FOLLOW-UP POST: Peewog and I drove each other's VXs last night - hers with OEM shocks and mine with the the new Bilsteins - and I can report that the Bilsteins provide about 97% of the damping that the OEM shocks do. No joke - I've been paying attention. Bump, rebound, and body motions were nearly identical between the two VXs. I thought mine transmitted road surface imperfections a bit more than hers, but I'm chalking that up to different tires rather than the shocks. Her tires were probably just a little softer than mine, so I got more vibrations from the road surface. But as for bump and rebound, the bigger jolts, dips, and heaves had about the exact same effect with either shock.