Posted by David B on March 13, 2005 at 13:08:11 from 67.117.9.199
In Reply to: Front Strut & Spring Question: Sport vs HD posted by Misha on March 11, 2005 at 15:54:11:
If I remember this right, at various times, Bilstein had available grades of valving rated; comfort, heavy duty, sport, short sport. Alpina had their own Bilstein with special valving.
The Alpina Bilstein is valved for a rising rate spring, has softer compression dampening than a sport and maybe a higher rebound rate.
I had Eibach springs and stock length sports in my e12 for almost 150k miles. Changed the rears to HDs when one of the sports leaked and failed. Now with 200k on this suspension, the front sports have been nice for the last couple of years but are finally getting too soft in rebound. Will replace with HD or maybe a set of Koni shocks. Tires are 205/55-16 front, 225/50-16 rear. This combination of springs/shocks/tires understeers at the limit.
In my opinion you don't need short front sports unless the car is dropped more than an inch. Bilsteins, because of the high gas pressure, will raise the car slightly compared to a stock shock.