[m4gician]

Hi guys,

I've been corresponding with a lot of the members through PMs and we're all thinking the same thing, aside from Coilovers, are there any upgraded or different shocks/struts that we can use?

I understand that the front struts for ALL models (FWD AND AWD) fit both fine, but because of the AWD, the rears need a special modification or a new shock all together.

I have my car lowered on Elevate springs, which look great, the thing is, the struts are Volvo OEM and the rear shocks are also Volvo OEM, they are quite a bit bouncy, and I'd like to replace them. I know Koni yellows for the front are a great choice, but only Heico seems to carry a rear shock all wheel drive solution.

The funny thing with Heico is that for the rears, they're selling rebranded Bilsteins. If we can get the Bilstein part number and process and order directly, that'd be ideal as I'd want to roll the Koni's up front and the bilsteins in the back.

Any other AWD solutions out there?

 

[nkreig]

The Heico kit was made for Heico by Bilstein not just ”rebranded” so, your not going to find a rear Bilstein shock that will fit.

Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk 2

 

[destro]

Here's a 'hypothetical' question... can the rear Heico shocks be ordered separately? It probably only comes as a kit.
I love the idea of having the same setup as nkreig, but it is a little more than I'd like to spend. Agreed on the Koni's up front and the Bilstein's in the back.
Right now I'm thinking of biting the bullet and going with Bilstein or Koni's in the front and doing OEM in the rear. That will most likely throw a few things off but at this point I'm not too worried.

 

[m4gician]

Here's a 'hypothetical' question... can the rear Heico shocks be ordered separately? It probably only comes as a kit.
I love the idea of having the same setup as nkreig, but it is a little more than I'd like to spend. Agreed on the Koni's up front and the Bilstein's in the back.
Right now I'm thinking of biting the bullet and going with Bilstein or Koni's in the front and doing OEM in the rear. That will most likely throw a few things off but at this point I'm not too worried.

Koni fronts and OEM rears? That might be the best solution to be honest.

 

[destro]

Just ordered the rears from Tasca. Pretty decent considering my dealer wanted twice the price (that includes shipping from Tasca!!!).
Now I just have to decide between the Bilstein SPs or the Konis...

 

[destro]

Okay... I just had the Koni Yellows installed in the front and the OEM shocks in the rear. Bushings, control arms, etc. were all in great shape so those were left alone.
Went on a long 300 km drive to test everything out. Overall, Very Happy.
First impressions - Konis are great. Very smooth overall. The car feels confident in the corners and is quite nimble. I did hit the bump stops once or twice (not on the highway, just city driving doing about 65km/h) which caused my windshield wipers to come on. It was a hard hit but it's happened before so I wasn't worried.
The combination of the Konis and OEMs perform much better than anticipated, but there were a few times the car felt a little 'out of sorts' with the road. Nothing scary at all, but I guess that's what happens when you have mismatched shocks.

And the most disappointing thing I've Relearned about our cars... The steering is soooo numb! Virtually no feedback. Driving my girlfriend's 2009 GTI and then my S40 makes me very, very envious.

Hope that helps anyone wondering what to do about an AWD setup.

 

[Slasher]

Hey destro - where did u order the konis from? Part #'s?

 

[destro]

Hey destro - where did u order the konis from? Part #'s?

Hey Slasher, I ordered them from EST while they had their Koni 20% off sale... not sure on part numbers but here is the link:
http://www.eurosporttuning.ca/mm5/m..._Code=VLS-250-102&Category_Code=VL-S40-V50-su

 

[-ForceFed-]

Has anyone determined what the exact difference in the rear shocks is between platforms? If I remember it's a length thing. If the AWD struts are longer compared to FWD a simple top hat extender would do the trick. Then you could pick up any FWD coilover set you wanted and throw in the spacer to achieve proper strut length.

The P2 chassis does this in the rear, they have probably close to 5" long upper hats on some models to extend the strut up into the shock tower.

 

[Slasher]

I believe the fwd are longer by a couple inches.

 

[-ForceFed-]

Damn, well that throws that idea out.

 

[TG]

I believe the fwd are longer by a couple inches.

That actually makes sense! They would have lowered the mounting surface in order to lift the car to provide more clearance for the AWD.

 

[-ForceFed-]

So then installing FWD suspension would allow for a shorter shock travel thus lower your car to proper height for a change, no?