BAM0027

I just installed a set all around with the help of kwescott and speeddemon32. My 8 is otherwise a stock 2004 6spd. All I can say is...

wow.

I've been taking turns and curves are 20-30% faster with confidence. It's been a very fun 30 hours or so since the install was complete. :-) I set them all at 4 out of 5 (5 being the stiffest) and I'm so pleased with the balance of stiffness and suppleness.

(Yeah, I said stiffness.)

Aside from the major improvement in handling and fun, I have to say that meeting kwescott and speeddemon32 by these boards was super fun and eye opening. Their generosity was really great and I learned a lot getting my hands dirty on my own car. I'm geared up to do more, so please make a donation to my funds on your way out...

Cheers! See you on the road.

Razz1

Glag they could help ja.

Next is the install of my clutch and fly wheel.

BAM0027

So, a friend of mine found a FAQ on Koni's site that says:

Does anyone have any comments on the long term wear of setting them as high as I have at 4 (out of 5)? I don't wanna thrash them, but they feel sooo good!

Jax_RX8

If you are happy with the ride - the Koni's will be fine. The reference on "rarely full setting" means pretty much for racing applications with very stiff springs.

Haze

I don't think that there is any wear issue with setting them high. The thing is that since you have the stock springs the damper rate is way too high for the spring, and what I found happened with my car, when I had them turned up only half way, was that on medium sized bumps the wheels would get bounced off the road because the shocks were holding the wheel up and not allowing it to return to the road fast enough after the shock from the bump. In other words, I would lose traction in pretty normal driving, and the faster I went the worse that it got. I found that an '04 manual trans with stock springs adjusted pretty well to 1/4 above soft, but you might find that for you, stiffer works better. I determined my adjustment by driving around with only the fronts mounted and adjusting them a little bit up and down each day to see where I could get the firmest ride without losing road holding in the fronts then adjusting the rears to the same stiffness (figuring that it was a 50/50 weighted car and that the same physics might apply) then installing the rears. I did it that way because you can't adjust the rears while they are in the car. It worked perfectly for me. Cornering speeds shot up, and rear wheel hop went away. It is the best thing that I ever did for any car that I have ever owned! I also find that the car still steers neutrally. As for wear on the shock, again I don't think that the adjustment effects the life of the shock, but I do have one that is leaking. Everyone I have talked to says that it is a fluke bad manufacturing thing, and I have to agree. I have a set of KONI reds on my Alfa Romeo that date back to about 1980, and they still run like new. Best of luck and have fun with the shocks. It is the best mod that you can make to the 8 in my opinion.

CosmosMpower

There are no numbers on stiffness with the konis only turns from full soft. I'd say for the best mix of comfort and performance on a street car 1.25 full turns from full soft is the way to go. I use 1.5 full turns from full soft for street/autocross paired with MS springs.

At nearly full stiff you're almost overdampening the really soft stock springs.

BAM0027

Thanks for all the responses.

Jax, I'm working toward more racing, so my smile is getting wider.

Haze, yeah, I can feel the imbalance between shocks and springs now, but the B Stock rules in autocross only allow changes to shocks. I'm not quite ready to move out of B Stock.

Cosmos, my understanding was that each half turn equated to a full setting, thus 1 through 5 would be two full turns. Your "1.5 full turns" would be where I'm at (4 out of 5).

Thanks again, all. I'm feeling the pull to get new springs...