For comfort, not performance. Want relatively cheap (so, not Koni yellows if I can help it).
The lil' e36 I'm picking up this weekend may or may not need struts- if I do need them, because I want everything a little lower, I'll probably get some springs at the same time.
When I had the e30, I had Vogtland springs and KYB gas-ajusts and it was the prefect daily driver set up - that was a great combo, was still going strong several years after I sold the car, and between the daughter and I we drove it that way for six years before that.
They don't seem to make (or, nobody has any nos) gas ajusts for the front of the e36 318.
Are the KYB GR2s the same thing?
Anybody run the STR.Ts on mild lowering springs? Do they hold up ok?
I've got Bilstein B8s on the front of my e36 with H&R sports. I didn't want to spend that much, but from what I read my options were cheaper and don't work well with lowering springs or more expensive. I'm pretty happy with them on my daily.
GR-2s are a "stock replacement" twin tube strut that has little in common with the monotube Gas-A-Just. I would not expect them to last with any kind of lowering spring.
I hear good things about the Koni STR.T, supposedly they have the same valving as Yellows at full soft.
I had an E36 318i and put on a set of orange Konis matched with H&R springs.
It was decent for sporty street driving and commuting on bumpy roads.
BlueInGreen - Jon (Forum Supporter) said:
I had an E36 318i and put on a set of orange Konis matched with H&R springs.
It was decent for sporty street driving and commuting on bumpy roads.
That's pretty much the combo I'm looking for right there - mostly for a little bit of looks and commuting on bumpy roads, but close enough.
Any quality issues for those that have run the STRTs?
A little online reading says occasionally they're suspect?
Ok, so it definitely needs struts, and unless y'all tell me STRTs have a bad rep, I'll be picking up a set next week, along with some springs.
All you STRT users chime in.
Koni has confirmed they do have a higher warranty claim rate than the yellows. I'm guessing that's because they're made in a different factory.
But you want cheap and they have a lifetime warranty, so hey.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Does FM sell them, and would you call the difference you see as significant? I.e. more than a five or ten percent increase...
I've seen reports of several years use and fine and leaking after 6 months.
It'll be a daily and I don't plan on doing to much to it, but I also don't want to replace them after six months.
And at B6 or yellow prices + springs, I'm a few bones from a mid-range coilover - which I'd probably pay for to set ride height where I want it. Yes, I am a bit of a slave to fashion.
I'd like to stay on the budget side if I can, and I thought these would be close to the old KYBs.
If they're not they're not and I'll plan on spending more.
We haven't had them in our catalog long enough to draw our own conclusions on durability. No DOA shocks of which I am aware, however.
I did ask our Koni guys about the reputation, though.
