Well, to me that sounds like you "adjust" them once when they're out of the car and then install them. End of adjustability, unless you go to the trouble to uninstall all four shocks every time you feel the need to "tweak" them a bit. Where's the advantage to having factory precision adjustment to values that have been determined through lots of testing by the car and shock manufacturers? Your method may be quite sufficient, but I'm no expert. Certainly this way of adjusting is a far cry from the means the manufacturer (or a high end race team) has.

I was also mainly referring to statements (read elsewhere in this forum/the mailing list) that some alter the settings with the shocks mounted in the car. I.e., just twiddle the ****(s) to some ambiguous setting. Good luck with that, no?

Thilo

 

Everyones taste and judgment is building satisfying handling is bound to differ. I have Konis installed in the '80 - and for my preference, it is one of the best balanced cars I've driven. By contrast, the Boge Gas in the '88 (with only 35K miles) are coarse in feel and do not contribute to the feedback as do the Konis: they are in the process of being replaced by a fresh set of Konis: for springs, the debate is still on as to stay with stock S4, cut up to a coil off, or install a GT set ( ~15% stiffer IIRC?).
Glens comment " Also, folks complain that the Koni single adjustable shocks aren't, well, double adjustable. They're adjustable on rebound as that's the way the spring pushes and this allows you to match the shock rate to the spring rate. Car weight doesn't change much, proportionately, compared to what you can do with the springs." nicely captures the adjustability issue: Afaik, Koni only offer the one shock for the 928 - although they can customize anything the customer requires.
Bilsteins are also great shocks: I currently have them on three vehicles, but for my 'taste' in 928 driving, the Konis do the job.

 

I am running the Eibach springs (latest generation) along with the externally adjustable Konei shocks. Weltmeister adjustable from sway bar and Louie Ott's rear drop links. The thing I like most about the adjustable shocks is that I run Autocross events and do some DE. I keep a very detailed log book on my setups and I can have the best of both worlds. A tweak to the front adjustable bar and an adjustment of the shocks will give me a confident slight understeer feeling on high speed DE and I can adjust the car to be wicked oversteer at autocross speeds which allows me to rotate the vehicle at will with either a stab of the brake or a touch of the throttle.

It took a while to workout the details...but now that I have figured out several "packages" I have a very adaptable and predictable platform.

Regards,

Ken

 

Keep in mind that if you beef up the bar/links to much you will likely just rip the brackets right off the car. One would want to reinforce that area as well.

 

It all depends on what you want and matching it to what you already have. On my 89 GT I had Eibach and externally adjustable Koni's with 17" tires (235F, 275R) and the Devek adjustable bar up front. The car handled great! With the Koni's on full soft it was just right for street driving, not to soft but also not jarring. Crank the Koni's up to about 1 turn firm and the car was perfect for DE's or sripited high speed tours.

Now on my GTS; I have Bilstein's and again the Eibach's with 18" wheels (235F and 295R) with stock sway bars, and the car is jarring for street driving, almost skittish, but perfect for high speed travel. I'm thinking of going back to the externally adjustable Koni's where I can have the best of both worlds.

Jim Mayzurk
93 GTS

 

Glen:

I appreciate some amplification on this point. I had Koni reds put on my 89 S4 that had sport suspension and had them set about 1/2 turn from full-firm. I used them with the stock sport suspension springs already on the car. With the new Konis the sport suspension no longer was sporty. I found the new Konis WAY too soft. The car would bounce all over, bottom out and act unruly over bumpy, twisty terrain it previously handled easily, although I found it more suited to very high speed undulations. Anyway, I and others were surprised by the lack of damping when you pressed down on my car and watched it rebound. I set them full-hard (rebound) and the ride is better but the performance on twisties is still inferior to old sport shocks. Your thoughts?

 

I guess I'm perplexed by your observation.

I've got stiffer springs and have the shocks set 2/3rds firm. Can't hardly make the thing go down let alone bounce for testing.

Could there be something else wrong? Broken sway bar link? Needs alignment?

 

Bill,
For what it's worth, I just did the full 200 lb compression/release unscientific test on my cars - front end only. The std. S4 Boge Gas compressed ~1 " and did one 'wiggle' at the top on release. The Koni reds (set at 5/8 turn from soft, in their 10th year of service) compressed ~1/2" and wnen released - instantly snapped back, no/nil/nada wiggle.
That correlates to the driving feedback mentioned previously in this thread.
It may be that you have an 'off' set - if so, I believe they offer a free rebuild/exchange program.
If I'm down on the requisite poundage to do this test properly, perhaps I'll be able to make a larger impression next week after the Xmas turkey feasting is done

 

I have 5-6 other 928 owners who witnessed the way my car bounced after compressing. Boing, Boing. They thought it was a miracle I could drive 165 in the open road race. I guess there simply must be something wrong with them. I complained about them the day after they were installed. Everybody says they should be firm. Set full hard they are not bad, but the car still will not take tight twisties like before on the old original sport shocks. I installed a Devek swaybar to help out the front a little. The rear sway is OK. I guess I'll discard these Konis and try again.

 

Great to get so many opinions from all of you. I'll let you know what I have done, which should be sometime in January. I'm using the cold months to 'tweek' my car and get it ready for a DE in the Spring. Going to replace the driver's seat leather (probably won't do it myself), and then find a different seat to drop in for DE's (my damn head hits the ceiling just by a little; and since I don't have the sport seat, I'm fighting to stay in my seat during the sharp turns). Cross-drilled Zimmermans and some new pads, and I should be set to go. I believe I'll be using stock Porsche pads since most of my driving is on the road, but I'm always open to suggestions. I run Pagid's on my X5 along with Zimmerman crossed-drilled, and the 6000 lb beast stops on a dime. My Porsche guy doesn't like Pagids, but I'm very happy so far.

Best regards,

Roland

 

roland, what year is your car? the stock porsche brake pads are 'ok' but you can certainly improve on this without compromise. ive tried mintex liners and now im using 'SBS pro touring ceramic' compound which are simply astounding - i havent yet found limits to these on the road. if you want a sports 928 dont be afraid to really go to town on the suspension, they are a big car and respond well to substantial upgrades.

im guessing your car has a sunroof and this would explain the lack of headroom. factory sports seats dont help much in that regard although they do hold you in a little more firmly round the waist. ive gone to recaro pole positions as a solution to the lack of headroom - surprisingly comfortable, in fact i prefer the added support they offer.

 

Roland, please excuse the hijack - but Nick, how much head room was gained over the stock seats? - and was the full range of seat motions still available?
Sans sunroof, my cars are a perfect fit - but not with a helmet: similarly, if that 'right' GT comes along, it is bound to have a sunroof . These, or similar seats, may well provide a comfortable alternative for a street car.

 

Speaking of seats and suggestions, I am planning on replacing the original driver's seat with a temporary driver's seat. Suggestions? I am looking for a reasonably priced seat that I can use for weekend DE's, to be used with my existing seatbelt system...no five point.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Roland

 

Follow-up topic has been merged with your original topic.

 

I put Bilsteins with front Eibachs (old ones that MAY be linear), and rear *front S4" springs on the 78. This, I think, can be a bit harsh, but I can't stand any wiggle, wallow, smoosh or plushness at all, so I like it.

The S4 is currently in line for internally adjustable konis, with possible Hypercoil springs (since there is a local distributor) and they are actually cheaper (it looks) then eibachs. And lighter. I'll report when that is all together and the car is driving - but its very similar to what Devek does - I just don't think I want to go that high in spring rates in the front as they do.

Anyone with Koni/hypercoil wish to comment for the archives?