KONI /Ground control setup?

as above where do i buy these and whats the proper name on this setup

and how would they compare to my fully adjustable D2 suspension

onle asking cause over here there not used at all so not much info

No comparison to D2 suspension, there’s absolutely no reason to put any faith in all of those fancy looking affordable coilover setups. They sure do offer a lot for the price, and there’s a reason for that - quality, R&D, durability…etc IMO you want to stick with something that has pedigree, a suspension which was developed for racing, tested, and proven. Not the junk all the shops are selling now where the emphasis has been put on looks and not performance. You might get decent performance from some of these different options, but personally I’m not gonna roll the dice when there are other options out there that you KNOW will work great.

When it comes to suspension you really need to pay close attention to who you’re taking advice from. The average person who recommends stuff has not used many different setups, and often think that something like the D2’s are fantastic only because the car now looks good and feels stiffer - but really they’re just comparing to a stock setup with blown shocks and bad alignment. Do they have laptimes to back it up? Do they have shock dyno graphs?
http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2684284

You can’t go wrong w/ the Koni/GC setup. You should easily be able to find a Koni retailer in Europe, I think Koni is a German company actually. Go to their site and see if you can find some retailers that are closer to you. As for GC, I’d just contact them directly and see if they’d ship to you, or any of the online speed shops that sell them. And honestly, you can go with any coil over kit, it doesn’t have to be GC. The science is in the shock, anyone can make a spring and a perch. The thing I do like about the GC’s is that they make a specific style which is made for Koni shocks so that you don’t have to use the stock style lower spring perch, instead the threaded collars rest directly on the circlips on the shock.

For Koni’s you want the “Sport” or “yellow” shocks, not the “Special” or “red” shocks. If you want to step it up you can get the “RACE” valved version, but it’s more expensive, and if you’re not tracking your car then IMO it’s pointless. Check out Koni’s website for part numbers.

Personally ive had 3 sets of Tokico Illuminas (or different DA’s) and Im a big fan of them. Dont get me wrong, the Koni yellows are awesome but the Illuminas can always be found cheaper and seem to perform equally or at least VERY similar. Ive had the Illuminas with OTS Ground Control spring rates, H&R 450f/375r springs, and now I have them with Skunk2 10kf/8kr coil over sleeves.

With that said, I would only choose the Yellows or Illuminas. No other shock i’ve found can handle the abuse or drop that most of us want. If you have the cash, Yellows are a good bet and you wont be sorry. If your looking to save a little bit, Illuminas are you friend. Like colin said, just avoid the Koni Reds and the Tokico Blues.

It also has a lot to do with your spring rates. Are you just going for comfort? Looks? Do you race? Do you know what spring rates you want?

Colin, as always, droppin knowledge.

+1 for the Koni/GC setup.

Koni is from holland. It says it on the shock. I hace koni/gc and its what everyone says it is. It lives up to the hype.

I have GC/Skunk2 Sport Shocks great ride

Boostpyro90 has a good point about the Illuminas. They are great shocks, I had them with Skunkworks (pre-Skunk2) coil overs for years and it was a great setup. Despite voiding the warranty by having the car too low they lasted a long time with 550f/450r spring rates whic are pretty stiff for off the shelf type shocks. I can’t say whether the valving on the Illiminas is better or worse than the Yellows, I’d say for the average person this difference is negligible. The two factors which I think make the Konis the better option are not really performance related:

  1. As previously stated you can get Koni specific GC’s. There’s no performance advantage here but I like the aesthetic advantage here. And it could be argued its a better design/fit than anything you can do with the Illuminas. That said, the Illuminas retain the stock brake line bracket setup. With the Yellows you have to cut the bracket off of your stock shocks and install them on the Yellows. If you don’t have stock shocks the bracket from your aftermarket shocks may or may not fit. I’m running mine w/o any bracket and instead just us a zip tie - I’m going to keep telling mysel there’s a weight advantage to this :slight_smile: With these aesthetic/fit differences I think its a toss up and comes down to personal preference.

  2. Rebuildability. Here is where I see the Yellows having a big advantage. If your Illuminas wear out you replace them, if your Yellows wear out you have them rebuilt. A rebuild is a little less money than buying them new, but not a huge price difference. However, for the same cost as a stock rebuild you can step up to the RACE valving if you’ve decided you need a more aggressive shock and/or wish to run higher spring rates. For the average joe there may not be a huge advantage here, but to someone who is interested in track events or racing it could be a HUGE advantage.

Thank you for the correction. Looks like their main headquarters are in the Netherlands but have main operations in Germany, France, and USA (Koni NA).

Hey guys, your input would be greatly appreciated. I’m new to the site but i’m planning out a sweet street build on my 1992 gs-r. It’s an all original DB2 that i rescued from some surfer dude who planned on trading it in for a truck and a huge car payment. :slight_smile:

I’m going for function > form and after lots of research, i’ve decided to go with the Koni GC full body kit. The only problem is, I can’t really figure out what the best spring rate to buy is. I’m a big dude at 6’3" tall and about 275. I’d like to run the car as low as possible without having it rub the wheel wells. I don’t want to run with negative camber. (I just think that is the stupidest thing ever) Like I said, I’m going for function over form.

These come in several diferent spring rates and at a tad over $1000, i really want to get it right.

Fronts
340 lb/in standard front for 90-93
380 lb/in standard front for 94-01
430 lb/in
545 lb/in

Rears
250 lb/in standard on all
350 lb/in
430 lb/in
545 lb/in

i’m not sure if I go with a stiffer spring rate in the front because of the weight of the motor (and myself) or do I go with matching rates on front and rear?? Should I try to get the stiffest rate possible so I can go low and minimize any rubbing? I do not plan on tracking this car, nor will it be a daily. Just something to ride to the meets with and enjoy on my off time.
Decisions, decisions. Any input would be really appreciated. Thanks guys.

Well… Before you know how low you can go without rubbing, or how much camber you need, you need to know the specs of whatever wheel you’re running. That is going to be what determines your fender clearance.

Thats a good point. I have a nice set of XXR 531’s. The size is 15 x 8 with a +20 offset. I’ll try to post a few pics.

If you want to be low and not rub without running negative camber the first thing to do would be get rid of the low offset xxrs.

Best. Idea. EVER.