beeson100
New member
Has anyone tried the Koni STR.T or is everyone on the sports? I only ask because the STR.T is about half the price!
Cheers
John
Cheers
John
Technical Koni damper experiment thread
- Thread starter rturner
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Technical Koni damper experiment thread
babbo_umbro
Established member
If the settings are right for the model you have it would be the answer, of course, but the fact that it's non-adjustable and is the unit they sell for the whole (2wd) Panda range means that it's not going to be optimal for more than one Panda variant.
beeson100
New member
True, although from what I've read they are the same as the Sports on the softest setting. I gather from feedback on the Sports this is still a vast improvement on the standard ones, and plus I've managed to find them for £43.36 each ;-)
http://www.europerformancedirect.co.uk/parts/detail.mhtml?root_category=suspension;sub_category=shock-absorbers;manufacturer=koni;manufacturer_category=koni-strt-shock-absorbers-rear;car=fiatpanda;product=254439
I think its worth a try!
babbo_umbro
Established member
Couldn't agree more. The only other thing to consider is whether you can lower the car using the STR.T damper, if you should want to.
Took the Panda for a drive yesterday - need to play with the shocker settings, but it is much better with the steering feel - before you would turn the steering wheel and feel a bit of resitance - now it turns and the car changes direction much better. Will have to keep an eye on the tyre wear. Now on Yokohama AD08 195/50 - instead of the Goodyear 195/45. Must admit the tyrewall on the Yokis was not as solid as the Goodyear, but they seem fine.
Please note, I am just a normal Joe, not a GT test driver / chassis engineer so my opinions are not expert
Koni sports fitted this evening. Adjustment instructions were non-exist, so the link provided earlier in the thread was the saviour.. Went for 1 turn from the bottom.
The change in the car is remarkable, nothing less. The "pogo" affect has gone, try these dampers before doing anything else. For road use I reckon that something just less than 1 turn may be perfect, especially if you have passengers a lot of the time.
Thanks for all the suggestions earlier in the thread. I now have some "hardly used" standad bilstein's for sale.
The change in the car is remarkable, nothing less. The "pogo" affect has gone, try these dampers before doing anything else. For road use I reckon that something just less than 1 turn may be perfect, especially if you have passengers a lot of the time.
Thanks for all the suggestions earlier in the thread. I now have some "hardly used" standad bilstein's for sale.
babbo_umbro
Established member
Feedback from me tomorrow or Friday.
beeson100
New member
I should get the STR.Ts next week so I'll give my feedback on them too.
babbo_umbro
Established member
Done about a hundred miles since the Konis were fitted on the rear - 3/4 turn from minimum rebound setting - mixture of roads, some known some not. First thing - the bump setting is stiffer than the standard dampers. This is all subjective but - ride over minor bumps is better - a surprise for me, perhaps it's because of much reduced compliance in the solid bushes on the Konis; medium-sized single bumps - not sure there's much difference, especially at town speeds, remember that bump setting; severe bumps and, specially, dent followed by bump or series of transverse bumps - definite improvement - the sensation of the car going down when it should be going up and vice versa has gone - those increasingly common dent-bump combinations that are severe enough to have tyre impressions in the upward slope of the bump are the real Achilles heel of the standard dampers - behaviour here is much improved. On many roads there are dents/bumps that can cause you to catch your breath in the 100HP and this effect has been reduced by at least half. The general feeling is one of body motion being better controlled (not universally attainable by the over-60s, believe me). I was pushing on in third round an unfamiliar roundabout and came across a very nasty diagonal ripple that would have upset the car very noticeably previously but caused barely a lurch with the Konis.
If they were adjustable in situ I might experiment with a softer setting, to start with, but, given that we set off for Italy, heavily laden, on Wednesday morning, that will have to wait.
If they were adjustable in situ I might experiment with a softer setting, to start with, but, given that we set off for Italy, heavily laden, on Wednesday morning, that will have to wait.
Agree with the above. Have used the Panda quite a bit over the last couple of days, mainly on familiar high(ish) speed country roads which have a number of "yumps" with changes in direction built in. Nice combination and a good test of the car... Previously the car was nervous at the rear and would hop on landing, now it goes up and then plants itself securely back down without fuss.
When I have the time and motivation I will try them at something less than 1 turn, although as I hardly ever drive in town I guess it won't really matter.
When I have the time and motivation I will try them at something less than 1 turn, although as I hardly ever drive in town I guess it won't really matter.
All the feedback and experiments are very interesting with these shocks, so I have gone ahead and ordered some rear ones from larkspeed. As I do the majority of my driving on fast bumpy country roads they should make a big difference.
Any particular reason you guys are just buying the rears? Obviously the main issue with the Panda/500 platform is the rear suspension, but if you're going to improve the rear and leave the front standard then that's not exactly ideal.
babbo_umbro
Established member
From my point of view it's to see what a difference the rears make with a view to changing the fronts later if I like the results - which are positive so far - it'll have to wait till July when we come back from Italy. Maybe changing both ends at once introduces too many unknowns to the equation. As you say, the main issue is with the rear end, and it also spreads the cost. My 100HP was having a (nearly) 36,000-mile service anyway last week, prior to the Italian trip - this included swapping the wheels front-to-back so putting the rear dampers on only added a couple of minutes to the labour costs. Incidentally, the disk pads were checked and they're still the originals.
I suppose so
I guess I just take the view that I'd rather drive around on standard suspension for a bit longer and then get a full set of dampers done.
babbo_umbro
Established member
I suppose so
I guess I just take the view that I'd rather drive around on standard suspension for a bit longer and then get a full set of dampers done.
Yep, quite understand. I asked in a previous post about Koni FSDs on the 500 - any advance on that?
They're meant to be very good. But for some reason I'm gravitating towards the Bilstein B14 coilovers as I reckon they'll yield a greater increase in handling performance
babbo_umbro
Established member
It's interesting when you think of the cost of developing a new model - or a variant of a model - that car makers can come up with a compromise that's flawed. The anti-roll bar upgrade to the 500 rear end is a case in point
There are cost implications of course - a company like Bilstein, or Koni, uses much better materials for seals, valves and so on than the supplier that gets the order for Panda or 500 dampers, which is based on minimum cost for an acceptable level of warranty claims - but would 100HP owners, for instance, be sufficiently interested to pay another, say, 200 quid at purchase time for a handling pack? The options that are offered for the 500 Abarth suggest that they would.
It's not simply because Fiat's made a bodge - if you Google Koni FSD you come across numerous forum entries, especially for VWs and Minis, discussing improvements to the damping on those, supposedly, better-engineered cars.
There are cost implications of course - a company like Bilstein, or Koni, uses much better materials for seals, valves and so on than the supplier that gets the order for Panda or 500 dampers, which is based on minimum cost for an acceptable level of warranty claims - but would 100HP owners, for instance, be sufficiently interested to pay another, say, 200 quid at purchase time for a handling pack? The options that are offered for the 500 Abarth suggest that they would.
It's not simply because Fiat's made a bodge - if you Google Koni FSD you come across numerous forum entries, especially for VWs and Minis, discussing improvements to the damping on those, supposedly, better-engineered cars.
Well I think as well engineered as those cars are bilsteins or konis will always improve any car.
babbo_umbro
Established member
Well, I suppose that's my point really - how come Koni or Bilstein can come up with a better solution even on cars that are relatively price-insensitive?
Because manufacturers simply don't want to spend the money on decent dampers when a lot probably won't know? That said some manufacturers like Subaru have Spec-B models. The B stands for Bilstein, and quite a few people go for them because they know the suspension is going to be decent.
