Hi guys, I'm thinking about staying in stock solo2 class with this integra, and was wondering about how those of you running your konis on stock springs feel about it. I personally liek the stock gsr suspension, but could use it the inch lower the konis allow, and the added control of more damping on a daily basis. Lets open this up. I've got lots of info, but no direct answers. Thanks,

Ryan

 

the konis are going to be better than stock.... but unless you match them with a more appropriate spring rate you're going to be missing out on their full potential.... I'm not familiar with the stock solo2 class, but if you're required to run stock spring rates then the Konis are still a good bet. They are pretty widely considered the highest quality oem replacement shock. If you're allowed to change rates and maybe get coilovers you'd still be happy with the Koni yellows and if you decide to go with very high spring rates you can get the Koni RACE shocks, or just buy the yellows and a few years down the line have them rebuilt to the RACE shock specs.

those of you who think the Koni RACE shocks are not a viable option for street use.... my friend has them on his gutted CRX (600lb/500lb) and imo they feel great still, definitely street worthy. MUCH better than my DA with skunkworks coils and Illumina shocks (550lb/4450lb). how they compare on the durability scale, I'm not the one to ask, but I don't see why they'd be any worse than normal ots yellows.

 

yeah Its true about paring them with stiffer springs, but I want to A keep it in stock class, and B keep it as comfortable as stock for street use.

 

I've descided to stay with the stock gear for a while. Theyve only got 50k on them, and the funds are a touch low.

 

I don't think you can run the shocks on the lower perch setting in stock class, at least for SCCA rules. You must run them at the same height your OEM shocks are.

Otherwise, Koni shocks on oem springs work fine, even the SPSS valved yellows.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Todd00 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I don't think you can run the shocks on the lower perch setting in stock class, at least for SCCA rules. You must run them at the same height your OEM shocks are.

Otherwise, Koni shocks on oem springs work fine, even the SPSS valved yellows.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Now that you mentioned that, I was looking at the rules for the stock solo class, and although a bit fuzzy, i think your definetely right. I'd prefer a slight drop over being competetive in street touring, so I may bite the bullet, and pick up some ITR springs to go with them when the funds come back.

 

I 'm assuming you are talking about G Stock. You can't lower a car in a Stock class even if it's by means of shocks (spring perch) - it's illegal. You must keep the stock height.

If you go to Street Touring (STS), you will not be competitive with just the Type-R springs and Konis. You will need a lot more than that to be competitive in STS. You 'll have to spend several $ grand to be competitive in STS because it will require that you do most of the mods allowed in STS to stay competitive. I 've done it but I now race STX (cause of my Quaife LSD) occasionally when it's 95 deg. out and don't feel like mounting R tires for my regular class DSP, or don't have R tires with me..

Just get the Koni Yellows and stay in the stock class if you don't have big bucks to spend to build an STS car. Civic HB's usually dominate STS because they are hundreds of pounds lighter and can have the same supsension and mods as your Integra.

The Konis will not make the ride any harsher. If anything they will make it better. You can make the ride suite your taste by adjusting them. Just don't set them too firm on the street. Keep them at &lt; 1 full turn at the most.

I auto-xed my completely stock GSR with just the Konis for 1 season. I was like why didn't I do this sooner? I was immediately 1.5 seconds faster on 40-45s courses after I put the Konis on. Trust me. You 'll thank me. The OTS Konis (off-the-shelf) are excellent street shocks and can also make your car faster in auto-x. These are facts. You should be able to order a new set for ~$480 shipped. Well worth the $$ and will last several years unless you go with much higher spring rates which will reduce their life expectancy.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by VTEConly &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I 'm assuming you are talking about G Stock. You can't lower a car in a Stock class even if it's by means of shocks (spring perch) - it's illegal. You must keep the stock height.

If you go to Street Touring (STS), you will not be competitive with just the Type-R springs and Konis. You will need a lot more than that to be competitive in STS. You 'll have to spend several $ grand to be competitive in STS because it will require that you do most of the mods allowed in STS to stay competitive. I 've done it but I now race STX (cause of my Quaife LSD) occasionally when it's 95 deg. out and don't feel like mounting R tires for my regular class DSP, or don't have R tires with me..

Just get the Koni Yellows and stay in the stock class if you don't have big bucks to spend to build an STS car. Civic HB's usually dominate STS because they are hundreds of pounds lighter and can have the same supsension and mods as your Integra.

The Konis will not make the ride any harsher. If anything they will make it better. You can make the ride suite your taste by adjusting them. Just don't set them too firm on the street. Keep them at &lt; 1 full turn at the most.

I auto-xed my completely stock GSR with just the Konis for 1 season. I was like why didn't I do this sooner? I was immediately 1.5 seconds faster on 40-45s courses after I put the Konis on. Trust me. You 'll thank me. The OTS Konis (off-the-shelf) are excellent street shocks and can also make your car faster in auto-x. These are facts. You should be able to order a new set for ~$480 shipped. Well worth the $$ and will last several years unless you go with much higher spring rates which will reduce their life expectancy. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yep, Good call. I'm going to pick a set up as soon as I have the bucks. Thanks for the info too

 

You 're making the right choice. You can always go with a GC coilover kit and a 22mm rear sway bar in the future and jump right into STS (just make sure you use the Falken Azenis RT615 tires).

BTW, I 'm back on regular Konis now with 400F/450R springs (GC coilovers) and the car rides fine on the street. It 's actually pretty good because I threw out all the polyurethane bushings (I think most of them were shot) and went with OEM rubber bushings again on the Lower Control arms (LCA's) front & rear, except for the rear UCA's and upper shock mounts which are still poly (I use the GC upper shock mount kits). So even with the polyurethane upper shock bushings the ride is still very good on 8" springs. Before I had 600F/700R springs on 7" and 6" springs on SPSS3 race valved Konis and the ride kinda sucked. But before that I had 650F/750R springs on Advanced Design double-adjustable custom valved race shocks (monotube - very short body) and the car was barely streetable. Rode like a MAC truck w/poly bushings everywhere. That setup did reward me with an FTD the first time I auto-xed with it though.
Since I switched to the regular Konis and the milder 400F/450R setup, I can enjoy the car on the street again and I 'm only about 0.5-0.6sec. slower in auto-x.
Sure that 1/2sec has caused me not to get 1st place a couple of times, but I enjoy the car a lot more on the street now, instead of gripping the steering wheel and getting my spine ready for that loud thump everytime I went over a small bump or crack on the road..

 

One more thing. In stock class, stiffer front damping will only cause understeer (and lots of it), so front shocks are pretty much a waste of money unless you are in a mod class and have the spring rates to justify it.

Its the rear shocks that will help you by providing better response in transition - so you could save money by just picking up some rear shocks right now and waiting on the fronts.

I run Koni Sports on otherwise stock ITR. Full-soft in front (because as I said any more than that causes push - and yes, I bought fronts thinking I could use the added damping only to find out it was a waste of money). Full-stiff in rear for AX (quarter turn off full stiff for street, which is quite comfortable even for the family).

 

I used to run koni yellows with a set of skunk2 coilovers. I'd set the konis's to full soft for daily driving and then stiffened them up for the track. Worked out great for a couple of years and the daily drive was not too bad.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by VTEConly &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You 're making the right choice. You can always go with a GC coilover kit and a 22mm rear sway bar in the future and jump right into STS (just make sure you use the Falken Azenis RT615 tires).

BTW, I 'm back on regular Konis now with 400F/450R springs (GC coilovers) and the car rides fine on the street. It 's actually pretty good because I threw out all the polyurethane bushings (I think most of them were shot) and went with OEM rubber bushings again on the Lower Control arms (LCA's) front & rear, except for the rear UCA's and upper shock mounts which are still poly (I use the GC upper shock mount kits). So even with the polyurethane upper shock bushings the ride is still very good on 8" springs. Before I had 600F/700R springs on 7" and 6" springs on SPSS3 race valved Konis and the ride kinda sucked. But before that I had 650F/750R springs on Advanced Design double-adjustable custom valved race shocks (monotube - very short body) and the car was barely streetable. Rode like a MAC truck w/poly bushings everywhere. That setup did reward me with an FTD the first time I auto-xed with it though.
Since I switched to the regular Konis and the milder 400F/450R setup, I can enjoy the car on the street again and I 'm only about 0.5-0.6sec. slower in auto-x.
Sure that 1/2sec has caused me not to get 1st place a couple of times, but I enjoy the car a lot more on the street now, instead of gripping the steering wheel and getting my spine ready for that loud thump everytime I went over a small bump or crack on the road.. </TD></TR></TABLE>

What's Koni settings you use for front and back?? I think that the OTS Koni's has 16 turns from Soft to Firm.

Also, what kind of Koni settings change you make when you run on R comps vs the Azenis?

thanks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by schumi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

What's Koni settings you use for front and back?? I think that the OTS Koni's has 16 turns from Soft to Firm.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

The ots yellows are more like 1.8 turns from soft to firm.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by artifex &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The ots yellows are more like 1.8 turns from soft to firm.</TD></TR></TABLE>

16 turns I was referring to was the 16 positions you can trun the **** from Soft to Firm.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by schumi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

16 turns I was referring to was the 16 positions you can trun the **** from Soft to Firm.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

They are infinitely adjustable, there are no clicks or anything of that nature.

 

What I meant was, if you take a reference positions and start turning the **** BASED ON THE MARKINGS ON THE WHITE ****, then there are 16 positions from Full soft to Firm.