Re: Help me suspension gurus!

[skerocdriver@juno.com (SHAWN C MEZE)]

On Thu, 18 Sep 1997 19:47:55 -0700 Iain Mannix <mannix@privatei.com>
writes:

>Spax don't have a lifetime warranty?

Ah, what better reason to get the Konis!



>Tokicos are popular with Honda racers and autocrossers, it seems as 
>though the failure rate is lower in Honda than VW.  I'd not heard that
they'd
>fixed their failure problem.  Those I know with Tokicos like them when
they
>work, and I can think of one guy who has been using as set for a few
years
>without problems.  FWIW, I've warrantied four Bilsteins in my life, so
>they're not without problems either.  My Konis are good so far, but 
>I'm not holding my breath - I expect shock failure once in a while.

The Honda racers that I know of  that use them are not serious about
their racing. They could have sticks for suspension under the car and it
would work awsome for them. Then there are the CSP Honda drivers that are
fast and use the Konis. I know of one partictular driver who drives a CRX
that at one time had the Tokicos and hated them. I dont recall why.
(sorry) He now has Koni's and Neusped race springs and is quite fast with
the car.
I know of one shock failure in Konis and that was the Pottermnas
Scirocco. its a Street Mod car that only gets hammered on. The shocks
were 6 years old and the FR shock blew. He got 2 new shocks under the
warranty no problem. I am impressed with Koni's willingness to replace
shocks as fast as they do. I didnt know anything about the full warranty
service of the shocks before i got them but im damn glad I now have them
for that very reason! Yeah, they cost me a load of cash but I find them
well worth it. Its a lifetime investment, I blow a shock, I get one for
free, NQA. What a deal! 


>I guess the most important questions I have are these: 1) What
>class/springs are you using, and 2) How competitive do you want to be?

Right!  and I'll add to that; do you plan on driving the car on the
street after the event? 


>If you are in a stock class, buy Konis.  If you are in a class which
allows
>modifications, buy Konis.  Sorry:).  IMHO, Bilsteins (at least the ones
I
>had) don't work that well with big spring rates (300ish front) - with a
>stock or Neuspeed lowering spring (read "soft"), they're pretty damned
>good, but I like the ride of my Konis much better.  IMHO, avoid Tokicos
-
>they do seem to blow up.  Boges are really out of the question IMHO, if
you
>are planning on racing the car.  They'd _work_, but how well?  Safety is
an
>issue, too.  I mean, Konis are what, $450?  Bilsteins are $330?  I guess
I
>am just used to Koni pricing.

Id have to agree. No matter the class, Konis are the way to go IMHO. You
have the full adjustability of a soft setting for comfortable driving
around town and when you get to the track, you can firm them up to do
some serious driving. Its the best of both worlds, really! 

I've heard nothing but bad things about Tokicos. They blow prematurely,
no warranty. The adjustable ones are too firm on the full soft setting
and way too hard on the firm settings. This is all hearsay tho, I dont
know this first hand but the info I got was from a few VW owners and a
few shops. (Heh! Before I knew the Potterman!) 

Price. Yes, they are expensive and im sure you dont wanna hear it but I
gotta add that you can buy 2 fronts now, and later when you have the cash
again, buy the rears. (Actually, you should buy the rears first since the
performance gains are seen more on the rear of the car for autox use..) 


The Potterman runs his 16V GTi with the Koni shocks and of course, stock
springs since he runs in E-stock. (Cant change the springs.) He does
pretty good with that setup but I dont know what his opinion are compared
to other shocks out there.



              Shawn Meze
86' Jetta GLi           82' Scirocco GTi
The Fastest, Quickest, Cleanest and
best looking Scirocco in all of San Diego!
http://www2.netcom.com/~trnsfrma/vws.html
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