C6 w/ Koni 3013Sport
09-15-2007, 08:53 PM
#1
Safety Car
Thread Starter
C6 w/ Koni 3013Sport
So, I was at Thunderhill yesterday testing a set of these for a friend who had a customer return them ("they click")... I started off with 1 sweep rear, 2 sweeps front. The car was a nightmare with that little rebound in it... insanely tail happy under braking, cresting any hill meant waiting forever for the front end to settle.
I put 2 more sweeps in to the rear which got the rear end to stay behind the front under braking; but cresting the hill at T9 was still "exciting." In the third session I cracked a LF rotor so I took the opportunity to change the rebound on the front -- yes, you have to jack up the car and pull the wheel to be able to reach the adjuster. Total pain.
I set the front to 4 sweeps, and the rear to 4 sweeps, and spent the next four sessions just driving. I think some more tweaking on the shocks could have helped, but it was hot, and I was lazy.
Is anybody else trying the new Konis? How're you setting the rebound? If anybody asked me now, I'd say anything less than 4 sweeps with C6Z51 springs would be silly...
glen
PS- The shocks don't click... I suspect the original owner failed to torque the mounts correctly. :-/
I put 2 more sweeps in to the rear which got the rear end to stay behind the front under braking; but cresting the hill at T9 was still "exciting." In the third session I cracked a LF rotor so I took the opportunity to change the rebound on the front -- yes, you have to jack up the car and pull the wheel to be able to reach the adjuster. Total pain.
I set the front to 4 sweeps, and the rear to 4 sweeps, and spent the next four sessions just driving. I think some more tweaking on the shocks could have helped, but it was hot, and I was lazy.
Is anybody else trying the new Konis? How're you setting the rebound? If anybody asked me now, I'd say anything less than 4 sweeps with C6Z51 springs would be silly...
glen
PS- The shocks don't click... I suspect the original owner failed to torque the mounts correctly. :-/
09-22-2007, 01:25 PM
#2
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Nobody using the new 3013Sports? Next on my todo list is to figure out exactly where there's too much rebound since it sure feels like 4 sweeps is roughly the minimum to work well.
09-22-2007, 02:42 PM
#3
Melting Slicks
Most folks recommend tuning Koni's starting at full soft, like you did, and yes, that is likely way too soft for serious track work. The idea of really "leaning" on the car untill you are really close to the final settings is not a good one. You should be able to get a good idea of where you are in the setting range in a couple of laps. Any more than that is just beating on the car. Going out for a full session between changes is just a waste of time.
Go here and use Bob Tunnell's procedure for dialing in Konis. It works.....
http://www.bimmerhaus.com/tech/shocktuningTN.html
Bob's process will get you a lot closer in a shorter period of time, and at that point you will dialed in and done and be able to enjoy the car. Typical "track days" aren't set up for car tuning. You need to have your car closer to being dialed in before you get there so that you are making fine tuning adjustments between sessions. Not that you should be really leaning on it on the street, but you can go out and get a general feel as to where you want to be.
Even better is to go to an autocross "test and tune" day. Usually there you can make a change, do a couple of runs, and come back, and repeat the process 5 or six times in a couple of hours. Then when you go to the track you are much closer to final settings and will have a better idea as to what each change will be when you make them.
Go here and use Bob Tunnell's procedure for dialing in Konis. It works.....
http://www.bimmerhaus.com/tech/shocktuningTN.html
Bob's process will get you a lot closer in a shorter period of time, and at that point you will dialed in and done and be able to enjoy the car. Typical "track days" aren't set up for car tuning. You need to have your car closer to being dialed in before you get there so that you are making fine tuning adjustments between sessions. Not that you should be really leaning on it on the street, but you can go out and get a general feel as to where you want to be.
Even better is to go to an autocross "test and tune" day. Usually there you can make a change, do a couple of runs, and come back, and repeat the process 5 or six times in a couple of hours. Then when you go to the track you are much closer to final settings and will have a better idea as to what each change will be when you make them.
09-22-2007, 03:01 PM
#4
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Yup. Would have been great to have a second (and third) pair of hands to help with the adjusting. Now I'm just curious what others have done. I do find it weird that KONI would ship these shocks with an adjustment window well outside of anything you could actually use, though. Why not valve them such that the softest rebound is about 3 sweeps worth if anything less than that is ~uncontrolable?
FWIW, the non-inverted 3013s might be easier to adjust since you could get to them by simply jacking up the car? The new 3013sports force me to remove the front wheels to access the adjuster...
I guess I'm more curious what others think of the shocks as opposed to the process of tuning them. :-) BTW, those initial settings came from the vendor as "streetable" but even there I think there's too little rebound.
FWIW, the non-inverted 3013s might be easier to adjust since you could get to them by simply jacking up the car? The new 3013sports force me to remove the front wheels to access the adjuster...
I guess I'm more curious what others think of the shocks as opposed to the process of tuning them. :-) BTW, those initial settings came from the vendor as "streetable" but even there I think there's too little rebound.