Koni Dampers coming soon

[cab]

I posted this over in the Model Y sub-forum, but it applies to the Model 3 as well....
Koni Red and Yellows Coming Soon for 3 and Y

 

[Clover]

Man and I happy to see this. I've had Koni's Sports on a couple cars and they were awesome for the money. Spent way more for Ohlin's on a prior BMW. While they were good, the price never sat well with me. Actually, the price led me to build a driving simulator but nobody wants to hear about that. I wondered if I should have just saved the money and gone with more Kona Sports, which worked so well for me in the past. I was expecting them for the M3 and was totally surprised when I could not find them. Hopefully their double adjustable model are coming next. While the rebound adjustment on the Sports works well, ideally I would like to be able to soften the compression some for street driving and be able to turn it up for AutoX or trackdays. No question the M3 needs more rebound dampening though, so I'm sure Sports will help a lot.

 

[XPsionic]

Man and I happy to see this. I've had Koni's Sports on a couple cars and they were awesome for the money. Spent way more for Ohlin's on a prior BMW. While they were good, the price never sat well with me. Actually, the price led me to build a driving simulator but nobody wants to hear about that. I wondered if I should have just saved the money and gone with more Kona Sports, which worked so well for me in the past. I was expecting them for the M3 and was totally surprised when I could not find them. Hopefully their double adjustable model are coming next. While the rebound adjustment on the Sports works well, ideally I would like to be able to soften the compression some for street driving and be able to turn it up for AutoX or trackdays. No question the M3 needs more rebound dampening though, so I'm sure Sports will help a lot.

Can't wait! Had 3 sets of Konis on 3 different cars before, all with good results, better ride and better handling. I find the OEM suspension on the Model 3 too unforgiving on high speed compression, low speed rebound is a bit loose for my taste. From my prior experience, Konis have better small bump and damping sensitivity than stock shocks.

I had the Koni FSD dampers before but thought it felt a bit unnatural at times, the way it stiffens up aren't always what I would expect the suspension to behave like.

 

[florida_man]

I find the OEM suspension on the Model 3 too unforgiving on high speed compression, low speed rebound is a bit loose for my taste.

Same is true of Model Y suspension as well.

 

[tom @ eas]

Koni Reds start shipping today, got a couple of sets remaining:

Koni - Special Active (Red) Damper Kit - Tesla Model 3/Model Y

KONI Special ACTIVE is the next generation of premium shock absorbers that offer superior handling without compromising comfort. It is the latest advancement in the KONI product portfolio. Utilizing the most recent generation of KONI’s patented Frequency Selective Damping Technology (ACTIVE...

europeanautosource.com

 

[XPsionic]

Koni Reds start shipping today, got a couple of sets remaining:

Koni - Special Active (Red) Adjustable Damper Kit - Tesla Model Y

ETA Mid/Late July. Pre-Order now to reserve a set for when they arrive! KONI Special ACTIVE is the next generation of premium shock absorbers that offer superior handling without compromising comfort. It is the latest advancement in the KONI product portfolio. Utilizing the most recent...

europeanautosource.com

Any news on when Koni would release products for Model 3? Also are the rears adjustable without being uninstalled?

 

[tom @ eas]

Any news on when Koni would release products for Model 3? Also are the rears adjustable without being uninstalled?

Konis are interchangeable between Model 3/Model Y. Note the Special Active (Red) units are non-adjustable, so access wouldn't be needed.

 

[FlyinEV]

I installed rear Koni Red set on my 2019 model 3 SR+, 30K miles.

It‘s comfortable ride with 41psi for the rear and 40psi for the front and a little bit body roll, compared with 36psi on stock shocks. It’s less road noise, less bumpy and gain 4 miles on range. Rebound rate is about 43% faster compared to stock ones.
I’d get front Koni Yellow set when it’s available again in September, for adjustable.

 

[tom @ eas]

Here's some pictures of the new Koni Red Special Active Struts.

 

[XPsionic]

Konis are interchangeable between Model 3/Model Y.

Wonder which springs Koni originally designed the dampers for. The curb weights of the 3 and Y ranges from around 3600lbs all the way to almost 4500lbs, you'd think these non adjustable dampers would feel a bit overdamped for the lighter 3 SR+ and maybe a little soft for the Y Performance?

 

[tom @ eas]

Wonder which springs Koni originally designed the dampers for. The curb weights of the 3 and Y ranges from around 3600lbs all the way to almost 4500lbs, you'd think these non adjustable dampers would feel a bit overdamped for the lighter 3 SR+ and maybe a little soft for the Y Performance?

Track guys often change spring rates on the track. keeping the same dampeners (albeit adjustable) on coilover setups.

The Special Active technology could be compensating for the variation in weights between models.

 

[jetsurgn]

Wonder which springs Koni originally designed the dampers for. The curb weights of the 3 and Y ranges from around 3600lbs all the way to almost 4500lbs, you'd think these non adjustable dampers would feel a bit overdamped for the lighter 3 SR+ and maybe a little soft for the Y Performance?

Model Y has been through a few different spring revisions, which springs are the Koni Special Active designed for?

 

[ZeiFin]

Yesterday I installed Koni special active rear shocks (koni 8245 1422) to my 2019 Model 3 Performance (Front ones are in backorder.. takes 1-2months..)

General info.. Koni's are much beefier than originals, both piston rod and shock body. Bad thing is that original "dustbooth" holder does not fit and should not be installed even if material is shaved from it as top part raises too high and shortens shock stoke. Koni does not provide any replacement holder so I had to create one from closedfoam insulator sheet (around 5-7mm thick) and secure dustbooth with zipties.
One concern was the bumpstops.. there are not much space before shock body even with stock spings/height.. but I left them as is..

Install was pretty ok, only slowdown was upper mount as nut was quite far from top.. hard to get out and hard to torque to spec..

Results.. I had quite accurate feeling how it was before and I did not have much to hope for with just rear shocks. Mixed feelings, regular speedbumps where front and rear are very "hard hitting", rear even more, did not feel any different (rear) and pounding sound/feel from drain covers etc felt the same.. not sure if just placebo but it felt that some bouncyness and road roughness were bit better now.

So just rear ones, not too much improvement to M3 perf from short test drive but hopefully front ones give more..

 

[XPsionic]

Yesterday I installed Koni special active rear shocks (koni 8245 1422) to my 2019 Model 3 Performance (Front ones are in backorder.. takes 1-2months..)

General info.. Koni's are much beefier than originals, both piston rod and shock body. Bad thing is that original "dustbooth" holder does not fit and should not be installed even if material is shaved from it as top part raises too high and shortens shock stoke. Koni does not provide any replacement holder so I had to create one from closedfoam insulator sheet (around 5-7mm thick) and secure dustbooth with zipties.
One concern was the bumpstops.. there are not much space before shock body even with stock spings/height.. but I left them as is..

Install was pretty ok, only slowdown was upper mount as nut was quite far from top.. hard to get out and hard to torque to spec..

Results.. I had quite accurate feeling how it was before and I did not have much to hope for with just rear shocks. Mixed feelings, regular speedbumps where front and rear are very "hard hitting", rear even more, did not feel any different (rear) and pounding sound/feel from drain covers etc felt the same.. not sure if just placebo but it felt that some bouncyness and road roughness were bit better now.

So just rear ones, not too much improvement to M3 perf from short test drive but hopefully front ones give more..

That sounds about on par with my experiences with Konis. I prefer the adjustable ones (yellow color) compared to their active/frequency select damping versions. The adjustable ones can be tuned to feel softer than stock and gives the car more ability to "glide" over smaller bumps, the active line is supposed to do that for small bumps, but tighten up for big undulations/cornering. However my seat of the pants feeling is that some of the bigger potholes and expansion joints type bumps (lower frequencies) will activate the tighter part of the damping curve, and actually feel kind of harsh/hard.

 

[cab]

Yesterday I installed Koni special active rear shocks (koni 8245 1422) to my 2019 Model 3 Performance (Front ones are in backorder.. takes 1-2months..)

General info.. Koni's are much beefier than originals, both piston rod and shock body. Bad thing is that original "dustbooth" holder does not fit and should not be installed even if material is shaved from it as top part raises too high and shortens shock stoke. Koni does not provide any replacement holder so I had to create one from closedfoam insulator sheet (around 5-7mm thick) and secure dustbooth with zipties.
One concern was the bumpstops.. there are not much space before shock body even with stock spings/height.. but I left them as is..

Install was pretty ok, only slowdown was upper mount as nut was quite far from top.. hard to get out and hard to torque to spec..

Results.. I had quite accurate feeling how it was before and I did not have much to hope for with just rear shocks. Mixed feelings, regular speedbumps where front and rear are very "hard hitting", rear even more, did not feel any different (rear) and pounding sound/feel from drain covers etc felt the same.. not sure if just placebo but it felt that some bouncyness and road roughness were bit better now.

So just rear ones, not too much improvement to M3 perf from short test drive but hopefully front ones give more..

I wonder if cutting down that bump stop would help as seen here with the Tein units:
Tein Endurapro
The Tein supposedly have an "internal" bump stop, but you might be able to cut the stock bump stop down by a third vs. "in half" as does with the Tein install. If you wanted to go back to stock you could just save the piece you removed or just get new ones. Just my .02.

 

[tom @ eas]

Koni Sport Yellows are officially inbound, should have them in a couple of days.

Koni - Sport (Yellow) Adjustable Damper Kit - Tesla Model 3/Model Y

KONI Sports are the industry leader for user adjustable damping forces turning your daily driver into a weekend warrior. KONI Sport's familiar yellow color means superior motion control and adjustability for the discerning driving enthusiast. Engineered with exact dimensions, brackets...

europeanautosource.com

 

[Georgesb2]

Yesterday I installed Koni special active rear shocks (koni 8245 1422) to my 2019 Model 3 Performance (Front ones are in backorder.. takes 1-2months..)

General info.. Koni's are much beefier than originals, both piston rod and shock body. Bad thing is that original "dustbooth" holder does not fit and should not be installed even if material is shaved from it as top part raises too high and shortens shock stoke. Koni does not provide any replacement holder so I had to create one from closedfoam insulator sheet (around 5-7mm thick) and secure dustbooth with zipties.
One concern was the bumpstops.. there are not much space before shock body even with stock spings/height.. but I left them as is..

Install was pretty ok, only slowdown was upper mount as nut was quite far from top.. hard to get out and hard to torque to spec..

Results.. I had quite accurate feeling how it was before and I did not have much to hope for with just rear shocks. Mixed feelings, regular speedbumps where front and rear are very "hard hitting", rear even more, did not feel any different (rear) and pounding sound/feel from drain covers etc felt the same.. not sure if just placebo but it felt that some bouncyness and road roughness were bit better now.

So just rear ones, not too much improvement to M3 perf from short test drive but hopefully front ones give more.

Looking forward to your report when you have all four installed.
So far the Koni don't seem any better than the Tein, and have some of the same issues, and perhaps more.
Hopefully Koni Yellow adjustable are better?