The big advantage of the Bilsteins is their damping especially in the extended position. The only shock close to them in ride/handling for a street performance car are the Konis...
Yes, they are expensive but will last a long time.

Just my $0.02...

Stop dicking around guys. This is already a shocking topic and might hurt some firm feelings...

In the mean time...
I just upgraded the rear shocks on my daily '73 Dart. Went from Monroe Sensatrac Loadlevelers to Bilsteins.
Quite a difference.

Some short remarks that came to mind after the first trip with the new shocks;
Car feels firmer, more controlled suspensionmovements over speedbumps, feels more secure in corners at speed, modern like handling.

Since the Bilsteins don't have a helperspring around them, I would've expected a bit more suspension drop coming off a speedbump, but there's nothing of that at all. The shocks control/dampen the car's downward movement so much better, the springs don't even compress that much, so the springs actually 'feel' a little stronger than before.

Another thing which became way more obvious now, is how soft/cheap the front KYB-shocks feel, compared to the rears now.
The front now definitly need to be upgraded and for this I've got a set of Hotchkis adjustable shocks coming my way.
I tend to think now better shocks will probably take away the 'feeling' I need bigger torsionbars in the car. It has 1" JustSuspension bars at the moment.

I put Bilstein shocks on my Ram pickup truck when I bought it. The factory shocks were worthless. They let the truck continue to bounce after a bump while the Bilsteins tie it right down.

Having encountered most of the speedbumps, roads and some of the freeways I usually do on my daily commutes I can safely say the Bilsteins on the rear axle already make the car handle like a modern higher-end luxury car.
Can't wait until the Hotchkis front shocks arrive.

So, I installed these all the way around the 73 Barracuda, along with some 1.12 inch bars (following the installation of a ART torque box/SFC/torsion bar mount reinforcement). Wow, what a difference.

Anyway, the fronts have no dust boot. I'm sure there is a scraper in the seal or something, but did anyone feel the need to put generic boots on the fronts?