Personnally, I'd have more peace of mind riding on used Bilsteins than brand new Megan CO's.

 

I agree I went the re valved bilstein and swift route and I LOVE my setup! The cheapest thing to do would be to buy some Stock KYB's to throw on there and then send out the bilsteins to get re valved like I did. If you want I could ship you mine for $260 that's complete with springs. And then when you're done with them you could re sell them here for the same $260-300.

 

for those of you suggesting to have the Bilsteins rebuilt....how do I go about that? Just contact that place in CA...Polway...or whatever it is...and send them to them... and say...."Here, please fix and repair what is needed?"

 

I know everyone here hates coilovers that aren't >$3,000...but even Fortune Auto ones and BC Racing are no good? I've ridden in several cars (only one EVO and a few STI's) which have the BC's and they have nothing but positive remarks to say about it. Keep in mind I put about 4-5k on my car over a year and do no tracking whatsoever.

Again, I'm no suspension connoisseur, but I'm sure they're better than my 52k used struts on my IX (non-MR) w/ Tanabe GF210 springs. I consider that a "crappy" ride. Anything better than that is an improvement in my mind.

Just trying to figure out why the only "good" coilovers seems to be the ones that cost an arm and leg. I've got my flame hat on..

 

yes give bilstein West a call in Poway tell them what you want, you have to fill out this form http://www.bilsteinus.com/uploads/tx...et_04-2011.pdf.

Are you gonna run a different spring like Swift? If so write down the spring rate for both front and rear. This is what I had done and it's a very good setup and yes it is harsher than stock BUT I also run solid mounts. If you want a softer ride then simply ask for a OEM rebuild Or maybe even have them valve it to " HD spec. "
Also when you are asking for a revalve that also means it's being rebuilt, hope that clears up any confusion. I had it done about a year ago and I believe the fronts were about $75 a piece and $60 for the rear.

 

Thank you!! That was what I was looking for. Don't know what I am going to run yet. Need them rebuilt for sure. and then may do the swift springs at a later time

 

The real reason is the valving inside the shock portion. Cheap coilovers typically use a needle valve w adjuster. Those type of valves don't have much capacity for handling a wide range of piston speeds and forces. The typical shock dyno curve seen from those is a linear graph of force vs speed.

The better systems have more complex valving, many use stacked shims and variable geometry on the orifices. This costs money but gives you the ability to react fast to bumps and handle a much wider range of forces and shaft speeds. One example is the Ohlins with its DFV ( dual flow valves ) They typically show digressive shock dyno curves meaning at some force, the shock graph goes flat rather than linear.

The higher range coilovers like Ohlins, KW, Motons, Penske, DMS may also have external fluid/gas reserviors that are adjustable for pressure as well. The high end ones cost around 13-- 1500 per corner on the car. And are application specific ie Rally dirt, rally tarmac, time attack , road course,

Needless to say the more the adjustments and complexity, the more time and difficult they are to properly setup for the intended use of the car. Not to mention corner weighting, alignment and sway bar adjustment

The kyb's on the VIII/IX ride rough compared to the MR bilsteins, proven many times over. Bilstein valving is much superior.

The Tanabe GF210 dont have enough spring rate in the front compared to the rear so the motion ratio front to rear is upset. Rear spring rate is ok . Too soft front spring plus too much drop = on the bumpstops and the spring rate goes infinite on the front = big time understeer. Not to mention risking damaging the shock internally.

So now you know more