ALFAGTV6.COM

I don't want to get a big, off the rails, heated discussion going, but What is a better option for me?

Car is a 83 GTV6
3.0 with 164S bits
street driven
stock torsion bars
Verde front sway bar
rear sway bar (stock i think)
poly bushes everywhere
205/55-15 tires

Roads aren't that great here.
I don't want to get beat up with the ride.
Car is a nice daily driver

I've seen Bilstiens and Konis (two flavors...red and yellow). I haven't seen any stock (spica) shocks.

I am looking for some direction here both on what to buy and where to buy.

Thanks,

MR2 Zig my experience has been with Koni's on my 86 GTV6.When I got the car it had Koni reds.I decided I wanted to use my car on the track as well as the street and decided to upgrade my suspension.I installed "performance" rear springs and Milano Verde torsion bars.At the same time I installed Koni yellows at all 4 corners.That was about 5 years ago and I have been completely satisfied.They have been ideal for my track requirements and they are very good for street use.Keep in mind that I drive on some really bad roads (out in the country in Quebec) and suspension compliance has never been an issue for me.At the time I shopped for the Koni's and the best deal was from http://www.shox.com .Since that time Andy at http://www.performatek.comhas begun selling them and if I was in the market and his prices were close,I would support him as he is a really good supplier to our community.

Thanks for the help Murray

I have both and they are great. Our agent for Koni always says Koni are better (obviously he is biased) but backed it up with Koni uses only oil and valves so it does not matter howhot it gets the shock always was consistant. Unlike gas that expands so the rougher it get the worse it gets. Having said this you should find out which ranges you are comparing.

That's just silly, the gas is only there to keep the oil from foaming. It doesn't have an active part in the shock damping.
For a stock damper/shock I'd never go Koni on an Alfetta based car, the tuning done is useless and backwards. Koni makes excellent shocks but for the Alfetta they are just wrong.

Bilstein have a good setup for the Alfetta chassis, the Yellow ones are great. Get them.

Mats once made his opinion quite clear in another thread:

throw the Konis in a deep pond far-far into the woods then drink loads of whiskey (or possibly Vodka) so you forget what you did to them.

Still on of my favorite AlfaGTV6.com quotes

Hi Matt, what rear springs do you suggest for Bilstein shocks on a street GTV6?
thanks

No idea, never was able to get a good Alfetta chassis with any torsion bars.

about 275lbs is common around here.

It seems that MD is a hard arse (literally) 150 to 200 might be a better bet for a street car

Koni agent (?) explanation of gas versus oil is just weird. All else being equal (it rarely is) gas is betterer, but there is nothing wrong with either if spec'ed appropriately for the job. Bilstein seem to be more suitable to higher rate springs (but I have never used them ).

Koni yellow work OK on the street with standard torsion bars and rear springs as per above. Do they still make reds? - anyhow,doesn't matter, you want yellows.

Thanks for the input guys!!!

Another thing which might not be that obvious having been playing with them £$€ torsion bars.

Get any coil over sprinsg in the right direction. They don't cost anything compared to T-bars and they are easy to swap. If you get 200 lbs for starters it will already make the car handle much better. Then get softer or stiffer as you feel. Nice to have options.

for a street a;lfetta you dont want to go higher than 200lbs rate. The RS street kit is 200lbs rate, and I can tell you it's just about liveable on the street, but only just! 180 odd would be perfet for street use if you can get it. what width wheels are you running? with 200lbs or so and uprated front roll bar, dont stick wide wheels on it, unless you are related to Arnie, or have power steering.