OEM Shock Replacement
03-17-2021, 11:50 AM
#12
I went the Koni Yellow route for an 05 AP2 and am happy with the results. I was tempted to spend more but I've done coilovers on previous cars and didn't want to lose any ride quality or ride height this time on a street car.
03-17-2021, 01:20 PM
#13
Seems like a lot of folks going this route as a great option. Did I read correctly that there are 2 perches. If on the higher perch, is the ride height close to stock? I would assume there are coilovers that have great ride quality and can be set at stock height, correct? But yes, price is a factor.
03-17-2021, 01:29 PM
#14
Registered User
Seems like a lot of folks going this route as a great option. Did I read correctly that there are 2 perches. If on the higher perch, is the ride height close to stock? I would assume there are coilovers that have great ride quality and can be set at stock height, correct? But yes, price is a factor.
Understood that you didn't start out looking at this option, but food for thought anyway
03-17-2021, 11:15 PM
#15
I have Bilstein PSS on the way. Apparently these can be set to stock height, or very close anyway. I'm after a 3/4" drop at most, and from everything I learned this won't be a problem. And I don't recall reading a single review of these coilovers indicating they would ride more harsh than OEM.
Understood that you didn't start out looking at this option, but food for thought anyway
Understood that you didn't start out looking at this option, but food for thought anyway
03-18-2021, 03:45 AM
#16
Registered User
Bilstein minimum lowering is 10 mm / 0,39 Inches. Thats O.K.
From what i read in german S2000 forums, every Bilstein owner says that the springs ar softer, but the car feels better and you are faster neverthelss.
I think the old rule of hill racers "Hard stabilizers, soft springs" is a tempting experiemnt. Will see.
As good OEM replacement, Koni yellows are the way to go it seems.
From what i read in german S2000 forums, every Bilstein owner says that the springs ar softer, but the car feels better and you are faster neverthelss.
I think the old rule of hill racers "Hard stabilizers, soft springs" is a tempting experiemnt. Will see.
As good OEM replacement, Koni yellows are the way to go it seems.
03-18-2021, 06:47 AM
#17
I wish Koni yellow was a suitable oem replacement. They have a lot of potential, and can be rebuilt and tuned to be excellent performers, for whatever your needs are. But out of the box they have less compression damping than the stock shocks.
This makes them comfortable, but they dive more on hard braking and wallow more in abrupt maneuvering, even on the street.
Tuning them can eliminate that, but then the overall cost ends up being almost as expensive as some really great street based coilovers (Ohlins comes to mind).
The aftermarket suspension that is closest to oem, in design, in performance, that is cost effective, rebuildable, warrantied, durable, comfortable, is the Bilstein pss. That is why it comes up so often in oem replacement discussions.
They are clearly targeted to street, as their spring rates outta the box are too low for any serious track work. Bilstein rates are close to stock CR springs.
They can be rebuilt by pretty much any place that rebuilds shocks. They use the same monotube design as oem, with the same external rear reservoir. The internal components are the same as Bilstein uses for all their race stuff, and there are a gazillion choices for damping profiles, so no worries about parts not being made anymore, and your choices for performance come rebuild time are endless (if you want to change anything).
They are warrantied for life, so you can always send them back and get new oneswhen they wear out (you buy new ones, and so long as the old ones weren't abused or misused when they inspect them, they give you refund. That way no downtime for your car waiting on parts to be returned).
They last longer before they wear out than most anything out there, except perhaps oem (but oem are one and done, Bilstein is for life). Except for the external appearance. They use a zinc coating which looks shiney when new, but quickly turns weathered. But its cosmetic only. Inside they are a tank.
You will have to keep buying new oem shocks as they wear out, and eventually they will stop making them. Meanwhile Bilstein is forever.
So for about the same cost as oem, you can get something that is similar, but superior, that you don't have to throw out when they wear out.
This makes them comfortable, but they dive more on hard braking and wallow more in abrupt maneuvering, even on the street.
Tuning them can eliminate that, but then the overall cost ends up being almost as expensive as some really great street based coilovers (Ohlins comes to mind).
The aftermarket suspension that is closest to oem, in design, in performance, that is cost effective, rebuildable, warrantied, durable, comfortable, is the Bilstein pss. That is why it comes up so often in oem replacement discussions.
They are clearly targeted to street, as their spring rates outta the box are too low for any serious track work. Bilstein rates are close to stock CR springs.
They can be rebuilt by pretty much any place that rebuilds shocks. They use the same monotube design as oem, with the same external rear reservoir. The internal components are the same as Bilstein uses for all their race stuff, and there are a gazillion choices for damping profiles, so no worries about parts not being made anymore, and your choices for performance come rebuild time are endless (if you want to change anything).
They are warrantied for life, so you can always send them back and get new oneswhen they wear out (you buy new ones, and so long as the old ones weren't abused or misused when they inspect them, they give you refund. That way no downtime for your car waiting on parts to be returned).
They last longer before they wear out than most anything out there, except perhaps oem (but oem are one and done, Bilstein is for life). Except for the external appearance. They use a zinc coating which looks shiney when new, but quickly turns weathered. But its cosmetic only. Inside they are a tank.
You will have to keep buying new oem shocks as they wear out, and eventually they will stop making them. Meanwhile Bilstein is forever.
So for about the same cost as oem, you can get something that is similar, but superior, that you don't have to throw out when they wear out.
03-18-2021, 09:36 AM
#18
Hi All
When I replaced a leaking front strut I went to Autozone and borrowed a spring compressor for free,they will charge your credit card and then refund when returned...Pete
When I replaced a leaking front strut I went to Autozone and borrowed a spring compressor for free,they will charge your credit card and then refund when returned...Pete
03-18-2021, 09:58 AM
#19
I have a set of Koni yellows I used to use for autox. They are re-valved for stiffer springs (basically their "race" valving for these shocks) and have not had a ton of use (2 seasons I think? ) since I had them revalved by Koni. They certainly show their wear on the outside as I am the 2nd user of them I think. But like I said, were freshly rebuilt and re-valved, then I put maybe 8,000 miles on them and autox. I stopped using them because for STR spring rates, there was just not enough piston diameter to valve them to work well on the autocross course. But for any reasonable street valving or mild autox setups, they are not a bad option at all. They are just taking up shelf space now as I ended up picking up some used TCKlines from a local person for a really good price. If you can find those used (They are Koni 8242 double adjustables) they work very well and you have more options to run more spring since they have larger pistons in them. But, TCKline stopped adapting them for S2k's so you have to find them used and then maybe rebuild them depending on how used they are. The downside to the TCKlines are they are a little noisy, especially when cold. But performance wise I have been happy with them.
Beyond that I would probably go with the Bilstiens based upon what the OP is aiming for. Seems like an affordable, easy option and well tested by folks on here.
Beyond that I would probably go with the Bilstiens based upon what the OP is aiming for. Seems like an affordable, easy option and well tested by folks on here.
03-18-2021, 02:21 PM
#20
I wish Koni yellow was a suitable oem replacement. They have a lot of potential, and can be rebuilt and tuned to be excellent performers, for whatever your needs are. But out of the box they have less compression damping than the stock shocks.
This makes them comfortable, but they dive more on hard braking and wallow more in abrupt maneuvering, even on the street.
Tuning them can eliminate that, but then the overall cost ends up being almost as expensive as some really great street based coilovers (Ohlins comes to mind).
The aftermarket suspension that is closest to oem, in design, in performance, that is cost effective, rebuildable, warrantied, durable, comfortable, is the Bilstein pss. That is why it comes up so often in oem replacement discussions.
They are clearly targeted to street, as their spring rates outta the box are too low for any serious track work. Bilstein rates are close to stock CR springs.
They can be rebuilt by pretty much any place that rebuilds shocks. They use the same monotube design as oem, with the same external rear reservoir. The internal components are the same as Bilstein uses for all their race stuff, and there are a gazillion choices for damping profiles, so no worries about parts not being made anymore, and your choices for performance come rebuild time are endless (if you want to change anything).
They are warrantied for life, so you can always send them back and get new oneswhen they wear out (you buy new ones, and so long as the old ones weren't abused or misused when they inspect them, they give you refund. That way no downtime for your car waiting on parts to be returned).
They last longer before they wear out than most anything out there, except perhaps oem (but oem are one and done, Bilstein is for life). Except for the external appearance. They use a zinc coating which looks shiney when new, but quickly turns weathered. But its cosmetic only. Inside they are a tank.
You will have to keep buying new oem shocks as they wear out, and eventually they will stop making them. Meanwhile Bilstein is forever.
So for about the same cost as oem, you can get something that is similar, but superior, that you don't have to throw out when they wear out.
This makes them comfortable, but they dive more on hard braking and wallow more in abrupt maneuvering, even on the street.
Tuning them can eliminate that, but then the overall cost ends up being almost as expensive as some really great street based coilovers (Ohlins comes to mind).
The aftermarket suspension that is closest to oem, in design, in performance, that is cost effective, rebuildable, warrantied, durable, comfortable, is the Bilstein pss. That is why it comes up so often in oem replacement discussions.
They are clearly targeted to street, as their spring rates outta the box are too low for any serious track work. Bilstein rates are close to stock CR springs.
They can be rebuilt by pretty much any place that rebuilds shocks. They use the same monotube design as oem, with the same external rear reservoir. The internal components are the same as Bilstein uses for all their race stuff, and there are a gazillion choices for damping profiles, so no worries about parts not being made anymore, and your choices for performance come rebuild time are endless (if you want to change anything).
They are warrantied for life, so you can always send them back and get new oneswhen they wear out (you buy new ones, and so long as the old ones weren't abused or misused when they inspect them, they give you refund. That way no downtime for your car waiting on parts to be returned).
They last longer before they wear out than most anything out there, except perhaps oem (but oem are one and done, Bilstein is for life). Except for the external appearance. They use a zinc coating which looks shiney when new, but quickly turns weathered. But its cosmetic only. Inside they are a tank.
You will have to keep buying new oem shocks as they wear out, and eventually they will stop making them. Meanwhile Bilstein is forever.
So for about the same cost as oem, you can get something that is similar, but superior, that you don't have to throw out when they wear out.
If you factor in the cost and the modifications that you have to make to the OEM hardware it's a wash.