Originally Posted by Loren

For stock springs, the best performance shocks you can get (without getting exotic and super-expensive) are Bilsteins. Second best (possibly moving to first if you're the type who likes adjustability) is Koni Sport.

That probably doesn't change when you go to stiffer springs, but it does add $400 or more to have the Bilstein's or Konis revalved to suit your application. It DOES change when you start going more than an inch lower than stock, however. No stock replacement shock is designed to operate exclusively in the bottom range of it's travel, and most of them (Konis I know from experience!) tend to self-destruct when you bottom them out too hard or too often. This is where the short-bodied coilover shock comes in.

What do you get with a K-Sport or similar? Probably a little lower quality shock (maybe... or it could be a copy of the Bilstein using readily available parts... hmmm?), but properly valved for the stiffer springs that you want to use, and with a body that can be adjusted shorter to allow you to run a lower ride height with more safety, reliability and comfort.

Biggest problem I've seen with most coilover kits is that people simply don't set them up properly. It's the old "just because you can doesn't mean you should" conundrum. Ricer boy gets the bad-ass JDM coilover kit that CAN be adjusted so that his chin spoiler scrapes on dimes and his wheels "tuck" neatly into the fenders, completely ignoring the fact that it SHOULDN'T be set up that way! They set the suspension up so that it's almost already bottomed out at rest and then wonder why the shocks fail within a few months of normal street driving.

That, or they install the kit and set everything to full stiff and wonder why the car doesn't handle properly. Or they install the kit and don't bother to do a proper alignment and wonder why their tires wear out.