8611s are good... very good

[Def]

Just put the fronts on - it feels like a completely different car compared to before. Still have the K-Sports in the rear(boo), so I don't want to be too critical, and it feels/looks like my toe has changed(more toe-in).

Initial impressions -

Whoa - a proper amount of compression damping feels amazing. There is definitely more body roll on transitions even though my spring rate went up about 25 lb/in up front since the K-Sports were "rock hard"(in not a good way). The best part is that I can now feel the weight actually transferring from one side to the other up front whereas before it almost felt like a "stiff board" that offered little to no feedback.

Sharp bumps are soaked up well, and definitely don't upset the chassis. Speaking of that, these dampers actually make it seem from the driver's seat that the chassis is stiffer, and actually working. Of course it didn't change the chassis, but you can feel things actually working now. It reminds me of my E36 M3 on Koni yellows - the confidence and smoothness of reasonably good dampers working over the bumps and controlling things.


I was running 3 clicks clockwise on the compression - 3/4 turn from full soft on rebound. Does the compression adjuster go stiff turning it clockwise or counterclockwise? The Koni pictograms didn't mention it, and I'm sure I could find out by messing with it, but someone here must know. Went from 7 kg/mm K-Sports to 7.5 kg/mm 8611s BTW.


All in all - good stuff, I'm very pleased. It makes me that much more positive I want 8611's or 8610s out back.

I'll be posting up a little tutorial of the install to answer any questions some people might have of how involved it is. It really isn't bad at all compared to any of the "already together" coilovers. I tossed everything together and put it on the car in under 1.5 hours total.

[McCoy]

Good review and I can't argue with anything that you've stated on the feel/ride of the 8611's compared to the typical JDM coilovers :).

I've still yet to play with the compression... the weather has taken a turn for the worse up here :(

[Your Mom]

I'm installing my 8611's and yellows tomorrow. hope to actually drive it on saturday. can't wait.

[Epstein]

I have wood right now.

[SoSideways]

I have wood right now.

I'm with him on that one, except we're not gonna "sword fight".

I just don't think I could justify buying the 8611 up front as I probably won't be tracking the car too much, although I'd like to.

Do you guys think that these dampers will be able to handle at least 2kg/mm more of spring compared to the JDM coilovers and still feel more comfortable on the street?

[veilside180sx]

I'm with him on that one, except we're not gonna "sword fight".

I just don't think I could justify buying the 8611 up front as I probably won't be tracking the car too much, although I'd like to.

Do you guys think that these dampers will be able to handle at least 2kg/mm more of spring compared to the JDM coilovers and still feel more comfortable on the street?

10K is about 600, which would be tolerable depending on who you are.

[AceInHole]

600 lbs / in = 10.7147804 kg / mm

I drove on 600's up front through NYC and it wasn't that bad. More than tolerable... and WAY better than the 9kg/mm D2's I had previously.

I shoved the AEM in my car and started driving it around again (pig f'ing rich!). I forgot how nice the car feels just cruising around. It's like the 86's are the closest thing to ultimate car control in pill form.

[SoSideways]

Well, right now I'm riding on Stance GR+ with 9/7kg/mm springs, with the dampers adjusted to like 5 clicks towards stiff from full soft in the front, and like 3 clicks towards stiff from full soft in the rear, and the car just seems a bit jarring over the rough raised up parts of the road. Holes aren't too bad right now cause the rebound is actually a bit soft.

So yeah, if the 86s can handle 10/8kg/mm springs (or 550/450 lb/in), and feel better than what I have with the Stance GR+ w/ 9/7kg/mm springs, I'm down with some 8610 love all around :)

[veilside180sx]

I can't imagine you'll have an issue there=)

Well, right now I'm riding on Stance GR+ with 9/7kg/mm springs, with the dampers adjusted to like 5 clicks towards stiff from full soft in the front, and like 3 clicks towards stiff from full soft in the rear, and the car just seems a bit jarring over the rough raised up parts of the road. Holes aren't too bad right now cause the rebound is actually a bit soft.

So yeah, if the 86s can handle 10/8kg/mm springs (or 550/450 lb/in), and feel better than what I have with the Stance GR+ w/ 9/7kg/mm springs, I'm down with some 8610 love all around :)

[Def]

I was all set on some 450 lb/in springs up front in case these 5" 420s are too short(they're not, except maybe on coilbinding), but I might go with some 500's up there now. I would definitely say the 420's I've got on there now have excellent street manners with a good damper on them.

Someone PM'd me to ask, so I'll put it out there. My car is right around 2500 lbs with about half a tank of gas. Probably 51-52% front weight bias.

I have 17x9 +15s up front, and have boatloads of room between the strut and wheel. Boatloads meaning about 1/3-1/2". :)

Steering effort has also gone down with the torrington bearings in there, but I don't see them being clean for very long. I couldn't find an easy way to keep dirt out of them, so I imagine they'll get gunked up quickly being on the bottom of the spring.

So anybody got an answer about which way the compression adjuster goes "hard?"

[veilside180sx]

I'll double check the manual when i get home.

[SoSideways]

Def,

Scroll down a bit, it's on there.

http://www.koni-na.com/adjustment.cfm

[Def]

Thanks, SoSideways.

So clockwise on the compression adjuster = firmer. Easy enough to remember is that looking at it from the top, turning both to your left(counterclockwise) will make them firmer.

I think I'm going to take some camber out, as I put the plates about where I had them on the K-Sports and probably have close to -4 deg now, and still have a bit more to go. I'm inclined to think this is more than you'd ever need on street tires, so even with R-comps I can't see needing more camber than you can get with Richard's housings.

[McCoy]

I think richard is going to split the difference between his 1st and 2nd batch of housings for the offset of the upper hole of the strut mount. I can get from 0 to -2 degrees of camber on my setup... and the 2nd batch gets about 2-4 degrees of camber.

[Def]

I dunno, I think these are good. No one needs less than -1.5 to -2 deg, and I can crank the camber plates out quite a bit and probably get less than -2.

I wouldn't be a good engineer(technical asshole perhaps? :)) if I didn't have suggestions though.

[a_ahmed]

In two to three weeks time hopefully I shall have my tax return money and be in on these puppies hehe... I'm so frickin hyped you have no idea...

I'm curious about the torrington bearings however, what's the deal? How can they be made daily driven ready/capable if they get dirty (but response seemed better? Sounds worthwhile). I'm made up on going 8611 front and 8610 rear (i was htinking 8611 rear but i dont think thats necessary... but I do want to get the best package tophats-bearings, and do something like aceinthehole or mcroy spring-wise... as i want to run lots of rubber up front hehe... my wife thinks im crazy but thats just the way it is :P I remember the viper i drove.. i want my 240 to be faster lmao...