Konis or Bilsteins?

[Roger Blose]

I have a 2018 GT Premium and wanted to get some feedback on replacement struts and shocks. My car is mostly stock and the ride is choppy on medium to rough road surfaces. I have had both brands on previous cars and they significantly improved the handling and ride. Also I have 19 inch factory wheels and a FR strut tower brace.

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[shogun32]

Bilstein.

 

[EFI]

Bilsteins 100%

 

[TheMegalodon]

Stay away from Koni on this car. Their twin tube rear shocks are trash and I speak from experience. Get the Bilsteins. I bought them for the rear after the Koni’s failed.


It’s a shame your 2018 doesn’t have magneride.

 

[Zelek]

Bilstein ftw.

 

[NightmareMoon]

Bilsteins over Koni orange. Koni yellows over Biksteins only if you intend to take advantage of the adjustments and not just set it and forget it.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Bilsteins over Koni orange. Koni yellows over Biksteins only if you intend to take advantage of the adjustments and not just set it and forget it.

This ^^^


Norm

 

[Chef jpd]

Bilstein++++

 

[Radiation Joe]

Bilsteins over Koni orange. Koni yellows over Biksteins only if you intend to take advantage of the adjustments and not just set it and forget it.

You fail to mention that folks typically have to run significantly stiffer springs to take advantage of the Koni adjustability. I can't think of any situation where the Konis would be better with stock or near stock springs.
I've run Konis on several different cars. The only time they worked well was with 2 to 3 times the stock spring rates. I've never enjoyed any shocks/struts more than Bilsteins with stock to near stock springs.

 

[NightmareMoon]

You fail to mention that folks typically have to run significantly stiffer springs to take advantage of the Koni adjustability. I can't think of any situation where the Konis would be better with stock or near stock springs.
I've run Konis on several different cars. The only time they worked well was with 2 to 3 times the stock spring rates. I've never enjoyed any shocks/struts more than Bilsteins with stock to near stock springs.

I guess you have to know what your goals are. Running stiff shocks on stock springs is an extremely common on competition autox cars in 'street' class. Handling is, like, always significantly improved if you find the right settings.

The type of maneuverability and response where the adjustables give you an edge can only be rarely found on the street, but it can be found. Tracks and Autox - yes. The occasional twisty backroad switchback - rarely. Lane change maneuvers at high speed - definitely yes. Highway road trips are one of the situations I'll put my shocks on stiff settings. The car responds better at high speed if you have to do something sudden with a Koni on a stiffer setting versus a non-adjustable shock.

Stiff shocks and swaybars with soft springs is also a common modern manufacturer recipe to a ride that's comfortable (soft springs), but responsive and controlled (stiff shocks and swaybars). I ran Konis with stock PP springs for 3 years on my current car and on a low-middle setting they definitely rode better than stock shocks.

For daily low speed driving on crappy surface streets the Bilsteins are probably more comfortable. and yes, I've run Koni adjustables on multiple makes and models of sporty cars over the years too and I've run adjustable Bilstein coilovers as well. I'm a fan of the Bilstein brand, it just depends on what your goals are. YMMV.

 

[shogun32]

The only time they worked well was with 2 to 3 times the stock spring rates

IF that is correct then Koni's valving is total crap. When you use spring rates that high the damper moves a lot less and it's weakness are masked. I have Steeda's ProAction adjustable with teh Dual-Rate springs. It works well enough. Koni's new 'active' shocks are not impressive and can't even handle 'soft' spring rates.

 

[Radiation Joe]

I guess you have to know what your goals are. Running stiff shocks on stock springs is an extremely common on competition autox cars in 'street' class. Handling is, like, always significantly improved if you find the right settings.

I'll agree with you on that.

The type of maneuverability and response where the adjustables give you an edge can only be rarely found on the street, but it can be found. Tracks and Autox - yes. The occasional twisty backroad switchback - rarely. Lane change maneuvers at high speed - definitely yes. Highway road trips are one of the situations I'll put my shocks on stiff settings. The car responds better at high speed if you have to do something sudden with a Koni on a stiffer setting versus a non-adjustable shock.

I use to run my Konis rebound slightly stiffer on street to improve ride (slightly overdamped) compared to track settings. The slight amount of jacking down I might get was usually not noticable.

Stiff shocks and swaybars with soft springs is also a common modern manufacturer recipe to a ride that's comfortable (soft springs), but responsive and controlled (stiff shocks and swaybars). I ran Konis with stock PP springs for 3 years on my current car and on a low-middle setting they definitely rode better than stock shocks.

We always used to set up our race cars with the softest springs we could get away with. But that would still be in the 500 - 700 lb/in range on our cars. Current automotive suspension philosophy is to utilize the bump stops as a rising rate spring allowing for softer spring rates. Even BMW bought into it and reduced suspension free travel. Shocks/struts are less important due to the rising rate nature of riding on the bump stops. Our cars are no exception.
For the sake of the OPs question, however, the reason the Bilsteins work so well on these cars is their compression damping (effectively increasing the spring rate). I believe they have the highest 'slow speed damping' rate of any reasonably priced shock you can buy. The compression damping is highly regressive so they don't get harsh like Konis typically do over higher suspension speed events. The trade off is they can be a little "jiggly" at very slow speeds.

For daily low speed driving on crappy surface streets the Bilsteins are probably more comfortable. and yes, I've run Koni adjustables on multiple makes and models of sporty cars over the years too and I've run adjustable Bilstein coilovers as well. I'm a fan of the Bilstein brand, it just depends on what your goals are. YMMV.

Everybody has different requirements and perceptions. My opinions certainly aren't the most common or popular or possibly even correct. But I think for the OPs situation, the majority opinion pointing him towards the Bilsteins is the correct one on a stock sprung car.

 

[Roger Blose]

It looks like Bilstein is the way to go with my stock set up. I do know that the 2018 and up GTs all received the PP1 shocks and struts from the factory according to the Mustang marketing manager to improve ride and handling he claims. At 7K miles, both of my front factory struts had to be replaced under warranty due to leaking oil. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[MidwayJ]

I have had Bilstein rear shocks installed with BMR minimum drop springs on my '19 GT for about 3 months. Over harsh surfaces and small sharp bumps at slower speeds the ride is a little stiffer than stock. However, over more significant bumps the car feels more controlled. At highway speeds the ride feels more compliant over most bumps than stock and the car feels more stable overall. In spirited driving on twisty roads the rear feels more planted. Overall I'm happy with them.

 

[Roadway 5.0]

At 7K miles, both of my front factory struts had to be replaced under warranty due to leaking oil. Thanks for the feedback.

At 8k miles my PP1 shocks went out—leaks as well. Too often par for the course. Bilsteins are in now and remedied much of the complaints I had with the car’s handling. No leaks yet too.

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