KYB vs Bilstien Touring for a Subaru

[meep]

I tried (in vain) to find some Sachs for it. I remember I kind of cursed the B6’s the first year of ownership on my Transit van…again, too harsh. Nowadays, maybe 20k miles later, either I’ve just gotten use to them, or they have “broken in.” Last time I had them off-road, they were still a bit brutal, but I no longer grit my teeth on pavement. So maybe in another 10-15k, I will begin to enjoy them on the Outback.

If there is a Bilstein Japan BTS strut/spring offering for your model, and you have $2000-$2500 to splurge on them, I bet you will be happy. Again, part of the magic may be the springs. Plus, they might be monotube front and rear, assuming that is a good thing.

All this said, my use case is pretty much pavement only on the Subaru. Yes, I know, it’s all backwards: I take my 2wd Transit off pavement without blinking an eye, while the AWD Subaru gets relegated to pavement, with wee bit of lightest possible gravel thrown in time to time. But with the latest alignment (some slight negative camber up front), it hints at the steering / handling of the older 2007 with JDM stuff.

I will say one more thing: this discussion prompted me to look at get-primitive’s website again, looking at all their strut options, and evidently some newer Subarus use a non-KYB OEM spring; they label it FHI: Fuji Heavy Industry. If that’s the case for your model, by all means consider it. I don’t know first-hand if they are better or worse, but from the passenger seat of a 2023 or 2024 XT (not 2025 as I said in earlier post), I was pleasantly surprised. I don’t know what factory shocks that model used. For all I know, they are still KYB, but evidently better tuned than the old ones, especially old worn out ones.

Fuji Heavy Industries, I believe is the parent company of Subaru.

 

[Impatient]

Fuji Heavy Industries, I believe is the parent company of Subaru.

Yep. But in the olden days, it was thought, or assumed, the OEM shocks were made by KYB, and the aftermarket KYB’s were virtually the same…though in some cases maybe slightly more firm. The whole GR2 vs Excel-G thing was another aspect, as the Japanese-made silver GR2’s were allegedly different from the USA KYB/Gabriel Excel G, and better.

I was admittedly flailing around with all this in my youth. Back in the day, there was a site called legacyGT.com, and I and a few others (smarter or better-financed than me) were experimenting with Legacy GT and Outback XT variations.

Also, not that anyone cares anymore, but at one point I had some JDM Bilstein inverted monotube front struts for a Gen 2 “Lancaster” Outback; Bilstein on the inside, but “KYB” stamped on the outer strut body. There were my favorite, but I could never get camber even close to acceptable when mounted to a Gen 3, as the body length and/or lower mounts were so different between the Gen 2 and Gen 3, or so I thought; so I had to move on. I later fantasized about doing my own “cut-and-stuff” using KYB strut bodies appropriate for the car in question with those Bilstein inverted internals. If you ever find silver JDM inverted monotube Bilsteins on the Interwebs, they might have the same roots as those. I never could get confirmation on this, but I thought a Japanese company called Showa had something to do with these.

 

[meep]

Yep. But in the olden days, it was thought, or assumed, the OEM shocks were made by KYB, and the aftermarket KYB’s were virtually the same…though in some cases maybe slightly more firm. The whole GR2 vs Excel-G thing was another aspect, as the Japanese-made silver GR2’s were allegedly different from the USA KYB/Gabriel Excel G, and better.

I was admittedly flailing around with all this in my youth. Back in the day, there was a site called legacyGT.com, and I and a few others (smarter or better-financed than me) were experimenting with Legacy GT and Outback XT variations.

Also, not that anyone cares anymore, but at one point I had some JDM Bilstein inverted monotube front struts for a Gen 2 “Lancaster” Outback; Bilstein on the inside, but “KYB” stamped on the outer strut body. There were my favorite, but I could never get camber even close to acceptable when mounted to a Gen 3, as the body length and/or lower mounts were so different between the Gen 2 and Gen 3, or so I thought; so I had to move on. I later fantasized about doing my own “cut-and-stuff” using KYB strut bodies appropriate for the car in question with those Bilstein inverted internals. If you ever find silver JDM inverted monotube Bilsteins on the Interwebs, they might have the same roots as those. I never could get confirmation on this, but I thought a Japanese company called Showa had something to do with these.

Youve done some serious homework there. That’s awesome info!