Dunlop
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- Apr 13, 2019
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- Members Ride
- 1993 VR Commodore Acclaim
A few weeks ago I had the new Aunger OEM replacement front struts removed in my Acclaim 6 and replaced with KYB Excel G's - this is a review.
Firstly a disclaimer - I'd never driven a new VR Acclaim before I bought mine in late 2007. so I don't know what the ride is like with new original Holden Monroe (yes - it's stamped into them) struts. Secondly, the control arm bushes haven't been replaced as yet (they could be the original ones), so this can affect the ride. Third, the reputable local mechanics did a shock absorber damping test on the original worn units and found the front to be about 68% on the left and about 71% of full effectiveness - they rated them 'good'. The car is completely stock - not lowered. I wouldn't want to lower it on the roads I drive on.
The original struts surprisingly - which the local Holden service department believe were original (after 250,000 kms,,,) - were still actually working quite well - the handling was still very good, the ride was better than the new struts, and there was virtually no bounce. However front and rear on the passenger side were starting to make knocking noises when I pulled out of my rough driveway or did certain U turns. This of course is caused by the seals wearing out - didn't sound too good so it was time to replace them.
Now, a bit of technical information for you. When I push the front of my car down, pressing on the corner of the mudguard after the car has been sitting for a while, I can push it down about six centimetres. If I push the front down about six times, the struts stiffen up a lot. The same thing happens when I come back from a drive. So why is this? It's because the valving makes the struts stiffer due to being 'progressive' as opposed to being 'digressive' - the latter of which is used in vehicles such as the Dakar rally. The stiffening assists handling as the car speeds up.
THE PUSH TEST.
So...The 'Push Test'. When I got the Aunger struts, I took one out of the box and pushed the extended piston rod right down. It was pretty stiff. When I tried this with a KYB strut, I found it was about the same, despite having triple valving.
INITIAL FITTING OF AUNGER STRUTS.
When the Aunger struts were first put on early this year, as in a post I've already put on, I couldn't believe how stiff they were. I thought "Don't tell me this was the 'original' ride...??". After about a week they softened up quite a bit - the streets around the country town where I live are pretty undulating and two main roads leading out sustained damage in parts due to very heavy rain this year resulting in potholes and broken bitumen, so they got quite a work out. Be warned that if you only drive on smooth roads it could take a bit longer for them to soften up. After about five months of driving on these, I began to become a bit concerned about shock feeding back to the steering gear. Also there are a couple of sections of road in town that have been dug up and refilled - one a shallow dip and another a narrow trench where a slight ridge was left when filled. Driving over the shallow dip caused a 'thump' from the front left and I felt the trench ridge fed back a bit too much impact which I found really annoying. In addition, there are some short sections of cobblestones which really test your suspension.
Prior to buying the Aunger's, I could only find one review of 5 stars - put on by a supplier. I thought this was a bit odd, so make sure you can find some independant real world reviews before buying anything.
FITTING THE KYB'S.
After doing a LOT of research on the Excel G's and Monroe's etc , I found a supplier selling the Excel G's for a very reasonable price - KYB's site states that they are 'valved for Australian conditions' whereas Monroe GT Gas - which are reputedly pretty good - were quite a bit more expensive. I found a little later that the original ACDelco/Monroe's are still available for about $145 each or so. I'd read that the KYB's have a 'firm ride' so I was really surprised to find that they were a LOT less stiff new than the brand new Aungers when I drove back over a main road that has lots of undulations on it in addition to repaired sections. When the KYB's were fitted, it was found that the left front strut bearing mount was nearly 'falling apart' so this had to be replaced - it may have caused the thumping effect but I don't know.
The thump over the local street dip vanished with the KYB's and they do feel a little softer over the awful filled trench but only by a small amount. BUT struts can take a few hundred kms to wear in properly - mainly drive around town these days so I really don't do many kms.
OVERALL HANDLING.
One main road out of town includes about two kms of tight bends and I've driven up a mountain in the area where I know the road very well - it has 107 bends. I couldn't detect any difference in handling between the worn original struts, the Aungers and the KYB's although the Aungers seem to have a bit more vertical movement on a really undulating section of road and the car felt less tied down - almost a bit unstable. I haven't really done any hard braking so I can't comment on that yet.
VALUE FOR MONEY.
There was a catch here - the Aungers come with rubber boots and bump stops for the front but you have to buy these as extras with the KYB's - the same with Monroes. As the mechanics bought these, I just found they paid about $76 per strut - Ouch... Unless you drive on the sort of roads i do, the Aungers represent pretty good value for money at about $92 per strut front and less for the rear. I found by chance that one of my local mechanics had fitted two sets of these and had a couple of warranty returns which is a bit odd as they appear to be very well made and use high quality NOK seals - not sure why they failed. I'd suggest you keep your receipt in a safe place if you do buy the Aungers, but chances are they should be ok.
Finally, due to cost constraints I left the Aunger rear struts in as the rear is not as critical for shock feedback compared to the front.
By the way, someone on this site stated in a post that 'Monroe's are rubbish' but didn't explain why. I wish people would support their statements.
Hope this review helps.
Firstly a disclaimer - I'd never driven a new VR Acclaim before I bought mine in late 2007. so I don't know what the ride is like with new original Holden Monroe (yes - it's stamped into them) struts. Secondly, the control arm bushes haven't been replaced as yet (they could be the original ones), so this can affect the ride. Third, the reputable local mechanics did a shock absorber damping test on the original worn units and found the front to be about 68% on the left and about 71% of full effectiveness - they rated them 'good'. The car is completely stock - not lowered. I wouldn't want to lower it on the roads I drive on.
The original struts surprisingly - which the local Holden service department believe were original (after 250,000 kms,,,) - were still actually working quite well - the handling was still very good, the ride was better than the new struts, and there was virtually no bounce. However front and rear on the passenger side were starting to make knocking noises when I pulled out of my rough driveway or did certain U turns. This of course is caused by the seals wearing out - didn't sound too good so it was time to replace them.
Now, a bit of technical information for you. When I push the front of my car down, pressing on the corner of the mudguard after the car has been sitting for a while, I can push it down about six centimetres. If I push the front down about six times, the struts stiffen up a lot. The same thing happens when I come back from a drive. So why is this? It's because the valving makes the struts stiffer due to being 'progressive' as opposed to being 'digressive' - the latter of which is used in vehicles such as the Dakar rally. The stiffening assists handling as the car speeds up.
THE PUSH TEST.
So...The 'Push Test'. When I got the Aunger struts, I took one out of the box and pushed the extended piston rod right down. It was pretty stiff. When I tried this with a KYB strut, I found it was about the same, despite having triple valving.
INITIAL FITTING OF AUNGER STRUTS.
When the Aunger struts were first put on early this year, as in a post I've already put on, I couldn't believe how stiff they were. I thought "Don't tell me this was the 'original' ride...??". After about a week they softened up quite a bit - the streets around the country town where I live are pretty undulating and two main roads leading out sustained damage in parts due to very heavy rain this year resulting in potholes and broken bitumen, so they got quite a work out. Be warned that if you only drive on smooth roads it could take a bit longer for them to soften up. After about five months of driving on these, I began to become a bit concerned about shock feeding back to the steering gear. Also there are a couple of sections of road in town that have been dug up and refilled - one a shallow dip and another a narrow trench where a slight ridge was left when filled. Driving over the shallow dip caused a 'thump' from the front left and I felt the trench ridge fed back a bit too much impact which I found really annoying. In addition, there are some short sections of cobblestones which really test your suspension.
Prior to buying the Aunger's, I could only find one review of 5 stars - put on by a supplier. I thought this was a bit odd, so make sure you can find some independant real world reviews before buying anything.
FITTING THE KYB'S.
After doing a LOT of research on the Excel G's and Monroe's etc , I found a supplier selling the Excel G's for a very reasonable price - KYB's site states that they are 'valved for Australian conditions' whereas Monroe GT Gas - which are reputedly pretty good - were quite a bit more expensive. I found a little later that the original ACDelco/Monroe's are still available for about $145 each or so. I'd read that the KYB's have a 'firm ride' so I was really surprised to find that they were a LOT less stiff new than the brand new Aungers when I drove back over a main road that has lots of undulations on it in addition to repaired sections. When the KYB's were fitted, it was found that the left front strut bearing mount was nearly 'falling apart' so this had to be replaced - it may have caused the thumping effect but I don't know.
The thump over the local street dip vanished with the KYB's and they do feel a little softer over the awful filled trench but only by a small amount. BUT struts can take a few hundred kms to wear in properly - mainly drive around town these days so I really don't do many kms.
OVERALL HANDLING.
One main road out of town includes about two kms of tight bends and I've driven up a mountain in the area where I know the road very well - it has 107 bends. I couldn't detect any difference in handling between the worn original struts, the Aungers and the KYB's although the Aungers seem to have a bit more vertical movement on a really undulating section of road and the car felt less tied down - almost a bit unstable. I haven't really done any hard braking so I can't comment on that yet.
VALUE FOR MONEY.
There was a catch here - the Aungers come with rubber boots and bump stops for the front but you have to buy these as extras with the KYB's - the same with Monroes. As the mechanics bought these, I just found they paid about $76 per strut - Ouch... Unless you drive on the sort of roads i do, the Aungers represent pretty good value for money at about $92 per strut front and less for the rear. I found by chance that one of my local mechanics had fitted two sets of these and had a couple of warranty returns which is a bit odd as they appear to be very well made and use high quality NOK seals - not sure why they failed. I'd suggest you keep your receipt in a safe place if you do buy the Aungers, but chances are they should be ok.
Finally, due to cost constraints I left the Aunger rear struts in as the rear is not as critical for shock feedback compared to the front.
By the way, someone on this site stated in a post that 'Monroe's are rubbish' but didn't explain why. I wish people would support their statements.
Hope this review helps.
