944 N/A autocross shocks

Kaos · 01-28-2001, 10:35 AM

I am preparing my car for the upcoming autocross season, and I am looking for advice on shock absorber selection.

I have a 1985/2 N/A which will be competing in stock class. I will have R-compound tires (probably Kumho) with stock springs and anti-roll bars. The car will also be regularly street driven.

I am wondering what the difference between the Koni regular and Koni sports are? Anyone with experience here?

How about Bilsteins? I have heard they are a better shock, but are not adjustable.

Pilot_951S · 01-29-2001, 08:16 AM

Koni Sport (yellow) are stiffer than the regular (red) and are also gas pressurized to reduce foaming and cavitation and they also have an external rebound adjustment. Both of these Koni's are Twin Tube type shocks.

Bilsteins are monotube gas pressurized shocks, that are generally non adjustable. On the track they work better because the montube design cools better.

For AutoX the Konis are probbaly better because of their adjustment capability.

1.2gees · 1.2gees's Garage

Well, in an auto-x situation, the car changes it's weight loading on each corner, a lot more rapidly, then on a race track.

I agree Konis are superb shocks, but the Bilsteins have a lifetime warranty, and you don't have to worry about adjusting them for whatever situation. I'd get some sport Bilstein shocks, to match your some harder springs, or if you decide to keep the springs stock, normal Bilsteins should do.
Ahmet

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It's all the driver...

Pilot_951S · 01-30-2001, 12:53 PM

Personally I'm a Bilstein man, but I campaigned my 88 Turbo S for 3 years straight with the factory Koni Yellows, and I can tell you it can sometimes make all the difference in a stock class if you can adjust the rebound damping.

Now, if you are not going to stay in a stock class, then I would upgrade to Bilstein Road Race shocks and 250 lb front springs and 27mm rear torsion bars at a minimum. Then you get a set of Weltmeister adjustable sway bars to do your fine tuning with.

[This message has been edited by Pilot_951S (edited 01-30-2001).]

Pilot_951S · 01-30-2001, 12:55 PM

Go here for more info on this setup:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/Forum5/HTML/001289.html

Kaos · 01-30-2001, 01:23 PM

Thanks for responding guys.

I have looked at shock pricing, and it seems that the bilstein racing shocks are out of my budget at $290 each. If I decide to get out of stock class, they might be worth the money. Right now I'm still reeling from the cost of rebuilding my trans and installing an LSD. And having my seats redone. And having my front end repainted. And buying some new wheels... etc.

How do the Koni sports compare against the bilstein HD's? These are both in my budget, but the HD's are cheaper. Or, should I ride this season out on the stock shocks and buy Hoosier tires instead of Kumho's.

I'm always looking for the best engineering solution: Most benefit for least cost.

Pilot_951S · 01-30-2001, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kaos:
How do the Koni sports compare against the bilstein HD's? These are both in my budget, but the HD's are cheaper. Or, should I ride this season out on the stock shocks and buy Hoosier tires instead of Kumho's.

I'm always looking for the best engineering solution: Most benefit for least cost.

That's a tough one. Performance wise if you are ONLY autocrossing then the best performance advanatage will be found is a set of Hoosier A3S03 AutoX tires.

Also if you are planning a suspension upgrade in the future then it seems silly to upgrade your shocks , only to replace them again with better ones. Unless you can find some used low mileage Koni Sports or Bilsteins I'd skip the shocks until you are ready to do the whole suspension.