So we have been getting a shock dyno at each event in the southeast this season. I had some Koni rears sitting in my trailer that came off my car when I put new shocks on last summer. I have no idea just how old these are, but my guess is that they were likely put on the car sometime in about 2008-2009 which means they have 5+ seasons of racing. I raced on them for about 3 seasons alone. Below is the quote from the Wes who ran the dyno.



Wes Burton Performance is the shop with the mobile dyno and deals solely with shocks. Their observation is that the Bilstein that is legal for use in our class is a better built shock, will last much longer, but isnt valved anywhere close to where it should be for racing. The Koni is valved better for racing, but is less consistent from the factory and is prone to much earlier fatigue. Both things to consider when building a new car or replacing your worn out shocks on your current race car. I think I am going to try out the Bilsteins on the car I am currently building.

Wes Burton Performance
burtonshocks.com/

Great info! A few seasons ago I switched to the Bilstien's and really like them. When you pull them out of the box you can see how much beefier they are, and so far they seem to last much longer. I also like the way they control the car, which is interesting that they aren't considered as suited to racing as the Koni's. For me the car doesn't bounce nearly as much and mid corner I picked up some speed. They also seem much more consistent from the start of the race to the end even in the heat.

On the negative side, long duration corners like the carousel at Sonoma I don't get good exit speed, not sure why. Some might consider the lack of adjustability a negative as well but so far it's been a positive. One less thing to dwell on and worry whether it's right.

Another downside, for me at least was because of the shaft diameter the Bilstien's didn't fit my camber plates. Luckily my neighbor has a full machine shop in his garage and just milled them down for me.

On a side note, a few years ago we had a cross over, NorCal vs SoCal event at Laguna Seca. Saturday's race the car would push push push, snap oversteer! Ended up finishing 4th. After the race we checked the shocks and found 1 rear Koni frozen. I swapped them for some castoffs from another guy that were a bit better. Inverted grid start for Sunday, car handled much better. Laptimes were the same as Saturday though and I finished.......4th! Since then I switched to the Billie's and don't think about shocks anymore!

Lots of National and Regional championships have been won with both shocks.

The Bilsteins cost less. Seem to hold up better during long races, but do not fit all strut tubes. Late chassis cars (87-88) require some mods. These may not be currently legal to do now.

Check with Dan Pina for clarification.

I replace my shocks every year. Cheaper than a set of tires, lasts all season and used sets can be sold to the TT or street guys for a few hundred dollars reducing your cost.

AgRacer wrote:


Good to know- thought I was just having terrible luck with Konis: adjusters breaking, discovering shocks with 6 races weekends completely out of oil, etc is more common than I realized.


Did Wes recommend a particular spring rate with the Bilsteins?

I dont know what spring rate the Bilstien is made for but alot of cars in the West run 350 fronts and 28mm in rear. Car rolls over a little more but is stuck and fast.
It does require a specific strut housing to use Bilstiens. 87 & 88 chassis require a mod that needs to be approved by Dan.

cbuzzetti wrote:


I may try this. I'm starting to build a 924S and was wanting to try out Bilsteins. Since my other car has late hubs I was going to try to use the late hub to capture the benefit of the bigger bearing, stronger hub, and easier rotor change.