RedDragon777

Now what i want to know is this on ALL koni shocks or just a specific model?

Woodward Ave

It's just the front adjustable set, I got the rears in July.

sam strano

STR.T's are in stock. Sports for the rear are in stock. It's only the Sport fronts we're waiting on.

jlmounce

For somebody that maybe doesn't need, or even really desire an adjustable shock, how is the STR.T?

I know I'm hijacking here a little but given a setup as such:

Vogtland GT springs
Fays 2 watts
stock sways

how is that STR.T going to perform on the street, but more importantly a couple track days that a car may see throughout the season?

Of course, not looking for that last ounce, since it's non-competitive.

Doogie

This post from Sam on a previous thread should answer your question about how the STR.Ts work...

https://themustangsource.com/showpos...3&postcount=13

sam strano

That's exactly what the STR.T's are meant for, the guy who doesn't want adjustables, doesn't feel like he needs them, doesn't want to spend the money for them, but who *does* want valving that's well sorted for use with mild lowering spring (or as an upgrade for stock springs) and a real, honorable warranty.

The feedback I've gotten has been excellent. I've driven them as well, and frankly they would have made killer stock shocks. They, for my tastes, lack a little bit of rebound but I also am a picky bastard on that front. I like my cars more taut than most, even other autocrossers. Stepping back and putting myself in a more normal role these are very good all around dampers.

You said it, not looking for the last ounce, since it's non-competitive. This is lame, but think of these as Steeda HD mounts vs. full race camber plates. Way better than stock, well built, offers more of what you need (in this case damping, in the mounts adjustment and getting rid of the weak stock stuff). There are folks who need or want full out race camber plates, and for them, they exist. But given your description and seemingly excellent understanding of what you want, the STR.T's I think woudl suit you well.

ryan1112

I just finished my 5th autocross and we are done for the season. Over the winter I want to upgrade my suspension with either shocks or sway bars. I don't want to put slicks on until I burn up my bf goodrich kdw's. My biggest problems are a nasty push mid corner which can result in the whole car shuddering and I have trouble laying down power out of the corners. I'm thinking that Koni's will help but I don't want to pay $700 for sports. Will the str.t shocks make that big of an improvement? All of my current mods are in my sig.

NastyStang113

I'm going to be going with the Koni STR.Ts. Sam I'll be calling or emailing you when I get back from my trip.

Well that might be the case but ... The Tokicos are not reliable. I put aside what I had read because I had heard a lot of good stuff. I decided to ignore the negative accounts on them because I figured it was just the fact that a lot of them were being sold so of course more reviews were going to be placed upon them. Well I've got maybe 14,000 miles on them and the fronts are blown...

bigray327

Good to know, thanks.

sam strano

Most new autocrossers face a nasty push in general. But a stock Mustang is very prone to it also. I will tell you that with a change of tires, the balance will also change a bit, but the nature of the car's behavior will still be the same.

Shocks don't effect the balance of the car. They will help the feel, transition rate, tranistional response, and how quickly the car takes a set. Are STR.T's a lot better than stock, hell yes, and the car becomes easier to drive fast. But your issue isn't so much shock related. What you need it more grip and better balance.

There are a lot of options to choose from. For example you could put lowering springs on which will lower the car and give you better balanced wheel rates. But stock dampers can't handle lowering springs well, and certainly not for long. Swaybars are not damped by shocks, which means you can play with those and they will effect balance, transitional response, and overall roll.

I'd be happy to help. I have a huge assortment of parts (I carry more brands than most anyone else). I also autocross, and not only do I do it, pretty well... but I also teach autocrossing so I know the common mistakes that you can't set a car up around. I take that into consideration when we speak about setup.

ryan1112

Well, I already have steeda ultralite springs, panhard rod and contol arms with relocation brackets. I still have a good bit a rubber left on my current kdw 2s so they will last me about half way through next summer, then I'm going to get some wider nitto nt01 or nt05s. I think that I only want to do 1 mod at a time so I can feel the difference in each mod. Would you recommend the shocks or swaybars? Even with the stock sway bars, the car doesn't roll that much because of the steeda springs.

Also, for performance street tires, where would you set tire pressure? Everyone at the track said to pump them up but I am actually lower than stock at about 27-30 psi because my sidewalls aren't rolling over at all.

sam strano

I think one mod at a time is smart, and frankly wish more folks did it that way.

NT01's are stickier than NT05's are. The more sticky the tire, the more the car will roll--but also the tighter it will get mid corner. It will turn in better (response wise), but then you will tend to have more understeer because the rear will bite relatively harder and drive the car more into a push. It'll be harder to get the car to rotate under power.

Shocks and bars will both be important here. Frankly because it seems you are going to be more into autocrossing and such I'd have to recommend Koni Sport ultimately here. Given the front are still on backorder (what this thread is about), then I'd say starting with bars might be more expedient, but the car will benefit big time from better shocks too, but agian not on the balance side. And since you don't seem to be complaining to much about shock issues (though you will when you see what better ones are like), it would lead me to recommend bars over shocks--especially since I think the shocks that would do *you* best aren't around right now.

ryan1112

Thanks for you help Sam. Since this is a street car as well I am leaning towards the nt05s. I would like to start off with the bars but should I order the shocks just so that I will get them by spring?

By the way, I looked up some of your videos on youtube. Nice driving. I autocross at kilkare (you can find it on youtube) which is different than most places because the the banking. I'm also going to go to mid-ohio next summer, I can wait to get on a big track so the V8 can put those Miatas in their place.

sam strano

I don't believe that the shock will be any issue by spring. Should be in by December, and then back to normal.

It's your call, I think you want both eventually--all a matter of when/how you do it.

SlideWRX

I didn't see any alignment correcting parts in your sig; have you changed the alignment at all?

ryan1112

After I lowered the car I got an alignment from the dealer. I don't really know what to do otherwise.

Woodward Ave

I guess while people are talking suspension - anyone have any wheels they can recommend? I'd like to put some wider lighter wheels on my car. My stock fan blades weigh 30 pounds a piece. What size front and rear do you think is best? I'm trying to upgrade everything else first before I put on a e-force supercharger.

SlideWRX

It would be interesting to see the final alignment if they gave you a readout. Dealer specs for alignment and auto-x ideal specs are generally different.

sam strano

I agree, and I'm sure his alignment is very stock. An increase in negative camber will help front grip a lot, but of course at the expense of tire wear, some tracking and a little stopping distance. If it's a serious autox car, we want to up the camber a lot. But I get sense it's not, which means a 'tweener setting IMO that will help grip, but not tear up tires on the road or cause it to be super darty.

There are a lot of ways to help the balance, adding negative camber is certainly one, but even with a lot of camber, the car still needs more rear bar (I know, I ran my GT in F-stock trim with -2.1 camber, the stock bar is still too small in the rear).

SlideWRX

I'm still on stock springs, but it seems with many lowering spring the camber goes way up, and people use camber bolts/camber plates to bring it back to streetable. I'd want to see how much toe he has too, since that goes out (I *think*) with lowering, so they probably pulled it back in, but they might have put a *lot* of toe in. honestly, I think it's just one of those things, like tire pressures we need to figure out.

how are you measuring rollover? That does seem low; I was usually running 38 or more, but I really didn't try lower settings much.