Owner reviews for shock absorbers

30+ year old Bilsteins...still damp the rebound nicely too.

Yep, the 4 speed selector lever is shorter than the 5-speed part:

I've driven the car with the new setup (Koni FSD F&R, Hawk HP+ F&R, ATE PremiumOne rotors F) for about a week now. By now I've gone through most of the places I drive by regularly. My impressions: 2. The Konis are amazing. Ride is definitely firmer, with much better dampening of spring motion. The car feels like it turns flat compared to the stock Sachs. At the same time, bumps and other road irregularities are absorbed much better. Cobblestone streets feel like smooth pavement.

I had them install Koni FSD struts and shocks; Hawk HP+ front and rear brake pads; ATE PremiumOne front rotors; and ATE Super Blue brake fluid. In the city, the car brakes exactly the same as before, although pedal modulation seems better. Did I say exactly the same? Almost--now my brakes squeal. Usually not a lot, sometimes quite a bit. It comes mainly from the rear, where I am still running stock (and somewhat worn out) rotors. I tried several 70 mph -> 20 mph hard braking exercises, and the front pads exhibited pretty significant fade after 6 times or so. The stock pads NEVER developed fade, even on multiple tracks days at Watkins Glen. This worries me a bit. I did boil the OEM brake fluid in almost every track event, and I am hoping that the ATE SB will do the trick there. But I am left wondering whether stock pads would have been just a s good (and silent). The suspension is quite nice. On the street, the ride is quite similar to stock, which is a good thing. On potholes, the suspension seems to be able to absorb them better and transmit less jerk to the cabin. When turning or doing slalom, the car is definitely more planted and exhibits less roll/bounce. That said, I was always quite happy with the R32's stock sport suspension--it just felt a bit underdampened, and a bit harsh on pavement defects.

after a too good to be true deal on a ground control kit and a set of koni yellows, some replacement bits and advice from steve (reflexgti), and the long awaited return to production of the h2sport spindles, the new supsension is all bolted in and maybe barring a few adjustments, buttoned up.

The 9s are single adjustable. They adjust rebound AND compression in the same direction, at the same time. The PSS kit is about a 2-3 on the scale of 1-9 according to both Bilstein and my own personal testing. The 9s can deffinetely be softened up considerably and ride quite well on the softer settings.

Got the HD's installed today and took the EV around town to see how it drove. Like Max and eric above, it definitely makes a nice difference. It just felt balanced and taught.

Seems like a good price for Koni Yellows. What does Koni say about running these with the stock springs? I don't want to drop, but the stock dampers are too slow IMHO...

I had to shave the piss outta the bushings my volvo HD's. Came from early 80's 240. A bit stiffer then the HD's I have in the front. A note, I was running a helper spring on the rear, added about 2 on the rear end, the volvo application shocks used to top out regularly.

My '04 VW Golf R32 came with Monroe shocks on the rear as OEM. They were 'floaty' feeling after less than 10k miles. I put a total of 25k on them before I just couldn't stand it anymore.