I'm going from 16 to 19mm. rear sway bar. Should i give the Konis an extra turn of rebound dampening to compensate for the extra spring rate during cornering?
Suspension is stock and Konis are set to factory rebound.

 

I would stiffen them up a little.
Where are they between full soft and full stiff?

 

Salut.
According to my Workshop Manual the factory setting of the yellow M030 Konis is 1-1/4 turn from full soft. That's where I've set mine.

 

Interesting. What's the recommended factory setting for the front?

 

3/4 turn from full soft for yellow Koni M030 shocks.

The manual says it is to set contraction dampening. I'm wondering if they mean compression. Normally shock absorbers have adjustable rebound if they are one-way adjustable. Compression adjustment is normally only found on two-way adjustable shocks. I've assumed it is rebound. It would be nice to hear from anyone who knows for certain.

Assuming the front adjustment is for rebound, like it is for the rear, then these settings should be balanced to suit the stock springs. Stiffer springs will require higher dampening force.

 

Yup, koni yellows are rebound damping adjustable.

 

For those of you running a 19mm rear anti roll bar. What have you set your Konis to, and what hole are you using on the bar? I'm running stock rear tires.

 

Hei,

I am not running M030 rear shocks but I would suggest adjusting the bar and the rebound to the stiffest setting and gradually soften the rebound until it results in a "good" balance with how the fronts are adjusted.

For what it's worth, at the moment I'm running the 19mm bar set to full stiff, with Delrin bushings and worn out standard Koni yellows set to full stiff, with worn-out M030 front shocks and the 30mm front bar, and it feels "ok".
I will be more than happy when I upgrade to KW V3 in Spring.

 

I would the rear sway bar in the middle hole. then go from there. every car is different

 

I have yellow Konis and a Club Sport rear bar and I run them both FULL Stiff... I need yellow's for the front still but I have a Welt bar up front set pretty stiff as well...

 

Have those of you running your dampeners on full stiff done any testing to verify your settings?

I'm asking because I find it hard to believe that the shock should be on full stiff, as long as the shocks are in good condition and the springs are stock. I have been thought to always consider the shocks and springs as a unit. If the shock is set to full stiff the spring won't be able to overcome the dampening force and keep the tire from skipping as well as it probably would be on a softer setting. I'm basing this assumption on the fact that the factory found the best balance to be 1-1/4 from full soft.

Based on this line of thought one should actually soften the dampening as the springs age and the spring rate drops. My guess is that with the shocks on full stiff the car might feel better, but the overall grip might be lower resulting in slower lap times?

I'm no expert, only a bookie, so please correct me if your experience runs counter to my argument.

 

Those are some good thoughts. IMHO I'd recommend stiffening the shocks by an additional 1/4 turn with that sway bar. Stiffer shock damping may feel better when tossing the car into a corner aggressively, but those settings will sacrifice grip in steady state bumpy corners. It's not a good idea to increase damping force to make up for soft springs.

 

The general method advised for tuning dampers on the track is to start full soft, and increase it until the car feels stable, then back off one click (24 positions, Ledas in my case). Full stiff "feels" good, but isn't. I backed mine off from full stiff after talking with Racer's Edge, and WOW what a difference. Car got much faster, and the gators weren't nearly as harsh as I was used to them being.

 

Assuming from your post that you're referring to the shocks in the rear, I run a 19mm rear sway full stiff with Koni yellows right out of the box, and the cornering is fantastic.

However, this is a cabrio, and they don't take well to overly stiffened suspension mods.

 

Well, thankfully no one has been complaining so far!

You make an interesting point about the shocks. I am very surprised they can be that different. I would not expect that from a renowned manufacturer like Koni. My pair of original rear shocks are still in great shape and very close in rebound dampening, perhaps 1/10th of a turn difference between the two. What do you think is the reason for the variation you describe?

Regarding my original question, I'm asking because I don't have a track close by to test on. Nearest one is a full day from here, and when I'm there I have limited time for testing. Also, I don't know if my skills are honed enough to tell which way to go, unless I make very large adjustments. I think I will try an extra 1/4 turn towards hard and see. I hope it is close enough to stock to be relatively safe. Hopefully I can get enough track time to improve my skills enough to fine tune it later.