Schlud,
As Brian said, I talked with the R&D Manager at Bilstein, the one I dealt with for prototyping the Xterra shocks, and he's the one that told me that Nissan has been talking about offering Bilstein's in a factory package. Admittedly, at this point, it is just talk, and may never happen. But it was enough that he mentioned it to me!!

To give an idea of the testing that went into these Bilsteins, they had my X for 2-1/2 days, and put over 130 miles on it. They drove over everything from surface streets, freeways with uneven expansion joints, on a dirt trail, and through a rock quarry. When I picked it up, Lou had me drive through the rock quarry - the speed signs said 12-1/2 MPH (YES -- 12-1/2), and I took it at about 40! The speed bumps were those long ones -- about 18-24" long and about 4" high -- needless to say, the box of gear I had in the cargo area got airborne over every one, and you DEFINITELY knew you had hit a bump (after all, the X doesn't have a whole lotta suspension travel) -- but the shocks just ate the bumps up! I never felt like I lost any control, and recovery was VERY quick. It's like the shocks were begging for more!

As comparison, I took Xtoolbox's X for a quick drive across an open dirt area at Hungry Valley -- got it up to about 35 MPH. Although it felt under control, the ride was a bit jarring (he had his RS9000's set to '5'). I then drove the same area in mine, and it was quite a bit smoother ride. The Bilsteins appear also to recover alot quicker from impacts. Xtoolbox also commented that during a trail ride that same weekend, where I was driving right in front of him, it appeared that I was bouncing in my seat alot less than he felt he was.

I am XTREMELY happy with my shocks and the vast improvement in ride/control they give.

Lory J

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Onward and Forward
or at least Onward
SCCX: http://www.sccxterra.com/


[This message has been edited by BlueLeader (edited 03-22-2001).]