Koni vs. Bilstein vs. Sachs

[E Showell]

I've got the Bilstein Tourings on my V70 and like them very much. As others have said, they are a bit firmer than the stock Sachs setup and they alter the ride height ever so slightly, but I really like them.

[shaker_chi]

I have used all brands. I don't like the Koni yellows because even on the softest setting they are too harsh. I do live in Chicago and we have a ton of potholes though. I do like them on the rear using the softest setting. My favorite front struts are the Bilstein Sports. They are a good compromise between the O/E Sachs and the Yello Koni. I think they go for about $130 per unit. I have had them on front of my 1994 850 for about 3 years now.

[jenkinskg]

just put koni sport shock, yellow adjustable, on 04 c70
chassis cannot take very stiff, good handling, now need to make chassis stiffer

[RussB]

...I don't like the Koni yellows because even on the softest setting they are too harsh...

I agree. Be prepared to feel every bump, lump and crack in the pavement. I cannot imagine who and why anyone would set them stiffer than their softest settings. Maybe good for racing, the street, not so much

[theWIFES_S70]

What are the experiences with Sensen struts, shocks? For the price, really can't beat it... With the kinds of streets we drive on in NYC, shocks and struts don't really last too long in NYC anyhow. Anyone get four years out of them?

[RussB]

What are the experiences with Sensen struts, shocks? For the price, really can't beat it... With the kinds of streets we drive on in NYC, shocks and struts don't really last too long in NYC anyhow. Anyone get four years out of them?

In my experience, factory struts are pretty good. It's all the peripheral parts that take a whoopin'. My '00 S70 had original shocks & struts, springs, spring seats and strut bushings, 1 original control arm.

The front struts still had some life in them, but had weak damping. One rear shock lost it's mojo, but the other had some life left.

Spring seats were both torn, strut bushings were both loose and gritty, one ball joint was toast, and one sway bar end link was junk, while the other was very loose. I replaced all these parts, both sides along with inner and outer tie rods.

The rear sagged, which seems to be common with P80 S70's. It got new springs, shocks, spring seats and spring retainers along with an IPD sway bar and trailing arm bushings. All this followed by a 4-wheel alignment

My point is that it's seldom "JUST" the shocks or struts, it all the other stuff along with weakened shock/struts/springs that add up to a loose, sloppy feeling car. Throwing money at a cheap set of shocks & struts might be like setting fire a couple Benjamins. Wasted money

[scot850]

I am also running Bilstein Tourings and like their feel. They helped our old 93 850 corner like it was on rails. I fitted them to my 2000 V70 R to replace the Bilstein HD's that were on the car when bought from PO. They were way too hard for our roads here, and even IPD recommended against them unless doing track work.

I like the idea of the Koni FSD's. Heard a lot of good things about them, but can't fit them to the rear of the AWD. Might try them on the front if I ever need new shocks again.

Neil.

[erikv11]

What are the experiences with Sensen struts, shocks? For the price, really can't beat it... With the kinds of streets we drive on in NYC, shocks and struts don't really last too long in NYC anyhow. Anyone get four years out of them?

I remember a handful of posts about them about a year+ ago, but really you hear nothing about them. I think the ride is fine, the question is how long will they last. If you are willing to put up with chances of a short lifespan then give it a shot, would love to know. Don't they have a lifetime warranty or something?

[theWIFES_S70]

I think now I know why the subject heading of this post isn't "Koni vs. Bilstein vs. Sachs vs. Sensen"...

I finally get around to tackling what I hope is the last thing I'll do on my wife's S70 before winter arrives. New struts! Well, after an ordeal trying to get mounts and bushings from 1AAuto (never again...), I finally get my hardware from EEuroparts and open up my Sensen Strut boxes...

Now, I don't know anything about welds other than they look nice when they're even... But look at these welds...

Not very even...

The other one is even worse...

This is the one that set off alarms...

I don't know, maybe I am making something out of nothing. Are these welds OK? Especially for a part of the car that goes through so much abuse? That one weld that looks like they ran out of soldier or juice 3/4ths of the way in was enough to scare me. I am finally trying to save money after going all OEM on my wife's S70 (about $1500 in at this point!) I'm thinking I probably shouldn't try to save money here. Sigh.

[E Showell]

I recently put a set of Koni FSD on all corners of my son's S70 (the $900 car)-- as well as all new ancillary suspension components. After having spent a fair bit on a few other fixes, I had it in to the mechanic the other day for my P1017 code. He told me if my son didn't like the car, he'd take it. He said it rides like new. The Konis were pricey, but the ride is incomparable. I like the Bilstein Tourings I have on my V70 very much, but the Konis blow away the Bilstein Tourings.