Any Problems with Koni FSDs?

AndyC · Oct 9, 2013

Dear All,

I had the suspension of my 993 C2S refreshed and reset last year using Koni's FSD dampers front and rear. As many other people had said over a long period new dampers and resetting the geo transform a car and this was certainly the case.

More recently and specifically after a few days motoring in an area with terrible road surfaces earlier in the year, not always with me driving, the handling deteriorated becoming unpredictable, skittish and therefore pretty unpleasant. We've had the dampers off and sent them to a damper specialist for testing who has confirmed performance left and right is inconsistent and not as expected, with odd performance at different frequencies. Their view without opening the units is there is likely to be something bent within both dampers.

I am assuming that the nasty road surfaces have somehow created enough of an impact to damage them.

My concern before having the dampers repaired / replaced is whether this is a signal that the FSDs are somehow more susceptible to this kind of damage and I am wondering if I should reconsider my selection of Koni before I go any further.

Does anyone have any experience of FSDs particularly their longevity or any potential frailty? Any advice gratefully received.

I should just add the geo has been re-checked and is still as set up and, after a detailed review, there appears no other damage to the suspension or anything that is not as it should be.

Thanks in advance,

Andy

colt · Oct 9, 2013

Andy , I have heard nothing from the hand full of fsd kitted cars I deal with and seen nothing on any forum. I thought they had a two year warranty, how old in months and mileage are they? Certainly a call to koni tech center in England to discuss? I wouldn't have thought that too many have covered much mileage with their sets yet?
Christian.......
Camberley auto factors are the UK concessionaire for koni shocks and have ( or did) the facility to repair/refurb all koni shocks.

Mark Elder · Oct 9, 2013

Hi Andy, It is exactly a year (to the day) and 9100 miles since FSDs were fitted to my 993. Admittedly a couple of thousand of those miles were on one trip around Germany and I've done a few other motorway trips this year but I regularly drive up and down the pot holed Loch Lomond section of the A82. I can't help being enthusiastic about that drive because it's such a good road for practicing heel & toe gear changes[

]. So the FSDs have had a work out, although I can't actually recall any particularly big bashes in the year.

Only last week I was thinking how well the suspension set up has stayed spot-on.

So I can't really give you much evidence either way. Certainly I'm still very happy with them, but I've probably not done enough of a longevity test, but my FSDs have had a bit of a beating and so far have stood up well.

I'd get Koni to look at them (in or out of warranty) and see what they say. Who fitted yours? I assume they have not had other complaints? Chris Franklin did mine and I got the impression at the time he had only fitted them to a few customer cars - might be worth a call to him to see if he has seen any early failures in the past year.

Please let us know what happens.

sue11sam · Oct 9, 2013

Thanks for this info chaps, I am in the process of speccing new suspension for my car, and the FSD's were at the top of my list so far as a very good option for a pretty standard car. Keep the info coming.

Wozy · Oct 9, 2013

I know the standard Monroes get bad press for not supposedly lasting that long, but I'm in the midst of thinking of replacing mine and I think I'll go Monroes again. My 993 has done over 120K miles, and the dampers are original and aint that bad, and seem great for our roads. I'm probs going with new dampers and new M033 springs, £1450.00 inc VAT. I know its old tech, but they were good enough for the 993 back in the nineties.

I have a heard of a failure of an FSD before on a 993. Just the one damper failed, I can't remember where I read it but I'm guessing it was on PH. KIMBO on 911UK really rates the FSDs and he has had quite a few setups by all accounts.

The only other option I'm looking at is Bilstein B8s with M033 ..... good price at the mo as well.

nfearn · Oct 9, 2013

I have had FSDs fitted to my '94 C2 for the last 18,000 miles and about two years and they have been fine throughout that period. They have been used on a wide variety of roads ranging from normal "South-East" B-road surfaces to the Nurburgring and other circuits, plus many of the more interesting driving roads in the UK and of course some motorway and A-road mileage.

I haven't detected any deterioration in their effectiveness so far but in fairness 18K miles isn't that long a test for a component which should really be expected to last for at least 50K miles in my opinion.

As others have said, any additional information concerning their longevity will be very useful when deciding what to fit next time around.