Beef97

Biggest waste of time with the "tech" guy at Bilstein. Guy just kept repeating over and over again that B6's were more like oem and B8's were more aggressive. I asked him about the possible different applications with base, z51, GS, Z06, ZR1 etc and he just kept saying the same thing. So to him, you get the B6's if you want oem like ride whether you drive a base or ZR1..... Only thing I DID learn is that the company pronounces their name like "stein" as in Frankenstein, not "steen" as I had been saying it. Good news is if anyone is looking for a job, sounds like bilSTEIN could use you.

Cherokee Nation

I guess you talked to a rookie.Call back and maybe you will get a tech that is willing to help you...BTW: If you want to spent a few bucks more check out the Konis.I had them on my Ford #%$@!^& and they are a great shock i could adjust them with 1/2 turn of a bolt under the hood,but i left them the way the shop set them to my liking..Good Luck on pick.

MTPZ06

Koni are fantastic adjustable shocks. I absolutely love them....BUT, they are about 3 times the price of the Bilsteins, so much more that a few bucks difference. Also, there's an inherent design defect that's been discussed on here and other boards that pertains to the front lower shock mounts. The lower shock bushing pushes out of the shock eye on the front lower mount like this:



So now your front shock eyelet is rattling around on the mounting pin. Since this issue has been around for many, many years...the aftermarket stepped in when Koni never cared to remedy the issue. Strano makes a monoball mount kit to replace the defective Koni design:



But at ~$1200 for a set of Koni's and another $300 for a pair of these front lower Strano mounts...you're now pushing the pricing realm of coilovers. So far more than the $400 for a set of Bilstein shocks if you're just after a nice set of replacement shocks for the OE crap. If we're talking a street car that sees the track regularly, and you want to retain the OE leaf springs...Koni setup all day. That or step up to Penske's...but those will make Koni's look like a bargain in comparison.

PCMusicGuy

Is this defect only exposed under track use or would you suspect even daily driver type of use would result in the bushing issue with enough time?

MTPZ06

Definitely an issue pretty quick under track use, and I suspect it would only be a matter of time on the street.

Beef97

Thanks for all of the suggestions, I really appreciate it. I went on tirerack's website and typed in all of the info and the only shock from Bilstein that came up was the Sports (B8) so I decided to go with those. At $99 per shock and free shipping, wasn't too hard of a decision after that. They should be here by tomorrow and hoping to install them this weekend. I'm guessing it'll be pretty straightforward, I'll do some digging on the forum from those that had them replaced. Will update later next week as to how I like them.

Beef97

Well I finally got around to installing them and really didn't run into any issues on the install. I have to admit I'm not going to be one of the guys who says that the car is totally different and it's much better than before. I tested all of my oem shocks and they were perfectly fine. I do think that the B8's were the right choice and am enjoying the ride. I think it's always difficult when you are paying specific attention to an aspect of your car to go back and compare it to how it used to be. I never really paid a whole lot of attention to what the shocks felt like before because this is my first corvette I've ever owned so I didn't have anything else to compare it to. One thing to keep in mind is that I do have Michelin PS2's that are run flats but they were manufactured in the middle of 2011 so I'm sure they are rock hard. I'll be putting new tires on in the spring and hoping to get a good feel for what the car can do then. Thanks so much for all the advice, I don't know what i'd do without this forum!!!

PCMusicGuy

Glad it worked out for you. On the feedback, you are not alone. I switched to DRM Bilstein's at 70k miles and for most of my normal daily driving, I couldn't tell the difference between them and the OEM shocks (Z51). I could tell a slight difference in turns over expansion joints in high rise overpasses where the back would not step out as much. A lot of folks change multiple components at once (tires, sways, springs, shocks, etc.) so it is tough to distinguish what really makes a difference.

Cherokee Nation

Like i said in another post I changed to HDs from the Z51 shocks and the ride back from the shop i notice a lot of different in the ride and i wonder why i did not do the change over years before......BTW: I have Firestone RFs that was put on in 2011 with 34,000 miles on them and still rides good.I'm sure you will be happy with the Belsteins when you drive on a bad street.

MTPZ06

Apparently DRM's are now back in stock...