Shock absorbers KYB or KONI

Pro-V Mechanic here, usually kapag sira ang rear shock niyo po, you'd usually hear a loud bang or kumakalabog kapag napapadaan kayo sa lubac or uneven road. Another key diagnosing if whether or not sira ang rear shock or front shock niyo is fluid leakage, usually may marka ng leak shiny oil na meron kayo makikita or kapag na touch niyo yung shock niyo and found out na maitim at basa yung feeling it means destroyed na yung shocks niyo may need replacing. Same diagnostic sound na maririnig niyo sa harap. So if napansin niyo na kumakalabog na shocks niyo, better to replace them as soon as possible for a comfortable ride. Trusted Brands for cheaper alternative is Nitro-Tech But if you want something a bit balance yet good price range KYB is the way to go.

On mine I pieced together all the joints with Moog parts and KYB shocks and replaced the rear leaf spring hangers (rust kills them) rather than go with a generic kit.

12k later and it all seems fine

I went with Koni Super active as an "upgrade" from oem and I'm very happy with those.

I have mildly upgraded shocks (koni active) but otherwise stock and the ride quality is pretty good

KYB makes good shocks, but I’m wary of most “quick struts” because almost all of them use the cheapest upper mounts and bearings possible.

I've been running them on my MK6 for about 40K miles. I'll never go back to standard shocks and struts. The adaptive dampening is a huge benefit on freeway drives since the expansion joints are completely removed from the ride. They are solid and planted for everyday driving and I've never felt the car was unstable.

I'm running Koni special actives on stock springs with 17" tires. There are a few threads over at https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php where it's pretty much agreed that they are OEM+. I put them in about a year ago and they are still great.

I've used those on several other cars and they're a solid "fine". They work, and they're not bad. Just don't expect them to be amazing.

I've been using Koni Orange's for nearly as long as I've had my FiST and I like them, but I don't think they are the best option if you plan to track or autox (Koni Yellows would be a better fit for that). I like them because they are more comfortable with the oem springs than the oem shocks.

I think it really depends what you pair them with though. I did try them with eibach springs but I didn't like them there (I found out later because eibachs are softer springs and seem to pair better with bilsteins B8s) . The oranges are intended for oem springs, however I've heard of others liking them lowered with swift springs (which are stiffer than the eibachs)...but I don't have personal experience with the swifts.

Now, for the shocks, one was fine. It looked dirty but didn’t look used. The second one however, wasn’t even the part that I ordered. For reference, I ordered (2) ###612. I only got one of those, and got one beat up used garbage ###613. Like, it was so obvious it was used. It was dirty as hell, the shock leaking oil all over, and the thread on the bottom was literally cracked/chipped off and messed up. So I kept the right shock, returned the other one I got a refund for it and just bought a brand new shock instead.