Koni Active Dampers and H&R -40mm Springs
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The first thing I asked myself was do I need them to be height adjustable. For me that was a no which made the decision easier.
Im in Leeds, and have a great mechanic here. But I’d rather take the drive down there to someone who does this day in day out and get it spot on first time.
make a weekend of it?
Ironbridge is well worth a visit
(or the Peak District for that matter)
@Big Al
@NorthernT6
I would totally recommend going to Steve @CRS Performance, even if it is a bit of a trek. The guys there work with such efficiency and will get your setup spot on.
After four days of driving to and from work (40 mile round trip) on the H&R/KONI coil overs I am so, so pleased with it.... it has totally transformed the driving experience of my van.... really could not be happier!!!
@NorthernT6
I would totally recommend going to Steve @CRS Performance, even if it is a bit of a trek. The guys there work with such efficiency and will get your setup spot on.
After four days of driving to and from work (40 mile round trip) on the H&R/KONI coil overs I am so, so pleased with it.... it has totally transformed the driving experience of my van.... really could not be happier!!!
hello. I am an engineer and have background in motorsport (F1, WRC, touring cars etc). I have just returned from @CRS Performance where I had Koni Active dampers paired with the cobra springs already fitted to my Leighton Van. I have a T32 and I am so pleased with the outcome. The van is significantly improved from before... much improved handling, quieter and less roll/pitch. I have had Bilstein B14s before on an older van and they were ok but nothing like this setup.
I drove 50 miles home and I was actively looking for bumps in the road to see how it faired... Wow! Also was doing some high speed lane changes and corners and it is spot on. Really impressed, don’t hesitate with speaking to proper specialist about your vans suspension.
I drove 50 miles home and I was actively looking for bumps in the road to see how it faired... Wow! Also was doing some high speed lane changes and corners and it is spot on. Really impressed, don’t hesitate with speaking to proper specialist about your vans suspension.
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This is interesting. Were you tempted to swap the Cobras for H&R as recommended by Steve? I also have the Cobras but would love to improve the ride...intrigued if it’s a simple as adding the Konis, and not needing to replace the Cobras with H&R. Cheers
I also have a Leighton van fitted with 40mm cobra springs, leaning towards keeping the springs and upgrading shocks to Koni ones,( sport or active) In the future I’d like to drop the van a little more, maybe to a 50mm drop. From what I’ve gathered from here I could do this still with if I went with the Koni active dampers.
This was my dilemma @NorthernT6 last week. Once you’ve bought the new KONI shocks (with your current springs) you’ll be stuck at that height with no option for adjustment.... unless you go to a 50mm spring in future?
The coil over kit however allows for future adjustment.... more expensive obviously, but you won’t be limited.
Tempted to drop it to 50mm with new springs at same time as the shocks but then like you say, I’m stuck at that height! If the Cost difference between KONI springs setup and full coil overs is only a couple hundred ££ I might just go that way. Decisions decisions!!
Can we have some negative reviews so the price doesn't go up/comes downThis is quickly turning into my next must do !!
That’s exactly what I did mate. I knew that if spent £750/£800 on just the KONI shocks, it would always niggle at me that I didn’t go a bit lower? I’d be happy with the comfort, but you know yourself when you stand back and look if you’re happy with how your van sits.... if the answer is yes then great, but if the answer is no and you do want to close that arch gap, do it once and do it right.... you’ll probably end up spending more swapping about in the future if you don’t. That’s just my opinion obviously.... and at the end of the day it’s all down to personal tastes and of course budget. Hope this helps with your decisions decisions??
Think it’s time for a phone call to CRS to go through options and costs....
I would like to share an experience.
I have mounted on a brand new T.6.1 4Motion DSG LWB a B14 coilover with really great H&R arb's and Powerflex bushes 6 weeks ago. The T6.1 is never heavily loaded and the testing was done without loading weight in the van (max. 2 people) with Michelin Ps4 tyres 275/35/20 with 3.0 bar pressure on 20" OZ Hyper XT rims. I've been trying to find a good balance between performance and comfort for this Van, as I always do with everything I drive.
By reading on this Forum, I started having doubts about this B14 set, although I am enthusiastic about the functioning of this set. I have no doubts about Steve's expertise, not at all (!). I am not looking for a negative discussion and I'm not a stockholder in Bilstein. I just want to share an experience (and my personal experience).
Without the driver knowing, he made a test drive with my Van this week on my request. This man I know has a lot of driving experience with sports cars (he is a technician and his company sells exclusive sportcars) and often driving on the track (I myself also have some experience with coilovers and fast cars and done laps on the track). Long story short; he was surprised/very positive about the performance of my T6.1 and the balance of comfort versus performance was very good.
Whatever the negative stories are about this B14 set, surely more people must be satisfied with this set ? Oh yeah, and it could very well be that the new set of KONI / H & R discussed here is much better, I definitely don't question that. I am only surprised that the B14 would not be good even though this set performs very well imho ?
I only bring this up here because I'm really trying to understand how this is possible. In my opinion, TÜV approval or not, with a 'bad one size fits all rear spring'; the set just works really well. Actually the Van drives amazingly good. That is why I had someone, who really understands cars, for a test drive....so I had the opinion of someone who is impartial and had no idea what was mounted under the Van.
Regards from a confused T6.1 driver
I have mounted on a brand new T.6.1 4Motion DSG LWB a B14 coilover with really great H&R arb's and Powerflex bushes 6 weeks ago. The T6.1 is never heavily loaded and the testing was done without loading weight in the van (max. 2 people) with Michelin Ps4 tyres 275/35/20 with 3.0 bar pressure on 20" OZ Hyper XT rims. I've been trying to find a good balance between performance and comfort for this Van, as I always do with everything I drive.
By reading on this Forum, I started having doubts about this B14 set, although I am enthusiastic about the functioning of this set. I have no doubts about Steve's expertise, not at all (!). I am not looking for a negative discussion and I'm not a stockholder in Bilstein. I just want to share an experience (and my personal experience).
Without the driver knowing, he made a test drive with my Van this week on my request. This man I know has a lot of driving experience with sports cars (he is a technician and his company sells exclusive sportcars) and often driving on the track (I myself also have some experience with coilovers and fast cars and done laps on the track). Long story short; he was surprised/very positive about the performance of my T6.1 and the balance of comfort versus performance was very good.
Whatever the negative stories are about this B14 set, surely more people must be satisfied with this set ? Oh yeah, and it could very well be that the new set of KONI / H & R discussed here is much better, I definitely don't question that. I am only surprised that the B14 would not be good even though this set performs very well imho ?
I only bring this up here because I'm really trying to understand how this is possible. In my opinion, TÜV approval or not, with a 'bad one size fits all rear spring'; the set just works really well. Actually the Van drives amazingly good. That is why I had someone, who really understands cars, for a test drive....so I had the opinion of someone who is impartial and had no idea what was mounted under the Van.
Regards from a confused T6.1 driver
I think this is a case of:
- You’ve tested out what is in reality a decent coilover in what is likely to be a van of similar weight to what B14’s are aimed at.
- You’re happy with the comfort offered by the B14 , and would likely be even happier with the Koni or KW shocks.
I appreciate your response giving me a point of view to consider for which I want to thank you. So, maybe it is the weight which is decicive whether B14 functions properly or not ? During a serious test drive, the bus had a weight of approx. 2,400 kg. max. and apparently the B14 likes that ? Could it be that, in terms of overloading or too much weight, it went wrong in many B14 cases ?
Oh wow.. In that case you can disregard my opinion, as I never expected your van to have weighed so much!
Someone who knows more will be along shortly..
For me this is exactly what this thread is all about.... forum members giving their opinions on their own experiences with their own setups or setups they’ve tried. I personally haven’t had the pleasure of a B14 kit, so couldn’t/wouldn’t comment, but others such as @ChrisR have done their homework/research with quite a few different setups and I guess Steve @CRS Performance is only going off of his experience with his customers.I would like to share an experience.
I have mounted on a brand new T.6.1 4Motion DSG LWB a B14 coilover with really great H&R arb's and Powerflex bushes 6 weeks ago. The T6.1 is never heavily loaded and the testing was done without loading weight in the van (max. 2 people) with Michelin Ps4 tyres 275/35/20 with 3.0 bar pressure on 20" OZ Hyper XT rims. I've been trying to find a good balance between performance and comfort for this Van, as I always do with everything I drive.
By reading on this Forum, I started having doubts about this B14 set, although I am enthusiastic about the functioning of this set. I have no doubts about Steve's expertise, not at all (!). I am not looking for a negative discussion and I'm not a stockholder in Bilstein. I just want to share an experience (and my personal experience).
Without the driver knowing, he made a test drive with my Van this week on my request. This man I know has a lot of driving experience with sports cars (he is a technician and his company sells exclusive sportcars) and often driving on the track (I myself also have some experience with coilovers and fast cars and done laps on the track). Long story short; he was surprised/very positive about the performance of my T6.1 and the balance of comfort versus performance was very good.
Whatever the negative stories are about this B14 set, surely more people must be satisfied with this set ? Oh yeah, and it could very well be that the new set of KONI / H & R discussed here is much better, I definitely don't question that. I am only surprised that the B14 would not be good even though this set performs very well imho ?
I only bring this up here because I'm really trying to understand how this is possible. In my opinion, TÜV approval or not, with a 'bad one size fits all rear spring'; the set just works really well. Actually the Van drives amazingly good. That is why I had someone, who really understands cars, for a test drive....so I had the opinion of someone who is impartial and had no idea what was mounted under the Van.
Regards from a confused T6.1 driver
Each to their own as they say.... if you’re happy with your setup that’s all that matters.
This weight was max., including 2 persons, fuel etc...
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