KYB AGX vs Bilstein B6 ???
 

i need your guys opinions!

its that time of year to start doing maintenance. the '02 SVT needs new suspension. these stockers have 135k on em and they bounce bad.

long story short i love driving this thing, but have had a bunch of fun during ice racing and would like to also rallycross it in the future (yes both this and the RS). so im not looking to lower the car. if anything it will be lifted up a bit with other spring options.

i have no experience with any KYB shock. i have had a set of bilstein b14 coilovers (which are internally very similair) and they were fantastic. but id like to hear more opinions.

KYB AGX
- cheap! $350cad for the set (plus shipping and duty)
- adjustable dampening
- well liked setup on the focus from what i've read
- meant for lowering. apparently on softest setting, still stiffer than oem damper



Bilstein b6
- more expensive... $850cad (free shipping, plus duty)
- inverted monotube shock, very strong
- stock length body for full travel (b8 is shortened for lowering)
- non adjustable
- from my own experience, fantastic factory dampening for street but definitely not tuned for track



so, opinions welcome between the two shock? or is it worth spending twice as much just for the beefy construction with probably better damping.

https://i.makeagif.com/media/9-10-2019/uct7BG.gif

https://i.makeagif.com/media/9-10-2019/8NcXgn.gif

https://live.staticflickr.com/7893/4...95171c79_c.jpgUntitled by 320iCar, on Flickr

No experience but....


Adjustable and cheap

Non adjustable expensive... but German. I’d go cheap. Lol. But I’m cheap.

Tough to beat $350 for a complete set of adjustable shocks compared to $850. Seeing as the intent is to boot around in the car, if/when they fail, that will bring you to $700 (first and second set) + labour (but you mostly do your own work anyway) which means you're still under on costs.

I don't know many people who buy KYBs, but if I am not mistaken, they are OE supplier to many Japanese cars. If it's not KYB, it's likely Tokico. Haven't seen any KYB AGXs fail, nor are there many reviews, unfortunately.

Consider rebuilding your Bilstein coilovers, if it's possible and/or an economical solution. Might be a pain in the ass to get done after logistics and downtime etc.

No experience with both but, I have Bilstein B8 Sports.

I would say, I do wish that it came with adjustable damping, it would have really helped going into T8/T9 on the ridge (Whichever one is the big downhill bump). That said, the Bilsteins ride great, track or not. Ride quality was ultimately one of my higher priorities and I chose the Bilsteins (~$1K CAD all in) over a similarly priced coilovers set.

The KYBs look similar to the Koni ST.R, which are made for the intention of lowering springs, as well.

I'd opt for the cheaper set, cause if it breaks, well you can get a new set for cheaper than a single set of the Bilsteins.

Edit: Koni got autocorrect to link lmfao

Without doing any homework on my end, does Koni offer an equivalent alternative? They might have their annual "shock sale" that's happens around this time of year. They may offer a solution at your price points, but I could be wrong.

I might be going crazy, but do the KYBs have some kind of manufacturer rebate in the form of a prepaid Visa/Mastercard promo going on right now?

^^ I’ll have to look into that. In my experience any promotion like that is to US residents only

Darn, my bad. Looks like only specific sets are eligible only. The AGXs are not. :okay: Sorry.

I put KYBs in my old Celica ages ago and the ride is good. I'm putting a set in my GTFour though I don't have a lot of options anyways lol. I've had Bilsteins in two of my Jeeps, both lifted beyond what Bilstein suggests for those shocks/struts and no issues (knock on wood).

You probably can't go wrong with either, but if you're using the car hard dampers are going to be a wear item. For that reason I'd go with the cheaper KYBs personally.

Koni offers the STR.T

Android 10 autocorrected Koni to Link in my above post.



Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Oops double posted (?)

So here's a review on the STR.Ts in light of this accidental double post.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...0&share_type=t

There's also the Koni FSD

I'm running the Koni FSD on my Boxster S and I absolutely love them. Having said that, I'm not sure I would recommend them for OPs intended use, unless it were for occasional track day, and not ice racing.

It looks like Koni shocks will put both of his options outside of his intended budget.

Yeah not looking into koni’s. Even the bilsteins are at the top for price. This is the second, barely used car after all