Originally posted by mcgainer:
O-k...was talking to Terry Haines today after he took my car for a spin. What I know now, but didn't know before I bought my BAT kit, is that the BAT struts, being gas pressurized, are kinda boingy...they hit a bump, then react real fast to expand the strut to its full length (or back to normal) due to the gas charge. Now Konis...are not gas charged, and they don't "assist" the spring and provide "extra" boing to the rebound of the shock. I've noticed as I've been driving, that after hitting a bump, the struts almost come back too fast (hence the boinging). Had I know this...plus the fact that when you adjust the Konis for dampening that you're adjusting the compression and rebound action of the strut, I might just have saved a little more and gone Koni.

Just a little FYI...


The Koni's are also gas-charged, and they are single-adjustable. (Rebound only, not compression.)

The condition you describe sounds like an over-sprung strut. Surprising. And no-one else has ever noted this of the BAT kit.

And yes, when that kit first surfaced, it was said to be "slightly over $600," but now it's at $750 or $775.

Hmmm. BAT kit plus Aussie bar, or Koni kit and then more saving?


Function before fashion. '96 Contour SE "Toss the Contour into a corner, and it's as easy to catch as a softball thrown by a preschooler." -Edmunds, 1998