# Active Tuning KYB AGX Rear Shocks - Kinda Long



## jayman9207 (Nov 20, 2002)

Well.............let me start off by saying that anyone who has ever bitched and moaned about their rear shocks on their 2002+ Altima *no longer has an excuse to complain*!! If your Altima has the infamous "*clunk sound*" in your rear shocks, *do not go to the dealer to get it fixed*!!! My "clunk sound" didn't show up until a couple months after doing my Sportlines so I couldn't get them replaced under warranty. I have been listening to that sound for the last 42,000+ miles. Here is the link to the AT KYB shocks: *http://www.activetuning.com/products/atpid8/*.

Install is a breeze!!! Experienced modders should only take about 20 or so minutes a side and those that are new to the mod world should only take about 30-35 minutes maximum! I give it about a 1 1/2 to maybe a 2 out of 5 on the difficulty scale. I sent some detailed installation instructions to AT last night. They should have them up on their web site soon. Here are a couple of links to DOC and PDF versions of the instructions.


*Microsoft Word Format*
*Adobe Acrobat PDF Format*

I set the AT KYB's to 4 to try out for a little. I noticed a difference right away!! Pulling out of my driveway there is a small drop when pulling into the street. Before I used to bounce a bit (especially in the back) pulling out but this time the car was solid. My first test drive was only around my neighborhood (stayed within a couple miles) but I could really feel a difference in the back end of the car. I took some quick turns and sharp corners considerably faster than I normally do and I could feel the back end grip perfectly. I also hit a couple of annoying bumps in my area that I always avoid and the shocks took them beautifully!!

My first real road test is my morning commute to work (35 miles one way - 60/40 hwy/city). Once again I was very impressed. I only have about three or four really good high-speed turns on the way to work but I really pushed the car hard on each one. The back end just sticks to the road like it is glued there!! I came into a 90-degree turn into a frontage road at 48mph and came out of it doing 63mph. WOW!! The car felt awesome!! The front end had a little bit of a hard time keeping up with the back. I am definitely going to have to replace the fronts sometime soon to balance things out.

I have got about 125 miles on the shocks now and the more I drive the more I love them!! I really got to give them a good workout this morning because I had to go into work really early. Overall there is a huge difference in the handling of the car. At times it is almost misleading because you kind of get the sensation of a rear-wheel drive car. Sometimes it almost feels like the back end is kind of pushing the car because it sticks to the road so tightly. I could really feel the difference between the front versus the back while pushing it hard around some of the corners this morning. A couple of times the front was just starting to break while the back zipped around like it was nothing. I could also feel a difference in the roll. The back end stayed really nice and tight with literally almost no roll to the car while the front twisted a bit. You could feel the back end of the car compensating for this though. It was awesome!! :thumbup: 

Some additional information would be that the setting of 4 might be a bit too tight for regular daily drivers. If you want to do some ripping around and some sweet cornering than 4 (or higher) is more than perfect! I am going to leave it on 4 for another week or so and then try 3 to see what kind of a difference it feels like. I don't have any kind of stereo or additional weight in my car so 4 might be too much for the regular driving. Before the new AT KYB's, as I drove along on some parts of some of the road around here I kind of had a slight "wompa-wompa" bounce in the car (more so in back) due to the elevation, bumps, etc... in the road. This is completely gone now and the feeling is a real firm but not majorly stiff ride. The car's back end really sticks to the road!! The car is so much quieter on the inside now with the new shocks. It brings me back to the days when the car was brand new!! It is not that the ride is too "bouncy-bouncy" but because the car now follows the contours of the road. The new shocks handle any kind of bumps beautifully but the car tends to follow the dips and shifts in the road now. The back end of the car just stays glued to the road and it tightly follows the shape and feel as you are driving along at highway speeds (well "my kind"  of highway speeds that is). I don't have any kind of extra weight to the car so for regular daily driving (which is a lot for me) I am thinking that turning it down one would take care of this and give the shocks a little more comfortable play to them. I am going to try a couple of different settings (higher and lower) no matter what just to see what kinds of differences I feel anyway. If anyone else puts these on and sets them differently, please post your findings and thoughts.

All in all the AT KYB's are totally friggen awesome!! The handling performance improvements are even more noticeable that my Sportlines and sway bar upgrades. I *very highly recommend these* to anyone who is really looking to improve the handling of their car!!


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## Ruben (Oct 15, 2002)

Thanks for the review... we don't get much love here..


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## Coco (Apr 30, 2002)

Thanks man! I'll add this to the modification list.


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## jayman9207 (Nov 20, 2002)

Well............I have about 200 miles on now with the shocks set to three. Before I changed the setting I was really starting to get used to the shocks being set to four. Anyhow, you can definitely feel a bit of a difference in the way the car rides; especially along the long stretches of highway. The ride is a little bit more "cushy" and the shocks are a little more forgiving. Not much but enough to feel a difference. It is not quite a "bouncy" feeling but there is definitely a little bit of spring in the ride. Cornering is almost exactly the same. Aside from barely feeling a little extra roll in the back of the car the car seems to handle almost the same as when the shocks were set to four. I took on some pretty fun high-speed corners and I came shooting out of them at about 75 - 85 MPH and there is almost no difference in the feel to the car.

I am thinking on putting them on one for a couple of days just to see what the lowest setting feels like. After that I am going to set them back to four. Like I mentioned earlier, I was really starting to get used to the feeling of the car on four and I think I like it best. I plan on testing out five and six once I get the fronts replaced and get some new tires. My wife rode in the car just before I changed the setting to three and while I had it set to three. She liked the setting of three better. She also noticed the slight "spring" in the car but really thought it was more comfortable while set to three.

All in all I was looking to really improve the handling performance of the car and I think setting the shocks to four is a perfect balance for me. I love these shocks and can't wait to get the front ones one (still saving my pennies but getting really close ). I think those of you that might be worried about the car being too stiff would enjoy the setting of maybe two or three. Anyone who has a system or some extra weight in the back of their car would probably not want to go any lower than three.


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## myoung (Apr 15, 2002)

Thanks for the info...well done!


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## ALTYHOLIC (Oct 19, 2002)

I had the AGX/Sportline combo 
on my old SE-R and was very pleased
with the set-up. 

Jason, I'd like to ride in your car next time
you come to Dallas and see if I want to 
duplicate the set up for my 3.5. 
O.k.?


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## jayman9207 (Nov 20, 2002)

You are more than welcome! I got a lot of help from others when I first got my Alty and asked a ton of questions so I am just trying to give a little back! Alex, it is gonna cost you at least a beer but yeah you can check out how the new shocks feel!  I hope to get my fronts done soon so you won't get the whole feeling yet but I guarantee you are going to feel a huge difference. These things are sweet!

OK..........I put about 90 miles on the setting of 1 and I have to say I was quite surprised as to how they performed. I could tell right away that there was going to be some what of a noticeable difference just by pushing down on the back of the car. You could feel the softness in the shocks. I was thinking that the "springy" feeling I noticed with the harder settings would be worse but I was very wrong. The next thing I noticed right away is that the shocks still absorbed the bumps and dips very well but the difference was that the shocks were also cushioning the bumps as dips now. It kind of blew me away because the car was very smooth and comfortable on the Sportlines. It reminded me of when I first installed my Sportlines way back when on my OEM shocks (before they became toast) but the AT KYB's felt better!  The car's rear tires still were staying glued to the road but now the shocks were working hard to soften the feeling of the road. I was very impressed.

Now onto the cornering and handling. I could also feel a difference on the high-speed corners. I could still zip around the corners pretty easily but now I wasn't getting that sensation of the rear end kind of pushing the car around the turn anymore. The front end broke a little bit sooner than with the higher settings but the car was still handling the corners much better than with the OEM shocks. There was also a noticeable difference in the roll to the car in the rear end (shocks were "cushioning" the feel to the road as I was going around the corner). I was looking to get rid of the roll and I wanted the car to really hug the corners. I am going to set my shocks back to 4 again. I will probably keep them set to somewhere around 3 to 5 once I get my fronts, new tires, and new sway bar bushings just because I really wanted to improve the handling. Sure I am going to lose a little of the comfort but I sure love that feeling of zipping around those high-speed corners. I love to push my car from time to time to see what it can do.

So those of you that are looking to improve the handling performance of your Alty while not trying to go too drastic in the feeling of the car, these AT KYG Adjustables will probably be perfect for you. Especially if you wanted to stay with your OEM shocks. Just set the shocks to 1 or 2 and I think you will be very impressed as well as very happy!! I would suspect that ProKits would work pretty sweet as well with these. Those of you that are looking to really enhance the handling performance of your car will also love these shocks! I definitely give them a 10 out of 10! You just can’t beat the adjustability! :thumbup:


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