Hi everyone.

I'm looking to improve the ride comfort even slightly on bumpy surfaces and wondering if anyone has experience of the Koni Orange (STR.T) dampers with stock springs (or only mildly lowered) on their mk8/mk8.5 Fiesta ST.

 

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

 

Hi Rafal,

Might be worth asking on an ST-specjfic forum such as:

https://www.fiestastoc.com/forums/mk8-suspension-steering-chassis.891/

 

The Koni STr-T is a very mild damper for a Fiesta that doesn’t have an extremely large diameter wheel setup, 17 or 18 inch wheels. The Koni damper is well suited to normal sized wheel and tire, 15 or 16 inch.I have had both the Yellow Koni sport dampers, which are adjustable and now the orange Koni STr-T on my basic Fiesta 1.6 hatchback. The Koni STr-T is very close to the Koni Sport if it were adjusted closer to the soft end of the scale. People complain about the cost of these dampers but they would change their opinion if they had a chance to drive on them. The Fiesta is a great handling car and a good set of dampers makes it even better. When I took delivery of my 2011 Fiesta in July of 2010 I was surprised that Koni had not developed any dampers for the mk7 Fiesta. The Fiesta has a wonderful chassis that responds well to damper, bushing and anti sway bar and end link upgrades.

On 9/4/2025 at 5:27 AM, Scottman said:

The Koni STr-T is a very mild damper for a Fiesta that doesn’t have an extremely large diameter wheel setup, 17 or 18 inch wheels. The Koni damper is well suited to normal sized wheel and tire, 15 or 16 inch.I have had both the Yellow Koni sport dampers, which are adjustable and now the orange Koni STr-T on my basic Fiesta 1.6 hatchback. The Koni STr-T is very close to the Koni Sport if it were adjusted closer to the soft end of the scale. People complain about the cost of these dampers but they would change their opinion if they had a chance to drive on them. The Fiesta is a great handling car and a good set of dampers makes it even better. When I took delivery of my 2011 Fiesta in July of 2010 I was surprised that Koni had not developed any dampers for the mk7 Fiesta. The Fiesta has a wonderful chassis that responds well to damper, bushing and anti sway bar and end link upgrades.

Koni also makes a dedicated version of the STR.T for the FIesta ST - so those must be tougher, given that the ST came on 18-inch and 17-inch wheels only - but the experience may be comparable, so thanks for the comment.

That must’ve been released since I aquired my last set of STr-T. 
more proof that they don’t do “cookie cutter” type engineering on their products! I always liked how Koni dampers felt on the Mustangs I have owned. If you are mindful about wheel weights spring rates and bushings you are choosing from,the Koni dampers can go from impressive to transformative.

I also really like that their tech hotline made talking to an ITT Koni engineer as easy as calling home to Mother.

When I sent my then new 2011 Fiesta to the R&D office in Hebron, Kentucky I included the fresh set of shaved Dunlop Direzza tires on OZ Ultrlegerra wheels so their engineering team could get a feel for their product on proper tires for motorsports play. I believe that it had a good effect on the end product we enjoy today.

4 hours ago, Scottman said:

That must’ve been released since I aquired my last set of STr-T. 

I was just having a look at the Koni.com site anticipating a bit of info on the product, but all it says is: 

 "Tuned performance damping. Affordably priced"😀

I see Rafal has posted the question on the fiestastoc site but no response as yet. Quite a few on there seem to have used these on the Mk 6, but not on the later cars.

Most common mod for the Mk 8/8.5 seems to be KW coilovers as fitted to the Performance Edition. Couple of reviews here mention improved ride with these.

 https://www.evo.co.uk/ford/fiesta-st/201628/ford-fiesta-st-performance-edition-2019-review-the-best-bettered

https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/ford/15-ecoboost-st-performance-edition-3dr/first-drive

 

16 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I was just having a look at the Koni.com site anticipating a bit of info on the product, but all it says is: 

 "Tuned performance damping. Affordably priced"😀

I see Rafal has posted the question on the fiestastoc site but no response as yet. Quite a few on there seem to have used these on the Mk 6, but not on the later cars.

Most common mod for the Mk 8/8.5 seems to be KW coilovers as fitted to the Performance Edition. Couple of reviews here mention improved ride with these.

 https://www.evo.co.uk/ford/fiesta-st/201628/ford-fiesta-st-performance-edition-2019-review-the-best-bettered

https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/ford/15-ecoboost-st-performance-edition-3dr/first-drive

 

That's an interesting point and would be a good alternative I'm sure, with the adjustment it offers - just not sure I'd want to invest that much 🙂

Koni Sport(yellow) dampers are not considered to be a bargain price damper. Those are designed for the customers who want a degree of adjustability. The Koni STr-T (orange) are not adjustable but are very high quality at a reasonable price.

These dampers are a rather highly “engineered” product. Same could be said for the Bilstien B6, a heavy duty damper and its more supple brother the B8. Having owned and installed all of these products in the past few years on various vehicles I can say with confidence that they are less failure prone than lower quality dampers. You are not just buying a brand. You actually are getting a better component than the ones that are strictly manufactured to a price.

3 hours ago, Enzo123abc said:

That's an interesting point and would be a good alternative I'm sure, with the adjustment it offers - just not sure I'd want to invest that much 🙂

No, me neither. With the roads I have to cope with I wouldn't fancy a lower ride height, so these might be of future interest if I decide to hang on to the car long term.

It seems the Mk 8 fitment is a recent offering, perhaps that's why there don't seem to be any Mk 8 specific reviews.

Had you located a supplier, btw? I've had a quick look at a few UK sources supposedly supplying Koni and come up with a blank for these, so far.

On 9/7/2025 at 2:06 PM, Scottman said:

Koni Sport(yellow) dampers are not considered to be a bargain price damper. Those are designed for the customers who want a degree of adjustability. The Koni STr-T (orange) are not adjustable but are very high quality at a reasonable price.

These dampers are a rather highly “engineered” product. Same could be said for the Bilstien B6, a heavy duty damper and its more supple brother the B8. Having owned and installed all of these products in the past few years on various vehicles I can say with confidence that they are less failure prone than lower quality dampers. You are not just buying a brand. You actually are getting a better component than the ones that are strictly manufactured to a price.

I've seen reviews saying that the STR.T with slightly shorter springs are "bouncy". Would you say they are better suited to stock springs or, say, -20mm like Eibach Pro Kit? (in terms of both comfort and not loosing body control or adding "floatiness" on rough roads)

 

Also, I thought the B8 is simply a shorter version of B6 - both firmer than STR.R and maybe even stock.

 

On 9/7/2025 at 3:44 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

No, me neither. With the roads I have to cope with I wouldn't fancy a lower ride height, so these might be of future interest if I decide to hang on to the car long term.

It seems the Mk 8 fitment is a recent offering, perhaps that's why there don't seem to be any Mk 8 specific reviews.

Had you located a supplier, btw? I've had a quick look at a few UK sources supposedly supplying Koni and come up with a blank for these, so far.

www.koni.com - went to Distributors and called those in Poland, where I'm from. Decently helpful and gave me a good quote for a set of STR.Ts

The Bilstien B8 is a performance/ handling damper. The B6 version is probably the most “heavy duty “ damper I’ve found for the Fiesta. The piston diameter is so large that the stock foam bump stops don’t easily slide onto it when you assemble the damper for install.

I was assembling a new set of STr-T and a set of Bilstien B6 a few years back and measured the piston on the front struts of both the B6 and the Koni Orange. If you seek a soft ride the B6 is not the best choice. But, it is an exceptionally good heavy duty damper. From what I’ve found in doing the research on the B6 damper, it’s compatible with either stock or mild lowering coils. STr-T is equally spring agnostic within reason of course.

 

Edited September 8, 2025Sep 8 by Scottman
Added image file