Well the first time around I went with the KYB's . . mostly due to the cost issues at the time and that I thought since it's a daily driver I didn't need to go overboard. I still had the stock springs on there along with some new Kuhmo 712's. At first I was quite happy with the set up. The KYB's firmed up pretty good when pushed and the tires were sticky. However, after about a year the KYB's quit working well. They started to give too much and were causing me to bottom out when going over speed bumps and alot of nose dive on hard braking. Combine this with the fact that the Kuhmos cease to be a performance tire after about 10,000 miles and it was time for some changes.

Now I have the Tokico's, Eibach Pro-kit springs and some Pirelli PZero Neros. The Tokico's are most definately a better performance shock. The thing is that I put all of these on at once, so it's a little difficult to tell what did what. I absolutely love the Eibach stance and the Tokico's seem to handle everything I've thrown at them. They're a little more rough than what I was hoping for, but that could also have to do with the new 17" wheels and tires. Speaking of that, I can't recommend the Pirelli's enough. These tires stick on everything, wet or dry.

I wish I had a slightly more softer ride now, but these things can take a beating. In retrospect, the Tokico's are a far better shock, but a little more stiff than I would like. The KYB's served their purpose, but didn't last past a year. The Pro-kit springs are worth the slightly rougher ride for the improved stance. And the Pirelli's beat the Kuhmos in every aspect. If I knew the KYB's would last longer I probably would have gone with them simply for the coushy ride, but who's to say that the springs and bigger wheels have more to do with that than the shocks? The biggest thing I recommend against is poly bushings. I wish I hadn't gone with the Spohn LCA's and just did the Relocation Brackets. It just seems like overkill for my daily driver and the squeaking that the poly bushings do along with not giving in is an absolute annoying pain in the ***.

I still love my "wonder bar" and the Spohn SFC's. I did the front suspension rebuild with Moog bushings and it's better then I could have hoped for.

I hope this helps.

 

this does help...im starting to save my money for a suspension build up. I would like to get 1" lowering springs (pro kit i believe), new shocks and struts (i was thinking KYB, but im glad i read your post), new bushings, and i want to get new control arms. I drive the car once a week downtown and the streets are terrible down there....so many pot holes and cracks...my dash and spare tire mount thing rattles badly from driving it down there. I really want to do this suspension build up but im worried the ride will become too harsh. The suspension is stock right now and already seems rough. Im doing this more for experience and fun than making the car handle well...

so you wouldnt recommend KYB?

 

They serve their purpose. If you're on a tight budget or just need to fix the car long enough to sell it then they're fine. I actually preferred how they felt on the road, but there is something about changing shocks every year that gets to me. Of course this was simply the GR-2 struts and gas-a-just shocks. Maybe the AGX stuff is better?

 

hmm...so they are actually worse than OEM shocks? I thought they were a good performance shock...i guess not