Re: Shocks for GTV

["Paul Misencik" <paul@domain.elided>]

Although I've never used them on an Alfa, I've had VERY bad luck with Koni
yellows for any type of (even very occasional) street use.  The damping is
way, way, way too firm, and it shakes the hell out of the car and my
fillings.  I got all excited about getting the maximum possible grip and put
a set of Koni yellows on my old Porsche 914/6, and they were pretty much
intolerable.  On uneven pavement - especially high-frequency stuff, they
actually produced LESS grip then the Koni reds I ended up installing later.

My personal opinion is that Bilstein makes the best dampers in the world.
They're not adjustable, but no matter how much I've tweaked and toyed around
with my Koni reds, they never seem to feel as comprehensively
well-engineered as the Bilsteins.  This is, as I say, just my opinion, but
it was shared by the development engineers at the two high-performacne
tuning firms I've worked for in my life - AutoThority Porsche and RENNTech
Mercedes-Benz.

One other thing:  If you buy Bilsteins, shop around.  www.shocksonline.com
offers the correct application for my 1987 Spider for $74 each, which is a
lot cheaper than some of the standard sources...

Hope that helps,

Paul Misencik
P. Roman Media
Huntersville, NC  28078
email: paul@domain.elided
www.paoloroman.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Walker" <dawnanddan@domain.elided>
To: <alfa-digest@domain.elided>
Sent: Saturday, January 11, 2003 2:51 PM
Subject: Shocks for GTV


> Greetings Alfisti,
>
> I'm probably revisiting an old thread, but here goes.
>
> I am doing a thorough rebuild/upgrade of the suspension of my 74 GTV.  I
> purchased springs from Dave Rugh Engineering.  Using stock f&r swaybars
for
> now.
>
> The only question is which shocks to use.  I have received recommendations
> for Koni reds ( set on full soft in the rear and halfway to firm in the
> front ), no recommendations for Koni yellow sport setting,  Sachs sporting
> Gas ( but can't find'em for sale anywhere ), and of course for
> Bilstein.  Dave Rugh HIGHLY recommends Bilstein and says his springs were
> designed as a system with those shocks in mind ( although he won't
> elaborate as to WHY ? ) .
>
> My Duetto has Centerline springs  (which are firmer than Rugh's ) and red
> Konis set as they came out of the box.  The ride is firm but the roads
here
> in socal are good. I have no idea how this car would be on the track,
which
> is where the GTV will go someday.
>
> Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
>
> Ciao,
>
> Dan
> 67 Duetto
> 74 GTV
> --
> to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
> or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided