Shock choice on 100CSQ?

[Fisher, Scott]

All,

The time is at hand to start thinking about new shocks for the trusty '93
100CSQ.  90% of this car's life is spent in the hands of my wife, who
appreciates fine automobiles (or she wouldn't have fallen so hard for the
Audi), but 10% of it is mine.  Most driving is on surface streets, some on
freeway, and some on long cruises (700 miles each way, a couple times a
year).  So we need an all-rounder.

The best shocks I've yet experienced are the Bilsteins in my daily driver, a
1974 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce (hi Tess, Joe, John, Eric... let's see, who
have I left out? :-)  They aren't too stiff for the flexible-flyer chassis,
but high-speed cornering is absolutely devoid of any drama; it puts one in
mind of the Coleridge line about a painted ship upon a painted ocean, except
for the scream of a 2-liter twin cam at 5000 RPM echoing off the Siskiyous.
But I digress.

Anyway, I'm sold on the Bilsteins for enthusiast street use.  I'm sort of
dimly aware that there are at least three flavors of Bilstein, but I can't
remember which ones are which.  If I recall, there are standard, HD, and
Sport.  Obviously, standard are, well, standard, but I can't remember
whether HD or Sport are stiffer.

For this application, I know I don't want the stiffest, but I'm toying with
the idea of going one notch up from standard.  I'd love to hear from folks
who have used one or, even better, more of these shocks, to compare and
contrast them.  Again, I rarely get the chance to sense the slip angles
moving around as I adjust this car's line in a corner, but when I do, I'd
love for the suspension movements to be damped a little better than the
current shocks (OEM at 150,000 miles, btw -- no complaints on their
longevity) are capable of.

And of course, if I'm completely off base and there's no such thing as HD or
Sport, I'd like to know that, too, so I don't sound quite so stupid when I
go to order them.

Thanks,

--Scott Fisher
  Tualatin, Oregon