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View Full Version : honest info on konis



chakra71
02-13-2004, 07:10 PM
I've been lowered on progress springs for a year now. The stock struts are holding their own, but i can feel a bit more give to them. So i'm ready to buy aftermarket struts and I'm stuck with koni's on my progress springs or going with a new setup altogether.

I have been watching on the boards and saw where 02silversihb has a koni leaking oil, and the perch broke once. I also noted that Chunky stated that koni's were crap, and I've come to respect his opinion very much.

So what are your thoughts on koni yellows? Are they worth the price? Would I be better off ditching my progress springs to go with JIC, TEIN, or Mugen coilovers?

I want the adjustability in the struts, i don't give a shit about adjusting ride height. I want a mad handling car, and I can deal with a bit of an uncomfortable ride as long as i can sling it through some turns.

dofu
02-13-2004, 07:14 PM
if you want a really good feeling performance coilover, go with teins, but if you wanna stick with your progress shocks, and just add adjustable dampners, look into kyb's agx... they should be out by now...

Civicvtec1ps
02-13-2004, 09:03 PM
Look into Tein ss.
I dont like koni yellow.
Not worth buying them to go through all hassle.

chunky
02-13-2004, 09:11 PM
Originally posted by chakra71
I've been lowered on progress springs for a year now. The stock struts are holding their own, but i can feel a bit more give to them. So i'm ready to buy aftermarket struts and I'm stuck with koni's on my progress springs or going with a new setup altogether.

I have been watching on the boards and saw where 02silversihb has a koni leaking oil, and the perch broke once. I also noted that Chunky stated that koni's were crap, and I've come to respect his opinion very much.

So what are your thoughts on koni yellows? Are they worth the price? Would I be better off ditching my progress springs to go with JIC, TEIN, or Mugen coilovers?

I want the adjustability in the struts, i don't give a shit about adjusting ride height. I want a mad handling car, and I can deal with a bit of an uncomfortable ride as long as i can sling it through some turns.

well, I've never hidden my dissatisfaction with the current koni product. I've heard of too many problems from RSX owners who auto-x/drive hard on them.

I'm hoping that h&r will release a quality set of shocks for the ep3 since they've started making shocks now. They recently released the h&r cup kit for the RSX, which will be a straight bolton to the ep3 if you have the 55mm OD strut with the 16mm strut bolts. They can be had for about 650-700$. You'd have to call h&r, but often times, the cup kit offers adjustable damping. that would be a good step up from your current setup if they offer adjustable damping on the cup kit.

chakra71
02-13-2004, 09:55 PM
<<mutter>>
stupid search feature kicks out h&r + cup + kit

has to be more than 4 letters...
so... point me towards some info on em? Thankee Sai.

jaydub
02-13-2004, 10:02 PM
I know 02SilverhbSi has had issues with his Koni's too. :o

dofu
02-14-2004, 03:52 AM
thanks to the feedback from all the ppl in this forum about the konis, i opted for teins instead... non adjustable, but still nicer than what i was working with before and avoided all the drama with the konis... i was thinkin bout the agx, but kinda wanted the full coilover instead of the three piece that i had before, and plus, the tein basics were close to the same price... i think i want ss or flex now... lol

chunky
02-14-2004, 08:19 AM
Originally posted by chakra71
<<mutter>>
stupid search feature kicks out h&r + cup + kit

has to be more than 4 letters...
so... point me towards some info on em? Thankee Sai.

www.hrsprings.com

I've been meaning to contact them myself to see if the cup kit for the RSX has adjustable damping. If it does, I will probably be upgrading to those soon. :D

Heitzke
02-14-2004, 11:25 AM
Chunky
Are you saying that the RSX H&R cup kit will work for the EP as well? Or, when the cup kit is FINALLY released for the EP, you will be upgrading to that?


p.s. I saw that actual road sign a couple of months ago, and the first thing i thought of was your avatar. Haha

chunky
02-14-2004, 12:25 PM
Originally posted by Heitzke
Chunky
Are you saying that the RSX H&R cup kit will work for the EP as well? Or, when the cup kit is FINALLY released for the EP, you will be upgrading to that?


p.s. I saw that actual road sign a couple of months ago, and the first thing i thought of was your avatar. Haha

the h&r cup kit for the RSX will work on certain ep3's with no modification. other ep3's will require some modification.

The main difference is in the lower strut bolts, on earlier ep3's, they are 14mm bolts. Later ep3's came with 16mm bolts, which is identical to the rsx setup. The 14mm ep3's will require the bolt holes in the steering knuckler to be widened to 16mm. not a big deal for a machine shop. You will also have to buy 16mm strut bolts to replace the 14mm strut bolts.

OR, you can just use the cup kit for the em2 civic coupe (01+) on the 14mm strut bolt models. But the spring rates aren't optimized for the ep3 chassis.


ahah. yeah, it cracks me up that there is a city that is named chunky.

chakra71
02-14-2004, 12:45 PM
Originally posted by chunky


The main difference is in the lower strut bolts, on earlier ep3's, they are 14mm bolts. Later ep3's came with 16mm bolts, which is identical to the rsx setup. The 14mm ep3's will require the bolt holes in the steering knuckler to be widened to 16mm. not a big deal for a machine shop. You will also have to buy 16mm strut bolts to replace the 14mm strut bolts.


Is there a built on date distinction? I have an 02, but I bought it at the end of the product year so hopefully that will put me in the 16mm category.

right now i'm torn between the mugen setup and something much more advanced. I found a thread last night on the JIC coilovers... those look bad ass, but probably way more than I need.

The H&R cup kit looks like a very nice setup, but not too much that I would wind up spending hours and hours trying to get it just right. It might be what i'm looking for. If you do put a call in post up and let us know what you find out.

and maybe once i get these in i'll try to get into auto-x. :D

chunky
02-14-2004, 07:59 PM
Originally posted by chakra71
Is there a built on date distinction? I have an 02, but I bought it at the end of the product year so hopefully that will put me in the 16mm category.

right now i'm torn between the mugen setup and something much more advanced. I found a thread last night on the JIC coilovers... those look bad ass, but probably way more than I need.

The H&R cup kit looks like a very nice setup, but not too much that I would wind up spending hours and hours trying to get it just right. It might be what i'm looking for. If you do put a call in post up and let us know what you find out.

and maybe once i get these in i'll try to get into auto-x. :D

well, unfortunately, the TIME of year you bought will do little to inform of wether you have the 16mm strut bolts or not. I bought mine in may/june of 2002, and it has the 16mm bolts. But some people have bought their's in sept or later of 2002 and have the 14mm bolts. That's b/c the original ones sometimes sat on dealer lots for several months before being sold.

Just take off a strut bolt and measure it with a set of calipers.

zum_zum
02-15-2004, 07:51 AM
in some SCCA circles, the word koni raises a bit of ire. a good friend of mine had one of his shocks leak after ONE practice session on his ITA crx. when he tried to get a replacement, 'lifetime' warranty, koni would not ever look at it and refused to replace it. there was no shunt involved in this practice session and it was on one fo the smoothest circuits around. it was also a straight-up installation.

if have heard similar recounts from some miata owners too. some of these guys are strictly street drivers. i was suprised to hear about koni's stubborn replacement proceedure.

it kept me away from konis.

i used tockico illuminas on other cars, but have been most satisfied with the kyb agx models. the ease of adjustability and the durability combined with a really good price helped form my opinion, ymmv.

i've been patiently waiting for the agx to come out, but i didn't know h&r was making cup kits for this platform! i may have to make a decision soon.

ViViDPeArL
02-15-2004, 09:18 AM
i say no to adjustable shocks...when you adjust it...the valves get worn out and then you get leakage. i have a friend who has koni's with no problems, but then again one guy on the forum here...i think it was 02silverhb? he had his leak on him...i'd buy something that's not adjustable imo.

IIx 03 EP xII
02-15-2004, 06:18 PM
well... the koni's are the only option for aftermarket struts? correct... and i dont mean that is including tein and all the full coilover systems. if you dont want leakage... then just set it one time and dont mess with it. i am getting the koni's because i already have springs and couldnt afford the extra couple hundred for full coilovers. im going to set it once and not mess with it again. if it rides crappy (which i doubt it will be too bothersome)... then oh well... im a pretty tolerant guy as long as i get the performance.

sniperSI
02-15-2004, 06:40 PM
Koni

JIC

Mugen

Tein

All make shock/struts that are EP Specific.

Heitzke
02-15-2004, 07:38 PM
Very interesting about the H&R cup kit. How are the spring rates and all that for the RSX kit? Do you know if the RSX and the Type-S have seperate kits? Oh well, i'm very interested now.

4g63dsm
02-15-2004, 08:24 PM
so by strut bolts you mean the bolts on top of the strut tower? like where you mount the strut bar?

LHD_EP3
02-15-2004, 08:31 PM
Originally posted by IIx 03 EP xII
well... the koni's are the only option for aftermarket struts? correct... and i dont mean that is including tein and all the full coilover systems. if you dont want leakage... then just set it one time and dont mess with it. i am getting the koni's because i already have springs and couldnt afford the extra couple hundred for full coilovers. im going to set it once and not mess with it again. if it rides crappy (which i doubt it will be too bothersome)... then oh well... im a pretty tolerant guy as long as i get the performance.

I think 02SilverHB's leaked one time when he tried adjusting it. Koni told him that if it happened again, send it back to them and they'll replace it. When I drove his car they felt really good to me, once my stock struts go out I will be purchasing some.