ORIGINAL: Sam Strano

Bilstein does not make a Sport version damper for this car, but for most other Sports/GT cars they either make both an HD and Sport, or just a Sport valving. That doesn't fill me with warm fuzzies, especially after having dealt with the exact same issue for years on F-bodies. They'd say HD's are fine, but for years their own catalog stated on the top of page 1, that "Heavy Duty shocks are not suitable for lowered cars". That disclaimer is now gone, but doesn't change the fact for a number of other Sports/GT cars (including some cars of dubious lineage and as diverse as PT Cruisers and Mercedes E-class sedans) get the option of Sport dampers where the S197 and some other Mustangs don't.

I also tend to disagree with the commonly held ideathat adjustable shocks are useful only for someone tracking or autoxing a car. The car always has mass, and has not any idea of where it's being driven. It doesn't get lightersomehow on the street. Shocks are dampers, they damp movement. You get movement on the road as well as on a track. Certainly folks who don't care a lick about performance might not see a benefit to adjustable damping, but then again those folks don't tend to hang out in places like this. I beleive that when practical flexibility is a good thing to have. Adjustable damping offersa lot of flexibility for a person to find what he/she likes best be that on a hardcore track car, or on a driver that is used more sportingly than your average rental car. YMMV.

I will not deny that Bilstein's are high quality dampers. I won't deny a car can be fast on them in a track situation. I just feel the money could be spent on dampers that don't pigeon hole the owner's options for tuning. It's simply a value vs. performance debate to me here and in my opinion, no single thing has more effect on more aspects of a car's all arounddriveability than good, suitable damping.

ORIGINAL: STi Rob

Hopefuly the shocks and struts alone will suit my needs. I realy wish there was a performance spring that didnt lower the car or stayed very close to stock height (within a 1/2 inch). Ive driven a new Bullitt and the suspenion was a noticeable improvement over the stock GT. I guess I could wait until the Bullitt springs are available before having shocks and struts installed, I dont want to have to pay for the samelabor twice.

Rob

ORIGINAL: RodeoFlyer

I completely agree. My #1 choice for the street is the Koni's, but then they have their limits and so do the D-specs. That's why I have my polished stainless KW Suspension things of beauty under my car now.

I still think the Bilsteins ar e great for people that want no fuss, no adjusting, etc. Adjustable dampers in the hands of someone that doesn't know what they are doing can make a car worse than it was without them in some cases.

ORIGINAL: STi Rob
My question is how much of a difference will the Billstein shocks make when used with the stock springs. Im looking to improve the feel and handling perfromance of the car but I realy dont wantto lower it due to it being my daily driver. Any input or personal experience will be greatly appreciated.

Thx,
Rob

ORIGINAL: F1Fan

Hi Rob,

I can't recommend these if you have any possibility of changing your springs or bars for something with sporty intentions and I doubt you can know absolutely that they will work perfectly out of the box for you. This is the beauty of having an adjustable damper system. Rodeo Flyer and I went around on this one many moons ago and he outgrew the Billie HD'spretty quickly once he was on the track. Please listen to Sam and I when we tell you that for the money the Koni sport or Tokico D-Specs are a much better long term choice.

You never know what you might do or want to do with the car in a day ot a year from now. If two years ago you had told me I would become a big fan of playing paintball at 53 years old I would have laughed my butt off.

HTH!