ever consider putting on his built-to-a-price-point-car. (i.e, a Mustang)

What I meant was.....ahhh forget it!

P.S KONI still has the best WARRANTY in the world!

Hi Racer X,

A lot of us own and/or have owned many different cars. I've also currently got an E36 M3 and have owned Porsche 911's 914/6, vintage BMW's etc. but I've been pretty rabid about my S197GT for the last few years.

If you have a source for D-Specs at $500 please post it for the folks who need good dampers cheap. The cheapest I could find for a friend some months ago was $550 shipped but those are long gone.

I don't know where you got your damper pricing or how you figured out what people should or should not be spending on their dampers but it sounds like it comes from a rather narrow or limited perspective. I know people with $20K+ in their 3-valve engines and they are sitting on nearly stock suspension, go figure.

As far as good race quality dampers goes the entry point for S197 dampers is about $5,000 to $6,000+ for all four corners plus any odds and ends you may need to get them bolted in properly. This is about what Koni's off the shelf S197 chassis specific 2800 series race dampers run. It only goes up from there, Sachs race dampers for the S197 chassis (FR500S) as sourced from FRPP are also close to this range.

As far as warranty goes you are talking out your butt. All major damper makers for the mass market have the same basic warranty. Koni service for the most part is supplied by region and distributor. If you have a poor relationship with the local Koni service center you will likely get poor service. This would be true of any make of damper or performance part in the performance parts industry. The key is not to be an ass, ask nicely for help and don't make up a B.S. story. If you did the damage own up to it, when they tear it down they will know if you did it or the damper failed.


HTH!

 

[Racer X]

I live close to the KONI NA headquarters, so I just walk in, throw it on the warranty depts. desk, and they grab a new one for me. Easy breezy. I love em. I have a 1987 911 coupe, as well as a 1993 Cobretti, KONI's on both. I have had them on many cars and love them and their customer service. Best in the biz as far as aftermarket performance parts as far as I am concerned. Tried to deal with Tokico once on an Audi 4000Q I built (see European Car mag, Oct. 1997!), and they told me to go get bent. Fuck 'em.

Somehow I hit something on this laptop and the writing is in italics, I don't know how to turn it off!

 

[Sam Strano]

Hi Racer X,

A lot of us own and/or have owned many different cars. I've also currently got an E36 M3 and have owned Porsche 911's 914/6, vintage BMW's etc. but I've been pretty rabid about my S197GT for the last few years.

If you have a source for D-Specs at $500 please post it for the folks who need good dampers cheap. The cheapest I could find for a friend some months ago was $550 shipped but those are long gone.

I don't know where you got your damper pricing or how you figured out what people should or should not be spending on their dampers but it sounds like it comes from a rather narrow or limited perspective. I know people with $20K+ in their 3-valve engines and they are sitting on nearly stock suspension, go figure.

As far as good race quality dampers goes the entry point for S197 dampers is about $5,000 to $6,000+ for all four corners plus any odds and ends you may need to get them bolted in properly. This is about what Koni's off the shelf S197 chassis specific 2800 series race dampers run. It only goes up from there, Sachs race dampers for the S197 chassis (FR500S) as sourced from FRPP are also close to this range.

As far as warranty goes you are talking out your butt. All major damper makers for the mass market have the same basic warranty. Koni service for the most part is supplied by region and distributor. If you have a poor relationship with the local Koni service center you will likely get poor service. This would be true of any make of damper or performance part in the performance parts industry. The key is not to be an ass, ask nicely for help and don't make up a B.S. story. If you did the damage own up to it, when they tear it down they will know if you did it or the damper failed.


HTH!

I have D-specs for $569 shipped... fwiw.

As for the warranty and his talking out his butt, I respectfully disagree. I deal with all the major brands, and Koni and Koni alone deals with warranty directly, unlike Tokico and Bilstein. When you say it's supplied by region and distributor, that's just not the case. Koni will deal direct with the customer, the others generally will not. While the warranty on all three are "lifetime" some support their words better than others. In fact with regards to Tokico, I tell folks all the time the warranty is claimed to be lifetime, but really be prepared for it to not be honored, it often isn't. The only time I've known Koni to give folks a hard time is when the shocks weren't bought by them (and rightly so, the warranty extends to the original owner only and they would like some proof). Or, that dampers came from a source that ignores Koni policy, such as pricing structures.

AST Suspenison from Holland now has race dampers for the S197 which aren't int he Koni 28 series price range. In fact I'm getting a set of 4100's to test on my car, they are in the mid $2k range (singles). Double add more, triples more yet. And in fact AST is the company that designed the basic setup that Moton uses in their ClubSport dampers.... I have picked up AST as one of the lines I carry because they have proven themselves so well on various cars in autocrossing. I've driven on them in a number of cars and they are damned good, good enough that as I stated before, I'm trying a set for myself.

 

[Racer X]

Thanks Sam, I love the Fays 2 and other parts I got from you last month, fast shipping and fair prices.

 

[Sam Strano]

No problem, just stating things from what I've had to deal with! I'm happy to hear you are pleased with your parts!!! Glad I could help.