Koni Yellows - Discontinued!

[99gst_racer]

FYI: I just got off the phone with Koni N/A, and they've discontinued the yellow sport shock for the rear of the 1G AWD (part number 8040-1129sport).

They are going to continue to manufacture the fronts, though. Apparently sales has declined greatly, and that is the reason behind their discontinued status. There's only 5 rear shocks left sitting in the Holland warehouse and nothing in the US warehouse. After they're gone, the only way to get them will be to buy them in bulk (50+ pieces).

Just figured I'd give you guys a heads up.

 

[habitatguy187]

Dah! I just had a thread on 1g suspension and had decided to go with Koni Yellows! Now I'm going to have to buy a used set....

 

[LandoAWD]

It HAD to be the rears, huh? Damnit. Apparently, I'm stuck with AGXs back there.

 

[crimsondragon]

I came in this thread thinking they completely discontinued it but it's only for the 1g. All is good in my world.

 

[LandoAWD]

If only we tagged threads "1g", "2g", etc.

 

[habitatguy187]

Haha

 

[dsmdeliveryboy]

####!! That is BS!! I was just getting ready to buy the yellows! I'm seriously furious right now.. Lol
Now I have to run AGX's with my GC sleeves or buy Megan coilovers.. Yay..

 

[KiNg MaRtY]

Ah, that sucks. Well good thing I have a full set on my VR-4. I believe the sells for the rear suffered because many would opt to get a different rear strut due to the difficult adjustability in the rear. Its not like in the front or like on the 2g's where you just turn a knob. You have to pull the strut out to adjust it

 

[Tanro]

F U C K my life.... Looks like I will have to fork over more cash for an inferior product such as ksports or megan coilovers. Anyone want to trade a me a FWD 2g for an AWD 1g once I get the motor back in and broken in? Seriously I want a road race auto x type car and I beginning to think I should just get a civic.

I wonder if any of the vendors still have them in stock?

 

[underradar92]

Back on topic, sort of...

All is not completely lost for the 1g, EVO8/9 struts can be modded to fit, see post 4: http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/handling-tech/372296-evo-8-9-struts-springs-1g.html

And thanks again Tim.

 

[99gst_racer]

Thread cleaned up. Let's keep it on topic guys.

 

[Ludachris]

That's too bad. But it's only going to get worse as time goes on and sales keep dwindling for the higher priced, better quality parts. As these cars get cheaper, fewer people will want to buy the better parts.

Thanks for the heads up Paul. I'm wondering if any of our vendors keep them in stock. If so, you guys might want to try getting in touch with them. I think we have some links pointing to them in our Parts Guide section for the Konis.

 

[99gst_racer]

A local buddy spent some time calling around last week, and he couldn't find anyone that had fronts and rears in stock. So, I honestly doubt anybody is sitting on a stockpile, and I'm sure our supporting vendors inventory on them is probably pretty slim too. And I put in an order for 2 of the 5 remaining rears last week.

 

[kmj 4g63t]

Did you check in Canada? When I was talking to my vendor about suspension and what I was looking for about 2-3 weeks ago there were a lot of koni's available. That was for fwd though.... It was also the koni's with gc kit.

 

[99gst_racer]

The front shocks are the same between FWD and AWD, but the rears are different. I didn't check to see if they were discontinuing the 2WD rear shocks as well, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were/are.

Just for the sake of clarification, the part number being discontinued is 8040-1129sport.

 

[Tanro]

Can anyone suggest a good alternative to Koni Yellows? I am planning running GC's, good sport shock, and chamber plates as an alternative to a set of the cheap coilovers that do not seem to be worth the money.

 

[99gst_racer]

The design of the Megan/K-sport/D2 coilover shocks are excellent. I wish there was a way to rebuild one of them using discs, shims, and pistons made by Koni, Ohlins, or Penske.

 

[Tanro]

I had heard bad things at about the megan's and k-sports. I suppose I will be going with which ever color I like best having not first hand experience unless you or chris have a suggestion as to which of the 3 is best?

 

[99gst_racer]

The Megan/K-sport/D2 coilovers may not have as much of an impressive dyno chart, and the company may not be able to offer solid tech information or offer re-valving, but the product is excellent for a street driven DSM. Many people that are driving on Koni yellows aren't racing with them like they were intended anyway. Koni makes a superior performing product, but unless you're putting them on a dedicated auto-x or road race car, you'll never reap the benefits that you're paying extra for.

Like I said, if there was a way to put the Koni guts in a Megan coilover, it would be the best option on the market. As it stands, the China coilovers are a pretty decent product, and anybody driving their DSM street car to work along the interstae isn't going to feel the valving differences between the two.

 

[Ludachris]

The Megan/K-sport/D2 coilovers may not have as much of an impressive dyno chart, and the company may not be able to offer solid tech information or offer re-valving, but the product is excellent for a street driven DSM. Many people that are driving on Koni yellows aren't racing with them like they were intended anyway. Koni makes a superior performing product, but unless you're putting them on a dedicated auto-x or road race car, you'll never reap the benefits that you're paying extra for.

Like I said, if there was a way to put the Koni guts in a Megan coilover, it would be the best option on the market. As it stands, the China coilovers are a pretty decent product, and anybody driving their DSM street car to work along the interstae isn't going to feel the valving differences between the two.

The thing is, Koni isn't more expensive than Megan/K-sport, maybe slightly more with a GC kit - but we're talking maybe a $100 or so. They certainly are more expensive than the best available KYB's, but not by much, and you can feel the difference compared to those (at least I could) even on the street. And this is why it's so disappointing that they're discontinued. The first parts to disappear are going to be the best quality, because they cost more, and DSMers are going to be less willing to spend bigger on cars that are dropping in price. I can buy multiple 1G's for the cost of a good set of high quality performance coilovers (JIC, Hotbits, etc).

 

[habitatguy187]

I can buy multiple 1G's for the cost of a good set of high quality performance coilovers (JIC, Hotbits, etc).

Lol, that's so true.

 

[99gst_racer]

The thing is, Koni isn't more expensive than Megan/K-sport, maybe slightly more with a GC kit - but we're talking maybe a $100 or so. They certainly are more expensive than the best available KYB's, but not by much, and you can feel the difference compared to those (at least I could) even on the street. And this is why it's so disappointing that they're discontinued. The first parts to disappear are going to be the best quality, because they cost more, and DSMers are going to be less willing to spend bigger on cars that are dropping in price. I can buy multiple 1G's for the cost of a good set of high quality performance coilovers (JIC, Hotbits, etc).

The design of the K-sport/megan coilovers are hands-down superior to the Koni/GC set-up. With the K-sport's/Megan's, they use a threaded body aluminum shock, so there's no separate, loosely fitting sleeve slide over a stock-replacement steel body shock. My greatest pet peeve with the Koni/GC combo is that when you lower the car, you're actually taking away precious shock travel because the actual body of the shock always remains in the same location. The china-made coilovers have a separate lower mount that is adjustable from the body. This means to can actually lower your car from the bottom of the assembly and shock travel always remains the same as a result. This makes it almost never necessary to change the length of the spring or even make any adjustments at the perch at all. Furthermore, the actual shock cylinder of the china coilovers is dimensionally the same from model to model, and this eliminates the need to do manufacturing runs of one particular model at a time. This results in being able to deliver the product sooner to the consumer, and having less overhead for the manufacturer. it's a win-win for everybody, and the design alone almost eliminates the need to ever discontinue any particular model.

Like I said, the K-sport/Megan/D2 coilovers are a superior-design, and they are priced far below most other single adjustable, threaded body aluminum shocks on the market. If these companies had an R&D and tech department that focused on superior valving performance like Koni has, then their product could dominate the market. It would eliminate the need for a steel body shock in the DSM racing scene.

It's a real shame to see a quality product like the Koni yellow shock become discontinued. I sure wish they would have considered updating their product line to compete with the china company's product design. Times changed, product demand changed, and the china companies saw a market for a style of coilover that wasn't otherwise available - and they jumped on the opportunity to offer such a product. Meanwhile, Koni's response was to continue to offer their one and only shock design, just as it has been since day one. And they wondered why their sales eventually dwindled down to less than 15 units per year, even though theirs didn't cost much more than the competition. Sales numbers show what the consumer wants.

I'm half tempted to buy a replacement cylinder for my D2's and have the boys at Koni or Afco tear it open to see if they can do anything with it.

 

[Ludachris]

The design of the K-sport/megan coilovers are hands-down superior to the Koni/GC set-up. With the K-sport's/Megan's, they use a threaded body aluminum shock, so there's no separate, loosely fitting sleeve slide over a stock-replacement steel body shock. My greatest pet peeve with the Koni/GC combo is that when you lower the car, you're actually taking away precious shock travel because the actual body of the shock always remains in the same location. The china-made coilovers have a separate lower mount that is adjustable from the body. This means to can actually lower your car from the bottom of the assembly and shock travel always remains the same as a result. This makes it almost never necessary to change the length of the spring or even make any adjustments at the perch at all. Furthermore, the actual shock cylinder of the china coilovers is dimensionally the same from model to model, and this eliminates the need to do manufacturing runs of one particular model at a time. This results in being able to deliver the product sooner to the consumer, and having less overhead for the manufacturer. it's a win-win for everybody, and the design alone almost eliminates the need to ever discontinue any particular model.

The design might be better in terms of being able to lower the car without affecting the travel, but I would argue that the Koni shock performance is better than the Megan shock head to head. If you're going to run track events regularly or race the car, you're almost definitely going to run a higher spring rate and you aren't going to lower the car too much, which means you're not losing out on much of the shock travel - which strengthens the argument that the Megan/etc coilover is probably better for the street if you just want a lowered car that handles better than stock. But he actual performance of the Ground Control set up is not inferior - I know a very respected shop in the f-body world of road racing (Camaro/Mustang Challenge series) that turned my friend on to the same set up, explaining how it's just as good as coilovers costing almost twice as much - that was a big eye-opener for me. The Ground Control setups are being used in racing in various markets, which tells me the design is proven. But you're right, they may not be the best choice for those who want to drop the car into the weeds.

It's a real shame to see a quality product like the Koni yellow shock become discontinued. I sure wish they would have considered updating their product line to compete with the china company's product design. Times changed, product demand changed, and the china companies saw a market for a style of coilover that wasn't otherwise available - and they jumped on the opportunity to offer such a product. Meanwhile, Koni's response was to continue to offer their one and only shock design, just as it has been since day one. And they wondered why their sales eventually dwindled down to less than 15 units per year, even though theirs didn't cost much more than the competition. Sales numbers show what the consumer wants.

It's more likely that sales diminished for Koni because the product is expensive than he AGX in a market where the cars are simply becoming cheaper and cheaper every day (at least for the 1g). The attitude in the DSM market is to buy the cheaper AGX shock and live with its limits rather than buy the more expensive Koni shock - most people don't care as much about performance suspensions in this market anyway. Koni shocks were designed specifically to be a direct strut replacement, not a true coilover. If they had originally designed a true coilover, then I'd agree with you that they should have considered updating the design to compete with the newer Megan coilover designs. The product demand in the DSM world is simple - cheaper products, even if that means inferior quality and performance, especially in the suspension category. I wish the mentality was different.

I love DSMs, but the sad reality is that my fellow DSMers are the ones who dictate what parts are made for these cars. If we don't create a market for good parts, nobody will make them, and the ones that are still made will eventually be discontinued due to people buying the cheaper alternatives. It's this mentality that will probably push me to buy a non-DSM with a stronger aftermarket following to tinker with at some point.

 

[Tanro]

I am planning on setting up my suspension for AutoX. The car will be my DD until I go to Afghanistan next October. I really had my heart set on the Koni yellows as I had a set of them on my SL2 as well. They were the best shock I had ever used. Not at all impressed with my AGX shocks. So K-Sport/Megan/D-2 any difference in shock quality? Or all they all similar?

And yeah Chris I feel you. I will either be getting a Hyundai Genesis 2.0T or a 2006 EVO IX Electric Blue MR Edition when I get back from the sandbox. Leaning more towards the Evo because it has 4 doors, is AWD, and has 4g63.... If I get the 2.0T I would looking into how to transplant and EVO X head.

 

[99gst_racer]

The design might be better in terms of being able to lower the car without affecting the travel, but I would argue that the Koni shock performance is better than the Megan shock head to head. If you're going to run track events regularly or race the car, you're almost definitely going to run a higher spring rate and you aren't going to lower the car too much, which means you're not losing out on much of the shock travel - which strengthens the argument that the Megan/etc coilover is probably better for the street if you just want a lowered car that handles better than stock. But he actual performance of the Ground Control set up is not inferior - I know a very respected shop in the f-body world of road racing (Camaro/Mustang Challenge series) that turned my friend on to the same set up, explaining how it's just as good as coilovers costing almost twice as much - that was a big eye-opener for me. The Ground Control setups are being used in racing in various markets, which tells me the design is proven. But you're right, they may not be the best choice for those who want to drop the car into the weeds.

I'll agree with that. The inner workings of the Koni is definitely made to perform, and I'm sure that's noticed on a track car. On the other hand, a street car probably has little to gain by running a Koni shock - especially if the consumer only wants a decent shock to use with their lowering springs. That would almost be like running aluminum rods on an otherwise stock engine - it's a great component, but it's unnessacery overkill.

Though, I would love to see back to back dyno charts for the Koni shock and one of the china coilovers. I'd be willing to bet that the coilovers shock doesn't perform near as bad as most people make them out to be.

It's more likely that sales diminished for Koni because the product is expensive than he AGX in a market where the cars are simply becoming cheaper and cheaper every day (at least for the 1g). The attitude in the DSM market is to buy the cheaper AGX shock and live with its limits rather than buy the more expensive Koni shock -

I'm not sure if it's a cost thing. Like you said, the Megan/K-sport coilovers aren't nessacerily cheap, and there's alot of people buying and using those.

Even I sold my Koni/Hypercoil set-up for a set of D2 coilovers, and I couldn't be happier with the switch.

most people don't care as much about performance suspensions in this market anyway. Koni shocks were designed specifically to be a direct strut replacement, not a true coilover.

Agreed. A high-end direct replacement strut is a tough sale in this market. That's alot of money to spend for just better valving.

The product demand in the DSM world is simple - cheaper products, even if that means inferior quality and performance, especially in the suspension category. I wish the mentality was different.

I love DSMs, but the sad reality is that my fellow DSMers are the ones who dictate what parts are made for these cars. If we don't create a market for good parts, nobody will make them, and the ones that are still made will eventually be discontinued due to people buying the cheaper alternatives. It's this mentality that will probably push me to buy a non-DSM with a stronger aftermarket following to tinker with at some point.

Don't beat yourself up over it, Chris. Products will continue to come and go with every market. I've been in the aftermarket performance parts sales business for only 8 years now, and I've seen alot come and go already. This ecomony definitely isn't helping either. It's forcing manufacturers to trim the fat, when they otherwise wouldn't want to. But it isn't going to stop new products from coming out or old ones from diminishing with any platform. Cheap parts exist for every platform that is at least 10 years old. That's just a part of the game. If you think we have it bad, you should see the plethora of junk chromed stamp steel products pumping out of China for the small block Chevy market. Nevertheless, there will always be guys that want the cheapest part available, and there will always be the guys that want the best performing and highest quality part available. There will always be a demand for both.