[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Strut Time - suggestions? Koni vs Bilstien vs Bilstein



My understanding, although not from personal experience, is that the valving 
between the Bilstein HD and Sport is the same, but the shock travel is 
different to accomodate either a close to stock ride height or a lowered 
right height.
What I do know is the Bilsteins will raise the front of your car quite a 
bit, probably about 1/2", due to the internal gas pressure and the shear 
diameter of the shock rod on the front which is virtually the diameter of 
the shock body. Course over time the gas pressure will leak out and the 
front will lower, but for the short term you'll probably want to do 
something to lower the front somewhat.
Any new gas shock will raise your car somewhat so be ready for that, but the 
front Bilstein is a different case.
I have ancient Konis on one of my cars and they still seem to perform pretty 
well although I haven't autocrossed for years. What is good about the Konis 
is you can adjust (at least the fronts without removal) the bump rebound 
easily presumably tightening your car somewhat for autocrossing then 
readjust for the drive home.
Also, again from what I've heard mostly on the Yahoo VW autocross group, any 
of these shocks can be rebuilt or valving changed for a reasonable cost at 
least in light of the cost of their original purchase.
Dan

From: "Cris Carpenter" <housecall55@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <scirocco-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2007 5:47 PM
Subject: Re: Strut Time - suggestions? Koni vs Bilstien vs Bilstein


> ----------------
>
> After getting a few interesting resposes to this question and reading 
> other reviews and info around the web, I've started to focus on three 
> choices: Koni Yellow, Bilstein HD, and Bilstein Sport.
>
>  So what I'm wondering about is getting feedback from anyone running any 
> of these three, especially from people doing any autocrossing at all. I 
> should point out that I'm running pretty close to stock ride height (tho 
> slightly stiffer springs). There is some mention on the web (in addition 
> to Gordy's post) that if I'm running lowered I'd want to consider the 
> Bilstein Sports, but that HD's are recommended for stock ride height.
>
>  Thanks again,
>  Cris
>
>  Message: 6
> Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 18:13:06 -0600
> From: "Gordy Stedman" <ydrogs@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: Strut Time - suggestions?
> To: "Cris Carpenter" <housecall55@xxxxxxxxx>, Scirocco-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Message-ID:
> <6ba77e650708131713o5dbbd532ra7de2f07fd1b7988@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> I just bought this
> http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/pts/391779927.html
> Will see if it is worth the time.  All the used suspension I have
> bought was
> broken and junk.  I still recommend Bilstein sports for lowering and
> the HDs
> for stock ride height springs.
>
>
> On 8/13/07, Cris Carpenter <housecall55@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> Okay, time to give up on the old Sachs inserts on my 81. They are
> still
>> relatively okay on the highway, but have given up rebound control
> under
>> severe handling situations. Was getting a lot of wheel hop out of the
> right
>> front during the autocross yesterday.
>>
>> So my question is: what struts (and maybe rear shocks too) should I
> put on
>> the 81? I don't want anything too radical (preferring to sitck with
> the
>> stock setup), but am mostly using the car for club-level motorsports
> these
>> days and don't really use it on the road anymore. I've heard a lot of
> talk
>> about Koni's lately, but which ones and where to get them from?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Cris
>
>
> -- 
> Gordy
> MK1 x 5
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Scirocco-l mailing list
> Scirocco-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://neubayern.net/mailman/listinfo/scirocco-l
>