Koni's or Bilstein's??
 

Koni's or Bilstein's? That is the question.

Philosphy of use: daily driving and maybe some auto cross
Desired effect: better damping. better performance. smoother ride?

Bilstein

Wow that's a tuffy. Almost like "frs or brz?" I personally like koni's but I have never used it in our application. Are bilsteins adjustable? For other applications from what I remember they were not. That was the main reason for my choice.

Bilsteins all the way.

had koni yellows on my MINI - they were awesome, but when one blew a seal it took 2 months to get a warranty replacement.

I have B6s and love them - the faster you go the better they feel. Track for one or more of HPDE/Regularity/Sprints/Drift/Skidpan 2 times a month, canyon carving in the mix also.


Non-adjustable, but I don't feel the need for it. Koni's are adjustable and cheaper, however I'm happy with my choice.

Anybody run both? Present application or otherwise? All input is appreciated. Seems lopsided for bilstein thus far...

Non adjustable. But the Koni's are only adjustable for rebound if I'm not mistaken.

Went through this same thought process and ended up with bilsteins and rce Tarmac springs. Unless you really feel like you need adjustability, bilstein just makes a better quality part.

How do they compare to stock for the day to day driving duties. Smoother? Harsher? Do your teeth rattle on rough roads?
Which springs are you running?


@was385

Which bilsteins did you end up with? I'm leaning towards the rce tarmacs as well...

I got the B8s. It's definitely a little harsher at low speeds but not bad at all. At highway speeds it's a lot more comfortable though. There's a bump on my route home from work that I used to have to slow down to about 40mph for and it still shocked the whole car. With the bilsteins, I go over at 65-70 and barely feel it.

Good to know. I put about 200,000 miles on some Bilstein Sports with my old A4. I think i blew four of them in that time. I was pretty disappointed in that, but they always were quick to warranty them. I'd buy them again. I don't have any first hand experience with Konis, though.

Koni shocks
 

Just wanted to chime in since I have Koni adjustables.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1487005
They have been really great for me and I don't think you are giving up any quality by going with the koni. That being said, I have heard nothing but good things regarding bilstein as well.

The adjustability of the konis is pretty cool. Yes, you end up mostly using 1 setting, but like I said in my thread, it does a lot more than you think. Personally, I really enjoyed dialing in the rebound and having a "different" feeling car once in a while. Hopefully this helps!

Koni vs Bilstein is almost Coke vs. Pepsi. I'd be happy with either but lean towards Bilstein.

I just switched from Koni to custom valved Bilsteins on my Mini and they're very good.

- Andy

I'm gonna end up going with rce springs. I think I remember reading on here some where that the yellows paired better with the non "sport" bilsteins.

Since I'm thinking tarmac springs because they were designed with the notion of being paired with higher/better performing shock/struts, which shock/strut do you think they pair best with Andy?

Bilstein...then have RCE or Blistein custom re-valve them (for around $420) to perfectly match your Tarmac springs ;)

That sounds like a great idea. Thank you.

Honestly you could go either way. Most go with the B8 shocks for the tarmac springs.

- Andy

After doing some simple cost calculations; I think you'd get the most bang for the buck by just getting RCE T0 (cheaper/same-price..and at the same time already built (no down time) and valved perfectly) than re-valving B8/B6s.

Swift Spec-R or Tarmac: $375 or $330
B8 or B6 shocks: $900
Total: $1275
Revalved Total (+$420): $1650-1695

RCE T0: $1700

I have B8s with RCE Yellows. Harsh for our roads here but no complaints otherwise.

I have RCE Tarmacs with Konis.
After some adjustment phases, I've stuck at some points with easy DD-able setting. But when I went to the track, same setting worked fine.

As RCE said, Coke v. Pepsi...

Konis are nice because you can adjust them for when/if you need to install Wife/MIL in car...

You can't go wrong with either setup IMO.

-mike

Correct. I inquired with Koni about specifications and this was their reply:
I wish Tokico made Illuminas for our cars as the adjustment adjusts compression & rebound together.
I'm still trying to get more info on the Cusco's before I make my decision to go with the Bilsteins.

No warranty on the Cuscos makes the choice easy for me. And I (generally) like Cusco.

- Andy

True...but I liked some of the points made regarding being able to adjust the rebound, so I looked up what ft86speedfactory.com had going on

Rce tarmacs 330
Koni complete set 865
Total= 1,195

Seems that without the revalve, it's Coke vs Pepsi like Andy and others have said. The benefits of the Koni's adjustability might just be the deciding factor. There's a meet coming up next month. Gonna see if I can go for some short drives with 86 owners to see which will be best for me.

Thanks for all the input thus far. Please keep the opinions, thoughts, and experiences coming.

Decision Decisions.

Bilstein's awesome quality, warranty and affordable serviceability/rebuildability

or

Koni's, or Cusco's, adjustability

;)

I've had both on the same car in the past and prefer the Koni's. Not only are they adjustable but they are less harsh than the Bilsteins. I've had Bilsteins, even custom valved, and always find them to be harsh on the street. Even their PSS9/10's are pretty harsh. The supposedly "greatly tuned" Bilsteins on the Lotus Elise were stupid harsh on the street.

So, yeah, not a fan of anything from Bilstein that I've tried.

Gotta ask- why do you need adjustable dampening?

Koni's are cool for that and all, but the quality is outwardly subpar to bilstein's. Who knows how the two's valving quality compares, as few have dissected those shocks and compared them.

I have B8s & sportlines on my rig, perhaps you'd like to take her for a drive sometime and see how you like it? I'm pleasently surprised given the sportlines' less-than-stellar drop and rates. "Harshness" is definitely subjective, but the real question is how the two shocks perform. Not saying Koni's don't perform as well, they very well may.. just want to underline that performance and harshness aren't mutually exclusive