Hi all,

My local specialist is recommending koni adjustables over a bilstein hd front/sport rear combo. He says that the latter are too unforgiving when taking the torsional flex of the cabriolet into account. Currently it's fitted with original Boge's which after 22 years are getting somewhat spongy and a bit light on rebound.

Just seeking out opinions before I make my decision. The car won't really see much in the way of track work but definately some enthusastiac mountain driving.

Thanks.

 

My 2 cents worth: I would put Bilstein HDs all the way around. They act in a progressive manner; they feel like Boges on the boulevard, but they become performance shocks in the hills. No need to put "Sport" rears on the rear, I tried that on my '82 coupe. I then removed them and put in a pair of HDs, which I love. I did not like how the car behaved, with the Sport rears, under trailing throttle conditions, and I didn't like the way the car worked in the middle of corners (from brake release to the apex) - it felt like the front end and rear end were not on the same page. Perhaps this combo is OK when you have big T-bars and S-bars, but on a stock car... not for me.
Pete

 

I have adjustable Koni's on all 4's on my 85 Cab for 7 years now and can't say enough about the set up. Totally stock suspension otherwise. When I have my friends along for an aggressive drive they ALL can't believe how well it handles, "like it's on rails" is a popular comment. I've fiddled with the adjustments and can notice the difference but can't really take advantage of it because I DON'T TRACK THE CAR. The middle settings seem to agree with me. Adjusting the fronts is as easy as it gets. Koni gives you this round **** gizmo that you place on the top of the cartridge and twist. The rears have to be unbolted from the trailing arm to adjust. That takes only 5 minutes anyway. I love them but I'm sure the Bilsteins are awesome as well, have to be with all the raves in the forums.
Hope this helps.

Gordon

 

Thanks guys for the feedback. Pete, that sounds like good advice. I had only thought about the sport/HD combo because a lot of people seem to be running that configuration. You don't think even the HD's will cause additional flex in the cab? I was reading how the factory initially offered the bilsteins in the "Sport" option for the '83SC cab but quickly reverted to the Boge's for this very reason.

What you have done gordon is exactly what my local specialist is recommending for the SC cab. In fact I have spoken to plenty of coupe owners who swear by the bilsteins which are awesome (I have a set on my Honda) but you are the first cab owner I have heard from running the Koni's.

While the cab's are very rigid for a chop-top, they are however subject to flexing a little and I think this is where the koni's are suppose to have the advantage over the Bilsteins.

Many thanks again,

Simon.

 

Simon: In the late '90s I drove an SC Cab for about 5 years (almost 80K miles) and used Bilstein HDs and '86 Carrera sway bars. The setup decision was based on the hundreds of similar cars that my shop maintained, and that I drove on a regular (daily) basis. The car was extremely predictable and consistent, my wife used it for DE track days at Streets of Willow, even the legendary Milt Minter commented on how well behaved the car was, which allowed my wife to really drive it. Cowl shake was no worse than cars equipped with Boges, but I always drove the car with care on the street (crawl over speed bumps, slow down for RR tracks, miss potholes, etc.). Regardless of what you do - have fun!
Pete

 

"a lot of people seem to be running that configuration."

- I think they are mostly racers. It's important to evaluate every post for what goal the person is trying to achieve with their car. BTW, that's also a bit of a fad - tho not so much as giant heavy red brakes...