They are 5 times better if your car gets driven hard. They aren't if the car just goes to Bob's Big Boy once a month for ice cream. I put Bilsteins on my Dodge Ram truck when it was brand new since I thought the factory shocks were terrible. The truck only had a few hundred miles on it when I changed shocks. I bet 99% of the people who bought brand new Dodge Ram trucks kept the factory shocks on them. I've put multiple sets of shocks on my Coronet over the last few years just because I was looking for a certain feel. I finally decided that Koni shocks were the best of the best. There is no universal answer, it all just depends on what you're trying to accomplish. I will say that if you have never driven a car with good shocks then you don't know what you don't know.