Is Koni front suspension standard on Face Lift MR2's?

[je72]

So umm, yeah, Is Koni adjustable front suspension (yellow shocks) standard on face lift MR2's?

I'm only asking as I was given a little plastic knob/adjuster with the words Koni written on it when I bought the car, the guy said something about you can use this to adjust it if you go on track days, I wasn't really interested in that so I just popped it in my little box of car related gubbins thinking we all had them, but now I'm starting to wonder if at some point the suspension has been upgraded. What are peoples thoughts?

[1979scotte]

Not standard.
Hope you have them on all 4 corners shouldn't really just be on the fronts.

Standard Toyota shocks are made by kyb

[Ardent]

What Scott Said

[je72]

Not standard.
Hope you have them on all 4 corners shouldn't really just be on the fronts.

Standard Toyota shocks are made by kyb

Crikey, my issues seem to be mounting up, pretty sure the rears are not yellow, will have a look in the daylight 

[Topdownman]

I think they are the ones that you have to drill out your old shock body and then insert, er, the inserts. You may need to look from the top down to see if there are inserts there. Or maybe look underneath to see if they are drilled?

There are youtube videos about fitting them so have a watch to see what we are talking about.

[jvanzyl]

On they positive side you have an absolute rarity! A LOT of people consider koni's as a midpoint between standard and coilover suspension. But everyone I know of has gone with either a standard refresh or coils.

I'm sure you'll have a full set- where upon there will be a fair few of us wishing to have a ride along on your car to see what all the fuss is about!

[je72]

I think they are the ones that you have to drill out your old shock body and then insert, er, the inserts. You may need to look from the top down to see if there are inserts there. Or maybe look underneath to see if they are drilled?

There are youtube videos about fitting them so have a watch to see what we are talking about.

Cheers Simon, watched that video, thanks for the heads up. I'll see if this luddite can fathom it out. It would seem strange on the face of it that someone would upgrade the fronts but not the rears so I'm hoping that the rears are done. The thing that bothers me is that I know the rears don't have the little protrusion that the fronts have that is used to adjust them with this knob.

[je72]

On they positive side you have an absolute rarity! A LOT of people consider koni's as a midpoint between standard and coilover suspension. But everyone I know of has gone with either a standard refresh or coils.

I'm sure you'll have a full set- where upon there will be a fair few of us wishing to have a ride along on your car to see what all the fuss is about!

Cheers for a bit of positivity @jvanzyl  anybody would be most welcome for a ride along at any time 

[Carolyn]

On they positive side you have an absolute rarity! A LOT of people consider koni's as a midpoint between standard and coilover suspension. But everyone I know of has gone with either a standard refresh or coils.

I'm sure you'll have a full set- where upon there will be a fair few of us wishing to have a ride along on your car to see what all the fuss is about!

Cheers for a bit of positivity @jvanzyl  anybody would be most welcome for a ride along at any time 

So it's only the fronts.  I' would not be too fussed.  If she drives and handles OK - cool.

[jvanzyl]

Well just for the sake of completeness... Could you post a photo of the fronts and rears within the wheel arch so we can see the struts?

[je72]

On they positive side you have an absolute rarity! A LOT of people consider koni's as a midpoint between standard and coilover suspension. But everyone I know of has gone with either a standard refresh or coils.

I'm sure you'll have a full set- where upon there will be a fair few of us wishing to have a ride along on your car to see what all the fuss is about!

Cheers for a bit of positivity @jvanzyl  anybody would be most welcome for a ride along at any time 

So it's only the fronts.  I' would not be too fussed.  If she drives and handles OK - cool.

She certainly handles better than my abilities, I've driven far more spiritted in this car than any car I've ever had before. Maybe a touch of understeer when I was "testing" her round a particularly challenging local bend, but other than that she grips and drives beautifully.

[jvanzyl]

If you fit a front strut brace you understeer problem will dissapear and you'll reduce the flex in the car which will translate to a less "crashy/creaky" ride. The car will basically handle bumps better.

[je72]

So here's some (probably useless) images:

Front Drivers side:



Rear  Drivers Side:



Rear Passenger:



Front Passenger:



It would appear to be stock on the backs to my untrained eye. Apart from that little understeer under fairly extreme testing, maybe I don't need to worry.

[1979scotte]

If you're happy I'm happy.
I would swap the rears out personally especially if I believed them to be as old as the chassis.

[Beachbum957]

With the rear shock boot, it is hard to tell if there are Koni inserts.  But just pop the engine cover, pull off the rubber covers on the top of the shock mount and look for the adjusters.  If it has adjusters like the front, it has Koni inserts.  If not, don't worry about it.

I ran for a short time with new Koni inserts on the front and KYB struts on the back and it worked fine.  The rear Koni's didn't make nearly as much difference as the fronts.  With the relatively soft front springs, the front is very sensitive to the shock damping.  The rear, not so much

[je72]

With the rear shock boot, it is hard to tell if there are Koni inserts.  But just pop the engine cover, pull off the rubber covers on the top of the shock mount and look for the adjusters.  If it has adjusters like the front, it has Koni inserts.  If not, don't worry about it.

I ran for a short time with new Koni inserts on the front and KYB struts on the back and it worked fine.  The rear Koni's didn't make nearly as much difference as the fronts.  With the relatively soft front springs, the front is very sensitive to the shock damping.  The rear, not so much

That really made sense to me, thanks for explaining it in a way that a novice like me understood. I've now checked and there is no adjustment thingy on the top of the rears so I'm pretty sure they are kybs.

It's also reassuring to hear you had the same set up and you didn't kill yourself.

If you're happy I'm happy.
I would swap the rears out personally especially if I believed them to be as old as the chassis.

I'll get them sorted and matched up one way or another but at least this isn't stop the fun type of problem.