If you're set on adjustable but don't absolutely have to have the TEMS system (aka manual adjustment) then I believe you'll find the Koni are a good deal stiffer at the firmest setting. I prefer this setup anyway as you can tune each wheel individually to account for bias from uneven loads (ie: empty car with just the driver upsetting things on one side). The crap part about these is that I believe you still have to release the strut from the hat in order to rotate the piston to adjust the valve (It's not a huge deal if you're running drop springs as you don't need a spring compressor nor do you need to pull everything out to make the adjustment). This has been a complaint for some time but I don't think there's anything they can do with many struts due to how they're built and how they mount. Regardless I know a lot of people have ditched TEMS in favor of these and were quite happy once they got everything dialed in.
No idea how you're going to manage all this for <$500 though... More like $700+. Just struts are going to cost you $500 or so.
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