Koni FSD Shock Test
12-19-2005, 07:20 AM
#1
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Koni FSD Shock Test
From our marketing dept :
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
KONI FSD Dampers Improve
Handling Without the Traditional
Sacrifice in Ride Quality
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
Original Equipment shocks or struts supplied on new cars from the factory are designed with the inevitable compromise among handling, ride comfort and cost. Tune them for optimum handling, and ride quality usually suffers. Focus solely on comfort, and suddenly your car handles more like your parent's old 70s Buick than the modern sports car you enjoy driving along the twisty back roads on your way home from work. For many applications, you can find aftermarket dampers that focus more on one of these two priorities, but there is still some trade-off in one area to get more of the other.
KONI engineers have been working on a solution that avoids the normal compromises existing between ride comfort and road handling, with their unique Frequency Selective Damping (FSD) shocks and struts. To get a better understanding of the impact KONI FSD Dampers have on a vehicle's ride quality and handling, The Tire Rack team conducted a Real World Road Ride and Performance Track Drive with three of our 2004 BMW 330Ci Coupes. All three vehicles retained the factory BMW suspension components (with approx. 20,000 miles of use), and we left one vehicle equipped with the used O.E. dampers. On the second vehicle we replaced the O.E. dampers with new KONI Sport adjustable dampers. The third 330Ci was equipped with new KONI FSD units in place of the O.E. dampers.
Read the complete test and more info here :<ul><li><a href="http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AR8&url=/suspension/tests/koni_fsd.jsp">FSD Koni Test</a></li></ul>
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
KONI FSD Dampers Improve
Handling Without the Traditional
Sacrifice in Ride Quality
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
Original Equipment shocks or struts supplied on new cars from the factory are designed with the inevitable compromise among handling, ride comfort and cost. Tune them for optimum handling, and ride quality usually suffers. Focus solely on comfort, and suddenly your car handles more like your parent's old 70s Buick than the modern sports car you enjoy driving along the twisty back roads on your way home from work. For many applications, you can find aftermarket dampers that focus more on one of these two priorities, but there is still some trade-off in one area to get more of the other.
KONI engineers have been working on a solution that avoids the normal compromises existing between ride comfort and road handling, with their unique Frequency Selective Damping (FSD) shocks and struts. To get a better understanding of the impact KONI FSD Dampers have on a vehicle's ride quality and handling, The Tire Rack team conducted a Real World Road Ride and Performance Track Drive with three of our 2004 BMW 330Ci Coupes. All three vehicles retained the factory BMW suspension components (with approx. 20,000 miles of use), and we left one vehicle equipped with the used O.E. dampers. On the second vehicle we replaced the O.E. dampers with new KONI Sport adjustable dampers. The third 330Ci was equipped with new KONI FSD units in place of the O.E. dampers.
Read the complete test and more info here :<ul><li><a href="http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AR8&url=/suspension/tests/koni_fsd.jsp">FSD Koni Test</a></li></ul>
12-19-2005, 04:39 PM
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Sounds like an FSD damper uses digressive valving, ...
... compared to the linear valving of the OE damper, or the stiffer but also linear damping of the "Sport" damper. Digressive damping has long been available in racing shocks from Koni, Bilstein, Ohlins, Penske, etc.
The handling of a car is surprisingly sensitive to small changes in damping at pistons speeds of less than 1 in/sec. (See <a href="http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/shocktune1.html">Shock Tuning</a>.) Racing shocks are normally independently adjustable in both bump and rebound, and it's amazing how a couple clicks of low speed adjustment can change the handling of a car from severe corner exit understeersteer to neutral. Note in the linear valving chart, though, that a change in damping at low piston speeds will also change the damping at high piston speeds.
Digressive valving allows stiffer low speed damping for improved handling with stiffer springs but reduced damping at the higher piston speeds. Since the rough ride from hitting broken pavement, tar strips, etc all result in high piston speeds, this allows the shock with digressive damping to offer a better ride than OEM.
<img src="http://www.circletrack.com/techarticles/p158052_image_large.jpg">
<img src="http://www.circletrack.com/techarticles/p158053_image_large.jpg">
The handling of a car is surprisingly sensitive to small changes in damping at pistons speeds of less than 1 in/sec. (See <a href="http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/shocktune1.html">Shock Tuning</a>.) Racing shocks are normally independently adjustable in both bump and rebound, and it's amazing how a couple clicks of low speed adjustment can change the handling of a car from severe corner exit understeersteer to neutral. Note in the linear valving chart, though, that a change in damping at low piston speeds will also change the damping at high piston speeds.
Digressive valving allows stiffer low speed damping for improved handling with stiffer springs but reduced damping at the higher piston speeds. Since the rough ride from hitting broken pavement, tar strips, etc all result in high piston speeds, this allows the shock with digressive damping to offer a better ride than OEM.
<img src="http://www.circletrack.com/techarticles/p158052_image_large.jpg">
<img src="http://www.circletrack.com/techarticles/p158053_image_large.jpg">
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