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Koni - Special Active (Red - Formerly FSD) and Sports (Yellow) - Coming Soon for Model 3 and Y
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Does anyone know if the Sports have a shortened shock body or retains stock length?
Because running lower springs on an OEM shock body means you'll be exercising those bumpstops a whole lot. These cars have short travel suspension even at stock height. Ride on Eibachs was initially excellent, however once the Pro-kit springs "sagged" or matured to their nominal spring height, ride became rather less so.
Happy to see Koni enter the marketplace as I have had good experiences with Koni + Eibach on previous VW Audi applications. Would of course very much prefer a Bilstein B12 kit, but they don't seem to realize how many 3 perfromance there are out there yet.
Because running lower springs on an OEM shock body means you'll be exercising those bumpstops a whole lot. These cars have short travel suspension even at stock height. Ride on Eibachs was initially excellent, however once the Pro-kit springs "sagged" or matured to their nominal spring height, ride became rather less so.
Happy to see Koni enter the marketplace as I have had good experiences with Koni + Eibach on previous VW Audi applications. Would of course very much prefer a Bilstein B12 kit, but they don't seem to realize how many 3 perfromance there are out there yet.
This is exciting. I remember installing a set of koni yellows in my eg hatch more than a decade ago and it was night and day difference. These are the utmost quality shocks. What are koni reds? Are they similar to the yellows but non adjustable? I do have Mpp adjustables but I’m still interested in real world ride experiences with both shocks.
Well, after a short test drive, I can say that the rear shocks (Koni Special Active's) have more fast rebound compared to "comfort" stock shocks. They will not bounce like the stock ones on MYLR23. Otherwise they seem to be quite similar. But maybe they will soften up with more use. I was looking for more comfort, but these seems to have "sporty and planted feel".
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Koni 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
Interesting that in one of the Model 3 Highland videos the tesla exec indicated the new highland had "Frequency Selective Dampers"...aka FSD....like the Koni Special Active shocks (formerly named Koni FSD - Frequency Selective Dampening - Shocks).
As an aside, Koni have historically recommended the FSD shocks be run at stock (or potentially HIGHER) tire pressures. This is because, as I understand it, the "valve" opens when it encounters a sharp increase in movement/pressure. This occurs when the car hits a sharper bump. For slow or larger more rounded undulations the shocks stays firm as the valve isn't opened. If the tires are "soft" or underinflated the "sharp" hit from a bump can be muted and the shock will stay in the firmer mode. In short, if the Koni Special Actives appear to be imparting more bumpiness on sharper impacts, try raising the tire pressure a bit to see if it helps. It may very well not, but its an easy test.
As an aside, Koni have historically recommended the FSD shocks be run at stock (or potentially HIGHER) tire pressures. This is because, as I understand it, the "valve" opens when it encounters a sharp increase in movement/pressure. This occurs when the car hits a sharper bump. For slow or larger more rounded undulations the shocks stays firm as the valve isn't opened. If the tires are "soft" or underinflated the "sharp" hit from a bump can be muted and the shock will stay in the firmer mode. In short, if the Koni Special Actives appear to be imparting more bumpiness on sharper impacts, try raising the tire pressure a bit to see if it helps. It may very well not, but its an easy test.
Interesting as I just had the Koni Special Active installed 5 days ago under my November 2021 MYLR MiC with the original springs. Difference is there but not as much as I hoped for. But! I lowered my tire pressure because I thought that would help too. Now cold 38psi but tomorrow I will increase to Tesla advised 42psi cold and test drive again because of the valve opening story here
Can you confirm if you got all 4 shocks/struts replaced?Interesting as I just had the Koni Special Active installed 5 days ago under my November 2021 MYLR MiC with the original springs. Difference is there but not as much as I hoped for. But! I lowered my tire pressure because I thought that would help too. Now cold 38psi but tomorrow I will increase to Tesla advised 42psi cold and test drive again because of the valve opening story here
Did raising the pressure help?
All 4 yes. Test drive tomorrow. Stayed home today.
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Interesting theory about higher tire pressure helping the high speed damping get used more on bad pavement. I'm also interested in how much difference you can feel from that in practice.
With my Redwood Sport Ohlins DFV dampers, it's very apparent that driving *faster* smooths out the ride, by speeding up the impact so it triggers the DFV path more (high speed damping). That's in contrast with the Tesla OEM dampers where driving faster over bad pavement made the ride worse (and also made the handling get very sloppy).
It would make sense for tire pressure to have a similar effect, but the range of reasonable tire pressures for good grip and feel is relatively small and I hadn't noticed it affecting ride quality that much within that range where the tires feel best.
With my Redwood Sport Ohlins DFV dampers, it's very apparent that driving *faster* smooths out the ride, by speeding up the impact so it triggers the DFV path more (high speed damping). That's in contrast with the Tesla OEM dampers where driving faster over bad pavement made the ride worse (and also made the handling get very sloppy).
It would make sense for tire pressure to have a similar effect, but the range of reasonable tire pressures for good grip and feel is relatively small and I hadn't noticed it affecting ride quality that much within that range where the tires feel best.
Now all the shocks have been changed… and I would say that these are good replacement shocks in case of a stock shock failure, but for improvement of comfort not so much. Ride is so close to the stock ones. In higher speeds like in motorway, these feel little bit softer.
Sorry to say, but lowering tire pressures with FSD shocks have same impact what you would have with stock ”comfort” shocks...
I’m not competely disappointed but I would not recommend these if one is looking for more comfort and I wouldn’t buy them again.
Thanks for the review!
What about over potholes, broken roads, speed bumps? That kind of thing.
Does it smooth those out any?
Hi. I fully agree and difference as you say rather small. But! Definitely better on roundabouts and cornering in general. From a comfort point of view they don’t deliver what we hoped for and what YouTube videos tell us and that’s a pitty (understatement) for, in my case €1.500…. I’m in contact with Koni so let’s see what they can do/advise
On broken roads or potholes, I don’t see any difference or lets say that I really want to see a change to better but.. I`m not sure about it. These have slightly stiffer rebound setting so after a speed bump, the rear bounces less which is good.
Yesterday I was driving with a friend and he commented that the chassis with Active specials is more pleasent and not as harsh. Well. But no matter what, these are not comfort shocks, but maybe shocks which the Y should have come initially from a factory. Original MYLR23 from Berlin chassis with ”comfort” shocks is not balanced, rear and front shocks are different pair.. With these I can now rest my head to a headrest as it is not bouncing forth and back. And sorry my bad language, I’m not a native english speaker.
ManMachine
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I've heard good things about Koni Active (FSD) on other cars (BMW etc.) with stock springs. I guess every car is different. Would love to hear more experiences.
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