KONI Shocks :: Red vs. Orange vs. Yellow vs. FSD!

We here at MJM read a lot of misinformation on the forums about which shocks are best to use with what springs and what springs are okay to use with what shocks and so on and so forth. When it comes to KONI Shock Absorbers, you have options and every damper is built to cater to a different driver wanting a different thing from their suspension. You have Yellow, you have Red, you have Orange and you have FSD. What are the differences? Take a look below:

• The Sport "Yellow" Shock - for use on any aftermarket lowering spring, the Sport Shocks are fully rebound dampening adjustable and the ultimate performance shock for the street. The heavy duty valving of the Sport Shocks make them great for both the track and the street. Again, for use on any aftermarket lowering spring. Include a lifetime warranty.

• The STR.T "Orange" Shock - for use on either stock (OEM) springs or any aftermarket lowering spring, the STR.T Shocks are a non-adjustable shock for those on a budget needing new dampers for any type of spring being used on the vehicle. Again, these entry-level shocks are valved for use on both stock (OEM) shocks or on any aftermarket lowering springs. Include a lifetime warranty.

• The Special "Red" Shock - for use only with stock (OEM) springs and *not* for use on aftermarket lowering springs, the Special Shocks are fully rebound dampening adjustable and are a great upgrade over your stock shock. Perfect for the driver not wanting to lower the car, but wanting an adjustable shock where tuning the softness or firmness of the shock is possible. Again, for use on stock (OEM) springs only. Include a lifetime warranty.

• The FSD (Frequency Selective Damping) Shock - for use on stock (OEM) springs or a very mildly rated lowering spring like the Eibach Pro-Kit Springs, the FSD Shocks combine excellent road holding and handing with a damper that adjusts its dampening on its own (on the fly) and detects road conditions, be it on rough or smooth streets, to automatically firm up, or soften up, to best accommodate your vehicle's handling and ride comfort. Again, for use on stock (OEM) springs or mildly rated springs like the Eibach Pro-Kit Springs. Include a lifetime warranty.

For the most part I agree the koni sports should not be going on a vehicle with stock springs, going to have to respectfully disagree with you about Koni Yellows NEVER going on a vehicle with stock springs. There are ways to tune sport shocks without adding direct spring rate, height, and harshness by just directly increasing the direct spring rate imo.
One reason is becuse there are many stock racing classes that spring modifications are not allowed, but shocks are. So you have to run stock springs, but you can run Koni Yellows or similar sport shocks ect, ( which many do once dialed with great results).

Then you have something like how my vehicle is setup using sway bars to increase dynamic spring rate vs your constant ones. Basically your taking the upgraded front and rear sway bars and making them do the work vs springs(which may not look as cool wheel gap and all hehe). As we all know the 08-09 ride like half an inch lower than 06-07 which great to start anyways. When puling up to most curbs already I barely clear them. Those cowls can start adding up a couple hundred here couple hundred there and that can start being expensive.
Plus, I really really dislike understeer. For some reason I find a vehicle much more controlable with oversteer vs understeer. When increasing your sway bar size, your exponentially increasing your spring rate at the same time. Larger the size of the bar the more spring rate your effectively adding. But difference being is the vehicle stays more compliant for several reasons. First you have less lateral movement. Second your suspension is not moving as much in corner entry. In theory these lead to a more compliant and predictable handling vehicle. Using proper aftermarket shocks with adjustable rebound like the yellows, help keep your tires flat ect from the swaybar creating less lift ect. Lets sayn just one wheel is raised say ,thats the one with the increased spring rate, tbe others remain at stock rate. Now say both go over say a speed bump at the same time, the spring rate doesnt change at all because both wheels raised at the same time.
Now shock compression too is also something I'm in dire need of running GIAC HO file in race mode daily. In front on the lower settings they are not valved that much stiffer than stock at lower levels and seem to equate to nice forward motion with the ko4. My car is a rare case of meticulously modified vehicle of course, that you clould go have fun on a twisty road and a 1/4 mile track, but agreed 99% cars shouldn't run yellows on stock springs.
Just a different way of doing it though really. Both the sway bar way and normal spring way can provide great results. I drive to CA a lot and snowboarding, so the extra suspension compliance in LA and living in Vegas where a road can literally change overnight, was very important to me because i obviously love to drive lol.

Great info, Vegas. Just to add, yes, upgraded adjustable dampers like Koni yellows are pretty much mandatory in order to be competitive in stock racing classes where there is otherwise very little adjustability aside from alignment and tire pressure. Obviously tire pressure and dampers are the only things that you can adjust in real time on a track day.

Adjustable dampers are less necessary on a street car or in looser autox classes where you can dial in your car with camber plates, sway bars, and spring rates, but all things being equal I'd still rather have adjustable dampers, even on a car that never sees track use.

It's nice to be able to adjust not only the handling but also the ride quality. My first MKV cup kit was supposed to include H&R Sports and Koni yellows (I'd been extremely happy with the yellows on my autox-prepped 98 Neon R/T, which could go from stiff as a board to very compliant with the twist of a knob. Turns out the site I ordered from had listed the yellows as being in stock, but they weren't. After lots of waiting, they offered to substitute the more-expensive Bils at no extra cost. Rather than waiting indefinitely for the yellows I agreed to getting the non-adjustable Bils. Huge mistake. The resulting setup was way overdamped and incredibly harsh for daily use.

Now I'm running Neuspeed Sports and Koni FSDs because this was supposed to be the most comfortable setup on the market, and the price was right. I like this setup far better, but the ride isn't nearly as well controlled as it had been on the H&R/ Bils or even the stock springs/ dampers. I attribute that mostly to the soft progressive Neuspeed springs, but dialing in a bit of extra rebound stiffness surely would have improved the subjective and objective ride/ handling of the car.

My next setup will likely be H&R Super Sports with Koni yellows for a bit more low and the ability to dial in my ride quality to my liking. While I rarely turn a corner, adjustable dampers should help going in a straight line on the highway and dialing out weight transfer at the drag strip, where my current setup hooks noticeably worse than it did with the stiffer HR/ Bils which controlled rearward weight transfer far better than the Neuspeed/ FSD setup.

vegasGTI said:

For the most part I agree the koni sports should not be going on a vehicle with stock springs, going to have to respectfully disagree with you about Koni Yellows NEVER going on a vehicle with stock springs.

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The KONI "Sports" and KONI "Yellows" are the same shock.

MJM Autohaus said:

The KONI "Sports" and KONI "Yellows" are the same shock.

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Very well aware of that thanks. I purposefully interchanged the terms like that for those that didnt know as much:smile:

How do the STR.Ts compare to the FSD in terms of handling and ride comfort? I currently have the FSDs and they ride well but body control is a little sloppy paired with the Neuspeed Sport springs. Are the STR.Ts more or less performance oriented than the FSD?

Str are non adjustable correct

vegasGTI said:

Str are non adjustable correct

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That's correct AFAIK. I'm sure they'd be a step down from the Sports but these might be a budget alternative to the FSD with (maybe) a better ride/handling compromise. There isn't much info out about them so maybe MJM can tell us more in this thread. Thanks in advance.

Is there a stiffness comparison between them and yellows say 2 turns on yellow equal str ect. I had my fronts on soft and as it got cold I noticed tremendous amount more wheel hope and poorer acceleration so I went back to one turn stiff for now. Going to make front tiny bit stiffer once springs are installed just been super busy lately. I would rather have slightly stiffer ride and better acceleration. But again I also have hotchkis fsb and rsb and stern rear brace so my car is pretty damn stiff.

Bunnspeed said:

How do the STR.Ts compare to the FSD in terms of handling and ride comfort? I currently have the FSDs and they ride well but body control is a little sloppy paired with the Neuspeed Sport springs. Are the STR.Ts more or less performance oriented than the FSD?

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The FSD's are going to ride better due to the explanation in the first part on how they're designed. The actual "handling" is going to be based more on the springs you decide to mate with them. To be honest, the STR.T Shocks probably will not improve the "sloppiness" you speak of. Again, the FSD Shocks are not a "performance damper", per se. If anything, you might consider an adjustable damper like the KONI Sport "Yellow" Shocks. Because you can adjust the rebound dampening to them, you're almost guaranteed to be happy with the ride comfort and handling, provided you dial them in where you like them.

vegasGTI said:

Str are non adjustable correct

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Correct. They're the equivalent of a Bilstein Sport Shock (at near half the price).

vegasGTI said:

Is there a stiffness comparison between them and yellows say 2 turns on yellow equal str ect. I had my fronts on soft and as it got cold I noticed tremendous amount more wheel hope and poorer acceleration so I went back to one turn stiff for now. Going to make front tiny bit stiffer once springs are installed just been super busy lately. I would rather have slightly stiffer ride and better acceleration. But again I also have hotchkis fsb and rsb and stern rear brace so my car is pretty damn stiff.

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The Sports at about the middle should be comparable to the STR.T in respect to stiffness.

Great info, MJM, thank you. :thumbsup:

When you describe the STR.T as being equivalent to the Bilstein Sport, would you say they are more like the MKV B8 or the MK6 B8? I had MKV B8s and found them to be overdamped for my commuting needs, but they handled amazingly well. The MK6 B8s are supposedly quite a bit more supple than the MKV versions. Are the STR.Ts more like the MKV or the MK6 version of the Bilstein Sport/ B8 in terms of ride quality? For my own needs I'd rather err on the side of ride comfort than all-out track day performance, but something a little more firm than the FSDs might be nice since my FSDs are finally shot after about 60k miles of valiant service.

The STR.T could become a big seller if they end up being a legitimate B8 alternative for a great price. Right now I don't know of anyone running them, but sales will pick up quickly once they get in the hands of a few forum members and get some reviews here.

EDIT: I did some searching and it seems like there are a lot of happy customers with the STR.Ts out there. I guess I somehow missed those threads before. I'm really tempted to try these out with H&R Super Sports.

Bunnspeed said:

Great info, MJM, thank you. :thumbsup:

When you describe the STR.T as being equivalent to the Bilstein Sport, would you say they are more like the MKV B8 or the MK6 B8? I had MKV B8s and found them to be overdamped for my commuting needs, but they handled amazingly well. The MK6 B8s are supposedly quite a bit more supple than the MKV versions. Are the STR.Ts more like the MKV or the MK6 version of the Bilstein Sport/ B8 in terms of ride quality? For my own needs I'd rather err on the side of ride comfort than all-out track day performance, but something a little more firm than the FSDs might be nice since my FSDs are finally shot after about 60k miles of valiant service.

The STR.T could become a big seller if they end up being a legitimate B8 alternative for a great price. Right now I don't know of anyone running them, but sales will pick up quickly once they get in the hands of a few forum members and get some reviews here.

EDIT: I did some searching and it seems like there are a lot of happy customers with the STR.Ts out there. I guess I somehow missed those threads before. I'm really tempted to try these out with H&R Super Sports.

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We don't have any raw data on Bilstein's MK5 vs. MK6 (in respect to dampening). When we say "equivalent", it was more in that they're not adjustable and can be run with lowering springs. The "butt dyno", however, with the ones we've installed in-house, feel darn similar (and that is with both handling and ride comfort). And for reference, it was on both a NEUSPEED Sport Spring and Eibach Pro-Kit Spring. And remember, the FSD is not a "performance damper" at all and shouldn't be compared to the STR.T Shocks, Yellows or Bilstein Sport Shocks. The FSD's are a whole other animal altogether. They're simply a great shock for OEM springs or something very mild like the Pro-Kit (which they've been approved for use with).

I've been on the str.t for about a week now. Previously I was on stock shocks and h&r supersports (for like 40k). I can't make any real comparison between mine and the yellows or any others, but the ride is great now. It was getting bouncy, especially noticeable on the highway. They're not stiff or harsh in any noticeable way.

nkresho said:

I've been on the str.t for about a week now. Previously I was on stock shocks and h&r supersports (for like 40k). I can't make any real comparison between mine and the yellows or any others, but the ride is great now. It was getting bouncy, especially noticeable on the highway. They're not stiff or harsh in any noticeable way.

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Great info, thank you.

nkresho said:

I've been on the str.t for about a week now. Previously I was on stock shocks and h&r supersports (for like 40k). I can't make any real comparison between mine and the yellows or any others, but the ride is great now. It was getting bouncy, especially noticeable on the highway. They're not stiff or harsh in any noticeable way.

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How are the STR.T's over bumps/medium sized potholes? I bought my car with supersports and OEM struts and shocks (55k miles total on setup now). The ride isn't bad on even roads, but bumpy/uneven roads and potholes of any kind are definitely a bit jarring and make passengers complain.

Its tolerable for right now with the stock wheels (18" detroits) but I just bought a set of Rotiform BLQ's with 215/35/19 tires and I think I need to upgrade the suspension before I install them