Jump to content
LegacyGT.com

Will Koni Sport Yellows fit the 6th Gen?


Recommended Posts

Update: Still have the konis, bought new front struts, Whiteline springs, and STi wheels. Just have to find someone or somewhere I can bring the new struts and front inserts to to do the work

 

If you're up for the trip, AZP Installs in Kenilworth NJ can do it for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I had the shocks (8610-1453S front, 8010-1055S rear) installed a few days ago. I chose the softer of the two model alternatives because of the stock springs. I haven't changed the springs because I live in New England and frequently drive in snow and/or dirt roads. The first change I made to the car was mud flaps; the second was Primitive skid pans.

 

The installer set them mid-range, I immediately backed them off to minimum because our secondary roads have fully grown frost heaves and unfilled potholes. The firm-riding snow tires affected this decision too.

 

From reading about the shocks, the compression stroke isn't adjustable; all adjustment is on rebound. I learned three things about adjusting rebound from reading: (1) If adjusted too tightly they can "ratchet" towards full compression, "locking" the suspension; (2) The overall adjustment affects the ride quality and tire adhesion; and, (3) Different adjustments front/rear primarily affect the transient behavior entering and leaving curves by increasing the roll stiffness.

 

The first change from all-minimum was 1/2 turn firmer on the rear shocks. I wanted the rear of the car to have a greater sense of controlability. Increasing the transient rear roll stiffness should accomplish that. But what I got was twitchiness; when I entered a turn at moderate speeds the rear felt like it wanted to come out. Then, when I did a U turn at a traffic light it popped out. So I increased the front so I have 1/4 turn difference; this feels right so far but I may have to reduce the difference further.

 

Note: I have front and rear strut bars, a Whiteline rear sway bar set to 22mm stiffness and well-lubricated, firm (85d) CKE sway bar bushings (link). My thinking from this experience is that the first provides a solid base for the suspension, the second better balances the car mid-curve. And the lubricated bushings affect the entering/leaving-curve transients (causing the sway bars to have an effect more quickly). So the stiff rear sway bar combined with the initial shock rebound difference to give too much transient rear roll stiffness.

 

So, how's the ride? On highways, it's good. I've traded the floaty feeling I was getting (100K miles) for a better controlled, still comfortable ride. Secondary roads are significantly harsher, with bangs from the tires hitting holes. But I still like the change. I'm looking forward to putting the summer tires back on as they ride better.

Edited by Fred H
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...
AZP got back to me! Next day off or when I find some time I'm gonna ship my new front struts and the konis to them. Wow I looked back on this thread and I first commented in 2017, it's been 5 years
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
I'll be installing these with Whiteline springs. Any recommendations for a damper setting that would be good for their spring rates?

 

I'm guessing the Whiteline springs are probably similar rates to Eibach. With 2 full turns from full soft to full hard start with them set to full soft and put about 500 miles on them to let them break in a bit before turning them harder. I'm going to take an educated guess that they will be pretty close to perfect in the full soft position. If anything, maybe a half turn on the front, and that's it for daily driving.

 

If you do a track day, add a half turn to both front and rear.

 

With H&R springs (very stiff) on my 5th Gen, I ran 1 full turn in the front and a half turn in the rear for daily driving.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Whiteline kit contains 6.1kg/mm (329lb/in) front rated springs that provide a 20mm drop while the 5.8kg/mm (325lb/in) rated rears deliver a desirable 20mm to the vehicle." From their website (had this saved in a note while figuring stuff out for mine).

 

I did NOT have KONI shocks with these and they were super bouncy...also they raked the car pretty noticeably. I ditched them for BCs so I hope you have a better experience. Keep us posted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Whiteline kit contains 6.1kg/mm (329lb/in) front rated springs that provide a 20mm drop while the 5.8kg/mm (325lb/in) rated rears deliver a desirable 20mm to the vehicle." From their website (had this saved in a note while figuring stuff out for mine).

 

I did NOT have KONI shocks with these and they were super bouncy...also they raked the car pretty noticeably. I ditched them for BCs so I hope you have a better experience. Keep us posted.

 

I seem to recall that the Whiteline springs, being made in Australia, are set up for the JDM Bilstein factory suspension setup, and I think the spring perches on the front struts are in a different place than our USDM shocks, therefore giving you the noticeable rake.

 

Those spring rates are pretty high, more than the H&R springs, no wonder you were bouncing all over the place. The spring rate couldn't be attenuated by the factory dampers.

 

Factory spring rates on the Legacy are around 215 or so, the RCE springs were pretty stiff at around 240 and I know my H&R springs were more than that, probably 260 or so. I couldn't imagine 320 spring rates on these cars for a daily driver.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@GTeaser why not equal front and rear? I thought while skimming somewhere I saw someone say to start in the center of the adjustments?

 

@DougKelly20 yeah I want to avoid adding any bounce

 

The front needs a bit more damping because it is heavier. Break in the shocks on the lowest setting for 500 miles first and then if you are having trouble finding a good setting sans any platform knowledge, start in the middle and try a half turn either way.

 

But you have platform knowledge, which I am conveying to you. Almost everyone here in the 4th, 5th and 6th Gen forums runs half to 1 turn in the front and softest to 1/2 turn in the rear for daily drivers. Add a half turn for track days. But because of the weight distribution of our cars you want about a half more turn in the front than you have in the rear.

 

With factory front 23mm FSB and Whiteline 22mm RSB, with those settings and H&R springs, my car cornered completely neutral in high speed corners on the track, super easy to catch the slight rear slide when it happened exiting corners and very little to no push on the way into the corners.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Decent coilovers for the street: 900-1200 dollars (2 years ago ...not sure not with all the supply issues). Complexity of install: slightly less than springs alone and much less than cut a strut BS. Lots of adjustment options.

 

Springs ...200-400, fixed height, not adjustable, requires also disassembling the strut assembly.

 

If you add cut a strut konis ...in my opinion the amount of effort for a similar and yet still less adjustable result isn't worth the cost savings. However, if you never go to the track you might not care about any of the effort or adjustability to improve your street drivability.

 

As with every choice in life it comes down to "what are you trying to accomplish?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Koni's will last 100k miles or more like factory shocks. Coilovers should really be rebuilt at least 2-4 times in that mileage depending on the quality of coilover you start with.

 

In other words, Koni and your spring choice is more a set it and forget it, coilovers you'll always be removing and reinstalling and/or adjusting. Ride quality will be better with a strut setup unless you are dropping $3k or more on high quality coilovers.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@GTeaser when you say start at the softest setting for 500 miles break in... do you mean both softest or softest rear and half turn foward from the softest setting in front because of weight distribution
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@GTeaser when you say start at the softest setting for 500 miles break in... do you mean both softest or softest rear and half turn foward from the softest setting in front because of weight distribution

 

Nope, start out full soft all around. Tune it a bit after 500 miles.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

I was getting everything together for the shop to assemble the insert assemblies so I can swap em out with the oem assemblies when I noticed one of the insert assemblies doesn't have the black protective rubber boot on it.  I email Koni to see about getting a replacement and they were confirming the model number with me so I checked my amazon account and it says I ordered the 1447 not the 1453's.  Part of me thinks I noticed this before and ordered the 1453's and sold the 1447s but I cant find a receipt from any other websites I may have ordered from.  If I hadn't ordered the 1453s and I sent the 1447s along with the OEM 2.5Premium front struts to get them installed, is there any chance they fit?  I'm continuing to look for another order of the 1453s hoping I noticed and fixed the mistake.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

After dicking around waiting for my friends garage to have an opening I got impatient and booked with AZP, probably a better move because they're in the performance industry and have done work like this frequently.  I'm getting springs, struts, rear lcas, rear toe arms, whiteline front strut tops, ferodo DS2500 pads and dba 4000 slotted rotors.  I'm holding off on the STi wheels and tires in my basement til maybe march or so, then run them from March or April til next October then put the all seasons back on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whiteline front strut tops dont fit, I'm glad I also had a set of new OEM ones.  DBA front rotors dont fit, I was told before the suspension and brakes were interchangeable with the WRX and the Legacy, last time I did the fronts I swear I ordered the stoptech slotted rotors for the WRX.  They're gettin me front rotors that'll fit and I'll still get the upgraded braking with the DS2500s.  I'll see how the rest goes, if I have anything else that's wrong, hopefully not.

P.S. they couldn't possibly be nicer, cool shop

Edited by JRu17
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use