lardope
Veteran Member
X number of years later I should have looked at this thread before buying KYB. They are not very good at all…. 
Best ride quality shocks/struts for the money
- Thread starter ghohouston
- Start date
Judson
Veteran Member
Well I’ve tried them all. Nothing will give you a cadillac ride. I have Koni FSDs with stock springs. About the best you’ll do, though I’d love a magna-ride option.
donshade
New member
I know this is an old post, but if anyone is out there...
I bought Bilstein B4 fronts and rears and am wondering how they will compare to this TC sport front, genuine VW loaded rear combination.
Judson
Veteran Member
I should add: Koni FSDs plus Neuspeed softsport springs are by far the best ride combo I’ve found.Well I’ve tried them all. Nothing will give you a cadillac ride. I have Koni FSDs with stock springs. About the best you’ll do, though I’d love a magna-ride option.
IndigoBlueWagon
TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
FSDs with stock springs are good, but Reds with stock springs ride better. But unfortunately Reds are NLA. Special Actives (not FSDs anymore) transformed the ride and handling on my BMW, however.
oilhammer
Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
I just took a set of Konis off of a car and was going to sell them, but man they are SO BAD rusty I don't feel good about doing it. How do you guys in the salt belt keep them from simply dissolving every few years?
IndigoBlueWagon
TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Early STR.Ts had a problem with rust, but I've had Konis on my Wagon since 2004 and never had any of them show more than a little surface rust. The last set of Reds were on there for 7+ years and looked fine when they came out of the car.
I also have Special Actives and SofSports on my Jetta, and I think @Zak99b5 does too. I like the combo, sporty feeling for sure, though I do feel bad when I have to drive my grandma somewhere, as it's no Cadillac ride
For some reason on mine the rear sits a touch lower than the front. I thought maybe they needed to settle in a bit but they've been on there a few months now and haven't evened out, so I may add a small spacer in the rear to level it.
Dalon
Veteran Member
You basically want to wash the car in October, put it in the garage, and then keep it there until April/May.
oilhammer
Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Hehe.... yeah, that stinks.
I have a set of Billy HDs on my 2004 Passat, that I put on around 2006... and they still look fine (and perform just the same as they did when new, and that was almost 200k miles ago).
Seems Konis in this same area don't last like that.
I have a set of Billy HDs on my 2004 Passat, that I put on around 2006... and they still look fine (and perform just the same as they did when new, and that was almost 200k miles ago).
Seems Konis in this same area don't last like that.
DeliveryValve
Veteran Member
The coat of paint on my Konis is shockingly thin. Probably reason why I hear they rust out so bad.
I ended up spraying several coats of clear just to give them a bit better protection.
I ended up spraying several coats of clear just to give them a bit better protection.
Fahrvegnugen
Veteran Member
The golfs bilstein hds are maybe 4 years old and they get dinged up with little rust spots on them. I just crank up the spray tank with cosmoline and squirt them until they're brown. I don't see a realistic way to drive the car and prevent rust except replacing things as they break.
RIP TDI
Top Post Dawg
- Joined
- Feb 16, 2000
- Location
- Santa Barbara, CA
- TDI
- '15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
Have you been able to ride compare the ride of the Reds to that of the Special Actives in a Mk4? I don't know how much valving difference there is between the FSD and Special Actives, if any.
IndigoBlueWagon
TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
I haven't, but I don't think there's any difference between FSDs and Special Actives except for the name and the color. And the ride difference between FSDs and Reds is pretty subtle.
