BILSTEIN SHOCKS vs KONI - TEST

Before we start I want to tell you that, this is a 4 year test performed on a Peugeot 106 GTI and me or TuningLinx.com is not affiliated with any of the above companies in any way.

BILSTEIN SPRINTLINE

Let's begin with my Bilstein shocks story..

Some time ago I was in Paris for a holiday. I took a train to a suburb of Paris, to Eurofac, the main distributor of Bilstein shocks in France.

The boy named Dominic was so surprised when he learned that I'm from Turkey, so he made a 20% discount as a gesture for my Bilstein Sprintline shocks. As the 'Sprintline' series shocks are 'inserts' and are shorter than the originals, they perfectly fitted into my baggage.

After coming back my first job was fitting those on my Peugeot 106 GTI. Maybe you know, Bilstein use mono-tube design gas pressure shocks for both front & rear. Koni prefer 'oil pressure' shocks for front instead.

After the first ride I was so impressed by the performance of Bilstein shocks. The feeling was that the car is on a railway track. If you fit Bilsteins, I bet you'll never 'feel' your exact driving speed even on the curves you enter with 180 km's. Bilstein responses anything on the road so fast that I can say these were the fastest-responsing shocks I have ever seen.

Bilstein Advantages

The main advantage of Bilstein shocks over Koni is that all 4 shocks come 'gas pressure' in Bilstein so they work in a great harmony, especially on fast driving.

Bilstein Disadvantages

There are two main disadvantages of a Bilstein shock. The first one is that the fronts are gas pressure, and I saw that 'having gas pressure shocks in a 106 GTI' is a pain in the arse.. When? Only on bumps and bad roads.

Let me give an example about that first disadvantage. In fact I want to say that I always used both Bilstein shocks and Koni's with Eibach Sport progressive springs. I think we will all agree that Eibach is one of the best suspension springs in the world, maybe the best. But....

Two years ago I was returning from 'Bodrum' with a friend from holiday. We hit something on the road while the speed was about 100 kilometers, and the engine suddenly stopped. I guess it was a small bump on the road but I was shocked! I've pulled over, pup up the hood and after some check I remembered the fuel cutoff switch. The sensor was cut the fuel off as I had an accident.

The second disadvantage of Bilstein shocks is that they do soften in 3 years. Now, you may say that every component on a car has a limited lifetime, so do the shocks. That's true. Every component on a car, especially on a modified one has a limited life, so do the shocks and so do Bilstein shocks. Maybe my expectations from Bilstein were more than that. Let us not take this last disadvantage into consideration, as we didn't test the lifetime of Koni yet.

BILSTEIN vs KONI SHOCKS page2