This paper presents optimal design of controllable magnetorheological(MR) shock absorbers for passenger vehicle. In order to achieve this goal, two MR shock absorbers (one for front suspension; one for rear suspension) are designed using an optimization methodology based on design specifications for a commercial passenger vehicle. The optimization problem is to find optimal geometric dimensions of the magnetic circuits for the front and rear MR shock absorbers in order to improve the performance such as damping force as an objective function. The first order optimization method using commercial finite element method(FEM) software is adopted for the constrained optimization algorithm. After manufacturing the MR shock absorbers with optimally obtained design parameters, their field-dependent damping forces are experimentally evaluated and compared with those of conventional shock absorbers. In addition, vibration control performances of the full-vehicle installed with the proposed MR shock absorbers are evaluated under bump road condition and obstacle avoidance test.