What spring rate with GC coilovers/Koni Yellows?

[snowborder714]

Charles and/or Dallas:

I'm not too familiar with the Penske's, but was wondering how these compare to the Koni's and the KW's. I plan on making a DG setup soon, which is why I question. I understand the Koni's worked well for him and with me being a beginner, I have no doubt they'll be fine for me. I see more people going with the KW's recently, but at the price tag, I don't think they're currently an option.

Just wondering if you had a price range for the Penske's, which I'm guessing will be pretty expensive. But was also wondering what they bring that the Koni's and/or KW's can't. I'm not too familiar with any of these, but am currently planning on the Koni's because of DG.

 

[Dallas J]

The only personal experience I have with shocks is koni's, but DG's (Charles is probably rolling his eyes ) has his "secrets" about setup posted here, DGs Autocross Secrets aka Autocross to Win - Shocks

IIRC, Penske has their adjuster patented and Ive heard its amazing, simple, and oh so effective that everyone in the world would just love to copy it. But just looking at the dyno plots should show how well the penske's work.

Anyways, just read what DG has to say and remember to take it all with a grain of salt as it is one mans opinion.

 

[ACM]

I would point out that DG didn't use Konis on his race car, he used modified Shocktek Bilsteins for the last several years - from 2000 onwards until he retired iirc.

Shockteks were a veritable bargain for what you got, the only reason not to consider them today is the lack of parts and support. If there was an affordable source for shafts etc they would still be an excellent damper for the money.

DG's Koni kit was an entry to "real" race-worthy setups. It got you all the important parts, with dampers that were tolerably effective - DG matched individual dampers together on his shock dyno, so that his sets were as good as Konis can be without being custom built. But they're still Koni Sports.

Penskes really are nerd candy - deliciously gorgeous, but they're only one way to skin this cat. Ohlins (particularly TTX) are similarly wonderful, as are Moton, White Power, and several other brands. At least as important as the brand of damper is the supplier and his experience.

You can even set Penskes up to be total junk as easy as anything. We had ours freshened by a local shock builder who decided to use a different brand of fluid, and refilled them with Amsoil instead of Penske. Why ? I have no idea, but we spent a good month thrashing before I sent them back to Ankeny. He filled them with Penske fluid and they were back working as expected. It's that easy. The local guy had Penske fluid, he just decided not to use it...He's also well respected in his field, he just doesn't work in the Solo II arena.

You won't go far wrong following DG's advice closely, he does know his stuff.

Edit - that was weird, contents repeated twice ?

 

[everbruin]

packwood isn't far, why not do nt/tour or prosolo there?

Im too far to realistically get to nationals, but want to stay regionally fastest (NW)

 

[Dallas J]

packwood isn't far, why not do nt/tour or prosolo there?

Oh, I go to every Oregon SCCA event in packwood but I haven't been able to afford to hit the pro-solo and N/T (Arent they like a billion $$ now??). Although, this year I'm planning on going since I'm just finishing up the MSME and have a job that starts in a couple weeks.

Im still struggling with the Evo vs DSM thing though. The evo is just the easy way to go since the amount of work to find a sunroofless chassis then swap everything will be a major PITA.

 

[everbruin]

nt for 2010 is $94 but at least rule book no longer needs to be shown/bought. i'd love an evo/sti but obviously they're more $$, insurance, etc. personally i'd opt to save for one vs getting a sunroofless dsm

 

[Continuum]

Well I have decided to go with 500/250 rates initially and see how they feel. I have the RMDSM sway bars and the car is already decently responsive with 330/175 springs so I figured they just may be stiff enough for the occasional track day. If they are still soft I will go to either 600/300 or 700/350 Hyperco springs depending on how the car feels. Thank you everyone for the great info!

I am probably a little late on this to be helpful... I had the Koni Yellow/GC setup on my 97 GSX for about 8 years with 450/300 springs and did 20+ HPDE type weekends. I believe the strings were 8" in the front and 7" in the back. I had the stock sway bars. That is about as stiff as I would go for street use. Obviously, this is my personal opinion - we all have different tolerances. On the track you will love it compared to stock. Significantly more control in the transitions and balance while braking.

Good luck with your selection. It is great to know another DSM will be hitting the track. Although not the best suited car from the get-go, it certainly is a lot of fun.


jason