I'm trying find some odd rattles and other noises in the front end.
My question to you guys is:

What is a good set of shock and struts to use on a lowered car with Eibach springs ?

 

Shocks are pretty much cost vs. quality.

THis question I am sure will start up a big debate again with Koni Vs Bilstein, but I will preach Koni Yellows over Bilsteins any day of the week becasue of the ability to adjust the rebound to what the car's individual specs will dictate.

Things that effect shock vavling-

1) Chassis weight (what options your car has (i.e. weight bias from different things like manual to auto trans weight differences, fiberglass hood, aluminum heads, exhaust weight- etc etc the list goes on. some cars can have 200lbs more weight over the front tires than the next car

2) then comes spring rates

3 tire sidewall spring rate

4 overall tire and wheel weight/size. This change in differnece wheels and tires from factory will change drastically the sprung to unsprung weight ratio of every car on this board

That is enough info to understand that if someone says Bilsteins is the best, or Koni is the best...best for WHAT? and have you tried another setting ..oh you do not have other settings?

Buy Koni Yellows- they have 1way adjustable rebound setting that can be taylored to your suspension rate.

Then this way when you have it dailed on the high dollar Pirelli Pzero Rosso's, and then next time can only afford Kumhos in a pinch you can dial in a little more rebound to help with the softer sidewall

 

I'd never even considered the different tire quality aspect of adjustable struts. But you make a good point. I was looking at an Indy car today. The rubber on them looked pretty darn stiff.

Putting aside the performance aspect, I like the Konis for the difference that the adjustability makes for for my changing driving methods.....99% of the time I leave my fronts at 1/2 turn from full soft. It's a pretty good blend of performance and comfort. Occasionally, maybe once every 2 months I'll change it to 1 full turn for those days when I "want to have some fun" with the car. It really does make a huge difference, not just for cornering. But also for how it takes uneven straight concrete freeways. Grooved roads. That sort of stuff. Even 25 mph turns on my way home. Really every scenario. At 1 full turn, the car stays more level when you stand on the gas or brake harder than you normally would.

This week I decided to change multiple times in a week just for the heck of it. I drove to work on Monday at 1 full turn. Then changed it to full soft on Tuesday and Wednesday. I enjoyed the "more motion" feeling of full soft on Tuesday and Wednesday. The front end rises more when you step on the gas. (I can see where this would be handy for drag racing). It's softer, but in a way it takes the bumps worse than it does at 1/2 turn. Today (Thursday) I set it at 1.5 turns for the first time ever. The front end doesn't move at all with hard gas or brake input. It almost feels like it's too sensitive when you want to change lanes on the highway. And it makes the back end (always set at 0 clicks) feel like it should go to 1 click to make things more even. I may try it at full firm on Friday. But I have a feeling it's going to make the highway drive too sensitive. Particularly at 70-80 mph.

I'll set it back at it's usual 1/2 turn next week. Maybe aim for 3/4 of a turn. (Max firm is aprox 2.25 turns)

 

Almost $800 bills for Koni struts and rear shocks....... I don't think so.

 

The KYB AGX works well and you can pick a setup for around $500

 

Replaced the center link on the car since I figured out it was bad. Now the steering wheel slop is gone but the rattle, clunking noise is still there. I'm guessin the strut mounts are bad.

 

I got mine used. They will outlast your car. Pretty sure they have a lifetime warranty. You'll never buy another set of shocks for your car ever again unless you build a dedicated race car out of it and want to truly go all out, but even in those cases Konis are probably at least adequate.