96 855 Rear shocks: Sachs or Bilstein touring, other?

[JimBee]

With lots of choices and prices all over, which of those available from FCP is better for city wagon trails and hiway touring?
What about KYB? Gabriel? Monroe?

[atucker1]

I have the KYBs installed on mine (95 850 Turbo with 185K). Can't say much about change in ride from OEM since the previous owner installed them, but they do seem very smooth on the highway, but a little bit jarring at low speeds. I usually speed up for speed bumps. Also very cheap. The previous owner had them bought and installed for 200.

[Ozark Lee]

I've used Sachs, Bilstein Touring, and Monroes on various 850s. For me, I prefer the Bilsteins but I tend to drive aggressively on twisty / hilly roads for fun (visions of the Nordschleife at the Nurburgring except that there might be a County Sheriff around the next corner). The TC's are a fuzz harsher than stock in the city but not bad. The Sachs are not at all bad and they actually have, to me, a preferable mix between the pothole ghetto city driving and the highway but they just aren't quite as stable on a higher G force turn on the way to the cabin. The differences between Sachs and the TCs isn't huge at all and the differences likely wouldn't even be noticed by most people. The handling change after I switched from 50s to 55s was much more dramatic, as was the ride.

I put the Monroes on my son's car and I didn't drive it very often. When I did I found them to be too mushy in terms of handling but they really weren't any smoother in the city.

A Volvo 850 will never ride like a Buick, they tend to be a bit harsh on the bumps no matter what you have for shocks and struts.

...Lee

[E Showell]

I like the Bilstein Tourings in my '98 V70, but it is a slightly firmer ride than stock.

[j-dawg]

I have Gabes. Don't recommend 'em. They felt sorta squishy since I bought the car (a few thousand miles after they were installed). 25,000 miles later, the car exhibits a decent amount of bounce after disturbances. (This is on Eibach springs; not sure if that reduces damper lifespan.)

[JimBee]

Comments are helpful. On the 96 855, that tends to see more freeway and maybe a cross-country trip, the Bilsteins seem like they'd help with stability in general, and specifically on those windy days when the road is long.

The '93 854 is mostly driven around the city's wagon trails and has to take on a couple of asphalt pythons on the local freeways— those are real chassis bangers and dash breakers. So I need to soften that ride up a bit—maybe Monroe's on the rear.

[shiloh51933]

I got factory style Sachs all around when i have mu 96 850glt and i replaced all the mounts, bushings, spring seats, bump stops, cross nuts, hardware, ect... FCP sells full suspension kits.