Intrax 4 way Shocks vs. Intrax 1k2 vs. Stock AVOs

[radicalracer]

After about 140 hours on my 2009 SR3 I think it is about time to replace the stock AVO shocks. I was contemplating upgrading to either the Intrax 4 way or the Intrax 1k2 models. Obviously there is a significant cost difference vs stock. I was hoping to get some opinions on the 4 way and the 1k2 compared to the stock AVOs.

How much better are the Intrax compared to the AVOs?

Any thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.

G

[SportsLibre]

If you were happy with the AVOs why not just send team back for a refresh, the cost is minimal and loads of people have said the service is good.

I have no direct experience of dealing with AVO as I went for Protech shocks which are excellent and a fraction of the cost of the most other makes. The service is excellent and will make them exactly the spec you want.

[rustybin]

I sent my outwardly tired looking shocks back to AVO for a service. They dynoed them, declared them to be on the button and cleaned and returned them at no cost. Unless I find something with a major performance advantage, that has pretty much bought my loyalty.

[splitpin]

rustybin said:

I sent my outwardly tired looking shocks back to AVO for a service. They dynoed them, declared them to be on the button and cleaned and returned them at no cost. Unless I find something with a major performance advantage, that has pretty much bought my loyalty.

Well Done AVO

In this age of sell someone something whether or not they need it and only brand new is good enough, that sort of outlook/approach deserves and warrants one's loyalty.

[radicalracer]

I opted for the Intrax shocks over the AVOs. More money, but the difference is noticeable in my opinion. The car felt really good when I had it out a few weeks back. I will know more after getting back from Laguna Seca next week.

Thanks for all your input.

G

[dsl2]

If you have never driven on quality dampers they will feel fine.....

[splitpin]

dsl2 said:

If you have never driven on quality dampers they will feel fine.....

Were you thinking of a four letter word?

[dsl2]

Koni / Ohlins /Penske all top bifta compared to the Intrax.

Really impressed with the set of Ohlins I've just fitted to my Busa 7, the three events entered & three won with three new records would tend to back up the seat of the pants feel too.

[splitpin]

dsl2 said:

..... three events entered & three won with three new records would tend to back up the seat of the pants feel too.

Knowing you, you'd have probably done much the same with a well-knackered set of Monroes

[dsl2]

Nah honest guv I was just along for the ride.

From my experience quality dampers make a good car great!

[Martin B]

Do they make as big a difference on a Radical as on a car with fully rose jointed suspension? I would have thought that the large amount of stiction on the Radical inboard wishbone pivots would dilute the benefit of them considerably? How are they noticeably better, is it better riding bumps/curbs or is it just the ability have separate high and low speed bump/rebound adjustment available?

[ctm]

3 enetered, 3 won, and 3 new records, only because i was not there keeping you honest!!
hope your keeping well DSL?

[dsl2]

Hi CTM, I'm great thanks matey. Hope you & your clan are all well.

What you doing hanging around on here, thought you were having a quiet year on the sidelines too....

Your very welcome to get a 7 & come and have a go if you think you'd be up to challenging me in my more natural environment on the hillclimbs, bring it on!

[splitpin]

Let's hope we see both you chaps and JW back in Rads in Club next year. Your present absence is much missed by this particular spectator

It's Rad Racing's equivalent of the passing of the years that Prost, Senna and Mansell were keeping each other honest (mind you, in that instance, not always that honest )

It'd be nice to think 2012 sees you all back in action ............ I dreamt it the other night ....... you were all driving 1400 SR7s ...............

[radicalracer]

Martin B said:

Do they make as big a difference on a Radical as on a car with fully rose jointed suspension? I would have thought that the large amount of stiction on the Radical inboard wishbone pivots would dilute the benefit of them considerably? How are they noticeably better, is it better riding bumps/curbs or is it just the ability have separate high and low speed bump/rebound adjustment available?

They are noticeably better because to me, the car feels like it has much better mechanical grip at slow speed and beter downforce at high-speed.. I still have some work to do with playing with the myriad of adjustments, however, the baseline setup is solid. I went with slightly stiffer springs, which I like. The car feels like it sticks better in the corner since there is less roll at high-speed - thus better grip from the downforce. The old worn out AVOs were also killing my front tires with bad graining.

I did speak to the gentleman at the Radical factory who said the Intrax are night and day to the AVOs. His quote "it is like comparing 1950's technology to technology from the 2000s." BTW - I went with Intrax because other shocks are not legal for the Radical cup series here in the states, which would have put me out of the standard sr3 class.

G

[Martin B]

Thanks for the response G, it is always interesting to get feedback from someone who has tried both types of shocks. Guess I had better get saving up then;)

[dsl2]

The legality thing for Radical's championship is the only reason I had to/ would run with Intrax shocks to be honest,.....

For 2009 I had a set of custom valved Koni 2812's on my PR6 & the car was superbly well balanced with predictable handling & excellent tyre wear, for 2010 I had to use Intrax & was never happy with the cars balance / grip not to mention horrendous tyre wear all year (used twice as many fronts in 2010 because of them) that is despite getting good results throughout....

Had to use massively stiffer springs (+50%) to stop the car rolling too much on corner entry & de-cambering the tyre on the Intrax. Basically it seems to me thisdamper does not support the car on transitions unlike the premium units available do (running nice soft springs again in my Caterham with good transitional roll control from the ohlins damper) in fact to be honest on my single adjuster Intrax I couldn't really tell the difference from full soft to full hard settings, so much so at Brands club cup last year in the rain it turned out that I when I checked I had qualified over two seconds faster than any other PR6 with one rear damper full soft & the other full hard.....

P.S. Having moaned about & been given the factory pep talk on how good the Intrax units were, I did ask more than once if I could disadvantage myself by sticking my Koni's back on but to no avail!

[dsl2]

Just to provide a balanced perspective. I would point out that I've only experience of the single adjustable Intrax units at what £350 ish + VAT each as opposed to the double adjustable Koni's / Ohlins / Penske at circa £800-1000 each + VAT, a case of getting what you pay for I guess....

[radicalracer]

I will point out I got the 3 way Intrax not the 1ks. The 3 ways are the same shocks used on the SR8. These are in the same price range as the Penskes, and I would say are significantly better than the single adjustable Intrax damper. I will point out these suckers are not cheap, especially with the value of the American Peso!

So from my perspective I believe I have the best possible shocks that are still legal for the cup.


On a side note, don't cheap out and try to make your rotors last either. At 140 hours I put on new pads and didn't change the rotors. The car had way less stopping power than spec. Once I changed to all new rotors it stops amazingly well.

[splitpin]

radicalracer said:

At 140 hours I put on new pads .......