Koni Shocks

Price Paid:  $700.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
1997 Honda Prelude Koni Yellows

Summary:
I have these shocks with Neuspeed yellow springs. To be honest, i love the cornering abilities with the shocks, along with the different siffness settings and ride height adjustments but at any setting i feel that the car is way too low and it is extremely bumpy.

Strengths:
Lots of settings
Provides excellent cornering

Weaknesses:
ride is realy rough
car sits way too low..

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $165.00 from Ebay as a used produ

Year / Model Reviewed:
2002 Koni Yellow adjustables

Summary:
Before buying this product, I was scared. I've read every single one of these reviews (150+) and was concerned about the ride being too rough. Sure it's noticibly rougher, but it also recovers that much quicker! I'm not going to lie; the bumps ARE louder. These struts and shocks basically make the roughness and smoothness more apparent. What I love most about these shocks/struts or another performance shocks/struts (not necessarily KONI), is that there's much less nose dive when the car slows down. Even when stopping the nose dive is minimal. This makes for a smoother ride. It might just be in my mind, but I think the car actually accelerates a bit faster. Since there's less forward and backward tilt, the car responds faster. I always wondered exactly what people meant by shocks/struts making the driver more confident in the turns. No I know first hand. This mod is by far my favorite. Firstly, getting the price I got for these was just plain lucky. Bottom line is if you're afraid of the roughness like I was, don't worry about it. It's adjustable! According to the people at KONI, these struts/shocks are direct replacements (with a little bit of modification) so stock springs should perform okay.

Strengths:
Just as expected if not better. Without a doubt, product definitely allows the car to corner faster and tigher with more control.

Weaknesses:
Rear shocks are only adjustable when removed from the car. This particular application may have raised my car slightly. I compared side by side to another rav4 4wd and it didn't seem much different. But after being around my car so long with stock suspension, I'm pretty sure it's a little higher. The price is a bit high if you buy it new. It's comparable to other products, but may be on the steeps side if you're a young student trying to modify cars. I only bought it b/c I got a great deal from a great seller on ebay. Otherwise I wouldn't fork out the cash so quickly. But after experiencing what KONI suspension can do, I think I would consider it. I'd actually really love to put KONI's on every new car that I ever buy from here on out. But again, it's a pricy change.

Similar Products Used:
Stock struts/shocks. KONI's are my first aftermarket suspension part and I've fallen in love. I can't wait to get into the car every morning.

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Price Paid:  $0.00 from morepowerracing.com

Year / Model Reviewed:
2000 Honda Civic EX

Summary:
Improved ride quality. Very smooth ride and better handling. One of the height adjustment rings broke on me. I e-mailed Koni and they are sending me 2 new adjustment rings for free. Lifetime warranties kick ass!

Strengths:
Smooth ride and lifetime warranty. Height adjustable.

Weaknesses:
Can cost a pretty penny... but worth it.

Similar Products Used:
Tokico Illuminas

Price Paid:  $523.00 from preludeparts.com

Year / Model Reviewed:
1999 Honda Prelude Non SH

Summary:
I must say...the Koni Yellows...are the best shocks on the market for the price. Used them on my '95 Integra, got them for my '99 Lude. Very wide ride-adjustment band and adjustable spring perch allows a variety of ride combinations. Also provides that extra drop you need to close up that annoying gap between tire and wheelwell. Easy to install, depending on your vehicle. But be very patient. I had to remove the ring at the base of my oem shock and transfer it to the Konis so I could mount them to the stock wishbone. Be careful not to warp or damage the ring. I locked mine in a vise and tapped the butt of the oem shock to break it loose. If you're into aesthetics, be careful not to chip paint during the install...but if your like me, who cares...they're KONI YELLOWS!!! I popped them in using the lowest spring-perch clip setting, teamed with Neuspeed Race Springs and ST Sway Bars F/R... Neuspeed front strut tower and Tanabe rear strut tower bar...and the handlin' is sick. Very tight and nimble, but not too rough where ride quality suffers. Plus, before the Konis, my car was about a finger and a half gap (annoying)... now...she's perfect, chilling right above my 18" Volks with no gap and no clearance issues. Ride quality is best when set at about 50% stiff up front and 75% rear. I keep it a little stiffer at the rear cuz of the car being FWD...allows for better cornering and less understeer....I cut a flap in the rear shock tower carpet panel to allow easy access for rear adjustments. This is a very robustly built system... adjustment caps are notched, making it easy to gauge your changes. Spring perch clip is fixed at 4 or 5 settings so you don't have to worry about uneven height adjustment issues like with threaded-bodied coil-over systems which run 2x more in price (but be sure all clips match at all four corners). It's Yellow color is quite aestheticly pleasing... and they look sick from behind... Only negative experience I had was a leak in the right front shock stem...but that was totally due to shipping damage. I shipped it back to Preludeparts, and they valve-tested it. Said it was fine and shipped it back to me...but it is now leaking again....it's ok though, I'll order another one and be back on the road... ...I've owned 2 sets in the past 8yrs...and only one shock had an issue. Not a bad failure rate. If you want a great streetable system... get the Yellows. You won't regret it. Don't fall for high-end flashy coil-over systems unless you are truly going to race your car. Trust me. Keep it simple...your ride will love you for it. It is obvious that this lengthy review was not written in haste. This...is a great system.

Strengths:
Height adjustable Ride adjustable Easy to install Looks great Handles great

Weaknesses:
Makes you want to buy them for all your other cars....

Similar Products Used:
KYB non-adjustables Tokico 5-way (friend's Jetta Wolfsburg) Factory OEM's

Price Paid:  $450.00 from shox.com

Year / Model Reviewed:
2000 kini sport yellow/ jetta glx

Summary:
great shocks. i keep front adjusted to 50% stiffer and rear to 100% stiffer and feel no need in rear saybar. front relatively hard to install, but not too bad. first used with neuspeed sport springs(1,5 inch), but now in winter i drive with stock springs and it feels fantastic.

Strengths:
great quality, very light, good technical support, clean look, bright yellow looks fantastic on dark colored car

Weaknesses:
yellow paint easily peels off during installation even if one wears gloves.plastic adjustment caps are a joke - one needs plyers for adjustment. rear shocks have to be removed to adjust (sucks)

Similar Products Used:
eibach pro dampers, stock sachs