Ok, in a few weeks I plan on getting my drop (finally) with the hotchkis tvs stage 1, but at the same time I was thinking of getting new shocks too (the Z has about 70k miles on the original equip)...

I was thinking:

Koni Sport Shock



*Externally Adjustable

or

Bilstein Sport Shock



*Non Adjustable

Kinda leaning toward the Koni, from what I have heard and seen; but I had Bilsteins on my truck and was happy with the product and quality.

Price is not a factor between these two and no I don't want coilovers...

Thoughts on the two???

 

tokico D-spec is also an excellent option.

 

How do the D-Specs weigh in against the Koni's???

 

all i know is tokico made the oem shocks for the Z and the D-spec should have been the ones installed at the factory from day one.

 

Many people on these boards have Tokico's and are happy with them. The D-specs are 16-way adjustable just as the Koni's and are a pretty great price. You can find a few vendors on here that sell the Tokico's for under $550.

I was about to get the D-specs myself, but I stumbled on some new revised factory springs and shocks for practically nothing.

 

Your sig say's you have a 03 car.

Vs you oem shocks the Koni's have less compression dampning and more rebound control. They are valved much superior to your oem shocks and have rebound only tuning control.

Tokico D-specs are also much superior to your oem shocks. But they adjust differently then Koni's do. D-specs adjust for rebound AND compression dampning vs the Koni's rebound only control. This will allow you to set the shocks up to be softer then or stiffer then (at mugh higher settings) your oem 03 shocks. Tokico rear shocks also have shorter rear shock bodies and piston rod lengths, Koni shock body and piston rod lengths match oem front and rear.

Their is also a price differance between the two shocks, $700 plus shipping for the Koni's and $503 shipped for the Koni's. Beside the differances listed above, Koni's can be servised by at least 3 factory authorized service providers and you can opt for a menu of modification's by those providers should you desire to do so. That menu includes besides repair, revalving, case shortening, piston rod shortening, convert to double adjustable (with seperate rebound and compression tuning) and milling new spring seat clip groves into the body of the shock.

Koni shop service providers are,
Koni USA Hebron Kentucky
Truechoice Powell, Ohio
PropartsUsa Canoga Park, California

Both shocks are excellent and feature valving abilities that some coilover products produced for the Z33 can only dream about. Which one you buy depends on if you can justify the $200 price premium for the Koni's, which can be wrapped up in how the two shocks differ in the way they adjust dampning and how you may or may not value Koni shop services now or in the future.

 

Yeah price isn't an issue as I can get the Koni's & the Bilsteins for the same price as the D-Specs, but I guess I will have to look into the D-Specs since they seem so popular.

 

Bilstein does NOT offer their Sport shock for the Z33, they only offer their H.D. shock, which should not be used with stiffer lowring springs since it lacks the valving for stiffer springs or the ablity to adapt via adjusting rebound levels higher. Koni's can adjust rebound in comparison.

Bilstein's are a great product with very good valving, but since you have a choice that is basiclly just $55 more expensive between the two the choice is very clear, Koni. But that still brings you back to the D-spec discussion above.

 

WOW Gsedan35, thanks for the info, it will help in making my decision and sway me towrds the Koni's even more. Odds are I will probably order the Koni's sometime next week.

Now, does anyone on the board have the Bilsteins??? Or are they basically not worth it...

 

You can get Koni's or Bilstein's for $500 shipped?

Do not buy something on the merits of popularity, but it because it makes sense based on your needs and because it's the best product. Meaning you have to have all the fact's.

 

So, I guess now it's between the D-Spec and the Koni's... Time to do some more research... Yay SEARCH function!!!

 

Yes I can get the Koni's/Bilsteins for close to $600 ($580 something) shipped...

I'll go thru one of my wholesalers (I have a now defunct online accessory shop)...

 

Your welcome.

Their is at least 1 or 2 owner's with the Bilstien's that have posted since the shock became avaliable. IIRC, both of them run oem springs. In their defense they are a very well valved product, however since the Koni's exist for basically the same price and have capacity's and features not present on the Bilstein product, yes they are not worth it in comparison to Koni shocks.

 

Both shocks are well liked by their owner's, I still own my Koni's that I have run, though the fronts are off the car now and I've driven in two car's that I helped the owner's install D-specs on. I also used to have a 03 oem Z suspenision installed on my car, so I know exactly how that setup behaves as well, so that's where I'm comming from.

Your best bet is to concentrate on the product differances I outline above and figure out where you stand. Neither is a bad choice, but you may want rebound only control and less shock stiffness they you have now, Koni. Or you may like the idea of being able go with softer shock stiffness or stiffer shock stiffness then you have now, D-spec.

 

good info Gsedan35...i'll keep this in mind if i ever decide to go back to a shocks/springs setup

 

One more thing to add. Oem 03/04 shocks are stiffer then 04.5-07 oem shocks. So when I say Koni's have less compression dampning (stiffness) I'm refering to vs oem 03/04 shocks. I would expect that Koni's vs oem 04.5-07 shocks would feel close as far as stiffness goes (compression dampning).

 

FYI...setting the D-specs 6 turns(counterclockwise) from full stiffness is perfect for daily driving.

 

If you have just a daily driver that you never track, but you want a stiffer ride...do you just change out the shocks? what would be the minimum to change out to stiffen up the ride? yes i searched, yes i found the suspension FAQ section, but i couldn't find what i wanted and my computer is about to die. thanks for any help

 

To do what you want WITHOUT lowering the car or changing the oem springs would mean Tokico D-spec shocks. Your oem 03 shocks are on the stiff side already. Koni purposely tuned out a measure of that stiffness because their R&D testing told them what was the way to improve the car. D-specs will do what you want because they don't just adjust rebound, they adjust both rebound AND compresion dampning. Though I've been told that you'll have to set them to either 7 or 8 with 8 being the stiffnest to get what you want (remembering that 03/04 shocks are stiffer then 04.5-07 oem shocks).

 

^^thanks