Unexpected poor handling with Konis

7871 Views 30 Replies 7 Participants Last post by AlanBDahl, May 9, 2015

AlanBDahl

Discussion Starter · Apr 14, 2015

I ran my first event of the season yesterday with my newly-installed Konis and the results were poor. I'm now trying to figure out what to do next.

Setup: 2014 ST with Dirizza ZII 225/45-16 on OZ wheels. Porterfield R4S brake pads. Koni yellows front and rear.

1st run: Shocks full stiff rear, 1/2 turn from soft front. 38 psi front/42 rear.

Car was all over the place, I could not keep the rear end planted. All I can do to make it through the course with just one cone. 3 seconds behind Des in his ST.

2nd run: Shocks the same, pressures 38/38.

Much better to begin with but still eager to rotate. Entered a fast three-cone slalom with a short braking area into a right-hander. Car snap spun on me and sent me off course into the grass and a side taxiway. Day over per our 4-wheels-off rule with a DSQ on the score sheet.

From my perspective the common wisdom of Koni shock settings is way off. I'm thinking the middle setting rear and half-way to 3/4 front. Am I right and everyone else is wrong or did we goof up our install some way?

Des does have a Cobb front bar but that doesn't explain the 4 second difference between us. I road with Des and his car had very good turn-in but tended to loose grip in hard sweepers. My goal is the best of both worlds, high grip with good turn-in. I think it's doable, it's just figuring out how...

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TRev

· #2 · Apr 14, 2015 (Edited)

Sounds to me like it is probably a combination of temp and site surface. I have almost the exact same setup, 2015 ST with Z2* 225/45-16 on Sparco wheels, Porterfield R4S pads (I agree BTW on the pedal requiring too much pressure to get them to really bite), Koni Yellows f/r.

I had my shocks full soft front and 1/8th of a turn off full stiff rear. 38 psi front/42 rear. The reason I didn't go full stiff in the rear was because I have seen mention that shock curves can get interesting at the very far end of the curve. Not sure how true that is of the Konis though. I will likely be dialing up my rebound in the front next event. Unfortunately, this event didn't have much for fast transitions but the four sweepers did affirm that the car wouldn't rotate on entry at all and likes to push on exit a bit.

I couldn't get the car to break loose in the rear at all but the inside front tire sure did. If a front bar makes that any worse, I don't think I want one! We were on smooooth 5 year old concrete. When I drove Mightymango's car last year, I was getting the rear loose but it was a much different surface. I mentioned it to Des that I thought the FiST rotated nicely and I think he said something like "no way must have been the surface" and I now have first hand experience.

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TRev

· #4 · Apr 14, 2015 (Edited)

I have Koni Yellow singles.

I am going to wait a month or so until (hopefully) Hawk has HPS pads available.

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TRev

· #6 · Apr 14, 2015

This is what I have:
http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/suspension.jsp?make=Koni&model=Sport+Shock&group=Sport&cat=Shocks

They are adjusted by fully compressing the shock and then turning which requires removal from the vehicle.

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TRev

· #7 · Apr 14, 2015

The Porterfields aren't ideal IMO...they just require too much pedal pressure. I really liked the HPS on the FoST other than having the pads smoking at more than one event and very badly at the Solo Trials. The brake dust on the FoST was about the same as stock. They had good modulation (much better than the stock pads at initial depress which try to send you through the dash). I probably needed to use 50-70% of the pedal to get on the ABS with the HPS last year depending on surface whereas the Porterfields feels like it takes 90+ percent of the pedal and even then I can't invoke the ABS too aggressively but some of that could be the characteristics of the FiST brakes vs the FoST too as I never did much threshold braking with the stock pads in the FiST.

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TRev

· #9 · Apr 14, 2015

AlanBDahl said:
Yes but there are only 4 positions as show below, right? Or am I mistaken, my mechanic adjusted them when he installed everything. Are you on +2 then?

I don't remember seeing that diagram with my shocks and never had the turn style Konis so I could be doing it wrong/mistaken. I never felt any clicking through the range but did turn them toward stiff until they stopped and then backed them off about an 1/8th of a turn.

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TRev

· #11 · Apr 14, 2015

Here is a video that may be helpful too though I used the vice method like Smokin describes. I agree they are a bugger to set. My mechanic friend passed the duty off to me haha. Also shows a good way to verify if rebound is equal. I didn't think to do that and plan to remove them, go full stiff and verify they are as equal as possible.

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TRev

· #27 · May 7, 2015

I am running the rears in the mid to upper 30's as well. I have also found the rear stepping out in the slaloms seemed to steal more time than helping the car rotate elsewhere which I have been able to minimize to a larger extent now that I am getting better with left foot brake timing/trail braking and throttle inputs. The first run out on the Rival S really required patience with the high speed slalom on the first run out in Blytheville as the rear was even more eager to step out of line. The highest speed elements came right after so any time lost was magnified too.

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TRev

· #29 · May 7, 2015

No, got it the afternoon before I left for Arkansas. I should have it on for Spring Nationals though and hopefully one local event before than to get a feel for it.

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