Koni HT upgrade to Gen 4 SZ4

I've got a white 2019 Jimny SZ4 with almost 8k miles on the clock. Absolutely love it.

I'm contemplating replacing the standard shocks with a set of Koni HT shocks. I won't be raising or lowering the Jimny, I just want to improve the ride quality ..it manages to be both soft and floaty and crash / bang over road bumps (even cats eyes!).

Has anyone else tried this please?
Does it improve ride quality?
Are the Koni's a straight swap for the standard shocks? (the Koni website says 'yes' ..but does anyone know?)

Apologies if this is addressed somewhere else on the site. I've had a quick look and I can't spot it.

(BTW ..I replaced the standard 'yellow' DRL's with the LED version from the BigJimny store. I'm very pleased with them, the standard ones looked wrong from day one!)

You must have a bad one!! Ours does neither of the above.
I mean, it's no GTi, but l wouldn't want it to be.

I would be really interested to know what difference fitting expensive aftermarket dampers makes though.

Over on the VW Up GTi forum many owners said the standard Sachs dampers were "crap" and fitted aftermarket units, all it seemed to do was make the suspension rock hard.

I have Koni HT on my Gen3.
Fitted to improve caravan towing and they have certainly done that. Improvement over standard is very subjective, it's just going to be someone's opinion. They fit perfectly, straight swap.
No worse than standard and an improvement on a worn suspension like mine, but I doubt you will notice much difference over standard on a new vehicle. I personally believe this to be true for any damper only swap, so not saying the Koni are bad, they are just not miracle workers.
Good quality, would fit them again as they meet my needs.
Mike

Adjustable dampers would be the way to go, as you could alter them depending on what you were doing in the vehicle.
My Ferrari had as standard, Bilstein adjustable dampers with a "soft/medium/hard" switch on the centre console.
ln the "soft" setting it was like an old Cortina, floating over bad roads like they weren't there...it was uncanny.
ln "medium" it was like you'd expect a sports car to be, firm with much better suspension control.
ln "hard" it was rock hard, for track days and the Autobahn apparently.

Anyway, it's possible to have the best of both worlds and if Ferrari can do it then l guess other vehicles could have the same system

Oh and before you cry "rich show off" the Ferrari was a 1989 Mondial t.
Back in 2010 when l owned it you could buy one for less than the list price of a new Jimny. As it was a 4 seater it wasn't so popular.
Still had the magnificent mid mounted 3.4 litre V8 that produced 310bhp with no turbo and redlined at 9,000 rpm

No experience with Koni on the Jimny but plenty on other cars and they are a good damper......

Koni like Bilstein and other "premium" suspension manufacturers have long been recognised as supplying components that out perform factory units, Ford have Bilstein fitted in the RS range and I have seen Koni under a few M3's...

Tuning your suspension is a very valid modification to your car and can improve ride, road holding, braking and even acceleration.

I chose AVO because of their adjustability, 12 points, from very soft to touring car hard. In combination with good springs from Eibach, I have the Jimny handling like an old rwd Escort, just how I want it.

sniper

The Koni HT are adjustable dampers. You adjust the setting by rotating the shock body, on the Jimny this would require the removal of the bottom mounting bolt to allow you to rotate the body to adjust the damping force before refitting the bolt. From memory they have about 7 steps adjustment, from soft to hard.
Daft Idea maybe, but then once you have the setting you want you just leave them alone. I did consider dampers with external adjustment for slightly more cost, but I have no desire to get under the vehicle to adjust before each journey. It's my daily car, I just get in and drive, so this fixed feature worked for me.