Boomer, Nathan's response left me with an open question for quite a while. Thanks for clarifying.

 

We havent done the springs yet. Yes the rebound is set on full soft at the moment front and rear. I believe Koni was going after two things ........the bounce and inside rear wheel spin.

 

I am glad they tried to take out the bounce. From BJ's feedback they got most of it out. I am concerned that with obvious tire wear issues in the front NNA will use these mods against us as far as warranty work. Boomers conversion with a rep even said it was true when he mentioned the Konis. Until the tire issued is resolved the S-Tune suspension may be the only "legal" fix. I am curious how the S-Tune supposedly fixes both tire & bounce issues by replacing springs/shocks. I wonder if the alignment specs for the S-Tune which may differ from the stock specs may be helping the tire feathering. Hopefully NNA will figure a legit fix for the front end before the Konis are out. I still suspect camber adjustment pieces will be required. Its a shame these two issues take away from an otherwise great car.

NISMO S-Tune suspension & sways vs Koni/350Evo sways that is the question.....

So far reasons for S-Tune:

1) engineered to work together
2) seems to fix the problems
3) handling is improved with less push
4) covered under warranty when purchased from a dealer
5) slightly lowers car

Against:

1) Cost ($1760 for parts + $500 to install)
2) Lowers car (Some don't want this)

 

Mark, your Against is exactly why I won't buy the S-Tune. The Konis with installation will be 1/2 the price and lowering is NOT an option.

 

That some should have said Boomer! Just kidding! I could live with 20mm drop of the NISMO's.

 

Dont forget......
- No adjustability
- wont be as fast at the track!
Also the guys at Koni loved the 350EVO sway bars!!!

 

BJ,
I guess the Koni guys took your car for a joy ride! Good points. If you/Koni can get the Konis dialed in and get rid of the bounce with the stock springs still installed I am interested. The 350Evo sways are probably the best on the market right now. You got any idea what ya'll charge to install the Konis, sways and possibly the bushings. Probably will wait till spring anyway. Need to get the tire feathering issue resolved. What's your professional opinion why the tires are feathering?

 

Top

 

BJ,

Has your street Z had any tire feathering problems?

 

Not that I have seen. I had been running our 1st generation upper A arms and some bushings. I only have about 5000 miles on the car I think.

 

BJ,
Has the weather allowed any Koni testing?

 

Kinda not really............but the FLU hasnt!

Today was the first time I left the house since last Thurs.

 

And not - or were you reffering to some other product?

You are not always very clear.

If so what is it you really meant to say. That NISMO S - tune is not a soulution. Please clarify what you really meant to say.

Cheers Amy -

And please answer those other questions in this thread that you side steped.

The real question does your product ( koni shocks only ) ( not that other stuff ) fix the Bounce and Tire Feathering / Cupping problem.

Yes or no?

 

I think he meant the S-tune's are not adjustable whereas the Koni's are single adjustable (and can be made double with some additional work - but it sounds like your on your own for that).

It also sounds like the bounce is greatly reduced with the Koni's, and then you can get other stuff to reduce it further. I don't think anyone yet knows how the bounce reduction compares to the S-tune, since no once has driven both back-to-back.

The other nice thing about the Koni's is that you keep the stock springs, which is good for the AutoXers.

Later,
D'oh!

 

Have a few questions for you folks.

1) First of all, I need some help with all this shock terminology being tossed around. I've heard "bump", low-speed, and high-speed when referring to the Konis. What the heck do these mean? When talking about shocks, I only know about compression damping and rebound damping. If you make the compression damping stiffer, it won't compress as fast. If you make the rebound damping stiffer, it won't rebound as fast. What the heck do all these other terms refer to?

2) Are these Koni shocks adjustable while they are installed on the car? This is a crucial in my book. I once had a set of Konis on my Audi for a while and hated them because they had to be *completely* removed to adjust them. Made it impossible to properly tune them since it's quite a job to get the shocks off on that car. Waste of time and money for a person like me who does not have a garage and is not willing to constantly remove and reinstall the shocks just to adjust the damping a bit.

3) When you say single-adjustable vs double-adjustable, what does this mean? I'm assuming that single adjustable means you can only adjust one type of damping (either compression or rebound), while double-adjustable means you can seperately adjust both? On these single-adjustable Konis, which is adjustable?


I really like the idea of something like the S-tune stuff, because it is a spring/shock/swaybar combo that is already tuned to work together. However, I don't like that the S-tune stuff is so amazingly expensive, and that it lowers the car. I want to be able to go over speed bumps. So, assuming the stock springs are stiff enough for my uses, the idea of just getting some nice aftermarket shocks is very appealing. However, I worry about all this do-it-yourself tuning. I just don't want to do that. I don't have a track I can test it on. I don't have a garage I can work in. I need a product that is tuned and works right out of the box.

On that note, it would be great if the EVO guys could say something like this: "For street use with lots of twisty canyon roads on the weekends and occassional trips to the track a few times per year, we recommend the stock springs, with the Koni shocks set like at *this* setting, and our EVO swaybars set at *this* setting." This would eliminate the need for me to personally tune the stuff.

BJ, any chance you and your company could supply folks like me (who can't do our own tuning) with a good suggestion like that? That would certainly sway me towards the Koni/Evo shock and swaybar combo rather than the S-tune shock/spring/swaybar combo.

 

Some good points Joe.

 

Precisely. My goal is to become competitive and one day drive at Nationals. I don't want to move to ASP or BSP and go up against modded Z06's because of the S-tune springs. I'm not an expert, but is it possible to run just the S-tune shocks? From the looks of it the stock Z springs will not fit.

Later!

 

So.........where do I start?????
Well I didnt think I was side stepping anything...I belive I have been pretty honest with what we have found out but.....as you see it.
The KONI 1 way adjustable (rebound is adjustable easily without taking apart the shock or dsimounting it.) seems to reduced signifantly the amount of "bounce" or what I would designate poor shock control on the OEM setup. This is not a cure for tire feathering. When I think of tire feathering issue.....that too me translates to a set up issue....ie toe,camber, caster geometry that sort of function.
As far as shock settings go......there is Bump/ compression which can be catigorized into two differnt fields. High speed and low speed. High speed and low speed basically is exactly what it sounds like.
Anytime the shock travels at a certain velocity and a certain amount of travel determins which it is. For instance..... Driving down a street and you run over a something like.....um ....a big stick or bump....this would be high speed bump....the chock travels a lot in a short amount of time.
Low speed bump or compression........is anything that is slower than a a set velocity and travel. Most of your tunning for cornering is set with low speed bump. In very simple terms here.....this would be from turn in to apex of a turn.
Something to remeber.......most shock tuning is all about TIMING!
Slowing down or speeding up what the shcok can do.
Proper two way adjustable shocks reffer to rebound and low speed bump adjustment.
Three way adjustable shocks bring in the high speed bump adjustment.
Then on a set up like the MOTON shocks we race with.....you can also change the external shock canister presure which is similar to a spring rate change. Once again......shock are all about timing!
What am i missing in here????

 

OK sway bar time!!!!!!!!!
Here is my take on this.......The good thing about the NISMO kit is that it is a Nissan part.
The sway bars that we offer allow adjustability and to me as a track guy......I never have gone to a track and had the same conditions as the last time i went.....no two tracks are the same nor auto X events and even day to day tings change. I am looking for adjustablity.
I would say that a full hard setting front and rear is a good place for track and spirited driving. Other people have been running medium front and hard rear.
With the Koni shocks and our sway bars you get a lot of easy adjustability!

 

BJ, many of us are not racers. Your references to shock behavior should be street-oriented, not race. My understanding is the Konis reduce the initial compression when you hit a bump, slow or fast, and increase the rebound control to stop the bouncing. They are rebound adjustable while on the car. The compression eases up on the shock for a more comfortable ride and is not adjustable. I want that because that is what Gordon at Koni told Mark. All street Konis are set on full soft as they come, but you can increase the rebound control until its very hard. If I'm wrong, let me know.