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Koni FSD dampers

N

nfearn

Member
Koni FSD dampers should, in theory at least, be a good choice for the typical British B-road (and frankly, that's where I want my dampers to do their job).

However, I can't find any reference to them in the 993 forum at all.

Has anyone tried them? Also, how do folks rate the Bilstein HDs on bumpy surfaces?

Nick
 
I'll be able to tell you about Bilstien HDs in a week or so; mine arrived from Carnewall on Friday along with H&R springs and are due to be fitted a week tomorrow. They certainly get a good reputation as a good middle ground damper for every day and ocaissional track use and have a lifetime warranty in the same ownership.

There's been a fair bit spoken about Bilstiens here and on PH, so a search should find what you need to know, can't remember ever reading anything about Konis though

 
KW? I've never driven a 993 but when I was having my KW's installed on my old 944T there was a 993 in there that had just had KW's installed. The owner had only upgraded to the usual Bilstein kit about three months earlier, but just didn't get on with them as they were just too stiff and un-compliant for him, so went with the KW's. I believe he was not disappointed. I found the KW's to be superb on my old 944T. Very stiff when you want them, virtually no body roll or squat on acceleration or braking, grip was massively increased, but also subtle and compliant over the bumps and potholes of the typical british road. They are almost like a passive PASM in that they have a variable damping rate that stiffens the damper to control body roll and softens the damping rate over sharp bumps like bumps and curbing on track. It works very effectively.
 
ORIGINAL: sawood12

<snip> They are almost like a passive PASM in that they have a variable damping rate that stiffens the damper to control body roll and softens the damping rate over sharp bumps like bumps and curbing on track. It works very effectively.
Click to expand...

That's the effect the FSDs are designed to achieve. They also have the advantage (for me) of being able to have them rebuilt relatively inexpensively.

I've read a lot about the Bilsteins and was on the point of ordering some but the variable rate of the Konis has my attention. Obviously, a back to back test of both would be ideal but that's unlikely to happen so I'll have to make what I hope's an educated guess and see how it goes.

Incidentally, Carnewal sell both Bilsteins and Konis so I might well give Gert a call and see what he thinks to both.

Nick
 
Nick,

I would be interested in the outcome. I am currently running the original suspension which is on 64K miles and am interested in the Koni's or the standard M030 Shocks and M033 springs. Gert sent me details on both and he did recommend the Koni's if a more standard ride is required. Still not sure whether to go standard porsche sport suspension though.

Regards

TIM
 
Tim

When you say standard "Porsche Sport" suspension, do you mean the M474 or M030?

Where do you want to drive your car, i.e. in what type of environment do your dampers need to perform best?

regards
Nick
 
ORIGINAL: nfearn

Tim

When you say standard "Porsche Sport" suspension, do you mean the M474 or M030?

regards
Nick
Click to expand...

Probably neither Nick. There's a lot of companies and indeed Porsche Centres themselves selling off M033 spring and damper kits for around £450 to £550 for the 993.

 
Maurice,
Yes it is a supercharged and has a water cooled intercooler fitted, running >98 octane fuel.
So looks like i should opt for M033 springs and aftermarket shocks then. I only use the car on the road so no need for fully adjustable suspension.

Cheers

TIM
 
So, looks like Clyde, Tim and I should all report back on our new suspensions. My Konis should be with me in a couple of weeks or so, and I'm therefore hoping to have them fitted (and an alignment done) by mid-August.

Nick
 
Nick

If the Koni's a sucess for you then I may invest in them too because I want a sporty but not a hard ride for our terrible Hampshire roads and they sound just the job.

 
My personal opinion on the Bilstein HDs is they are not great on english B roads. Car feels over damped. That opinion is formed from my own car that has them fitted with M030 springs and M030 anti-roll bars. Decent A roads, french roads etc I like them much better.

Ian.
 
Ian

That's exactly the effect I want to avoid on moderately bumpy roads, which is where I want the car to be most useable.

Anyway, once they're fitted and the geometry set I'll let you know what I think about them.

regards
Nick
 
Hello Nick,

I am new here but have owned a Porsche for over 20 years now. My baby is a 993S with M030.
The Koni FSD sounds very apealing to me. Did you have them fitted ? And what are your thoughts ?

Thanks,
Denis
 
I had KW Variant 3's fitted a few months ago. A bit weird at first - my old Monroes were well past their 40k max, so I guess anything would be better than them - but PHEW, once the KWs had settled-in and the indy had carried-out a free post-installation re-allignment, WOW. A new car!

I heard once that Bilsteins corrode badly - no idea if this is true. Anyone know?


 
The FSDs are waiting to be fitted this week, with alignment now scheduled for early October. I'll update once they're on and the wheels are pointing in the right direction.

Nick
 

I have had the Bilsteins and H&R's on for a couple of weeks or so now and must say that I'm quite pleased. I also ended up having new top mounts fitted to all four corners as one of them was decidedly tired looking, which was not entriley unexpected but still a bu99er at nearly £500 all in.

I know there's been a few posts against them but I also had polyurethane bushes fitted to the front wishbones as one of the bushes was on it's last legs.

It's currently sitting about 30mm lower than standard, which is maybe 10mm lower than I was aiming for but it looks good. Although I still need to get it properly corner weighted and suspension geometry fully sorted the signs so far are that it is a good compromise between the harseness of a full sport/track set up and the softness of the standard spec. It is slightly harder over some of the poorer B roads but A roads are fine. But at the end of the day it is a sports car, if I want to float along I'll take the wife's Jag [:)]

The car feels much more secure in corners and turn is very sharp (1 degree negative camber at front, so I need to keep an eye on tyre wear). Feedback is excellent through the steering wheel.

I had previously been thinking of upgrading the anti-roll bars but I'm not too sure that I need to now to be honest because it seems quite flat on bends but we'll see.

All in all I'm a very happy bunny and think I would have been a bit disappointed with Koni's if they are softer but I suppose it's horses for courses.

 
Update on the FSDs. I fitted them a week ago last Thursday and have done about 300 miles on them since over a mixture of Essex, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire A and B roads. The car's geometry isn't set yet but the damper swap only impacts the front camber (and toe, a little) and the rear toe (which was set back to the previous position) so I'm not unduly concerned about that since the car's going to be set up properly on October 8th.

Initial impressions are very encouraging. The ride is nicely compliant and much more controlled than it was on the 65,000 mile Monroes. Body control seems to be more than adequate and the damping is essentially unnoticeable in the sense that it draws no attention to itself, which argues to me that it's doing its job properly.

I have not had the opportunity to drive a car with Bilstein HDs fitted for comparison though. If there's anyone local-ish that fancies a back-to-back comparison I'd be happy to oblige (with suitable insurance - I can get temporary additional driver insurance for £20 for a week via my insurer).

Anyway, I'm happy with my damper choice and hope this is useful for anyone considering new dampers. Happy to answer any questions that come up.

regards
Nick
 
I've now done about 1,400 miles on the new Koni FSD dampers, and the geometry has now been set up to perfection by Center Gravity.

I am very pleased with them - the car rides well and the handling is well up to expectations, with good body control and grip, as well as a confidence-inspiring level of consistency even over bumpy roads. They are easily firm enough for my use of the car, which is primarily on typical UK B and minor A-roads.

Chris at CG said that he would be very happy to fit the FSDs to his customers' cars having driven my 993 with them fitted.

Nick
 
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