Hi all, I'm in the process of procuring a new suspension setup, & the only sticking point is the brand/model of shockies.

I was originally looking at Koni Reds, then I found a GOOD price on Yellows ($980/ set).
But Dave & someone else said Konis would be overboard for a street car, & that Replacement KYBs would be sufficient.

I want it to be an absolute WEAPON round corners (the selected shockies will be accompanied by Low Kings, an upgraded Swaybar, & front strut brace) with out being bone-shatteringly ruff, so could ppl with the above shockies tell me whether the Konis are worth approx. $400/set more? Is the adjustablity worth it?

I don't want to be spending $500+ on KYBs only to find they go soft after 2 months, but if they are a quality item the savings would be welcomed.

What do yas wrekon?
PLZ HELP!

Ive had my KYBs in for just over 1000ks.. and theyre great.. Ive been told they will become stiffer soon too.. I was told the same thing that its not worth getting Koni's unless I was gonna be racing or anything, and many of my friends have KYBs and I havent heard any issues with them. In terms of value for money, KYBs are the go..

go the konis if your going to do a mod do it right the first time you will save money in the long run

This is the second car I've had with Konis and I've found them to be oustanding. The Konis are re-buildable too (I'm not sure if KYB's are).

.

This is what ive been told by a suspension 'specialist' after enquiring about both Koni and KYB, KYB are in the mid section and Koni are in the higher section of quality, neither are gold but KYB is very decent and will kill any monroe product about, its a very good bang-for-buck type suspension, if you want something not arm'n'leg costing but have decent performance and were about 400-500$ a set i think.. maybe mid $400's. Koni are nice and would've been around $600 per set (don't ask me what type of shocks we were talking about, its a long time ago but they weren't bottom line ones from each company, and the koni's werent adjustable) also if you plan on lowering a great deal your gonna need your shocks modified, but like you i like corners so personally i'd do it right the first time around and pay my dues for the koni's they'll last and perform better then anything your gonna skimp on, why not just get coil-overs? :P albiet the better 3/4's of 2G but they'll really make your car ride like its on rails

Points noted... but I'm still undecided... Anyone else?

I've had my KYB's for the last 20,000km's travelled this year (:rant:) and am happy with them. If you want your car to be a weapon, I'd look past Kings for something better.

ive Got Monroe GT Gas. improvement over stocks, beautiful to drive. an excellent shock, and still not too pricy

had them and front kings fitted for $700

Trav

He heh heh 20K this year.
I've done 40K this year :)

There's a number of people on this forum who don't like Pedders, but I've had no hassles.
I've got heavy duty springs plus sports ryder shocks - I had the pros install it all - I'm a consultant not a mechanic. It was $590 including labout to have read springs and shocks fitted. And I reckon it handles superbly.

Mind you the guy I bout the car off told me it was fitted with kings. When the springs collapsed, the pedders boys pulled them out - they were stock, chopped and painted yellow! = bad news :confused:

Durex featherlight
or a normal sock like Jimbo :)

ive got the koni adjustable yellows, with pedders sportsryder springs and whiteline strutbrace and swaybar. i would not recommend the Koni yellow unless you are racing or prepared to feel every little bump like a major pothole for the sake of G-forces. Konis will last a lifetime of the car, 300'000 km, but get the reds if they do make em for the magna. KYB last about 100'000 km monroes about 70'000, so if your keeping the car long term the extra cost cancels out.

With the yellows I have the rebound backed off as much as possible, and the minor bump compliance is acceptable but theres still just no travel in the suspension. The other thing with the Konis is the labour cost of install is about 100-200$ higher because they need to drill/cut your front struts to fit em in. but for handling at the sort of speed u cant sensibly do on the street, like really throwing it into corners at the limit they are probly unbeatable.

I got the front strut brace and then a rear sway bar and koni yellows.

I went for the koni's for a number of reasons. They were the only shocks that nobody had a bad word to say about, except for price. They are rebuildable when they eventually do wear out and they are adjustable.

I did not want to lower my car but was not ruling it out in the future. I probably won't lower it because I find the ride vs handling very good at present. If I were to lower it I wouldn't have to change shocks, just turn up the rebound to match the stiffer springs.

Obviously you do feel the small bumps a bit more but it is very acceptable - maybe because the springs are standard. My mother was in the car for 1000km's and didn't complain about the ride.

Also I recently had a work mate take me for a spin up Mt Archer in Rockhampton in his standard WRX. Afterwards I took him, and another mate who has a hotted up Soarer, up in the Magna and they were very impressed. It didn't pull as hard at lower revs but smashed the WRX on cornering speed and had plenty left in it. Driver skill was not an issue as the WRX was sliding front and rear were as the Magna stayed glued and just went round. I won't print the speeds that were achieved but she was up to the red in second (4sp auto).
Note tyres - 225/50/17 Dunlop LM602's - no squeel, just grip. Quiet also.

I was also quite pleased, when swaning around last weekend in a $180,000 S-class Merc S350, to find that it had just as much trouble dealing with the bumps on Rockhamptons crap roads as the Magna did. I really was surprised that the Merc did not kill the Magna in ride comfort. I may be wrong but I think the Merc has air suspension as well.

Summary - if you have the money get the Koni's. Try standard springs for a while and see if you really need to lower it. You won't have to change shocks if you do lower later.

Go the koni's at that price.

I've got KYB twin tubes, they're great.

Got a price on the KYBs... $400/set... It I go with those, I could afford new brake discs too.
Even with that said though I think I will go with Konis.. I can save up for brakes later, but I don't think I'll be happy with a lesser shock in the long run.

Thanks for those who made an input to help me make a decision. :)

KONI Yellows are simply valved harder than the Reds, and have hand-adjustable rebound setting in the front dampers. The Reds you need to remove the whole assembly to adjust rebound on both front and rear, but with the Yellows you need to remove the rear also.

I was also told that Koni gas adjustables are only for the front, the rears are hydraulic.

Unless that was just for 2nd gens

I got the front strut brace and then a rear sway bar and koni yellows.

I went for the koni's for a number of reasons. They were the only shocks that nobody had a bad word to say about, except for price. They are rebuildable when they eventually do wear out and they are adjustable.

I did not want to lower my car but was not ruling it out in the future. I probably won't lower it because I find the ride vs handling very good at present. If I were to lower it I wouldn't have to change shocks, just turn up the rebound to match the stiffer springs.

Obviously you do feel the small bumps a bit more but it is very acceptable - maybe because the springs are standard. My mother was in the car for 1000km's and didn't complain about the ride.

Also I recently had a work mate take me for a spin up Mt Archer in Rockhampton in his standard WRX. Afterwards I took him, and another mate who has a hotted up Soarer, up in the Magna and they were very impressed. It didn't pull as hard at lower revs but smashed the WRX on cornering speed and had plenty left in it. Driver skill was not an issue as the WRX was sliding front and rear were as the Magna stayed glued and just went round. I won't print the speeds that were achieved but she was up to the red in second (4sp auto).
Note tyres - 225/50/17 Dunlop LM602's - no squeel, just grip. Quiet also.

I was also quite pleased, when swaning around last weekend in a $180,000 S-class Merc S350, to find that it had just as much trouble dealing with the bumps on Rockhamptons crap roads as the Magna did. I really was surprised that the Merc did not kill the Magna in ride comfort. I may be wrong but I think the Merc has air suspension as well.

Summary - if you have the money get the Koni's. Try standard springs for a while and see if you really need to lower it. You won't have to change shocks if you do lower later.


that all sounds about right, i had a MY01 suby for a short time and before i traded it for the magna i was looking into mods for it, everyone recommends a set of koni adjustables or full coiloves for them to handle properly.

Ive had my KYBs in for just over 1000ks.. and theyre great.. Ive been told they will become stiffer soon too.. I was told the same thing that its not worth getting Koni's unless I was gonna be racing or anything, and many of my friends have KYBs and I havent heard any issues with them. In terms of value for money, KYBs are the go..

Yep i've had my KYB's in and king springs same as Tanya now has and once they have settled in they are very firm ride (comfortable) I've had no dramas with them. Only thing is if you get springs and shock make sure you get better bump stops and dust covers. Kyb make a good solid rubber other than the ****house sponge type mitsu make. But i stand by the KYB's ( and king springs) and tanya not long and you'll see what i was talking about.

Well its done... I ordered the gear today... ended up settling for the KYBs. But with the extra $780 I 'saved', I also got EBC Slotted rotors & Bendex Ultimate pads all round. SHOULD all be on by the end of next week, so GOODBYE noisey, squeaky brakes & body roll! :bowrofl:

MadMik- What exactly did you mean by getting new bump stops & dust covers?

MadMik- What exactly did you mean by getting new bump stops & dust covers?
They dont come with bump stops and dust covers on the struts. Normally they'll just replace with the ones currently on the car. Now the dust covers if in good nick should be o.k but you should think of getting the front bump stops upgraded to some KYB rubber ones. They can take a beating much harder and without the damge or breakdown like the standard soft type foam installed currently. All those people who lower there cars should think of this if they are changing the shocks as it's way cheaper to get it done there , then having to pull of all struts again to place on new bump stops as i learnt the hard way