adjustable shocks?

[cococola]

I see adjustable rear shocks advertised and wonder weather they are of great benefit if anybody has experience of them?
thank you
Alan

 

[zcacogp]

Alan,

There are a number of brands, with different parameters being adjustable. The most important one is the rebound adjustment, which most (including the Koni option) do.

Worth it? Very subjective. In my experience, most people fit them with one setting set and never change it. So the ability to adjust them is a bit of a waste of time. Also you need to take the Koni's off the car to adjust them, so it's quite a hassle even if you want to. I have the Koni's on my car and they are very good, and were cheap when I bought them. I did actually change the settings once I had fitted them - from medium to firm - and it improved the rear end handling noticeably, at the expense of ride comfort.

You pays your money etc ...


Oli.

 

[ghost]

I've been considering the SPAX kit. They also have adjustable ride height - which might be fun. I'd like to lower the car, but if I don't like it I can take it back to std.

 

[JamesBall]

The advantage of adjustable dampers surely is that you can adjust them to how you want them rather than the way the factory has set them up, not so much that you can fiddle with them over time.

I am toying with getting Koni Sports. Anyone know of a cheap source?

 

[944Turbo]

I have Leda's on my coupe, have them towards the middle of the range on the road and wind them round to hard on track days.
Tony

 

[sawood12]

ORIGINAL: ghost

I've been considering the SPAX kit. They also have adjustable ride height - which might be fun. I'd like to lower the car, but if I don't like it I can take it back to std.

Not as easy as it sounds i'm afraid - especially with the rear suspension due to torsion bar springs, and even then as you lower the car you will change camber and toe settings which are not so easy to adjust without the proper gear.

 

[ghost]

ORIGINAL: sawood12

ORIGINAL: ghost

I've been considering the SPAX kit. They also have adjustable ride height - which might be fun. I'd like to lower the car, but if I don't like it I can take it back to std.

Not as easy as it sounds i'm afraid - especially with the rear suspension due to torsion bar springs, and even then as you lower the car you will change camber and toe settings which are not so easy to adjust without the proper gear.

Didn't think of that. Thanks for the warning.

 

[wardtimothy]

Some 2nd hand konis on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/porsche-924-944-koni-adjustable-rear-shocks-/220667086320?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3360c885f0

 

[944 man]

Fully adjustable dampers are all well and good, as long as they have a real range of adjustment, which many dont. Some only let you adjust one parameter and even where both bump and rebound (and preload) are adjustable; the range of actual alteration isnt always great.

Presuming that the dampers you choose allow you to alter the bump, rebound and preload settings to a worthwhile degree, you still have to be able to set the b*stard things up! I found it difficult enough setting up one fully adjustable damper on the back of a bike (there were hundreds or permutations) and the problem doubles, at least, with a car.....

Of course: Id still buy them... []

 

[CarreraRSR]

I have Gaz Gold set up and can change the bump and rebound with one screw accessible from reaching under the rear of the car and behind the front wheel. EMC set it all up. At first I found them too stiff and had to soften by over 6 clicks. After driving the car over several weeks I found myself stiffening again back to EMC's original settings. If you are racing then fully independent adjustment is ideal. For my road/track set up then the one screw adjustment is sufficient.

 

[sawood12]

Another plug for KW! The beauty of KW is that you don't need to change the damper settings. The setting change as you drive. For body roll control round bends the dampers are stiff, for potholes and bumps in the road they are softer - it is a sort of dumb active damper control and works very very well. I'm not sure what setting mine were set to when Promax installed the KW but I felt no need to change them, they worked so well. I guess you may want to stiffen everything up for track - but for road the KW were perfect as far as I could tell. Expensive (but not that much more than the alternatives worth having) - but they work.

 

[944 man]

Are you sure? Im of the opinion that it is little more than a high speed bypass valve. The settings dont change themselves, but theyre far less crashy when driving over poor surfaces.

 

[sawood12]

It is, as you say, a bypass valve that opens at high speed bump such that a valve opens and gives the fluid an alternative path that bypasses some of the internal damping elements leading to a step change in damping rate to a much lower damping rate. It is very effective It is very difficult to describe. The suspension is very firm yet compliant - and compliance is not to be confused with soft. The effect is so much more than making it less crashy.

 

[cococola]

some great advice thanks guys[]I probably wouldnt benefit from adjustables as i wouldnt adjust them very often I guess.
They are Konis as advertised on ebay.