Carpokes Porsche Forum

I have two 951 cars. One thats getting Riaction digressive coilovers that I already have and one that is going to stay stock and will be driven in the city and sometimes by my wife who likes a softer ride. Im looking to maintain the stock car and KYB shocks are significantly cheaper than the Bilstein B6 which I have read that are much stiffer. The car in question is getting new oem bushings.

How good or bad are KYB shocks for a stock 86 951 and has anyone here ever used them? I feel like the KYB replacement would perform better than the tired original shocks the car currently has. Only $230 for the set!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186702128915?f ... 2K2NDZVRSP

In my experience, not that great for most any German car. Seems like KYB doesn't actually tailor the valving to match a given car, but looks through the catalog for something similar in size and physical design, tweaks it to fit and puts it in the catalog, whether the valving is appropriate to the application or not. I note that the set you linked at eBay is twin-tube low pressure front, and mono-tube high pressure rear, which seems to be typical for KYB fitments.

For OEM ride I'd see if you can find some NOS Boge/Sachs instead, assuming they ever made them for a 951.

Like everything else you pay for quality, design and function and I would check out shocks like KW, MCS , etc. and on the less expensive line I would choose Konis over the KYBs. I am sure someone out there uses the KYBs, yet I don't know a single Trackrat buddy using them and that is always a good indication of product competence in my mind.

Way back when I was getting my foot in the door of my profession and finishing up graduate school (aka, not much disposable income), I put KYB's on my '88 n/a daily driver.
Not even 18 months later, they were shot.
I then put Koni inserts in the front and sports in the rear.
I could tell the difference within a block after leaving the driveway.
As other's have mentioned, I would advise against the KYB's.

Cheers

Back in the day KYB stood for Kill Your Back . They may or may not be better quality now . I personally wouldn't buy them .

To be fair, I'm sure that not all KYB are junk. I've never had good results on any German car - 6 months on a lowered Gen1 Scirocco; nasty mis-matched valving on a set that the PO put on the '72 911T before I bought it. But some of their stuff on some vehicles work well. I've got a set of KYB mono-tube MonoMax shocks on my '96 Tacoma 4x4, and they are great. But keep them off of German sports cars...

KYB --- sounds like it might mean " Keep Your Bucks " and spend them on something else that is made for a Classic machine like yours!

I have a set of Koni for sale. Fits 87 and newer. The front spring perches are still intact so you could use your stock springs with the Koni struts/shocks.
See viewtopic.php?p=46399&hilit=koni#p46399

Im thinking, is it better to put in a set of riaction coil overs for the best ride quality? The kit eliminates the torsion bar which I think would make the car loose stiffness. Then again in comparison to the original 40 year old shocks it’s bound to be an improvement.

Torsion bar is just a different kind of spring. If the springs on the coilovers are the proper spring rate, no stiffness will be lost.