Awesome

Which Eibach kit are you running?

 

Pro-Kit springs.

 

Hmm. I'm running the pro kit with HDs and absolutely love it. Glad you found something that works for you though

 

Put sports on. The difference in ride quality is so small, but the performance is so much better.

 

the touring sports?? I thought the HD's were the beefier, sportier shock in the bilstien series of shocks/struts, not counting their full adjustable setups that they dont make for our cars?

 

You're thinking of the 9000, for the 9-5 it goes HDs are for the regular springs and the Sports are for lowered, stiffer springs. The piston travel of the sports is actually a whole inch shorter.

The funny thing is though that Eibach says you can use the Pro kit springs with the standard shocks. I still have my standard shocks and compressed them for fun and the Eibach springs would have eaten them in no time at all. Why do SAABs always seem to come underdamped from the factory?

You want a soft ride, get LPT springs with Aero shocks.
You want a comfortable, yet still a bit sporty, get an aero sport suspension, sell the shocks to someone with an LPT and get some Bilstein HDs
You want performance with a ride that isn't terrible, lowering springs with Bilstein Sports.....or Konis I guess.

 

Well, I played around with the adjustability of the Konis on my 9-3 last night, and all I can say is that, with the Koni, you can have two totally different shocks/struts all in one. Full firm is kinda fun, but it gets really old with the stock springs on there.

New springs are going to be a must on my 9-3 if I want the Konis turned up a bit.

On full soft the Konis feel great on the stock springs.

Good info to know about the Bilsteins though, I'll need new struts and shocks for the 9000 soon, so I'll have some decisions to make.

 

Well, I played around with the adjustability of the Konis on my 9-3 last night, and all I can say is that, with the Koni, you can have two totally different shocks/struts all in one

But with the Bilstein Sports you get two shocks at the same time. They cruise comfortably and fairly smoothly, but turn the wheel and they become absolute animals in the blink of an eye.

The only reason I really knock the konis is cause they're adjustable, but in reality on a 9-5 they aren't adjustable. That is you have to take the rears off the car to adjust them and you can only adjust the fronts if you don't fit the strut tower cover back on. So good in theory, poor in execution on the 9-5, not Koni's fault, just the way SAAB designed the suspension.

 

Yea, I missed the fact that it was a 9-5, but I was talking in terms on 900's The Yellow's are a stable in aftermarket shock/strut design, plus they have a lifetime warrenty. If you arent a serious track racer, they are overkill like you said with the adjustability.

Although someone like me who auto-x's at lest 8-10 times a summer, adjustability is key.

 

I always find it odd that Bilstein owners knock the Koni's when they have never tried them. I've never seen someone with Koni's knock the Bilsteins, only the other way around. Weird shit.

I mean, lets be realistic here.. either is a great choice. I bet most people would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two(assuming the Koni's aren't on full hard, of course). The adjustability of the Koni's is somewhat laughable if you want to change the rates often, but is perfect in that it allows you to set the exact damp rate you feel is right for your road conditions and driving style. This is what swayed my decision. If I had put the Koni's on and been unhappy with the stiffness, I could do something about it(albeit a tedious process). If, as in your case, you don't like the Bilsteins you have to spring(pun intended) for new ones. Thankfully you are lucky and like the new ones better, but you still had to take them off to make the change right?

 

I always find it odd that Bilstein owners knock the Koni's when they have never tried them. I've never seen someone with Koni's knock the Bilsteins, only the other way around. Weird shit.

I think there's a small percentage of us who just don't like the Koni owners telling us they're the best shocks ever and get put off by it. *shrugs* I would have loved to test out konis, but no one in my area had them. I'm going to try and help others and give rides to other 9-5 owners in my area so they know what they're getting into.

I mean, lets be realistic here.. either is a great choice. I bet most people would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two(assuming the Koni's aren't on full hard, of course). The adjustability of the Koni's is somewhat laughable if you want to change the rates often, but is perfect in that it allows you to set the exact damp rate you feel is right for your road conditions and driving style. This is what swayed my decision. If I had put the Koni's on and been unhappy with the stiffness, I could do something about it(albeit a tedious process). If, as in your case, you don't like the Bilsteins you have to spring(pun intended) for new ones. Thankfully you are lucky and like the new ones better, but you still had to take them off to make the change right?

But you still have to take them off the car to make those adjustments. I mean I'm handy with wrenchs and all, but I spent about 2-3 hours just taking things off and putting them back together. And the Konis are only adjustable in rebound, not bound from what I hear.

And I've really gotta say that Bilstein really did their homework and setup the shock rates just right. There's a lot less understeer, but still just enough to make it easy to push the car hard and handle it in the snow.

 

actually, the konis are only adjustable with the shock fully compressed. so they need to be out of the car fully to adjust.

although, i love mine. 75% firm up front and like 80something% out back, and they are great. ride stock-ish until you start to put the corners to them. then they just eat it up.

and i agree with aero02, if i didnt like it, i could always take them apart and do something about it. where as with the bilsteins i feel like i would be stuck.


different strokes for different folks i guess.

 

I'd just like to own up to the fact that the ride is really firm in my car.