Koni Sport (yellow) installed!

[MK__]

Another data point on Konis. One of the rear shocks is faulty. It's apparent when jacking up the car, with every pump of the jack the wheel hits the pavement with a thump. Typically you don't hear a wheel make a sound when jacking up a car. When I was turning up the rebound to two full turns, I also noticed hissing noises inside. I presume it wasn't blead correctly at the factory or some internal seal failed and there is air in the damper.

Koni does offer an advance shock replacement, so you don't have to send the shock in right away; You pay 50% of MSRP and you get it back when you return your shock. I guess you have to be certain it's shot. I'm waiting to see how good this warranty service is. I tried calling this in on Friday and there wasn't anyone there so I submitted a claim via email. I got a call back on Monday afternnon, paid up and the shock is supposed to ship my way on Tuesday.

 

[BUCKM3P]

Got Koni Reds (Special Active) installed in Manassas VA. ($300 install + $100 alignment, shipped directly from Tire Rack (authorized installer)).

Car: 2019 Model 3 Performance (stock performance springs from 2019 used)

Review: Better comfort for sure than stock. Can tell when shocks firm up on the highway compared to around town.

Going back to cut the bump stops in half, hopefully that will help with ride quality even more. Forgot to request the installer to cut them while it was at the shop. @LightSaber hopefully the ride quality improves.

 

[bluestonex]

I'm tuning my Koni Sportss. Went from MPP comfort coilovers to Konis. Put stock springs on (2019 M3P).
Tried full open, rebound is way too fast; half turn on the rears, still feels fast. Not sure when I'll have a time window to add another half turn. Trimmed the bump stops to 2/3 length on the rear. There should probably be a thread of settings once enough folks put the Koni Sports on.

Happy to be back up to stock ride height for now.

_MK

did the MPP comfort have a more comfortable/compliant ride than Koni? I have yellow on MY and I wouldn’t say it is that much more comfortable than stock although it is more controlled.

 

[MK__]

I can’t say

did the MPP comfort have a more comfortable/compliant ride than Koni? I have yellow on MY and I wouldn’t say it is that much more comfortable than stock although it is more controlled.

At this point I will say yes. That's because I've had a trying experience with the Konis. I tried dialining in the setup until I realized one of the shocks was faulty. The replacement has arrived and it's better but the setup is far from dialed in and at this point I'm tired of f***ing with the shocks. The MPP setup was turnkey, set the ride height, install, drive. It wasn't perfect but it was a better experience than Konis thus far. I will get inspiration, I'm sure, to continue on wiht Konis.

_MK

 

[BUCKM3P]

Recently been having weird creaking noises on the Konis, not sure if something is loose? Haven't cut the bump stops. Having the noise come from the front and rear.

Maybe someone can chime in?

 

[LightSaber]

Recently been having weird creaking noises on the Konis, not sure if something is loose? Haven't cut the bump stops. Having the noise come from the front and rear.

Maybe someone can chime in?

Nyloc nut may be loose

Either that or front and rear sway bar links or top mounts were only hand tightened and not torqued to spec

 

[MK__]

Following up on my Koni debacle to give the final update.
After getting the advanced replacement shock from Koni I was able to replace the defective one and dial in the damping. I settled on half turn from full open in the rear and full open front. (actually, still fine tuning the front, sweet spot is somewhere between full open and quarter turn).

The damping is good. The ride is definitely stiff. Factory springs are quite stiff on the M3P.

I had a chance to hop into my E46 vert for a cruise (it has Koni Yellows also) and boy was I wishing the Tesla rode half as good as the Beemer.

Yellows vs MPP Comforts, the comforts had a better ride, but couldn't handle rear seat passenger weight (the rear would sag and I would scrape everything). One day I may spring for the Ohlins coilovers, I may not, maybe I'll get lucky and have a chance to ride in someone's car with them to get a feel.

_MK

 

[tom @ eas]

Following up on my Koni debacle to give the final update.
After getting the advanced replacement shock from Koni I was able to replace the defective one and dial in the damping. I settled on half turn from full open in the rear and full open front. (actually, still fine tuning the front, sweet spot is somewhere between full open and quarter turn).

The damping is good. The ride is definitely stiff. Factory springs are quite stiff on the M3P.

I had a chance to hop into my E46 vert for a cruise (it has Koni Yellows also) and boy was I wishing the Tesla rode half as good as the Beemer.

Yellows vs MPP Comforts, the comforts had a better ride, but couldn't handle rear seat passenger weight (the rear would sag and I would scrape everything). One day I may spring for the Ohlins coilovers, I may not, maybe I'll get lucky and have a chance to ride in someone's car with them to get a feel.

_MK

Also look into the ST Suspension Coilovers (KW suspension's sister company) if this is just a street machine. You get dampening adjustment and even new front strut mounts included. You get a quality built kit (with a 5 year warranty) for not much more than what people are paying for a set of Eibach/Teins.

ST Suspensions - ST XA Coilover Kit - Tesla Model 3

Ohlins are fantastic, but these are pretty damn hard to beat at the price offered by a respectable manufacturer.

 

[SS_M3]

Following up on my Koni debacle to give the final update.
After getting the advanced replacement shock from Koni I was able to replace the defective one and dial in the damping. I settled on half turn from full open in the rear and full open front. (actually, still fine tuning the front, sweet spot is somewhere between full open and quarter turn).

The damping is good. The ride is definitely stiff. Factory springs are quite stiff on the M3P.

I had a chance to hop into my E46 vert for a cruise (it has Koni Yellows also) and boy was I wishing the Tesla rode half as good as the Beemer.

Yellows vs MPP Comforts, the comforts had a better ride, but couldn't handle rear seat passenger weight (the rear would sag and I would scrape everything). One day I may spring for the Ohlins coilovers, I may not, maybe I'll get lucky and have a chance to ride in someone's car with them to get a feel.

_MK

Where was your ride height set on the MPP? I’ve considered Koni yellows or reds too. Just not much data on them.

 

[MK__]

Where was your ride height set on the MPP? I’ve considered Koni yellows or reds too. Just not much data on them.

I had them set at max height. Slight drop front and rear.

_MK

 

[MK__]

Also look into the ST Suspension Coilovers (KW suspension's sister company) if this is just a street machine. You get dampening adjustment and even new front strut mounts included. You get a quality built kit (with a 5 year warranty) for not much more than what people are paying for a set of Eibach/Teins.

ST Suspensions - ST XA Coilover Kit - Tesla Model 3

Ohlins are fantastic, but these are pretty damn hard to beat at the price offered by a respectable manufacturer.

Thanks. But it looks like there is a minimum drop in ride height which I would like to avoid.

_MK

 

[Vladds]

Very difficult to start posting in this forum.
It keeps bumping me offline, when I get to page 3 of this thread.

So anyway ....
I have had Koni Yellows on an E36 BMW and was happy to see that they're having product for the Model 3.

Let me stop this posting here and see if I get bumped offline if I try to hit "post" and if I'm still online, I'll post the rest.

 

[Vladds]

For some reason, it will only allow me to answer on page 1 of this thread. Maybe nobody will read, seems like it's out of sequence.
If I try to post at the end of the thread, I get bumped offline

 

[Vladds]

I can see my posting in the tile, but if I go in the thread to the last page, it doesn't show my posting and shows me offline.
I confirmed my email address and posted in the intro forum. Maybe it takes a while.
Anyway:
Konis shocks are not gas filled, they're oil filled.
Oil filled shocks must always be bled.
The bleeding procedure is not rocket science and I recall that the instructions for installation in the E36 included bleeding instructions.

It's only a matter of turning the shocks in the required position and manually compressing them, in order to pump the air out.
Just for your reference, even on factory shocks, on something like a Subaru WRX, in 2002, those the factory wanted you to bleed the air before installing.

As far as the factory being extra careful with claims on their shocks, here's an example of what can happen:
I always had konis on everything. I had Konis on my W124 Mercedes of 1994, 5 years ago. After putting the Konis on, I got bored with the car and used it as a workhorse. I had some items to carry to the municipal dump and loaded the trunk below the specified factory maximum load.
The Konis in the rear blew.
By Blew, I don't mean explosion. They started to leak oil.

So anyway, a factory shock will last to like 80K miles. A koni will last and provide performance, but won't support what the factory specifies weight wise. So yes, they have to be careful.

 

[Vladds]

As far as cutting the bump stops;
I cannot post pictures yet.
Of course there's a science to bump stops.
The photo posted on page one of comparing bump stops shows one from an BMW E36 trimmed.
That's an incorrect cut. Those bump stops are progressive. You NEVER trim the stop from the top. Always from the bottom. Even by comparing them side by side you can see that the "sport" version has one tier less.

With this said, the poster that talked about trimming the stops and that the car should not be riding on stops, is right on the money. No wonder there's an improvement.
I agree with what all posted about how the ride feels oversprung, in my case on the Model 3 Performance.
I will check now to see if I'm riding on stops as well.
I wonder if there's more to be learnt when peeling he onion with the suspension issue. What happens after you get the adjustments dialed in on the yellows and they had some time to settle in and you cut the stops in the rear and now the car is riding on springs only. Maybe the rear swaybars start to feel mismatched next ?
My guess is that once everything is done right, the yellows will have enough adjustment for the speings in this car, even for performance use, but not necessarily for track day use. For track, the oil in the Konis will get hot, it's a heavy car. That application is probably for external reservoir coilovers.

Just to let you know, there are some makers that have product for the rally field, which should be able to handle the weight of the model 3, no problem.