KYB GR-2 shocks

[tommewin]

Has anyone here replaced OE shocks (on stock springs) with KYB GR-2s? They're obviously budget shocks compared to Bilstein and Koni options, but I wanted to see how they compared to OEM from a comfort/ride perspective. Had to search these terms due to being three letters.

[cmiovino]

I don't have these on my BRZ as I still have the Sachs dampers, but I have had these on my WRX for the last ~70k miles and they're just about at the end of their life. I'm not sure they make the GR-2's anymore... I thought they rebranded them all to "Excel-G", but they're more or less the same thing. OEM replacements with a slight dampening bump.

Would I get them again? No, not really. They're not terrible when new, but one thing that happens to a lot of lower end / budget struts or shocks in extremely cold temps like below 30 degrees is that they turn to rocks. The problem becomes after that, they never really work the same way again. It does something to the valving, gas, whatever. Higher end options work in larger temperature ranges and the cold doesn't negatively effect them as much.

I lent the car to a friend for 2 months once and he immediately said holy cow, the ride is stiff and jarring. He's used to coilovers and more performance applications too. Mine had the KYB Excel-G and only slightly stiffer STI Pink springs.

Longevity-wise, you'll get about the same out of them as Bilstein/Koni.

Coming from an autocross background, struts/shocks make a huge difference in handling and even ride/comfort. It can take a great car and turn it into a not so great car if you skimp here.

But I do get the price difference. Looks like the KYBs are about $350 after taxes/shipping and Konis are going to run you $1k. Over 3x as much. Then issue becomes if you're looking at Koni's, it's basically time to start considering moving up to a coilover in the ~$1200-1500 area because you'll probably want to replace the tophats if you're doing the disassembly for new struts.

Bilsteins are basically the same price. Both Bilstein and Koni are going to be a big upgrade from stock though. I'd certainly consider the paying the extra ~$600 or so. The car is going to ride better than stock after installing them. Better handling AND better ride/comfort.

If you just want my 2 cents, I'd go for Koni or Bilstein over the KYBs if you're sticking to a spring/strut setup. The OEM struts are already a bit over dampened and then you're only adding like 20% more... and the valving feels stiff. Add it all up and it's overkill.

[ZDan]

I dunno if they were GR-2 or not, but when we replaced shocks/struts in wife's Mazda3, the stock-replacement KYBs the shop put in were fantastic. Great low-speed damping and felt really controlled, while bleeding off higher speed bumps. *MILES* better than the OEM Sachs on my '17 BRZ PP, I was *jealous*! Still ride and feel great after ~5 years and at least 75k miles. Honestly I was surprised and amazed at how they transformed that car, made it feel like a sports car but still very comfortable.