My rundown of your run down. Comparing revalved Bilsteins to Illuminas isn't really a legit comparison. Apples and oranges.

 

I guess my suspension knowledge is lacking, I don't even know what spring rates/dampening i'd want... Thanks for that rundown Dave and Braineack.

 

K, gave up trying to reach them today. Will call again tomorrow .

Correction. Bernie just called and I'm all set.

 

put mine in the mail today. pretty excited!

 

I tried to call today, but couldn't get through. Oh well, I'll call back Monday

 

Hey guys, I just wanted to say that I appreciate your patience. I am the only person here so things get a little crazy some times. Last week was one of those times.

I will be back on the phones starting today. If by chance your call is not answered, please leave a message and I will call you back asap.

Thank you.

 

This is just a reminder for everyone to try to get their orders in in a timely manner. OR Call Bernie and set up your time frame. I want to make sure that we could run this again for other members in the future, and I'm sure it is highly dependent on us. (first group)

Thanks again to everyone for making this happen

 

Just reporting in. Spoke with Bernie on the phone - sure made me feel much better. The guy actually sounds like he knows what he's talking about. :-D He's got a different approach than FCM with some reasoning behind it. I'm a bit worried about dips and feel, but have a sense it'll perform better.

Dropped the shocks in the mail today (slow boat to china). Very excited to get them back. Maybe this will be the encouragement I need to finish the motor and trans I have sitting around.

FYI, don't let people scare you on high spring rates. I regularly get compliments from people on how my car rides and I'm running 750 lb fronts.

 

Would you expound on this:

I have been chased away by stiff spring rates. Unfortunatly I never got the opportunity to ride in a car with stiff springs before I purchased my shocks. I have a feeling that a well matched stiff spring/shock combo would be very livable on the street.

On the flip side; A well matched set of shocks may keep you from needing stiffer springs on the street.

 

I can tell you from experience...

In order of worsening ride ("too stiff")

--WOULDN'T TRADE FOR BMW--
500/350 with Koni Race
750/500 with Koni Race
350/275 with Koni Race
-------RIDES AWESOME------
FM springs with AGX set 4 of 8
OEM with cut springs
OEM with stock springs
--------COMFORT LINE-------
FM springs with AGX set 7 of 8
FM springs with AGX set 8 of 8
--------UNDRIVABLE----------
500/375 Bilstien revalved bilstiens
750/500 Bilstien revalved bilstiens

Bad shocks make the WORST feel, too soft feels bad cause you're on the bumps all the time. The performance chart looks surprisingly similar, when you're not in pain the car is often settled.

----RIDICULOUS FAST---
750/500 with Koni Race
500/350 with Koni Race
-------FUN CAR------
OEM with cut springs
350/275 with Koni Race
FM springs with AGX set 7 of 8
-----WORK TO DRIVE-------
FM springs with AGX set 4 of 8
OEM with stock springs
----SKIPS OVER ANY BUMP----
FM springs with AGX set 8 of 8
500/375 Bilstien revalved bilstiens
--DANGER TO SELF AND OTHERS--
750/500 Bilstien revalved bilstiens

Bad shocks are so much more bad than you can imagine. I never would have guessed. My first KONI set up, with 300# springs, was loose and boring... and 20% faster around any given corner than my AGX's, 40% if there are any bumps. Seriously my 20 mph and skid turned into sleep-at-the-wheel-while-cornering-at-32.5.

Anyway, you'll love the good shocks. FWIW, I'm looking forward to the crisper turn in, my one complaint with the KONIs is how sleepy it makes the car feel, and Bernie seems to have some ideas there. I might be ok with 500# springs if the shocks will do their job.

 

Hey djp0623, do you think you could edit your first post to add in that Steward Development will shorten the shock bodies for $30 each(if that is correct)?

That way people know they have that option and don't have to read through a bunch of pages or miss out and regret it later.

 

Steward Development will shorten the shock bodies ~ 1" for $35/shock; more than that and it is around $70/shock.

 

I would disagree my bilsteins wiht 550/350 is actually a very compliante ride.

 

You likely didn't have them revalved?

 

they are revalved, i would not run those rates on a non valved shock. I did have them valved stiffer though. I had them valved to spec miata spring rates.

NO offense but I think the opinions you wrote down are very wrong (on most) from my personal experince with my car and other cars I have driven on the street with those rates.

for example you have fm springs and AGX. I think that is a horrible combination. And saying a cut spring rides good is absurd to me.

 

The cut spring thing blew my mind. Really. Perhaps I ranked it better than deserved because it was so f'ing better than I was expecting. I didn't cut them much, maybe two coils.

The FM springs and AGX were pretty terrible, but better than stock. It was... skittish, ricey.

The re-valving was really the point - I had them done at bilstien, and I wanted them to talk to me before they did it - they just took the spring rates (50% higher than their normal spec build) and added 50% to the damping. This was horrid. I'm not exagerating when I'm telling you my wheels regularly left the ground, just commuting around town with normal minivans and what not. Similarly, the AGX's were very harsh, but not to the point where I was worried to damage the car, or actually be in pain 3 times a mile.

I thought the AGX's were a fun ricey set up. I was glad to see them go, but the bilstiens - the way they were done - was positively horrible. Lots of respectable people swear by them, so I'm giving them another chance because I'm sure when set up right they work very well!

And the konis are like riding on a cloud - one that handles really well. :-)

 

out of curiosity, what is the non group buy price?

 

Custom revalve is $100/shock plus the cost of the shocks, or $100 per shock if you have your own shocks

 

What is the longevity on revalved Bilsteins? Are they the same as regular Bilsteins (hundred of thousands of miles)?

 

AbeFM, I think what you experienced was a horrible revalve. I've drove STOCK bilsteins on 700/325, 450/350, 670/350, 500/350, etc and the only one that was slightly rough on the streets were the 670 or 700 setup. The other two drove like caddy's.

Jake