AT Koni Front Struts!!
Let me start off by saying that this friggen’ car is NOT supposed to be able to handle like this!!! These AT Koni Front Struts compliment the backs perfectly!! OMG these things are way too awesome!! Within 10 seconds I could really feel how inferior the front suspension is on our cars. Granted I am still playing around with the settings to see how much of a difference it is on some of the settings I grew accustomed to in the backs, but even at the lowest possible settings the car handles a hundred times better than it did brand new. Installation was a little bit of a pain because we ended up installing them outside and in the rain (long story.....), but the short few hours of misery was more than worth it!! Because of the rain I could not do a write up on the installation (sorry guys) but I can give you a few pointers (after the review stuff)!!!
I decided to set the front struts to ½ because I already had the rear shocks on 4. My first test drive was ripping around the large parking lots and buildings around where I work and the car felt awesome! Now that the car had a complete suspension; it gripped and hugged the road much, I mean MUCH better than I thought it could!! The ride in back smoothened out even more and now some of those dips and bumps in the road felt better. I drive the same 34 miles to work and the same 37 miles back to home every day and pretty much have been in this car for the past 2 ½ years now and I have gotten very used to everything. After installing the AT KYB rear shocks I had to change that driving just a little bit. Partly just because ripping around a couple of the high-speed corners that I drive on every day just got a whole lot more fun to drive and partly because the new rear shocks made a really good enhancement on the Altima’s ability to handle. Now with both the rear shocks and the new AT Koni front struts, and am having to change those driving habits considerably!! I said it before and I will say it again…….this friggen’ car is NOT supposed to be able to handle like this!!! I have a number of short but tight corners and turns on my daily commute. After the many hundreds of times that I had driven them I had gotten used to the body roll…...the slight fade to the feel of the car……..well…….all of that is gone now. The car now goes in the direction you want it to! I have caught myself a number of times steering into the turn or corner the same old usual way that I had become accustomed to and I have almost clipped the curb because the car just hugs the road like it is no big deal. It is friggen’ awesome!!
I have played around with a couple of the different combinations of settings now. With the new front AT Koni struts set to ¾ and the rear AT KYB shocks set to 6 the car handles the curves and corners like they were not even there. The ride was surprisingly smoother than I thought it would be too, but for everyday driving that is just too stiff for my comfort. At the higher settings the suspension eats up the bumps and dips in the road but it is some what of a stiff/hard overall feel to the road. My wife was even impressed by the handling and even commented on the fact that the new fronts helped to smooth out the overall ride. I currently have the fronts set to ½ and the backs set to 2. The ride is very nice and smooth with only a tiny bit of hop in the back when you hit large dips or bumps at higher speeds. I will probably end up leaving the new struts set around the ½ range and the back shocks set to 3 – 5 (depending on long road trips, passengers, etc…). All in all, you would be crazy not to invest in these shocks and struts for your Altima if enhanced handling performance is something you are looking for!! These things are just way too fun and you cannot beat the adjustability!!
As promised here are a couple of installation hints to help anyone who installs these themselves out a little bit. First, break the very top nut loose to the strut assembly a little bit before you take the strut assembly off of your car. Just loosen it a little bit and it will make the removal go a little bit faster as well as prevent the need for some extra muscle to remove that nut once your have removed the strut assembly from you car. Second, when trying to remove the strut assembly from the car push the bottom part back a little bit and swing it out from the side that the brake lines attach. With the brake line held out of the way the strut comes out nicely and easily in that direction. Finally, there is an easy trick to remember when reinstalling the camber bolts (only necessary for those that have the lower drops using aftermarket springs). Reinsert the camber bolt with the camber hump on the bolt facing away and a little bit down from you (i.e. facing towards the engine and slightly down). They go in real easy then versus having to twist and turn them to get them lined up just right for the washer to fit in snugly.
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