What's the deal? Turner MotorSports sells the HD's for about $450 and the sports are $750? I thought the difference between the HD and the sports was the lenght of the shock shaft, and that the valving was identicle. Surely a shorter shaft doesn't cost that much to manufacture...

 

branding baby :P same reason anything with the name JCW will cost more than an equivilent S part

 

Yup, install the HD's and buy beer with the $ you save .

 

Apple and oranges........
Don't fool yourself by thinking you can put lowering springs on the HD's. Yes you CAN, but they're not designed for them. You will have shorter compression travel and won't get enough out of your suspension.
I remember this being an issue in the VW/Audi community aswell. Don't skimp out, you will regret it in the future.

As far as the price difference, it's all about sales volume. Ask yourself how many people on this forum have the Bilstein Sports vs HD's? Although I'm sure branding has an effect on the price too.

 

I don't seem to be having a problem at all with any handling issues (I don't track), as a matter of fact, handling problems have improved substantially.
Bump steer is gone, torque is gone, Bilstein reps from Bilstein saying not a problem, so far I don't think I am having any problems, I,m happy with the setup, and if I tracked the car I would get PSS10's. I don't think the HD's are going to wear out anytime soon and if they do it will be time to buy oranges.

 

I;m not thinking of anything more than the TSW springs, 3/4" in front and 1" in the rear.

You know if they made the fenders cover the gap a little more, you wouldn't have that gap, and you wouldn't need to lower the car at all...

 

I have had Bilstein HD's running with my Eibach lowering springs for almost a year now and could not be happier with the ride. When I talked with the Bilstein tech he said "the HDs will work with spings upto around 1 1/2" drop just fine without any damage issues." Save the money and enjoy the car.