Koni Special Active Dampers for a 996 C4?

Hi All, I think there might be an answer (I just can't find it!) I'm a new 996 c4 owner and my local Indy has recommended a full suspension refresh (amongst a growing list of other things to sort out, but that's owning a Porsche eh?!) He has recommended coil overs which I think is a bit of overkill for me given I won't be doing many, if any, track days and want it for road use. I've seen a lot of people recommend the Koni special Active dampers but some say you can use them on the C4 others saying you can't? Can anyone let me know definitively and if they can't a decent recommendation? Also if anyone can let me know if I am just being tight on the coil overs, it's just I don't fancy spending £5k but happy to spend £3.5k so so fitted. I'm based in Sussex so if you have any indy recommendations I'd appreciate that as well Cheers Adam

Hi Adam, I'm a C4S owner in a similar situation, looking to upgrade my suspension soon. At Goodwood earlier this year I spoke to someone at Koni about the Special Actives who said they only currently made rear dampers for the C4/C4S, not the fronts. However they said they'd be soon making the fronts too. Fast-forward a few months and just looking on Design911's site, I can see they have the rears as well as fronts now. They're £821 +VAT for a set of four. Plus the springs on top of that. Something else I'm looking at is the Centre Gravity kit they've made with Bilstein specifically for the C4/C4S ( info here ). I've not dealt with CG yet, but from what I've read about them they really know their stuff and are very highly regarded in the Porsche community. Their kit is £1700+VAT including springs, so not too different in price. Their kit has been specially developed for our models which interests me. I'll probably call them soon to discuss the differences between that kit and the Konis which I also know they recommend.

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Thanks for this really helpful, I'll reach out to CG and see what they can do...I only wish they were closer! Adam

Has anyone here tried the koni dampers yet? Interested to see how they perform. I drove a 993 with them and it was spot on.

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Not yet but definitely leaning towards them, if I do I will report back

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What springs are you going to use with them?

I have Koni Special Actives on my C2. Was fitted and set up by CG. For a road car I think they are ace (standard springs and M030 bars). Really nice ride quality but sharp enough to be fun. My only reservation is the steering feel isn't quite there for me despite CG's best efforts! The car needs to sit lower for that which will of course ruin the ride.. It's a fantastically capable road car and because it rides and handles, it's really fast across the ground.

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Obviously I can't know your subjective definition of "ruin the ride" but I had my C2 set up by Charlie at William Francis as follows: - - H&R lowering springs - Koni Special active dampers - X74 Geo Absolutely excellent on the rubbish A/B roads of Suffolk, very rarely grounds, not harsh at all (in fact I would personally prefer a bit stiffer), destroys front tyres at a highly accelerated rate but what price amazing steering???

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trying to work that out at the moment. The recommendation is standard springs but I'd love it to sit maybe 25mm lower

I was told that the Special Actives are designed and work best on standard springs.

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That's definately correct, I think e.g. Bilstein B8s are for lower springs as they have shorter bodies. Still, works very well on mine and others.

So I pushed the button on Koni special actives and the H&R springs. I've done about 300 miles in it since and while they are still bedding in here are my initial thoughts... Wow! The car is so much more planted on the road, it feels so much more precise than before and deals with most things really easily. It is a lot firmer (I wonder if this is the H&R part giving much better steering with a stiffer ride) not bone jarringly so but certainly not a comfortable as previously. The car itself hasn't really lowered as the previous suspension had 110k miles on it but it sits well. Overall I am thrilled with how it turned out and would recommend.

Thanks for the follow-up. On the firmness, I wonder if this will soften-up over time as things bed in. Did you get them fitted at CG or somewhere else?

I'll give an update in a few months as well I got them done at a local Indy that has a Geo set up

I’d really appreciate an update in a few months, thanks. There doesn’t seem to be much out there in terms of long-term ride reports on these shocks fitted to Porsches.