Your description about the stock shocks is spot-on. I made the mistake of using them with lowering springs (well, it was just a combination of a lot of things that happened) and they were too soft for the springs. The car floats like a Lincoln towncar on freeway bumps, the front dips easily during braking and cornering. I also have problems with grip during take off because the front lifts during hard accerleration, I would be smoking tires even with half throttle from standstill. When I was using the 17" summer tires, because of the tremendous grip from the tires, I was still able to tolerate with the handling during fast driving, but once I switched to my winter tires, the handling was just too scary for me to go fast. With the breif test drive I took just now, the front doesn't dip or lift that easily anymore, the car doesn't float like a Lincoln, and I really like the turn-in response.<P>Remember, the Konis are adjustable, and the softest setting is OEM stiff while the stiffest setting is rock hard. So I am sure you can find a comfortable setting for DC driving. The best thing about Bilsteins or Konis is that they do eliminate the sharp "crash" feel during bumps. And that alone is worth the $$, not to mention the tremendous improvement in handling. Ok, been talking too much about my Konis, time to hit the back roads again <IMG SRC="http://www.swedespeed.com/ubb/smile.gif"><P>