Anybody upgrade ONLY the rear shocks?

[gdvsbp]

Greetings, all.

Preface: I did search first, but didn't turn up what I was looking for.

Perspective: I've previously had a 2010 WRX with Koni Yellows, ~1/2" drop, Star Specs, sways, and a bunch of bushings and common Subaru suspension geometry things. Between the WRX, the HD-suspension'd police-spec Crown Vic I'm driving now, and my 4x4 Ranger, I'm quite used to a firm suspension. Unrelated but important: I'm cheap.

Predicament: I'm on the hunt for an ST, and I'm thoroughly excited to get back into something I can shift myself and can get my blood pumping a bit more than my old cop car. However, I'm a little concerned that the ride quality is going to get me some flak from the wife (since this will be our family car).

I've read the posts about swapping out OEM dampers for Koni's str.t and yellow models, and this is what I came away with:

Koni str.t
Pros: OEM handling, less jostling ride, inexpensive. Cons: High-speed front-end floatiness. Non-adjustable (though I don't really care about that at this point)

Koni yellows
Pros: They're great, and adjustable, and everyone loves them. Cons: Expensive. Too expensive for my wallet to stomach now that I'm not just a single guy with a car and a job.

So, if I'm ruling out the Yellows for cost reasons, and not keen on going full-Orange due to the aforementioned weird high-speed characteristics of the front-end, AND if I'm cheap... it seems pretty sensible to just swap out the OEM rear shocks for a couple str.t shocks. If most of the ride harshness is coming from the back, doesn't replacing those make sense? I think so, but...

I can't find anybody who's done it, or said more than "I'm considering trying only rear shocks out with my [H&R or whatever] lowering springs."

Does anyone have experience with OEM springs, OEM struts, and Koni Orange or Yellow shocks? Or even just a nice "yes I think that's a good idea" for me? I know I'm putting the cart before the horse with questions like this when I don't even have the car, but it's how my brain works so help a guy out.

Thanks for sitting through my verbosity, and for any words of wisdom.

 

[Donny16]

I installed Koni STR-T rear shocks on my FiST a couple of weeks ago while maintaining the stock struts up front. I suffer from lower back pain and the jostling caused by the stock suspension was killing me. I purchased some Koni STR-T rear shocks because I didn't want to deal with removing the shocks every time to dial them in like on the yellows. They took a little less than an hour to install and I can honestly say that 80% of the harsh ride has vanished. Also, on the freeway the car stays inside the lanes with alot less effort. It appears that the stock struts were bouncing the car all over the road. I have driven with them on Vogtland and stock springs and I am very satisfied. This is how the car should of came from the factory!

 

[Flaco]

I have the Koni rear yellows for about a year and a half. Nice improvement over stock.

 

[gdvsbp]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies!

I've since actually, y'know, purchased the car so at least I can now speak from experience haha.

Yeah, it's a busy ride. I just swapped the stock Bridgestones out for taller 205/45-17 Conti ExtremeContacts and that has mellowed things a lot. Took a lot of the crash out of it.

Anyway, the oranges in the rear is still something on my mind. I had yellows on my WRX in the past and loved them, but I'm reeeaaally trying to keep any mods I make this time around as uninvolved, set-and-forget, and cheap as I can (got bit by the opposite with the WRX). I'm pretty much 100% street driving these days anyway, so the higher performance threshold of the yellows would be sort of wasted on me.

Thanks again for the feedback.