Your remarks on the Konis are not exactly correct. The Koni's are infinitely adjustable for rebound within their range. They are about 50% softer on rebound than ZO6 shox at full soft, and about 250% stiffer at full firm rebound. There is an enormous difference in ride when changing from one extreme to the other. They are easy to adjust and are a a lot cheaper than the fully adjustable (bump/rebound) shox from Penske, JRZ or Ohlins. They are a little longer than the Bilsteins, however, so you can't slam your car down as low. Konis also have so much gas pressure that they will raise your car about 1/2". They were a complete B**ch to compress and install. Koni can shorten the shock for about $100/corner though. Koni's are fully rebuildable and have a lifetime warantee. I am very happy with their performance on the street and at the occasional track day and would buy them again if I had to. I have them on my 4th Gen Z28 too. Bang for the buck goes to the Bilsteins, though.

[Modified by daveydc5, 4:55 PM 5/15/2003]


[Modified by daveydc5, 4:55 PM 5/15/2003]

 

Tell me about it.
But for me it's more like
Take your $, divide by 2, (Vette/Duc). Multiply by four just because of the name.
Now take the time you could have made more money, and subtract out both the hours working on the things and the hours riding them. Oh, and let's not forget the washing.

In the end, you're broke, tired, dirty, sore, and have one hell o fa smile on your face. :)
Most fun you can have with your clothes/leathers on.....
Yeah, and I forgot about the broken collarbones......

just to make this post on topic.......from the posts above, do you or don't you need coilovers in order to have Penskes.....??

 

Mallett (http://www.mallettcars.com) can do you Penske's either coil over or stock leaf spring. I'm not sure what comes direct from Penske.

Oh, and I'm sure some of the bucks go towards the jazzy web site too.

(Bit of off topic stuff coming, but try here for the ohlins forks etc. if you ever get round to it. http://www.ema-usa.com/suspension/su..._ohlins.shtml)

Also, did you know Yamaha now owns Ohlins?

Just waiting for Ducati to buy Showa now :D

 

OK, I'm going to disagree with nearly everyone here and say that the QA1 shocks are complete crap. I've had to have TWO of them revalved in less than 20k miles. I've got another that started squeaking just last week. I run with them set at 7F/7R on the street and 11/10 for autocross. They're easy to adjust, but the valving is complete crap. Get the Konis- you don't need twelve positions anyway unless you drag race.

 

what you buy depends on how you use the car -- street only, spirited street, autocross, drag, lapping sessions

following is a post from a much earlier thread that I copied from a national level driver, Mark Sipe, who used to run a C5

his remarks are more geared towards autocross, but you get the idea

Mark Sipe on Z06 shock choices:

PENSKE: Guy Ankeny at Ankeny Racing is your man, the only one I recommend. Guy has a proven track record with Penske that speaks for itself; many top drivers kicking tail, etc. Penske price reasonable SA or DA, just depends whether you or not you need max flexibility for whatever reason. There's no doubt that Guy can provide you with a winning shock if you decide to go that route. Last email I had for Guy was: gmankeny@earthlink.net , but someone correct me if it has changed.

JRZ: I will pass you off to Richard Beecher for who & what to use involving JRZ: dick@gate.net Richard seems to have his JRZ's working well, but he did make the change to DA's all around a while back. Price-wise, SA is about the same as Penske, but DA is a big stretch for most wallets; almost $5k if I recall correctly. Several of the original JRZ partners jumped ship and now offer their own shock, the JRZ star is not shining as bright as it did previously IMO, but I don't claim to be the most informed about JRZ. Seem to be a really hot ticket for road racing, Solo2 has mixed results, especially stock, but SP and higher they do well; Bob Tunnell, Scotty White, etc. Curt Ormiston did win SS on them at the 2000 Nat's with a C5, so who am I to knock that kind of success?

BILSTEIN: I do not have confidence in the std. non-adjustable Bilstein shock. It is the lowest cost option, about $300/set from select vendors. I think it is out of it's league compared to the others mentioned here. That leaves going to ShockTek to get a SA or DA Bilstein conversion and revalve. ShockTek is making a name in Solo2 apps, they have become increasingly pervasive over time with more and more successes in several select classes. I have no direct experience with them, nor am I familiar with their pricing; have heard stories on both extremes, but stories are more often than not only interpretations rather than facts. The person you need to speak with on this is Sam "The Man" Strano.

MOTON: Former JRZ partner previously mentioned, appears to be a direct copy of JRZ, but looks can be deceiving. Looks like they may have coined JRZ's pricing too. Falkner & Houser installed them on the Boxster S recently. Moton has an office out of Atlanta, but I guess everything is made in Holland. First time out at the Peru Tour was disappointing for the Rob&Rob show. Moton offered to build and loan them a set of triple adjustibles for testing after Peru (rebound plus high & low speed bump adjustments), then set the DA's to whatever they determine is needed, or refund their money if they end up dissatisfied. That says volumes for customer service. However, may not be for everyone, may take some knowledge and skill to work your particular app through, could be a mixed bag. Try reaching Rob for more info at: RobFalkner@aol.com

KONI: my preference so some bias here, only fair to say. Three good sources; TrueChoice, ProParts, or Koni-NA through it's distributor network. Can't go wrong with any of the three, but you may want to shop prices. I would recommend Koni-NA through GH Sharp at SF Motosports GHSharp@aol.com. IMO, the Koni 3013-1023 front and 3013-1024 rear SA shock has the best bang for the buck. This is the shock of choice for the budget-minded (we're talking Z06 budget, right?). You can get them from GH for $840/set with shipping; is that a bargain or what? One thing to point out, Koni only just became aware of this. The stock front shock utilizes the washer on the top of the dustcover to keep the lower isolater bushing on the top shock mount from passing through the sheet metal mounting hole. You cannot re-use the dustcovers on the Koni's because they would cover up the rebound valving adjuster, so you have to either supply two heavy washers on your own or chop up the dustcover to get the stock washer. No big deal IMO, but apparently a few folks complained about not getting two washers, so Koni is now supplying them in future orders. Just FYI in case you pick up an early set and don't see any washers in there; only applies to Koni 3013-1023 front shocks. Next step up and still the best DA shock for the money, a custom set of Koni 3011 DA's. These are what the lesser costing Koni's were based on. Koni will now take and convert the 3013's above to a DA as a less costly alternative, but the 30's are not as convenient as most DA's for bump adjustment. For bump adjustment the shock has to be fully extended and the shaft is turned relative to the body while holding down a small button, which means it will probably have to be removed from the car. Fortunately, once you dial in the bump future adjustments are extremely rare, if not zilch. That's the tradeoff for the lower DA price; less convenience. I think the price through GH would be $2100 range or less. Top of the line is the Koni 28 series. Two flavors; the 2812 aluminum body through ProParts like Erik has or the 2811 steel body through Koni-NA/GH like what I and Roger are running. The price difference is significant and doesn't justify the insignificant weight savings on a 3000# stock class vehicle IMO. 2811's through GH will run in the low-mid $3k range, but you may have to sacrifice a set of stock rear shocks for the lower control arm mounts. One thing though, Koni-NA refuses to play the nitrogen pressure game being used by some Penske/JRZ owners. Higher gas pressure results in a slightly higher ride height. They almost have me convinced that the difference will not matter; we'll have to wait and see. So far they seem to be correct.

GAB, TOKIKO, ETC: I am not a big fan of any of these other brands. Most adjust rebound & bump simultaneously; just not right in my book, plus their range of adjustment and valving curves leave a lot to be desired. You want a separate rebound-only adjustment for SA or DA. Hey, it's your money.

FACTORY STOCK IN 2001 Z06: Too much bump valving to effectively put down the power for Solo2. Maybe ok for road racing because of the difference in dynamics encountered there. The acceleration rate of the Z06 on 1st & 2nd gear Solo2 courses is too much for them to work effectively. The acceleration rate on 3rd gear and up road race events is just not as severe, especially once the aero drag effects kick in, so the relative performance improvement of an aftermarket shock over stock may not be quite as much for road events as in Solo2, but there definitely is an improvemnt to be had there with the right setup.

 

Umrswimr - Are you kidding, No offense intended, but that must be one of the most horrible rides I could imagine. Hell, when we go to the road course for a track day, running the QA1's I usually start off with 5 both front and rear (which is plenty stiff) and as speeds come up toward the end of the day we end up adjusting to softer valving. I think that the highest we have run them in an autocross was 9f/8r. If you are running 11/10, I guess that you don't want the suspension to move at all. No need for and anti-swaybar here. When we decided to try and set mine at 8 and drive on the street, It was just like we were waiting for the shock mounts to break off of the frame. Unless the tracks you run on are pool table smooth and flat, IMHO you are running the shocks too stiff for optimum cornering performance. I think I know why your shocks required rebuilding so soon. We figured that the only time anyone would ever want to run above 9 would be once the shocks started to wear and go soft, you could stiffen 'em up by going to a higher setting.

Well, I've alway said that no two drivers are the same, so there is a setup for each one. I wish you good luck running them that stiff, but I would strongly recommend you try softening them up a bit and let the rest of the suspension do more of the work. :yesnod:


[Modified by C5stein, 10:43 AM 5/16/2003]

 

NealB - Nice post. I think there is just as much art (more probably) in getting the suspension right as there is getting anything else right in the car. You can't just throw on some Bilsteins and be done - unfortunately.

One thing I like with the Penske's is I just pop the hood and hatch and crank four little ***** on the remote reservoirs and I'm setup for the track, then crank them back and I'm good to go on the street. Don't even have to lie on the ground and get dirty :)

Finally, with these puppies I can hammer, and I mean HAMMER round bumpy bends and the car won't skitter across the road. Before with stock, or the bilstein/hotchkis setup I had, I'd have been in the weeds at the same speed. Its also kinda neat feeling them come in and work properly as they warm up too. Anyway, money well spent IMO.

 

NealB - Are the KONIs easy to adjust and will it work on a lowered car....2"?

 

C5stein-

Hehe- I like my ride a little firm. :D

I was running the FE1 suspension which required that I partially compensate for the soft springs and sways with a little firmer shock. Compreomises, compromises. And yes- most of my autoX courses are pretty smooth- one is an abandoned helocopter pad (Mineral Wells) and the other is the Texas Motor Spedway's concrete parking lot- both are huge and pretty bump-free. Of course, this shouldn't matter- these shocks failed at a LEGITIMATE setting on a short autocross course. Twice. That indicates poor quality- regardless of how insane my firness level is. :D

If your motor broke during WOT, would you blame your high throttle position or the factory for allowing an unreliable setting?

Now that I have new sways and soon to have Z06 springs, I'm sure I'll be re-evaluating the shock setting. That still doesn't change my position on these shocks- they're not the highest quality.

 

Umrswimr,
I can appreciate your position and yes you will have much better luck once you have the Z06 sprongs and sways. May I suggest a setting of 5 on the street and probably no more than and 8 at the track. Hey if you are interested, we could rebuild and Dyno those QA1s for you and perhaps determine what went sour. I would sure like to know.

Mark