RE: hydraulic (koni) vs. gas (bilstein) struts

["Chris Covington" <malth@umich.edu>]

Thanks Peter, I remember driving yours and how terrific the ride was.

I'm concerned about the temperature difference as roughly half the year is
spent below 50 degrees.  Were your rears some kind of 'special' Konis, being
gas charged?  My quote from www.shox.com was for all hydraulic shocks.
Either that or the guy assumed that the rears were hydraulic...

My problem with the Bilsteins is that they are "only" the monotube ones, not
the double-chamber ones.  Whereas the Konis seem higher performance.  I
believe Mark (from shox) said:

>>Which Konis and which bilsteins are these?  (ie yellows?, stock ride
>>height, etc.)
>
>Both are sports. Koni only makes sports, and the 20Valve requires the
>Bilstein 1" shorter shaft "sports" whether you change springs or not.
>Mark

So are these Bilsteins somehow different from the ones you guys are thinking
of?

I'm pretty sure I'll be going with coil-overs from Vortrag as well, if this
changes anything (probably will lower the car .5 and that's it).

Thanks for all your help,

Chris
'90 CQ


> -----Original Message-----
> From: schulz@tif623.ed.ray.com [mailto:schulz@tif623.ed.ray.com]
> Sent: Monday, October 25, 1999 7:53 AM
> To: Chris Covington
> Cc: audi-20v@lists.boldfish.com; quattro
> Subject: Re: hydraulic (koni) vs. gas (bilstein) struts
>
>
> I can chime in on this one, especially since you drove my car at Mt
> Washington.
> My CQ has the externally adjustable hydraulic Konis (Yellows) in the
> front,
> and gas charged in the rear (both spec'd for the CQ), using the stock
> springs.
>
> The handling is great in temps above 50 degrees F, but going below that,
> the
> front end of the car stiffens considerably and bumps are felt much more.
> (I usually set the fronts on full soft for the winter - my snows have more
> side
> wall which helps soften this up a bit.)
>
> The fronts, since they are not gas charged, also do not have that slight
> lifting effect, which commonly occurs with Bilsteins and the oem springs.
> The car actually sits lower now with the front Konis than before.
>
> How do I know? It's not as easy to slip my hydraulic jack underneath.
> I think that it dropped about about 1/2 inch (2.5 cm).
>
> That said about Konis- I installed Bilsteins in my 1991 200 20v Wagon,
> at Paul Royal's recommendation, and LOVE them.  Apples and oranges,
> since a type 44 has totally different chassis dynamics, but it would
> still make me consider them for a B3/B4 9020v or CQ.
>
> The problem with
> Bilsteins for the CQ will be getting ones to fit the rear - but there are
> BTDTs on the list, and of course the other will be the increase ride
> height
> with stock springs - Paul's 90 20V has a definite "raised" look about it,
> so going to Bilsteins may make you thing about installing H&R springs
> at the same time.
>
> HTH without adding too much confusion.
>
> -Peter Schulz
> 1990 CQ
> 1991 200 20v TQW
> schulz@res.ray.com