TA Technix suspension kit - a waste of money (850)

[TWC]

When I had rescued my 850 from being wrecked, I had noticed that the shocks were worn out. At this time, money was tight so I made the decision on buying a complete suspension kit by TA Technix after visiting a few forums to check for user experiences.

Acquired the kit via eBay for €290 (around $340) which was delivered 2 days later. It looked not bad for being that cheap, and I left the process of installing it to my garage.

That was the point when the trouble began. The owner of the garage informed me that the shocks won't fit as required and that they had to make a "workaround" installing the old strut bearing together with the new one to make it fit.
On driving after the installation, the suspension didn't felt much stiffer than the worn out shocks (!). A little less roll, that's all. But now the shocks on the front gave a loud bang each time driving over short bumps. Back to the garage for further adjustments, but even with the coils being turned for max suspension travel the bang remained.

Additionally, I've noticed that the new shocks were also wearing out quite fast. Basically I'm at the point where I was before replacing the old shocks (that's now about 5 months past) or better said beyond it...now the 850 is reacting to minor ruts in the street especially when braking and aquaplaning occurs at speeds below 50 mph.

My suspicion is that there is only one kind of shock and coil with the periphery around being fitted to the respective models. That's probably why the owners of a VW Golf 2/3/4... might be satisfied with their kits as these vehicles are weighing between 900-1100 kgs, but with the 850 weighing at least around 1700 kgs, the TA kit fails to satisfy (me).

I have now ordered a set of Koni STR.T shocks and ordinary coils for the front and reinforced ones for the rear. Let's see how this will work out.