I keep seeing plenty of Koni shocks mentioned in FerrariChat and for sale on ebay as models 82P-1982 SP6's and 82P-1983 SP6's. I checked the owners manual and it lists the shocks as 82P-1982 SP1's and 82P-1983 SP1's. My car is a UK delivered euro model. So what is the mechanical difference if any ?
Although I worked at Koni a few months (15 years ago) I can't tell you the difference between SP1 and SP6. Strangely the official Koni catalog only mentions the 82-1982SP6 (front) and 82-1983SP6 (rear) for all the 308 variants. Keith Bluemel mentions different types. And none has suffix SP6. I also stumbled over this document. Even Ferrari mentions SP1. Marc
I tried calling their agent here in Australia , , I was trying to get replacement seals for my 308 and my motorcycle shocks. It wasn't a very productive call because all they wanted to tell me was all the Koni's I had would be totally worn out . It really was a wierd call , I think they went way too far trying to convince me to simply pay for a new set and ended up making me think Konis are poor quality. To add to my dissapointment no matter what model Koni I asked about it seemed there has not been any spare seals for decades ! I still believe Koni's to be good shocks and I am going to make new inners where the seals are fitted to accept commercially availabe hydraulic seals. As for the bike shocks I was told "they will be totoally stuffed inside and out of oil" ....... In fact they are not out of oil and seem to be working fine ... I'd just like some spare seals.
It's interesting that GTB's and GTS's have different springs , , I always felt that there may be more differences in chassis stiffness other than one car having a roof. I think we all need to change at least springs as pairs to ensure they are the correct weight and stiffness. Our 308's would mostly have had a couple of owners at least and there is a chance after a few decades that a spring could have come from a GTS and ended up in a GTB or vise versa.
Not sure of if this is only difference, I bought the 'new' vintage Koni's, the body of the SP6 is tapered. The SP1 are straight. I ordered them in the spring and recevied in October. Have not installed yet. Stephen
Paul did you try Toperformance?They rebuilt my rear shocks on the GT4 as new are NLA..They did a good job..only gripe was I asked if they could respray them as well as supply new Koni stickers...they charged me an extra $10 for that service but all they did was give it a rough coat with a spray can..I was expecting powder coating.I also bought the fronts new from another local Koni dealer in Penrith. Here is the website http://www.toperformance.com.au/index2.html
I just bought a set of the new SP6s to replace my original Konis. They are very slightly different. As was stated, Koni shows these SP6s fitting all 308s. The dimensions are the same, but the construction is just very slightly different. The clip that holds the spring near the middle of the shock is flat versus a round bar. The metal part that actually holds the spring looked different as well. I never realized the SP1 vs SP6 question, just figured they had made some changes and updates over the decades. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Excellent ! Maybe the tapered body of the SP6's also are used on another model and economies of scale dictated using it to satisfy SP1 and SP6 supplies. Maurice70's link to Toperformance is great too , , , the Koni Tech Info link is interesting in that it shows how new shocks have the damper settings at full soft. It states that the adjustments are to take up wear , , , , , it's still a bit of a job to get the damper out to adjust it. I think I prefer the motorcycle worlds answer where fork legs have drain plugs and the oil can be changed at regular intervals or have heavier grades substituted. As Ferrari owners we go to a lot of lengths to change our engine and transmission oil regularly ....... yet the shocks are neglected mainly through inaccessability. The original owners manual for 308's even shows what grade and quantity of oil to put in the shocks. I'm not going to go get it to see iff there was a service ionteravl on the shocks.
