Better than Koni's?

[David Jones]

How much difference could I make to the ride and handling of a 356 with a set of these? Will it handle like one of Vic or CJ's race cars, or should I just buy a set and try them? Maybe a $600 set of tires will be needed as well and also a different set of sway bars and a camber regulator or just take all the money and buy a cheap Boxster?
Maybe I am just being too picky?
https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/ ... 1-68472525

[Erik Thomas]

I have a set of Koni's on my 356 T-5. When we take to the track, we set the dampers up a notch. I am not sure if the adjustment of the Koni's is rebound, compression or both. The Koni dampers do make a difference. The disadvantage is you need to lift the car, remove the lower bolts to facilitate adjustment. These units on Pelican are single adjustable for recoil. On my Formcar-Porsche, I have SPAX shocks, made in the UK. These have two convenient knobs for both compression and recoil. Of course, to set them, you really need a damper testing machine, and god help you if someone comes along and twiddles the knobs.

[Joris Koning]

https://356-5speed.com/porsche-356-ohli ... ension-kit

[Martin Benade]

Wevo is not specific on what "single adjustment" means. Also I cant help but wonder why they claim different tuning for coupes and open cars.

[Edwin Ek]

I called about Moton shocks a few years ago to a dealer, in Oregon as I recall. I am pretty sure I spoke to Jeff Gamroth, so the dealer would have been Rothsport. (I am unsure about my recollection, and Rothsport is not listed as a Moton dealer now.)

In any case, the person said that Motons would be overkill for street use on a 356. He said to just get a nice set of Konis.

Ohlins seem the hot setup these days, but maybe they would be overkill for street use also.

Martin, pretty sure in this case single adjustment means compression and rebound can not be adjusted separately.

[Martin Benade]

I imagine single means only compression adjustment like a street Koni.

[Jim Nelson]

https://356-5speed.com/porsche-356-ohli ... ension-kit

+1, fabulous bits (and priced accordingly). I've got them on my mc, and they're sublime, the real deal.

[C J Murray]

Konis are a quality product but they are not designed for track tuning. They are meant to be set where you like them and be left alone unless the wear and need to go a little stiffer. I've never had to adjust for wear but that is what the instructions say.

For street 356s I really like Boge for the better quality ride. They seem to handle just fine.

Ohlins has the premium name but the money is too rich for my wallet.

A short distance away from me is Penske shocks and they service many top level racing teams including some F1 teams. I used their shocks on my 55 Cab racer and was very satisfied so I ordered a set for the Devin D. They have many models but we are limited and can't use remote reservoirs. These are double adjustable though. That gives you many more ways to screw up the handling of your car.

[Dave Wildrick]

David,
I thought you already had a Boxster.
Did something happen to it?

[David Jones]

Boxster is still running fine Dave even at 22 years old. I was just wondering why anyone would buy a $1400 set of shocks for a 356 with antiquated suspension designed before WWII. Somehow I could not grasp the logic when a 2000 boxster can be bought for less than $10K and probably sold after a couple of years of ownership fore the same price.

[Erik Thomas]

Colin Chapman said "Even the most primitive suspension system can be made to work if you limit the travel enough"

[Harlan Halsey]

Shock absorbers, like tires can be rather subjective. I have Konis on all my vintage cars because they are/were a quality product which I thought was appropriate to the 356. I like the way the cars ride and handle with them. And Porsche offered Konis as an option. Mine are all ca.1962 production.(Except for one set of '59s which are black, a little different internally, and offer the option to add oil without disassembling the shock.) They can be disassembled-with the proper tooling and the seals replaced if need be. In the '60s Chuck Forge had Dean Lyon made the tooling. I now have this tooling, so I never expect to need new shocks. (Koni used to offer rebuild service. Koni would also modify the shocks for you. I had them shorten the stroke once when I lowered my SCCA Lotus S7.) I don't know whether the current Konis are rebuildable or not. If not, another good thing has been lost.

I have never seen a Koni fail due to wear. I have never seen wear on a disassembled Koni. However, back in the day, after long service, Konis failed regularly. The reason was that Koni used an internal extension stop made of some sort of plastic. This would disintegrate and the particles would block the internal passages. Hydraulic lock resulted, and the shops replaced them. We used to collect these for the special oil. When we rebuilt them we made nylon stops.

The 356 Konis I have are single adjustable. Something you can easily check by clamping the lower end in a vise and pulling/pushing on them and changing the adjustment. Only the extension force changes. I usually set them about one turn from full soft.

We used to race with Konis until the mid 1970s. But as tires changed and race car suspensions got stiffer, it was found that the imbalance between bump and rebound caused the suspension to pump down. Drivers changed to 50/50 shocks. But unless you drive down the railroad tracks a lot this should not be a consideration for the street.

My current project, a '56 coupe restoration will certainly have Konis.

[Martin Bruechle]

CJ

Saw this Devin.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds ... id=2251392

[C J Murray]

CJ

Saw this Devin.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds ... id=2251392

Hi Martin, common hand tools and a few weekends in the garage should have that ready for Pebble. His price is a little optimistic.

[Al Zim]

Due to the light weight of the 356, in normal situations the factory shock absorbers are an excellent compromise between road holding ability and comfort. As tire aspect ratio of the tires became smaller the ride quality became worse. Narrow rims with 80% aspect ratio and soft sidewalls epitomized a comfortable ride. Your ride and handling quality is not determined by the shock absorbers unless they are defective. or set to extremely hard. Without exception every single car that comes into our shop has suspension situations brought on by collisions with a curb, another car, a shop that does not have the factory tools to evaluate suspension parts, use of VW parts modified to fit your car, the inability to assemble the suspension correctly and the lack of proper equipment and training to align the car properly.
Ask your repair shop to show you their P-70 front trailing arm checking device. You can check your shop manual to see how close the suspension tolerances are. al zim 2019/02/10