Looking into front shocks to go with my rear Bilsteins and replace the front Monroe shocks. I know that Koni is a nice shock but saw the price of the KYB shocks, much cheaper. Is there a big difference between them. KYBs are are $123 from Summit vs $250 for Konis. Car is being built for AutoX. Should I buy the KYBs and some other mods or just spend the extra dough and get the Konis down the road? If there is not a huge difference in between the two shocks then I am going to get the KYBs for price and could buy something else.

 

there is really no comparison between the koni's and the KYB AGX, the koni is far superior, well worth the money

 

Performance comes with a price. I say get the Koni's but I don't have any experiance with either of them yet. I'll be buying a set of Koni Yellows shortly... Just can't decide if I want to get the Hotpart strut mounts at the same time or not (the strut mounts would bump me out of stock class for AutoX).

 

i hear everybody say that we should all get konis or bilsteins. I know that these are the superior shocks for these cars.

The question I have is, will a very high quality shock like a koni or bilstein, make the car ride more harsh over potholes? I loved the way my car rode when I bought it, but after a month or 2 it has been getting worse and worse since. Now they are like completely gone and make loud clunks.

I could probably save up the money by sometime in the summer for koni's and eibach or B&G springs, but if its gonna be the same death-jarring ride I have now, then I will stick to OEM. The car handled 100% to my liking with the factory (non-blown) shocks and springs. Just sits too high to look good IMO.

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To the OP, you might consider the Tokiko Illuminas. They are supposed to be a pretty decent shocks, and not quite as hard on the wallet as the konis.

 

I say get the KONIs if you are wanting to handle, and especially if you are looking to lower the car.

To slow_90, I thought my car handled well with factory parts and new Monroe replacement shocks. I put on the Eibachs and noticed the car seemed to 'float' less at 50+ and didn't roll as much. Then I got the KONIs.... wow. Bigger improvement than the Monroes and the Eibachs, IMO. I've heard alot of people think that factory shocks are worn out at 30,000 miles on a new car, so you're shocks were probably on their way south even with your relativly low mileage. And to answer your question about roughness - I bought my car with 103,xxx miles. It 'rode' (as in pot holes and rought roads) much better then now. But, compared to now the car was markedly uncontrolable at higher speeds. I prefer the firmer ride at 50+ even if I loose lower speed comfort. Hope this helps.

 

if you are goinmg to auto-x then I'd say go with Koni's. If its for the street get AGXs and put the money you save into other suspension mods

 

Well I guess at least with the koni's, I could always soften / firm up the ride to my liking. However, I have no idea if there range of adjustablilty would even approach what I consider a comfortable ride...

 

Put them on with your stock springs, first. I feel like most of my harshness comes from my ProKit (which I've heard from alot of people). You'll see an improvement in handling and I don't think the ride will be too bad. Then, you'll know if you can stomach the stiffer springs.

 

I have Koni yellows and Prokit, I think the car rides great, much better then the stock springs and whatever wore out shocks/struts that were on the car. It reall is not to harsh at all. I have the rears set at full soft, and the fronts, 1 1/4 turns from softest. I also have rod poly/rod ended LCAs and panhard, and poly a arms.

 

You want the hot setup? Light unsprung weight (Aluminum body) and double adjustable?

Varistruts. The quickset2 which is the double adjustable version goes for $750 pair without the coilover setup. I would not go coilover in the front, just use this strut. These are machined and valved alot like the damper ranges we use on QA1 Twintube race shocks Series 62 etc..

http://www.cachassisworks.com/downlo...l_3_WEB_15.pdf

Before you replace the front struts, I would HIGHLY recommemend first and formost to change you strut mounts if you have old worn ones. Aftermarket is better, but you may need NEW OEM versions to stay within desired autox class. getting new struts on old sloppy strut mounts is going to be a waste of money till you also upgrape the strut mounts. The deflection travel of worn strut mounts renders good quality valving struts useless at low piston speed dampering.

 

I am just going to get Konis and new strut mounts. I'll look into aftermarket ones and if they are illegal or not for STS