Koni vs KW V1 vs Bilstein PSS10

JustinKYC. · Nov 3, 2012

I'm planning to lower my car this coming spring and I wanted to see what you guys know is good. I was leaning over to Koni but a friend of mine has them an said the ride was really stiff. On the other hand, reading in the forums people say otherwise...

. If anyone could share their experience that'd be great!

Edit: I'm looking for something that can completely clear the wheel gap, ability to withstand Canadian winters, and does not have to have amazing handling because I'm not most likely going onto track.

Thanks!

Gunkata · Nov 3, 2012

This is like comparing 1 gold coin, to 10 gold coins, to a 1,000 gold coins - which is the most valuable and which do you want to spend the money on?

Way too wide of a range here. Since you are in Canada, I would even more so recommend the HPA SHS's for ultimate ride quality, as they are essentially KW V1's. Or , if you have/want to spend the cash, get the Bilsteins.

BonJovic · Nov 3, 2012

I just installed Koni's today...So far in the short amount of time Ive driven, I'm VERY impressed.

mkvince · Nov 3, 2012

JustinKYC. said:
I'm planning to lower my car this coming spring and I wanted to see what you guys know is good. I was leaning over to Koni but a friend of mine has them an said the ride was really stiff. On the other hand, reading in the forums people say otherwise... . If anyone could share their experience that'd be great!

Thanks!

Your friend said it's stiff because he probably set the dampening of the shocks to the stiffest position. Koni has a wide range of adjustment, and you can have it set to very comfortable if you want. It can be very stiff as well. I adjusted mine like 10 times in a week to find a sweet spot for my liking.

It depends what you want to look for. If you have money and want superior handling and track your car, go with Billstein. If you want a comfortable ride and adjust it when you need, go with Koni. KW V1 doesn't have dampening adjustment if you're the type that doesn't like to play around with adjustments.

the bruce · Nov 3, 2012

If you want coilover get a Bilstein B14, if not go for DG springs + B6/HD.
Better ride comfort than ANY coilover.

chinqutie · Nov 3, 2012

MKVInce said:
Your friend said it's stiff because he probably set the dampening of the shocks to the stiffest position. Koni has a wide range of adjustment, and you can have it set to very comfortable if you want. It can be very stiff as well. I adjusted mine like 10 times in a week to find a sweet spot for my liking.

It depends what you want to look for. If you have money and want superior handling and track your car, go with Billstein. If you want a comfortable ride and adjust it when you need, go with Koni. KW V1 doesn't have dampening adjustment if you're the type that doesn't like to play around with adjustments.

Pretty much what he said but, I love my bilsteins!

JustinKYC. · Nov 3, 2012

GunKata said:
This is like comparing 1 gold coin, to 10 gold coins, to a 1,000 gold coins - which is the most valuable and which do you want to spend the money on?

Way too wide of a range here. Since you are in Canada, I would even more so recommend the HPA SHS's for ultimate ride quality, as they are essentially KW V1's. Or , if you have/want to spend the cash, get the Bilsteins.

I didn't know they were such a big difference to be compared like that. I've been recommended to look at HPA SHS's before, i will look into it. thanks!

BonJovic said:
I just installed Koni's today...So far in the short amount of time Ive driven, I'm VERY impressed.

Almost similar to stock?

MKVInce said:
Your friend said it's stiff because he probably set the dampening of the shocks to the stiffest position. Koni has a wide range of adjustment, and you can have it set to very comfortable if you want. It can be very stiff as well. I adjusted mine like 10 times in a week to find a sweet spot for my liking.

It depends what you want to look for. If you have money and want superior handling and track your car, go with Billstein. If you want a comfortable ride and adjust it when you need, go with Koni. KW V1 doesn't have dampening adjustment if you're the type that doesn't like to play around with adjustments.

My car isn't going to being on the track so I don't need superior handling. It's a PITA to get the right adjustments I hear.

the bruce said:
If you want coilover get a Bilstein B14, if not go for DG springs + B6/HD.
Better ride comfort than ANY coilover.

chinqutie said:
Pretty much what he said but, I love my bilsteins!

Will take a look into it.

mkvince · Nov 3, 2012

^ For Koni, the front is adjusted by turning the knob on top of the shock inside the engine bay. The rear shock needs to be removed to adjust the dampening because the knob is on top of the shock, and you don't have access to it.

AF-MKVI · Nov 3, 2012

Bilstein quality is amazing, very well built, plus they have a great warranty.

snobrdrdan · Nov 4, 2012

JustinKYC. said:
I was leaning over to Koni but a friend of mine has them an said the ride was really stiff.

Your friend is an idiot

Konis are the softest riding coilovers available, if you set them that way

Any coilover is going to be stiffer than stock, obviously, but you can set them to full soft and it's pretty close.
(minus big bumps....you'll feel those)

JustinKYC. · Nov 5, 2012

MKVInce said:
^ For Koni, the front is adjusted by turning the knob on top of the shock inside the engine bay. The rear shock needs to be removed to adjust the dampening because the knob is on top of the shock, and you don't have access to it.

Is it possible to have the rear shock removed during a wheel change? Because when winter comes around, I'd probably want to raise it up a bit again so I don't destroy my car in the ice and snow we get here in Canada during winter.

snobrdrdan said:
Your friend is an idiot

Konis are the softest riding coilovers available, if you set them that way

Any coilover is going to be stiffer than stock, obviously, but you can set them to full soft and it's pretty close.
(minus big bumps....you'll feel those)

Good to hear that! Now I don't feel as skeptical about Koni's.

MKV Aaron1 · Nov 5, 2012

Between the 3, its a no contest, PSS10s.

snobrdrdan · Nov 6, 2012

JustinKYC. said:
Is it possible to have the rear shock removed during a wheel change? Because when winter comes around, I'd probably want to raise it up a bit again so I don't destroy my car in the ice and snow we get here in Canada during winter.

You don't remove the rear shock to raise the height of the rear of the car.

Remove the wheel and then you use the wrench to adjust the perch to set your height:

mkvince · Nov 6, 2012

JustinKYC. said:
Is it possible to have the rear shock removed during a wheel change? Because when winter comes around, I'd probably want to raise it up a bit again so I don't destroy my car in the ice and snow we get here in Canada during winter.

^ Like Snorbdan said, but that's the lazy way lol (no offense)

. There's another way. I'm sure he knows it too. The recommended way is remove the bolt that holds the lower control arm so the spring is free, adjust the collar and put it back. Takes like 30 minutes.

snobrdrdan · Nov 6, 2012

MKVInce said:
^ Like Snorbdan said, but that's the lazy way lol (no offense) . There's another way. I'm sure he knows it too. The recommended way is remove the bolt that holds the lower control arm so the spring is free, adjust the collar and put it back. Takes like 30 minutes.

Well that's how I usually do it, but you're "supposed to be able to" adjust the perch on the car.

Problem is though...it's pretty tight back there (that's what she said) and you can't get the wrenches in there easily.

So yeah...you can do it either way, but it sort of is easier to drop the lower control arm (18mm nut & bolt) like you said.

Koni vs KW V1 vs Bilstein PSS10

Which would you choose?

Koni Coilovers

KW V1 Coilovers

Bilstein PSS10 Coilovers

JustinKYC.

Ready to race!

Gunkata

Drag Race Newbie

BonJovic

Ready to race!

mkvince

Go Kart Champion

the bruce

Go Kart Champion

chinqutie

Go Kart Champion

JustinKYC.

Ready to race!

mkvince

Go Kart Champion

AF-MKVI

Go Kart Champion

snobrdrdan

former GTI owner

JustinKYC.

Ready to race!

MKV Aaron1

Ready to race!

snobrdrdan

former GTI owner

mkvince

Go Kart Champion

snobrdrdan

former GTI owner