[shankar.balan]

More Information on the Kona:

I ve been driving my Kona a bit - and there are a few irritating mountainous speed breakers which catch me unawares at times, causing light scrapes of the under carriage. 172mm ground clearance does not seem sufficient to handle some of the speed breakers that our great city is infested with.

I got sick and tired of this today, so while driving back from some errands this evening I have fixed a set of Jupitune Suspension Modulators. Done at the local Tyre Empire, these are ‘made of Silicone’ and cost a pretty penny - ~ Rs 7000 ish…

As I said I have used these before and they lasted well in my Skoda Yeti.

I ve also fixed them in my Fathers Toyota Glanza and they work well in that car too.

I believe they will do the job nicely for my Kona and I will test them thoroughly over the next few days.

The Kona is inherently a heavy car and the battery beneath will definitely cause it to ‘settle’ heavily onto these modulators and slightly retard the articulation.

The thing is the weight is more evenly distributed in the Kona as compared to the other cars in which Ive used this, because in those cars the engine weight is concentrated in the front.

There were concerns outlined here and there, that after a couple of years usage these modulators, being made of PVC or Silicone, tend to disintegrate and fall apart. In my experience they lasted a pretty long time - in excess of 6 years. Saying that, the Silicone ones are softer and more pliant than the PVC ones for sure.

Also; Bangalore weather is kinder…even if its potholes and speed breakers aren't…

I will use these modulators for some months and then post a more detailed review…

[XRoader_001]

The ground clearance is the only headache I have in kona electric even more worried than a working charger or range on my kona electric

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by XRoader_001

The ground clearance is the only headache I have in kona electric even more worried than a working charger or range on my kona electric

I have just whacked the car around my local neighbourhood for a few kms.
The suspension modulators are from Jupitune and made of silicone. Hence, they are soft-ish.
Bangalore weather overall is mild, so the general deterioration of the compound takes longer, unlike in coastal areas.
I'm sure of this because the last set I used in my Yeti lasted for 6 plus years.

And even the ones in my Dad’s car, which lives in Chennai and its coastal salty air, lasted about 5 years.
Now, the Kona itself in stock form is heavy because of the battery underneath. The weight is pretty evenly distributed, unlike an ICE car with engine weight in front.

This weight causes the shock absorbers and springs to articulate and compress fully when you go over speed breakers, hence the car tends to scrape on
particularly high ill-designed speed breakers, especially those home-made concrete humps.
Some are sharply defined, high and slim, and some are equally high but are wider.

But the suspension modulators can reduce/ mitigate/ retard this articulation to an extent and slightly stiffen the ride itself.
This means that the shock absorbers and springs will not fully compress with the weight of the car, especially with the weight transfer when going over the said speed breakers.
Hence, it doesn't bottom out as much.

Saying that, there is one particularly bad speed breaker here (an unmarked high-set concrete one which appears abruptly) and to cross it one normally has to halt completely and crawl over, else it will hit the bottom hard. Today I hit it at 15 kmph as a test and crossed it, but I still experienced a very light bottom touch.

All the other speed breakers I crossed today were at a constant momentum. I usually brake well before these, but today I braked more lightly and hence crossed at a more constant momentum, and there was no issue with bottoming out at all.

This means that the suspension modulators are working perfectly as intended. I believe that in case one fits these modulators, one should also at some point consider tyres of one size higher.

Presently, the tyres are of 215/55/17 size. If we move to 215/60/17, we may benefit from the very marginal increase in sidewall height and this, coupled with the suspension modulators, ought to keep Bangalore’s finest, most beautifully designed mountainous speed bumps at bay - and our undersides relatively safer.

Let me test more and write about it…