THSCC Forums

I need a little guidance on new shocks for the Miata. I'm trying to decided between the Koni yellows and KYB AGX's. Here's what I know so far:

KYB AGX's

<<PROS>>
-Cheaper ($10 each from what I've found)
-Does not raise ride height (I hear Konis spring perch makes the car sit higher)
-Does not require modification of the cars mounting holes
-8-way (notched) adjustable (the adjustment affects both rebound and compression)

<<CONS>>
-Ride is more harsh than Konis (from our experience on the Talon)
-Warranty is not as good as Koni

Koni Yellow's

<<PROS>>
-Lots of folks have 'em and love 'em
-Better ride than the KYB's
-Easier to adjust (don't have to get on your knees and look under the car)
-Great warranty
-My experience with them on the Talon has been good.
-Could buy them from GH and save shipping cost. Where is he located anyway?

<<CONS>>
-More expensive (probably for a reason)
-Adjustment only affects rebound
-Ride height is higher
-Require modification of the mounting holes (drilled larger) and upper mount.

So what do you guys think? I'm leaning towards the Konis for a better ride. The money isn't enough of a difference to worry about IMO, but I'm looking for other input here.

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

Are you sure the Koni's raise the ride height? Back when we were buying shocks for my 95R, we got the Koni's over the Tokiko's (sp?) because the Tokiko's raised the ride height of an R. Perhaps Koni has changed the design of the Yellows.

ps - still love my Koni's after 50K+ miles... have had 0 problems with them.

Hum... Diane

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Diane (Hall) Bundas
1992 Spec Miata #48 - 1997 Chevy Tahoe - 2007 Honda Civic Coupe

Why not Bilsteins . . . either aftermarket or, if available, the oem ones used in the sport suspension? As I recall, Tim Aro's 10AE was rather quick with the stock Bilsteins.

Keep in mind that I am not a shock tuner kind of autocrosser so "adjusting shocks" is not one of my skills or tools. I generally improve my time from run to run more by adjusting my driver than other folks do from adjusting their shocks.

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Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

I would go with the Konis for sure. They ride about the same as the KYBs when they are both set to full soft but they ride much better when turned up. The fact that they only adjust rebound is the deciding factor there. You generally only want to change the compression dampening when you change the unsprung weight of the car unless you're tuning around some crazy stock spring/sway setup.

If you're planning on upgrading to much heavier spring later, you will be glad you got the Konis. Not only do they tend to deal with higher spring rates better (~400+lbs), you can always change the valving if they get out of their useful adjustment range. And as they wear (like all shock will), you can use the adjustment to compensate for that. The KYB's are great for stockish spring rates but they adjust the compression way too much when you start to turn them up. Not only does this affect ride quality but if can making the overall handling fairly funky. Funky-- that's a technical term!

I've had both and while I do think the KYBs are a good shock, I don't think I would go back to them unless I was severely restricted on budget.

The Bilstiens are good shocks too and will handle a fairly spring rate but they tend to ride harsher then most people want. The off-the-shelf ones aren't as bad as the R-package ones but they still aren't what you would call plush. Considering that they usually cost as much if not more than the Konis, I think it's a no-brainer to get the Konis.

The Konis also have adjustable perches (3-way) so you can go from stock height, R-package height and lower fairly easily.

Jim

• The AGXs now have a lifetime warranty.
• Getting to the adjustment knob on the left rear Koni can be a pain in the neck unless you remove the steel plate that protects the fuel lines in the trunk. I guess that's not an issue for a track car.

I just went through this debate and ended up with the KYBs. I'm running ES this year so they seemed like a good match for the stock springs. Even if I go to CSP I'm not convinced that a Miata that may pull daily driver duty will ever need springs beyond what the AGX can handle.

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Not spectacular just decent.
I'm not sure what I'm driving.
Maybe an ITR in DS.
Or half-assed STX prepped 330.

It's not really that they can't handle them at all, it's that they don't handle them well. I just think that they don't feel right once you turn them much past 3 (on the 8-way ones) on the adjustment knob. They wind up with way too much compression dampening for my tastes which compromises the overall suspension balance and feel. If you're running higher spring rates, you pretty much have to turn them up to keep from pogo-ing all over the place which puts them in a range I don't feel comfortable with on the edge. It's not that you can't drive with the setup like that, I just feel you can be faster (and more comfortable if that matters) if you weren't forced to make that harsh compression rate compromise. It's another one of those things where if you're not looking to get the most out of the car, it probably doesn't matter.

I did a bunch of track events (and a couple of auto-x's) with the KYBs and was fairly happy with them. I just feel when I switched to the Konis, I could better feel what the car was doing and subsequently got faster. Unfortunately it wasn't on the same car (same spring rates, tires and sway bars however) nor did I have lap times to compare but it seemed like the corner speeds increased and the car sure felt better. It may come down to a driver preference thing, who knows...

Jim

Guess I should have said "beyond what the AGXs can handle well."

Koni's the gold (err. . . yellow) standard for a reason. I don't know anybody who's regretted getting Konis (Konae?).

One of the biggest things is the warranty. It's interesting that KYB is trying to take steps to close that gap a little bit.

Having said that. . .

Who knows, maybe in 2 years I'll change my mind and there'll be a set of AGXs for sale cheap in the Swap and Sell.

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Not spectacular just decent.
I'm not sure what I'm driving.
Maybe an ITR in DS.
Or half-assed STX prepped 330.

Trick for this... remove only the top 2 bolts and bend the cover back far enough to get your arm in there. I never had any trouble getting to the adjustment that way.

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Diane (Hall) Bundas
1992 Spec Miata #48 - 1997 Chevy Tahoe - 2007 Honda Civic Coupe