KONI Shock Absorbers and the SCCA have a very strong history from the 1950s all the way up to the present day. KONI views the SCCA as a strategic partnership in the history and future of the company and of motorsports. KONI adjustable shocks and struts have for decades been a cornerstone and often starting point for performance suspension refinement and tuning.
KONI is proud to support the SCCA and its members in many ways including being a supporter of regional and national autocross and club programs like road racing. For nearly 20 years, KONI is the only manufacturer to provide free on-site damper service at the SCCA Solo National Championships. A charter supporter of the SCCA’s Track Night in America program, KONI is title sponsor of the TNiA KONI Novice Experience. New for 2018, KONI joined as a supporter of the SCCA’s Member Retention and Referral program offering a discount on all KONI apparel. Looking for ways to build on your shock tuning knowledge? KONI provides free seminars and technical assistance to help members and competitors excel through improved suspension control, better consistency, and durability. KONI is the sole shock and strut supplier for SCCA’s popular new Solo Spec Coupe (SSC) autocross class making their Tire Rack SCCA Solo Nationals debut next week in Lincoln!
KONI is proud to have been selected many times over many decades as the #1 damper brand of choice in the SCCA membership surveys (thanks members!). Automotive enthusiasts like SCCA members know that shock absorbers and struts can make a significant improvement in street and racing car performance, handling, comfort and longevity and they trust KONI as their supplier.
Founded in 1857 in Oud Beijerland, The Netherlands, KONI was originally a horse saddle and leather goods shop. When automobiles and trucks were first introduced after the turn of the century, KONI (the company name was drawn from the middle of the founding de Koning family name) started making many products to support and improve their performance, reliability, and longevity. KONI began making automotive friction dampers in the 1930s and started making adjustable telescopic hydraulic shocks absorbers right after World War II.
KONI entered motorsports in 1955 with the international Dutch Tulip Rally and soon worked with Ferrari in 1956 to improve their suspensions. KONI began officially participating in Formula 1 with Ferrari in 1958 and has been involved in Formula 1 every year since then. In that time, KONI has won over 250 Formula 1 races and 13 World Championships. KONI’s performance products have competed and won in all of the world’s major motorsports venues and races including LeMans, the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, the Dakar Rally, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, etc. and innumerable wins and championships at every level of amateur and professional motorsports in autocross, road racing, drag racing and oval track.
Although KONI is best known to the public for Automotive and Motorsports dampers, KONI is also a world leader in suspension damping solutions for Light and Heavy Duty Trucks and RVs, city buses and motor coaches, military vehicles, railway locomotives, and industrial applications. Anywhere that motion control is important, KONI offers world class damping solutions.
The KONI North America team is proud to have staff members who are SCCA members who are active in club racing (both as drivers and workers), autocross, road rally and elected regional leadership. For more information regarding KONI products and activities, please go to http://www.koni-na.com (North American site) or http://www.koni.com (European site) or visit them on social media at Facebook (KONI Shock Absorbers) and Instagram (@konishocks).
SCCA members who refer a friend to membership will be entered to win a set of KONI shocks! For full details, go to https://www.scca.com/pages/membership
First deliveries of new shock for Spec Miata on way to teams and competitors
Since the selection of Penske Racing Shocks as the new supplier of dampers for Spec Miata, things have been progressing quickly as Penske and Mazda Motorsports prepare to equip Spec Miata racers in time for the first SCCA® U.S. Majors Tour event of 2019 in January.
“We’ve had the shocks on the shaker rig in North Carolina with three different chassis,” says Steve Horn, Suspension Technician at Penske Racing Shocks. “We’ve also done durability testing — we didn’t anticipate any problems, but we like to do our homework with that. Now we’re gearing up to build a bunch of them.”
Josh Smith, Mazda Motorsports specialist for technical development, says the shaker testing validated the track testing, indicating that all three Spec Miata chassis tested would receive the same benefit from the new shock.
“The largest thing the shaker summary shows is if you start looking at the charts where it goes back and forth between some of the contact patch variation numbers, we’re talking two and three decimal places out for which one is a ‘better’ number,” Smith says. “What that shows us is it’s a larger variation as to who nut-and-bolted the car and what grease is in the swaybar bushing than what shocks were on the car — that’s how close and consistent the shocks are. That’s how even the playing field is going to continue to be. Everybody is going to be elevated equally.”
Another thing the shaker testing showed was how unsettled the car will be riding on the bump stops; the car will respond much better if ride height is set so that the car stays off the bump stops, allowing the suspension to work as intended.
The Penske shock will replace the previous Spec Miata shock absorber beginning in 2019. The shock will be eligible in any level of SCCA and NASA road racing competition in 2019 and required for the championship events. For 2020, the Penskes will be mandatory at the championship events, as well as in SCCA U.S. Majors Tour competition.
While maintaining the simplicity of a non-adjustable shock — adjustment isn’t really needed for a spec class — the shock features all the hallmarks that make Penske shocks highly sought after.
“As far as technology, there’s nothing earth-shattering,” says Horn. “The goals were consistency — the drivers could predict what the car was going to do, and it would do the same thing every time. The shock is a separate gas charge, separated from the damping oil, but it doesn’t have all the complexity of the external adjusters. If you do your homework and do the testing and get the damping sorted out for the car, then the lack of adjusters isn’t really a big deal, because everybody is on the same thing. It’s still a Penske shock, so the things that make a Penske work — the nice bore finish inside, the good piston design, the seals that make a Penske do what it does, are all still present here; it’s just that the added complexity has been removed to make for a good, consistent race shock.”
This isn’t Penske’s first foray into a shock for spec racing cars. The company has built shocks for SCCA’s Spec Racer Ford, although that shock does have a single adjustment available. Horn adds that he doesn’t believe much has changed since the test at Carolina Motorsports Park where the shock was selected from among several competitors, and says that the feedback he got from racers at the Runoffs has been overwhelmingly positive. “We’re excited to get them into the hands of competitors and get them on track,” he says.
The first Spec Miata Penske shock shipment to Mazda is on its way, and Smith says that there will be 275 car sets of shocks in that shipment. Check back here at MazdaMotorsports.com for more information on installation and setup in the near future.
January 25, 2019
Spec Miata Penske Racing Shocks: Shim Dimensions, Shaker Rig & More
Click here for Spec Miata Dimensional Explanation
