Shock absorbers Rancho or KONI

I have had the H&R OE Sport/Koni Yellow combo on my '03 GLI for almost a year now. I think it is the perfect setup for a daily driver.

I'm on H&R Sport / Koni yellows myself, and it is a definite improvement.

Rear shocks are Rancho 9000 nine-way adjustables, set at "3-clicks in" by Mike's son Matt, who's in charge of suspension tuning.

I have the FSDs in my Passat, and they are truly phenomenal if you want an improvement in both daily driving capability, great turn-in, and less roll and movement through the turns in a daily driver on challenging roads and challenging road surfaces.

Koni Yellows Neuspeed Springs Neuspeed Rear Sway Bar Neuspeed CAI Revo Stage 2 Flash EuroJet 3" Turbo Back Exhaust VF Poly Motor Mounts Konig Crosshair wheels 18x8 ET 40 / BFG KDW2's Euro Front Lip

For review : Koni STR.T absorbers, combined with neuspeed sport coils Old stuff for benchmark: Bilstein TC absorbers with stock springs I am comparing to the Tc's which are a bit stiffer than stock. Lowered 2-2.5\" total Bound feels a lot stiffer than the TC's, by 20-25% estimate. Rebound seems about equal to bound, they jump back quick and the car doesn't float or feel malibu at all. Semi Rough road gets chewed up and spit out, like any mk1 you can still feel the road very well, but my immediate impression is that they actually handle the semi-rough roads a bit better than the TCs did Corner dive isn't so bad while cornering hard, in fact it is a vast improvement over the TC's. I regularly take a 90 degree turn at the posted speed limit without tapping my brakes, with the new suspension I have to relearn how to enter the corner, the suspension used to bounce/roll and cause front end slide a bit, today after an alignment I took the corner once and it felt like it was glued to the ground. Conclusion: The Koni's are awesome, especially for the price.

For the handling and ride comfort: Koni FSD - 560.00 shipped (free install kit comes with R32/TT solid rubber bushes, strut mounts and bearings) (FSD not to be used with sport or race springs) or Bilstein HD - 520.00 shipped (probably a firmer and sometimes harsher ride than Koni, but also probably not that bad if your streets are any good) (does not come with free install kit, so add 60.00 to the refresh)

Koni FSRs are good too, had them for awhile now, and not too firm, but good handling.

People complained about the rears lifting up too high.

The Koni STR.Ts I have started to rust at about one year old. It seems to happen a lot on them according to TDI club.