Shock choices-Bilstein or KYB AGX
 

Which of these 2 should I get, they're pretty much the same price and both a good amount cheaper than Koni yellows

Bilsteins are better valved but cheaper build quality.

Cheaper compared to what? I consider Bilsteins as generally higher quality than KYBs. Please explain.

I have Bilsteins on the rear of my fb. Very nice shock in my opinion. No experience with KYB shocks.


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are the koni shocks worth dropping the extra $ for?

The RS*R Downspring/AGX combo I had on my old FC treated me great. One thing I liked about the KYBs is that you could really feel the change in dampening when you turned that knob. For a street/track car, they're a pretty nice trade-off.

Great bang-for-the-buck shocks, and not really all that much different from the Konis, IMO.

lol wtf? bilsteins are definately the best cheap dampers. the ONLY downside to them is that they arent adjustable. they can however be revalved for 65 a corner.

and yes.. bilstein>koni>>>agx

I was leaning toward bilstein in the beginning but I like that I can stiffen the kybs as I will prob get stiff ground control springs. How are the Bilsteins in terms of stiffness?

In my experience/preference, Koni > Bilstein > KYB

+1
Adjustability means a lot to me, so I would have to agree.

wheres the cheapest spot to pick up some konis or kyb

I would recommend dropping the extra dough on Koni yellows. I replaced some KYBs on my corolla (which is now mainly an auto-x car) with Koni yellows and it made a big difference.

And the adjustability is definitely nice. the only problem with the konis is I'm pretty sure it's a pain to adjust the rears (you have to take them off the hub and turn the whole strut I think). I think the KYBs just have a knob down there.

bilsteins are nice, but you have to valve them just right. by the time you do that a few times at 65 per corner they're way more than the konis would be.

Shox.com works for me

Owned both Koni and Bilstein struts.

The Bilstein's ran into all sorts of problems after 1 year. The front struts were blown and I had to send them back for a replacement. I ran into some seizing problems in the rear and had to send those back for a replacement as well. The shop that I go to told me that he had never seen the Bilstein's last more than a year on the ones that he's seen.

The Koni's were a year older, and haven't exhibited any issues.

According to AGX dyno sheets, the adjustment only affects low-speed damping, and does nothing for the high speed.

I had the same issues with the Bilsteins fwiw on both my old VW and BMW. I now understand why you say the KYBs are better. :)

from a purely performance standpoint, bilsteins are a step above the rest. the big downside being they arent adjustable obviously, so a 'perfect' valving could take some trial and error. for that reason a lot of racers use konis.
jerry jenkins, pdx's local autox hero, wins ES every year by a HUGE margin (yes, 1+ seconds is huge lol). he's a great driver, has campaigned his miata since he bought it new (94), and switched from koni to bilstein 2 or 3 years ago. dude knows what he's doing.


i cant speak for the build quality or lifespan, but bilstein does warranty them for life (to the original purchaser)

My earlier point was that there really isn't THAT much of a difference in those three choices when you're flying down the Rainey Curve with a Cayman S on your ass.

Koni, Bilstein, AGX, even the ZEAL B6s on my FD won't make me any faster unless the rest of my suspension (swaybars, alignment, even tire pressure) is completely dialed-in.

There are a million factors in being fast, and they change for each track/day. Sounds like the Bilsteins worked great for the Miata guy, and from searching around here, it also looks like the quickest guys in FDs are riding on either Koni Yellows or high-end coil overs.

There is lifetime warranty, but you pay shipping on both ends every time it's sent in.

I'd rather pay the extra money and get the Koni's for a street car.

For a dedicated auto-x car, I wouldn't mind the Bilsteins.

that's also on stock springs, The valving could be crap on stiffer springs, or they could bottom out on lowering spring, from what I've heard of other people's reliability issue, that is what's probably happening.

Bottom line, I would get koni yellows, if you can't afford them, AGXs are decent.

we have a set of AGX's that have done at least 1 season of racing and 3-4 more of track days, we had em out while working on the car this summer, and they seem like they are still in great shape.

the drawback to the AGX is that the valving is only good to about 400-450lbs in springs. as long as you keep that in mind they seem to be quite excellent, especially for the money

the race car (its a honda) uses koni's, and we just had them rebuilt after 4 seasons of racing, and 1 25 hour. plenty of black stuff on the shock shafts, although they had not failed yet. in a street car this would probably last forever.

no real experience with bilstein, although since we can valve em in house, the next car will probably get em

Personally, I've never had an issue with my Bilsteins. I bought them used, and have put two seasons of Autocross on them with absolutely no complaints. These replaced a set of Tokico Illuminas, which also worked great. I like the Bisteins a bit better overall for handling, but sometimes I miss the adjustability of the Illuminas, especially on long road trips.

Could be a bad batch of shocks. It happens.

The left front Koni Yellow on my FD is the third one. This one seems to be ok, been working for a couple years now.

There were 10 years of time between the VW with Bilstein Sports & H&R springs and the BMW with Bilstein Sports and Eibach springs. Doubt it was a bad batch of shocks. Especially since there were others with similar experiences over the years. I think its partially due to cold weather. I lived in NY at the time and drove the car everywhere all year 'round. The problem usually presented itself mid/late winter.

On the other hand, I never blew a Koni and have had them on that same VW with the same springs, my Miata, my FC and my FD.

Maybe it is a NY thing....