Koni Sport (yellow) installed!

[SLOspeed]

Hello all! I just received a set of Koni Sports (yellow) for my LR RWD and wanted to share my thoughts.

My impression of the stock suspension is typical of what many have posted. It seemed to me that is was very under-damped, particularly in the rear. Over large compressions the rear would rebound aggressively, giving a "pogo stick" effect. I always thought that it needed STIFFER dampers.

Installation of the front shocks is pretty typical. It's a coil-over assembly, so a spring compressor is needed. It is necessary to separate the upper ball joint from the upright, but that's pretty simple. The only issue I had is where the upper shock mount bolts through the body. There are multiple layers of material and the upper layer wasn't aligned perfectly with the lower layer, so a socket wouldn't fit. It was a simple fix with a die grinder.

Rear shocks are super easy to replace. The upper shock mounts bolt in from underneath, so there's no need to remove trunk liner or anything. Also the bolts are captive on the mount which is super convenient.

I initially set all 4 shocks at full soft. As these are adjustable, there's no way to know what's "right" until you actually try it. Also, the shocks do need a bit of time to break in. They will get a bit softer over the first couple hundred miles.

First impression: 100x better than stock, but still insufficient rebound damping in the rear. I adjusted the rears up 1/2 turn.

This made it even better! Still a bit under damped, though. I adjusted the rears up another 1/4 turn.

Even better yet! Now I could feel that the front was a bit floaty, so I adjusted the fronts up 1/4 turn.

Front now felt great! Rear was close, but borderline under-damped, so I adjusted them up another 1/4 turn. That's a total of 1/4 turn in the front and 1 turn in the rear. The car feels great now. Very "German" in character. The car is very stable and composed, just as good as any BMW I've owned.

Since I've been working on this, I've started to suspect that my car has some of the wickedly stiff rear springs that were fitted to early cars. From the info I've gathered, it appears that they're about as stiff as the P3D springs, only taller (they're a bit firm for a daily driver IMO). FYI, If you have a later LR or a SR, you probably need a bit less rebound. Maybe 1/2 - 3/4 turn or thereabouts?

I'm on the lookout for a pair of the later (softer) rear springs. LR RWD or AWD. If anyone has some available, hit me up. Part number should end with an "01-E", I think.

 

[SLOspeed]

A bit more digging... I already have the updated "01-E" springs. These are actually about the same rate as the P3D springs. Just checked, both have a wire diameter of 0.665". The earlier "01-C" springs were apparently much stiffer than these. No wonder that many people didn't like them!

I think I'm starting to see a pattern in the part descriptions that would indicate spring rate and ride height. Anyone with a 2017 LR or a later SR care to measure their springs?

 

[XPsionic]

Hello all! I just received a set of Koni Sports (yellow) for my LR RWD and wanted to share my thoughts.

My impression of the stock suspension is typical of what many have posted. It seemed to me that is was very under-damped, particularly in the rear. Over large compressions the rear would rebound aggressively, giving a "pogo stick" effect. I always thought that it needed STIFFER dampers.

Installation of the front shocks is pretty typical. It's a coil-over assembly, so a spring compressor is needed. It is necessary to separate the upper ball joint from the upright, but that's pretty simple. The only issue I had is where the upper shock mount bolts through the body. There are multiple layers of material and the upper layer wasn't aligned perfectly with the lower layer, so a socket wouldn't fit. It was a simple fix with a die grinder.

Rear shocks are super easy to replace. The upper shock mounts bolt in from underneath, so there's no need to remove trunk liner or anything. Also the bolts are captive on the mount which is super convenient.

I initially set all 4 shocks at full soft. As these are adjustable, there's no way to know what's "right" until you actually try it. Also, the shocks do need a bit of time to break in. They will get a bit softer over the first couple hundred miles.

First impression: 100x better than stock, but still insufficient rebound damping in the rear. I adjusted the rears up 1/2 turn.

This made it even better! Still a bit under damped, though. I adjusted the rears up another 1/4 turn.

Even better yet! Now I could feel that the front was a bit floaty, so I adjusted the fronts up 1/4 turn.

Front now felt great! Rear was close, but borderline under-damped, so I adjusted them up another 1/4 turn. That's a total of 1/4 turn in the front and 1 turn in the rear. The car feels great now. Very "German" in character. The car is very stable and composed, just as good as any BMW I've owned.

Since I've been working on this, I've started to suspect that my car has some of the wickedly stiff rear springs that were fitted to early cars. From the info I've gathered, it appears that they're about as stiff as the P3D springs, only taller (they're a bit firm for a daily driver IMO). FYI, If you have a later LR or a SR, you probably need a bit less rebound. Maybe 1/2 - 3/4 turn or thereabouts?

I'm on the lookout for a pair of the later (softer) rear springs. LR RWD or AWD. If anyone has some available, hit me up. Part number should end with an "01-E", I think.

Great review. How's the ride quality compared to stock? Over small bumps? Sharp bumps?

 

[The Other Dan]

So do you really have to remove the rears to adjust them? Or is there a way around that?
Thinking about throwing a set on as my winter setup with stock springs.

 

[SLOspeed]

Yes, you do have to remove them from the car, and remove the shock from the shock mount. The shock has to be fully compressed and then turned to adjust, which can't be done with the bump stop in place. It's not that bad of a job. Once you do it a couple times it only takes half an hour per side.

 

[SLOspeed]

Great review. How's the ride quality compared to stock? Over small bumps? Sharp bumps?

Over cracks and sharp bumps where there's a jolt, very good. Much better than stock. Over undulations and compressions it's really stiff in the rear , which IMO is mostly a symptom of the stock rear springs being too stiff. IMO the rear spring rate would be appropriate for a track car. The front feels really nice.

For comparison sake, the OEM rear springs on a LR model appear to be almost 3x stiffer than the stock rear springs on an E36 BMW M3 and about 2.5x stiffer than a typical sport spring for that BMW. From memory, the weight difference (LR RWD) is only around 500#. Go figure.

 

[dsgerbc]

Yes, you do have to remove them from the car, and remove the shock from the shock mount. The shock has to be fully compressed and then turned to adjust, which can't be done with the bump stop in place. It's not that bad of a job. Once you do it a couple times it only takes half an hour per side.

What a pain. Maybe 30 minutes per side if you have a high roll-on ramp to tighten those shock-to-arm bolts at ride height. Otherwise, it's definitely more than 30 minutes.
I guess that reinforces what they say about Koni adjusters - those are not to tune your car to street or performance mode on different days, but to make sure your shock damping curves are as close as possible between left and right shocks on a shock dyno and then to never touch them again.

 

[The Other Dan]

What a pain. Maybe 30 minutes per side if you have a high roll-on ramp to tighten those shock-to-arm bolts at ride height. Otherwise, it's definitely more than 30 minutes.
I guess that reinforces what they say about Koni adjusters - those are not to tune your car to street or performance mode on different days, but to make sure your shock damping curves are as close as possible between left and right shocks on a shock dyno and then to never touch them again.

Yep. I guess based on reviews here and from other sources, I'd probably just throw 3/4 to 1 turn of adjustment prior to install and deal with it. They'd only be on the car 3-4 mos out of the year anyway.

 

[SLOspeed]

What a pain. Maybe 30 minutes per side if you have a high roll-on ramp to tighten those shock-to-arm bolts at ride height. Otherwise, it's definitely more than 30 minutes.

I timed it last night. From the time the jack went under the car to removing the jack: 19 minutes. That included trimming the bump stop and test fitting to measure travel. It's a super simple job.

 

[SLOspeed]

If you're looking for a bolt-on solution that works well out of the box..... Just get a set of coil overs and be done with it.

Assuming that 1/4 of the spring's coil is dead on each end, the stock spring rate for an "E3" is around 720 pounds/inch. Kind of a lot. This is one of the things contributing to poor ride, IMO.

On my car, the rear bump stops were making contact and were actually a bit compressed. When parked. At stock ride height. This is probably the main contributor to the "pogo" effect in the rear.

I ordered some "E1" springs. Using the same assumptions, they're about 650 pounds/inch. Still plenty firm. Same extended length as the E3 springs, so I expected about 1/4" of drop due to the lower rate. Surprise, they didn't drop the car a bit! Because the rear was sitting on the bump stops. So I pulled the shocks out (again) and trimmed the first stage (about 7/8") from the stop. I adjusted the shocks to 1/2 turn from full soft. Ride height dropped about 1/2". First impressions are good, I could actually tell the difference when pulling out of the driveway. I'm going for a drive shortly and will know more later.

 

[SLOspeed]

Left: E1. Middle: E3 Long Range. Right: E3 Performance.

Bottom: Bump stop engaged and compressed at ride height.

 

[dsgerbc]

I timed it last night. From the time the jack went under the car to removing the jack: 19 minutes. That included trimming the bump stop and test fitting to measure travel. It's a super simple job.

What's your setup/approach to tightening the shock bolt at ride height?

 

[SQ97]

If you're looking for a bolt-on solution that works well out of the box..... Just get a set of coil overs and be done with it.

Assuming that 1/4 of the spring's coil is dead on each end, the stock spring rate for an "E3" is around 720 pounds/inch. Kind of a lot. This is one of the things contributing to poor ride, IMO.

On my car, the rear bump stops were making contact and were actually a bit compressed. When parked. At stock ride height. This is probably the main contributor to the "pogo" effect in the rear.

I ordered some "E1" springs. Using the same assumptions, they're about 650 pounds/inch. Still plenty firm. Same extended length as the E3 springs, so I expected about 1/4" of drop due to the lower rate. Surprise, they didn't drop the car a bit! Because the rear was sitting on the bump stops. So I pulled the shocks out (again) and trimmed the first stage (about 7/8") from the stop. I adjusted the shocks to 1/2 turn from full soft. Ride height dropped about 1/2". First impressions are good, I could actually tell the difference when pulling out of the driveway. I'm going for a drive shortly and will know more later.

Did ride quality improve significantly? Also, does it scrape any?

 

[The Other Dan]

Did ride quality improve significantly? Also, does it scrape any?

It's stock springs, so stock ride height.

 

[SLOspeed]

What's your setup/approach to tightening the shock bolt at ride height?

Put a jack under the knuckle and lift it to approximately ride height. Close enough.

 

[SLOspeed]

I'm taking the long way around, but finally getting somewhere.... lol

The major problem with the stock setup is that the bump stop is constantly engaged. The bump stop itself has an extremely non-linear spring rate, so trying to tune a shock around that is problematic. A particular setting might feel good on one road and terrible on another. IMO, This is the main reason for the rough ride that people complain about on the Model 3.

E1 springs work well on a long range. It's definitely more plush, but I suspected that most of the difference was from trimming the bump stops. Since I'm a glutton for punishment, I put the E3 springs back on. The ride height went up ~1/4". So it's still ~1/4" lower than stock, with the stock springs. That means that the bump stops were actually bearing the weight of the car and raising the ride height! I've never seen suspension set up like this, ever.

 

[SLOspeed]

Everyone go outside and trim your rear bump stops right now. Seriously. I bet most people would be satisfied with the ride and handling of stock springs/shocks. Try this first before you buy Konis or coil overs.

The 3/4 turn of adjustment on the rear shocks was only necessary to deal with the shenanigans caused by riding on the stops. With them trimmed, the shocks should be set waaaaaaaayyyyy softer. Right now I'm at 1/4 turn out from soft front and rear, and it's pretty damn good. It's in the ballpark of a good BMW "sport" package. Something like an E46 ZHP, or an E34 560/6. It's good. There are a couple stretches of highway near me where there's still a tiny bit of "jacking down" in the rear, but barely noticeable. I may back it down to 1/8 turn from soft. I'm going to drive it for a few days and then see how I feel.

 

[XPsionic]

Everyone go outside and trim your rear bump stops right now. Seriously. I bet most people would be satisfied with the ride and handling of stock springs/shocks. Try this first before you buy Konis or coil overs.

The 3/4 turn of adjustment on the rear shocks was only necessary to deal with the shenanigans caused by riding on the stops. With them trimmed, the shocks should be set waaaaaaaayyyyy softer. Right now I'm at 1/4 turn out from soft front and rear, and it's pretty damn good. It's in the ballpark of a good BMW "sport" package. Something like an E46 ZHP, or an E34 560/6. It's good. There are a couple stretches of highway near me where there's still a tiny bit of "jacking down" in the rear, but barely noticeable. I may back it down to 1/8 turn from soft. I'm going to drive it for a few days and then see how I feel.

View attachment 993963

Do you reckon the bump stops could be trimmed without taking the rear suspension apart?

 

[borland]

The front bump stops are shorter, so those might work as replacements for the rear shock. But the Tesla Parts Catalog only lists the rear bump stop part number, so it looks like those front bump stops are only available with purchase of a complete coil-over shock assemblies. Since KONI does not include new bump stops or shock bellow bottom perches, not a good solution that I know of.

 

[SLOspeed]

Do you reckon the bump stops could be trimmed without taking the rear suspension apart?

Possible. You'd probably have to lift the car to get the suspension at full droop, and then pull the stop out of bellows.