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Old 02-21-2021, 02:54 AM   #1
jeffambo
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Member#: 507933
Join Date: Nov 2019
Chapter/Region: BAIC
Vehicle:
2013 WRX Base Hatch
Obsidian Black Pearl

Default Koni yellow owners or past owners I have a few questions..

I’ve been enjoying my koni struts and my RCE black springs and I’d like to ask some of you guys some questions.

What year and model is your car?

What rebound adjustments did you prefer for performance/comfort/off road(how many turns from soft)?

What springs did/do you have?

Swaybar size?

Any other suspension components of note(braces etc)?

How did the Koni’s compare to stock?

How did they compare to coil overs(if applicable)?

Overall experience?


I think it would be nice to have a consolidated thread like this as I had to go through many threads to get some of this info.


I
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Old 02-21-2021, 11:00 AM   #2
wrxl98
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Member#: 101244
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: UT
Vehicle:
2003 wrx sportwagon
silver cobb stage 2.5+

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What year and model is your car? 03 WRX bought new. Koni yellow inserts in factory housings.

What rebound adjustments did you prefer for performance/comfort/off road(how many turns from soft)? Full soft except when driven on track then full hard.

What springs did/do you have? Eibach 348 lb/in front, 250 lb/inch rear.

Swaybar size? Whiteline front and rear can't recall the size.

Any other suspension components of note(braces etc)? Upgraded OEM strut mounts. Whiteline end links.

How did the Koni’s compare to stock? Soft is supposed to be similar to OEM. Hard better for track.

How did they compare to coil overs(if applicable)? Part of the Ground Control kit for '02/'03 WRX. Adjustable height.

Overall experience? Went overboard with suspension upgrades. Great for track but tired of getting beat up the other 99% of the time. Got a different/faster car for track driving. Have already removed the front and rear strut tower bars. Decided against installing a new SPT chassis brace and sold it. Plan to return to factory strut mounts and swap back to KYBs when i can get them at a better price. Will miss the ability to raise the car up for winter driving.
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Old 02-21-2021, 11:37 AM   #3
Winterhawk
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Member#: 463763
Join Date: Feb 2017
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Whidbey Island, WA
Vehicle:
2002 WRX Sedan

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What year and model is your car? 02 WRX Sedan Koni inserts with wagon strut bodies for more initial camber.

What rebound adjustments did you prefer for performance/comfort/off road(how many turns from soft)? Full soft most of the time have gone up 2, any more is too much for street in my opinion.

What springs did/do you have? STi Pink

Swaybar size? 22mm front and rear, rear is adjustable

Any other suspension components of note(braces etc)? Group N top hats, kart boy end links, whiteline rear sway bar mounts.

How did the Koni's compare to stock? Stock were worn out so big difference, nothing else to compare to.

How did they compare to coil overs(if applicable)?

Overall experience? Very happy, car handles great for the street and ride is not too firm unless you crank them up.
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Old 02-21-2021, 12:27 PM   #4
AceKingNYC
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Member#: 406087
Join Date: Nov 2014
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: New York City
Vehicle:
06 GGB 6sp Wagon
WRB

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What year and model is your car? 2006 wrx wagon, Koni inserts into stock shock bodies

What rebound adjustments did you prefer for performance/comfort/off road(how many turns from soft)? I left that as is right out of the packaging

What springs did/do you have? RCE Black for wagon

Swaybar size? 25mm Perrin front

Any other suspension components of note(braces etc)? Tower brace in the engine bay, Kartboy endlinks

How did the Koni's compare to stock? I bought my wagon with blown shocks and stiff springs so this way 100% better

How did they compare to coil overs(if applicable)?

Overall experience? Love them, and I'm not mad at the lifetime guarantee so if/when they go - get them replaced.
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Old 02-22-2021, 12:08 AM   #5
speedyHAM
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Member#: 48377
Join Date: Nov 2003
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: "They eat fish soaked in lye"
Vehicle:
1996 Gutted, built
XP class Impreza L

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I’ve been enjoying my koni struts and my RCE black springs and I’d like to ask some of you guys some questions.

What year and model is your car?1996 Impreza L, EJ20 engine swap, Cusco 1 way front, 1.5 way rear diff, PPG 1-4 trans, 700 lbs weight loss, lots of aero.

What rebound adjustments did you prefer for performance/comfort/off road(how many turns from soft)?
So, my experience is going to be far different than most, as mine is not a DD. I have also had my Koni's custom valved for the springs I am running and the weight of my car. I run them at the middle setting most of the time.

What springs did/do you have? Previous to the Koni Yellow's I had DMS 40mm coilovers with 300/250 lb/in springs. Springs with the Koni's Yellows have been changed at least 5 times- currently 850lbs/in front- 600lb/in rear.

Swaybar size?Been lots of different sizes over the years, currently 25mm front with no rear bar

Any other suspension components of note(braces etc)?Basically every component in my suspension is custom made, I made the front control arms, all bushings are pillow balls, the rear lateral links are fully adjustable and 1/4" shorter than stock, front and rear subframes are custom to lower the car about 1.5 inches. Lots of braces everywhere.

How did the Koni’s compare to stock?LOL

How did they compare to coil overs(if applicable)?With the custom valving for the exact spring rate I run they are way better than the DMS coil overs ever were.

Overall experience?Unless you can afford a better dual adjustable setup, the Koni Yellow is the damper to go with, hands down, every day of the week. It can do 95% of what any damper (including dual adjustables) at a much lower cost- and it's fully rebuildable at a decent price.
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Old 02-22-2021, 04:05 AM   #6
jeffambo
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Member#: 507933
Join Date: Nov 2019
Chapter/Region: BAIC
Vehicle:
2013 WRX Base Hatch
Obsidian Black Pearl

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I appreciate the responses, when I installed my konis I wanted to see what settings other people used to get a general idea of where to start but I went through many threads and found maybe 2 users adjustment settings

For some reason I thought the rear was supposed to be more firm but after months realized I had it backwards, at least for my car

Right now I have the front 2 turns from soft and the rear 1.25 turns from soft, but I’m still testing looking for the best performance setting

I have 2013 hatch WRX base, RCE blacks, 22mm f/r WL sway, Megan h brace, cusco steering rack thing, Cusco rear side member brace(I think that’s what it’s called), Cusco rear subframe brace, Cusco rear strut brace, all the popular bushings, WL Roll center kit

The konis are so much better than stock, for comfort and performance depending on the adjustments, considering how cheap they are I think Subaru would have been wise to make them a stock item

Deciding if the Whiteline anti lift kit is worth it,

Speedyham your car sounds badass man
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Old 02-25-2021, 10:31 PM   #7
speedyHAM
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Member#: 48377
Join Date: Nov 2003
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: "They eat fish soaked in lye"
Vehicle:
1996 Gutted, built
XP class Impreza L

Default

With the RCE Blacks and Koni Yellows a Whiteline ALK is a good next suspension upgrade. One thing you didn't mention is if you have upgraded the shifter bushings, it's a little item, but a massive improvement to shifting accuracy and feel. Just a suggestion.
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Old 02-27-2021, 01:08 PM   #8
Norm Peterson
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Member#: 498642
Join Date: Mar 2019
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: our wrx IS the family sedan
Vehicle:
'19 WRX Ltd 6M dgm
'08 Mustang GT (the toy)

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Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffambo View Post
For some reason I thought the rear was supposed to be more firm but after months realized I had it backwards, at least for my car

Right now I have the front 2 turns from soft and the rear 1.25 turns from soft, but I'm still testing looking for the best performance setting
It sounds like what you're trying to accomplish is more understeer on corner entry with less understeer on corner exit. Is this for a street-only car or is it seeing some road course track time?

One of my softcover reference books (Neil Roberts, "Think Fast") has a table that goes into more detail about shock tuning than most. I'd upload the table as a picture except that I keep getting a 'server error' message.


FWIW, I have the yellows on the Mustang, and I've never set either end at full soft. Not with either the OE springs or with springs up to about twice as stiff as OE. For the street, I've dialed the fronts up more than the rears with good results, but with the stiffer springs I'm having to reverse that and dial the rears up specifically for the track time.


Norm

Last edited by Norm Peterson; 02-27-2021 at 01:16 PM.
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Old 02-27-2021, 02:45 PM   #9
Norm Peterson
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Member#: 498642
Join Date: Mar 2019
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: our wrx IS the family sedan
Vehicle:
'19 WRX Ltd 6M dgm
'08 Mustang GT (the toy)

Default

Hope this works.




Norm
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Old 02-27-2021, 11:07 PM   #10
jeffambo
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Member#: 507933
Join Date: Nov 2019
Chapter/Region: BAIC
Vehicle:
2013 WRX Base Hatch
Obsidian Black Pearl

Default

Thank you Norm

It's funny, that's the exact picture I used a few months ago to realize I had my adjustments backwards, as in, the front should be more dampened than the back considering how much the car understeered. It should certainly help others too. This is all street use but I have tons of winding roads around my house that I take on the daily.

I figured since the exit was where I was understeering and this chart says to increase F rebound and decrease R rebound that is what I should do and it yielded positive results.

However, I'm still making adjustments to this day. Right now I the front at the same 2 turns from soft(or 1/2 turn from stiff) and the rear at .75 turns from soft.

it makes things a little loose on the freeway but I think it corners betters, I believe I read somewhere 'loose is fast' but I'm certainly no suspension expert, tho I'd like to be as I'm constantly trying to do things to make my car faster around the turns and it's the whole reason I'm into cars, tho having power for the first time is addicting and I went from sitting in the non-left lane and cruising 5 mph over the speed limit in my accord for 13 years to driving much faster in the left lane and yelling at idiots who don't realize the left lane isn't just a lane camp in(95% of California drivers do not know this) and don't move over when you get behind them and love driving the same speed as the car next to them making it impossible to pass, but I digress

I actually just ordered the RceComp yellows off their site as I'm hoping that yields positive results in cornering over the black springs.

Last edited by jeffambo; 02-27-2021 at 11:25 PM.
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Old 02-28-2021, 09:23 AM   #11
Norm Peterson
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 498642
Join Date: Mar 2019
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: our wrx IS the family sedan
Vehicle:
'19 WRX Ltd 6M dgm
'08 Mustang GT (the toy)

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffambo View Post
it makes things a little loose on the freeway but I think it corners betters, I believe I read somewhere 'loose is fast'
As long as you can stay on top of it, anyway. That said, Randy Pobst prefers light understeer to oversteer as it's less demanding when you're driving up where 'a little loose' can suddenly become 'a lot loose'. At street levels of performance, 'a little loose' tends to feel 'nimble', or the car 'driving a little smaller/lighter than it is'.

A little loose is going to be easier when your driving is closer to 6/10ths than to 9.5/10ths. 7/10ths on the street . . . not that I'm encouraging this, BTW, but at that level you'd be running away and hiding from all but at most one driver out of 10,000.


Quote:
but I'm certainly no suspension expert, tho I'd like to be as I'm constantly trying to do things to make my car faster around the turns and it's the whole reason I'm into cars
Truth be told, that - and making yourself better at being faster through the corners - might really be the right path to follow in the evolution of both your driving and your car's various potentials. That might be the single most useful thing I've learned about performance driving in the 55+ years that I've been driving.


RCE is an excellent resource. They were my go-to for dampers for the LGT we had previously (from a low production run of custom-valved Bilsteins).


Norm
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Old 05-23-2021, 10:01 PM   #12
dyegan
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Member#: 524439
Join Date: May 2021
Chapter/Region: SCIC
Location: SoCal
Vehicle:
13 WRX Hatch
Blurple

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I hate to bring up an old thread but I'm glad to see all of your posts about set up options as I'm considering making this jump in the next week or so on my 13 Hatch.

Out of curiosity, does anyone have experience using any of these set ups for off-road use? I'm concerned about putting on Konis and springs while driving on rutted-up fire roads.

Thanks for advising! Post number 1 of 3 to make my own thread...
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