Koni Street rebuilt.

[D.FYLAKTOS]

My Felicia has Koni Street shock absorbers

https://www.koni.com/en-US/Cars/Products/Sport-Tuning/STR-T/

with Apex lowering springs

https://www.apex-suspension.co.uk/products/performance-lowering-springs

Also i have Top Mount changed before few years), a Skoda strut brace and Eibach Anti-Roll bar.

 

The Koni were on the 3rd (last) scale,i pass the MOT few months ago with no problems but wasn't happy no matter if it was in City (potholes-small rails) or in Highway (after 130 Km) so it was to for a change or total repair.

I choose the 2nd and i went to the official Koni Service here which uses original Koni parts and gives 1 year Warranty.

Example from Uk

https://www.koniuk.co.uk/about/service-repair

According to the mechanic: pistons, teflon, O-rings, oils plus gaskets (especially those in rear were in not good condition) plus Alignment, the total cost was 250 euro or 217 £ (nice price because i am nice guy).

 

It's too early for impressions, of course there is a huge improvement in City roads plus on emergency traffic brake but the speeds are low.

I am a bit cautious, the real test in few days with Highway and Mountain Roads turns that i love.

Sorry no photos from the step-by-step work.

 

 

 

 

[Thefeliciahacker]

Damn man just trash them for crying out loud, my friend they are no kws to get them rebuilt. 

Just fit bilstein b4s and talk about it again in 80.000 kms

Edited 26 December, 2023 by Thefeliciahacker

[D.FYLAKTOS]

 

1) I was sure that you didn't agree, i was expecting the:

 

On 23/12/2023 at 20:57, Thefeliciahacker said:

I can almost certainly guarantee

 

2) No KW for Felicia in catalogue

https://www.kwsuspensions.net/shop?c_make=106&c_model=1319&c_car=4735&ag=

"0 Products "

 

3 hours ago, Thefeliciahacker said:

Just fit bilstein b4s

 

3) Bilstein B4S here are for Taxi drivers, not for Sport driving because they can't plus they don't work together with lowering springs (as i have).

Good for my father which is old man and drives very normal.

 

[Thefeliciahacker]

1 hour ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

Good for my felicia which is old car and drives very normal

 

1 hour ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

No KW for Felicia in catalogue

YEAH, BECAUSE IT'S NOT EVEN REMOTELY A SPORT(Y) CAR 

[D.FYLAKTOS]

43 minutes ago, Thefeliciahacker said:

 

YEAH, BECAUSE IT'S NOT EVEN REMOTELY A SPORT(Y) CAR 

 

Koni now has the STR.T Kit with H&R lowering springs, go for it !

https://www.koni.com/en-US/Cars/Products/Sport-Tuning/STR-T-Kit/

Grab the chance, many years back that option wasn't available.

https://www.dpmperformance.co.uk/car-parts/seat/ibiza/koni-strt-25mm40mm-springs-shocks-suspension-kitibiza-6j-20082017-14tsi-14tdi-16tdi-19tdi-20tdi-inc-cupra-fr

I suggest to don't go up to 40mm it's tool low for the GR road conditions, 30 or maximum 35mm is all you need.

 

As for the record, Eibach lowering springs are 40mm and very stiff (i had them for many years), not so good for us, avoid them exept if you have your Felicia for Highways and Mountain Roads only.

If i was living exclusively in country (no City) with good conditions roads i would choose that combination, excellent behaviour in Sport style driving.

[RicardoM]

My Felicia has HP Sporting shock absorbers. They are designed in Czechia specifically for Felicia, they are adjustable (normal and sport in steps), and they are very reliable (90K km so far). I use them most of the time on normal mode for best handling in the city.

http://www.hpsporting.cz/9._typ_mcpherson_32-22.php

The best investment I have made.

 

Edited 26 December, 2023 by RicardoM

[RicardoM]

Edited 26 December, 2023 by RicardoM

[nta16]

Always a rush for the sexy parts like dampers and springs but often overlooked and often more effective is checking, or changing, the suspension bushes for good quality appropriate ones in good condition and as much as you can on the model any alignment/geometry. 

 

Makes and models of the sexy parts is often about what suits the driver or possibly the brand's advertising and marketing power or current fashion 'coolness' for those that are concerned about such things.  Going to smaller manufacturers you can get custom assembled items for reasonable costs but I doubt even the bigger manufacturers have done much testing on less fashionable cars.  ETA: last posts has proved me wrong - but maybe the exception that proves the rule.

 

Then once you have what you have chosen there's a lot of driving and testing to see what settings suits you, your driving and the roads you are going on.

 

I would take the recommendation of a Felicia owner and driver like RicardoM into serious consideration and the fact that they are designed in CR specifically for Felicia.

 

Edited 26 December, 2023 by nta16

[nta16]

ETA: A further point of the posts is to give thread viewers a wider education/experience/view/opinion (delete as you find appropriate) view on dampers / springs / suspension which can be taken or left as desired.  

 

For qualification - I had Bilstein and Eibach (lowered kit) fitted to my Fiat Cinquecento Sporting after I took the car over from my wife.  The car was badged and sold by Fiat as a Sporting -  53 hp, and great fun, especially on its factory standard lowered suspension.  I saw a factory standard well used road example embarrass the likes of a reasonable Ford GT40 replica/kit at Bruntingthorpe proving ground on the bends but you see that often with small agile cars against big "fast" cars.  As I suspected the Cinquecento was driven by a motorbike rider, he had recently bought it because he had 11 points (out of an allowed 12) on his driving licence and being a true bike fan didn't bother with cars much so was very impressed with how well the little car went.  

 

I have also had Koni, Spax, AVO and others on, or fitted to, various cars I have owned over the decades.

 

I had two brand new factory built cars, both undisputable sports cars, one a year after the other, same model but slightly bigger engine in one, slightly smaller engine with "sports suspension" and slightly larger engine with "road suspension" and the sports suspension was the inferior on the UK roads with my use and driving.

 

These of course are generalisations as I have no experience of a Felicia or its suspension.

 

Edited 26 December, 2023 by nta16
ETA:

[Thefeliciahacker]

1 hour ago, RicardoM said:

My Felicia has HP Sporting shock absorbers. They are designed in Czechia specifically for Felicia, they are adjustable (normal and sport in steps), and they are very reliable (90K km so far). I use them most of the time on normal mode for best handling in the city.

http://www.hpsporting.cz/9._typ_mcpherson_32-22.php

The best investment I have made.

Yeah i know them 

[nta16]

Sports, sporty, sporting are only terms, words, marketing, any car can be a sports version.   Sports cars that actually are used in sports need not be that sports, sporty, sporting, some manufacturers, particularly the German ones, are happy for their road vehicles to be thought of as sports, sporty, sporting to help with sales and prestige.

 

My qualifications are that I have owned and driven cars commonly know as "sports" and even track use cars, not German marque ones but I know quite a few owners of such with and without the higher prestige tuners badges on them and I owned three (road only) Skoda Estelle 2 when they were doing well in the motorsport of Rallying.  And of course the previously mentioned Fiat Cinquecento Sporting, it's even in the name.  😄

 

[D.FYLAKTOS]

I have already said that HP Sporting were offered by Skoda dealer FAA 071001-8 in the SPORT section of red catalgue.

http://www.hpsporting.cz

Older topic here

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/121107-where-to-get-hp-sporting-coilovers/

 

There is no service or parts for these here that's why i never bought them.

 

3 hours ago, nta16 said:

These of course are generalisations as I have no experience of a Felicia or its suspension.

 

''All hands on deck"

Many have bought and installed expensive and fancy coilovers but when you ask them for adjustment numbers they say ''Oh, i don't know, my mechanic knows".

You need a track and many-many rounds to fit what's proper for your car since the B or C driver adjustments have no apply because you drive different than them.

 

Back in my motorcycle days there were only 1-2 options for aftermarket coilovers and extremely difficult to find someone for rebuilt and the majority of ''sport'' riders were trying with the stock suspension, all of them were with a wrench and a screedriver in their bag.

This set-up for City, this for Highway etc which sometimes was tiring and spastic.

[nta16]

1 hour ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

You need a track and many-many rounds to fit what's proper for your car since the B or C driver adjustments have no apply because you drive different than them.

And what works well on a track often doesn't on the roads, that applies to this and other modifications and tuning why is you shouldn't expect too much from a road car when it's on a track.

[D.FYLAKTOS]

14 minutes ago, nta16 said:

And what works well on a track often doesn't on the roads

 

Unfortunately in the past we had only 1 track here and since was impossible for the majority of people to go there the solution was 1 and not so safe:

Find a well known Mountain Road with no traffic and make some A to B and from B to A kilometres.

Was most common for riders to suggest each other which road with turns was the best to test your suspension-engine modifications.

[nta16]

We have tracks but why would you need or want to with a road car, if the car suspension settings are that badly out you also need a tow car and trailer to get it to the track.

 

Just a matter of being sensible make minor adjustment by road use and sensible drives and building up as is sensible.  This is car drivers stuff not crazy motorbikers (or organ-donors as they're sometimes referred to) stuff.

 

OFF-TOPIC WARNING: -

When I was young I used to got to hardcore bikers (black leather jackets, cut-off with studs and oil covered jeans) pubs and events as I liked the music, but I have never had a motorbike in my life particularly after having a pillion ride on one of my biker mate's bike.  I vowed if I ever got on the back of bike again I would have my hands not on the back of the seat but around the testicles of the bloke up front to control his ego.

 

BTW - heavy metal was Black Sabbeth but I don't remember it being called that, it was known as Heavy (or 'eavy as most of us commoners don't pronounce the h at the start of words) and despite "heavy metal thunder"  being in the lyrics of Steppenwolfe's Born to be wild.  Deep Purple were known as hard rock and I didn't see heavy metal used until an AC/DC cover on a, released later, 7" vinyl single.  At the time it came out Meatloaf's Bat out of Hell LP, all the tracks, was on all the time at the biker's pub I went to, strange as it's all theatrical rather than heavy.

 

[Thefeliciahacker]

On 26/12/2023 at 13:55, D.FYLAKTOS said:

I suggest to don't go up to 40mm it's tool low for the GR road conditions, 30 or maximum 35mm is all you need.

You know by lowering the felly you destroyed the little camber recovery it had... 

[D.FYLAKTOS]

39 minutes ago, Thefeliciahacker said:

You know by lowering the felly you destroyed the little camber recovery it had... 

 

About 21 years is like this.

No issues with MOT plus i do alignment very often.

No suspension mechanic warnings.

[Thefeliciahacker]

Search for camber recovery - gain 

Edited 27 December, 2023 by Thefeliciahacker

[D.FYLAKTOS]

I am in the middle of the trip, very happy with Koni repair, huge difference on the road.

I read about Koni repair from 2005 from other drivers which done this, everyone satisfied and never regret it.

[RicardoM]

On 27/12/2023 at 23:19, Thefeliciahacker said:

Search for camber recovery - gain 

Andreas, you're talking to the walls. Let him destroy his car piece by piece, topic by topic😐 while dreaming to a real rally car he will never have.

[D.FYLAKTOS]

My rebuilted Koni work as it should be, so far tested and approved in city traffic (small potholes, railroad tracks, emergency brakes etc.) and Mountain Roads (turns after a downhill straight-S curves-small saddle at the road junction etc).

My car my rules, i do what i want and makes me happy...and yes i have to admit that another guy can beat me in banana tree climbing, sorry i can't do this.

 

@J.R. You are right.

 

 

Edited 29 December, 2023 by D.FYLAKTOS

[Thefeliciahacker]

21 hours ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

My rebuilted Koni work as it should be

 

I did not argue that the rebuild will work I just argued why in the first place you got em rebuilt, I mean just fit oe replacement shocks 

[nta16]

@D.FYLAKTOS how long were the dampers fitted and used on the car before they needed a "rebuild"?

 

Edited 30 December, 2023 by nta16

[D.FYLAKTOS]

On 30/12/2023 at 07:48, Thefeliciahacker said:

just fit oe replacement shocks

 

These

1) don't fit in my driving style and i have that style since 1992.

2) don't work together with Apex lowering springs that i have.

 

I read-hear about KONi rebuild from 2005, very common here in Greece and has official service shop with 1 year Warranty.

 

On 30/12/2023 at 13:11, nta16 said:

how long were the dampers fitted and used on the car before they needed a "rebuild"?

 

About 21 years and had 82000 Km of use, were on the 3rd scale the last.

I just returned from a 390 Km trip (Highway-Mountain Roads) and i am extremely happy with their performance.

[nta16]

2 hours ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

About 21 years and had 82000 Km of use

21 years and 51,000 miles of city and spirited mountain roads use for the Koni dampers before they needed a rebuild ?

 

I'm not trying to catch you out just let's pin this down once and for all.

 

Your car is 23 years old, you put 21 years on the Koni dampers before rebuild, am I correct with this ?

 

(My wife's 2015 VWSkoda Fabia Mk3 needed its factory fitted dampers replaced at only 6 years old and 41,000 miles, really annoyed me.)

 

You also put -

On 26/12/2023 at 11:55, D.FYLAKTOS said:

As for the record, Eibach lowering springs are 40mm and very stiff (i had them for many years)

 

So how long, and mileage, have the Apex lowering springs been fitted ?

 

I am trying to work out, other than the little camber recovery it had, what has been destroyed by your choice of lower Apex springs, what things have you had premature failure or replacement of, what has happened to the car overall, what has been spoilt or ruined, does it sound like a stripped out rally car on gravel or just a lot less pleasant, safe or reasonable to drive or be on the road, do they cause other parts and components to be replaced like they are going out of fashion ?