I have a question. Is there a huge difference ride wise between adjustible shocks and non-adjustible shocks? Im debating whether or not to go with kyb gr2s or kyb agx's. Is there a big difference in ride quality? From my understanding adjustibles can be a lot stiffer than non adjustibles. Any recommendations would be excellent.

 

bump for advice?

 

id say there is a difference, the GR2 is an OEM replacment shock, and the AGX can handle more spring.

 

It depends on the range of adjustability on the damping adjustable ones, and the valving of the fixed-damping one, and which two you choose to compare. I don't think you can make a generalization here because there are many different makes of coilovers out there with a wide range of valving, except to say that "Most of the time, the stiffest setting on an adjustable damper will be stiffer than its equivalent non-damping adjustable counterpart." This translates roughly into performance differences as well.
And I do see that you are talking about KYB's offerings, which I'm not familiar with, so I was talking in generalizations.
edit: and Slammed answered your question while I was typing out this lengthy response lol.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dj_audio &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a question. Is there a huge difference ride wise between adjustible shocks and non-adjustible shocks? Im debating whether or not to go with kyb gr2s or kyb agx's. Is there a big difference in ride quality? From my understanding adjustibles can be a lot stiffer than non adjustibles. Any recommendations would be excellent. </TD></TR></TABLE>

You should go to the dyno section of this forum to look at the damping force curves. This will help you understand the relative stiffness of different dampers at various settings (on adjustables).

 

There are no real performance non-adjustable shocks on the market right now. Stick with KYB AGX, Tokico Illumina or Koni Yellow. The rest are only OE replacements with false advertising and a waste of money.

 

thank you, thats the type of information i needed. I assumed aftermarket non adjustibles were still valved pritty well, but im hearing the tokico blues are very much like oem shocks, and i assume same with kyb gr2s. Im probably going with AGXs thanks for the advice

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There are no real performance non-adjustable shocks on the market right now. Stick with KYB AGX, Tokico Illumina or Koni Yellow. The rest are only OE replacements with false advertising and a waste of money.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Care to justify that? I think there are a lot of people out there who would beg to differ.

 

There are pretty much only 2 widely available non-adjustable shocks that come close to being "performance" oriented, Tokico Blues and KYB GR-2. The first is a piece of ****, the second I believe isn't even advertised as a performance shock, it just happens to have solid construction that can withstand lowering springs. There used to be Koni Reds that may of been good but they aren't available anymore and besides they were adjustable... when off the car.

 

Guess you never heard of Bilstein.

 

Bilstein's can hold quite a bit of spring. I'm running a set of integra HD's on my EK and it feels great. It's world of difference from the stock shocks.

Bilsteins are great for people who don't want to touch anything. Adjustability can hurt handling as much as it can help.

Given the choice I'd choose Bilstein over AGX, GR-2, or Blues anyday. Bilstein or Koni Yellows are my picks.

 

but aren't bilsteins a lot more?

 

Don't cheap out on your car parts. If you know for sure that one is better than another, why buy the lesser one? Unless of course its a money issue, in which case I say save up until you can afford the better one.
edit: I guess I should add "within reason". So its not to say "save up for Motons".

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Solracer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Guess you never heard of Bilstein.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Heard of them, I know they are big with european cars but never read or heard anything about them for Hondas. Their also expensive and to tell you the truth I thought they were ajustable.

 

If I was going to buy Bilsteins I would buy the SP and not the HDs. The HDs are nice, but they are OEM replacement and IMO fairly soft. I had them and didn't think they were stiff enough.

I don't know what car you are buying for. The downside is that you would need ITR rear LCAs to use the SP, because they only make them for the ITR, and not the GSR or other Integras/Civics (not sure about the latest outgoing Civic). The upside is that they can be rebulit by Bilstein for about $55 each. So even the HD can be rebuilt stiffer later on if you want (I did to handle 600 lb springs). If you look at the site, for some cars they offer both HD and SP. HD if you want more comfort oriented ride, SP if you want sporty ride for stiffer springs.

So if money is a factor, KYB AGX seem like a nice compromise.

 

hmm, right now im sorta shopping the market. I know bilsteins are a good truck shock brand, but from what i've seen for honda's, the look very expensive. Im willing to spend money, but yet to a certain extent, just as long as the ride is smooth and somewhat stiff i will be happy. I dont really wanna spend the extra money for bilsteins if they aren't adjustible, and if i would have to get ITR rear LCAs. This by the way, is going into a 6th gen civic, with drum brakes in the rear still, that might be the next project, not sure, but right now one of my shocks is blown so im shopping for shocks. Leaning toward AGX's because they seem to be rated pritty well, and are a tad cheaper than tokico illuminias. Any recommendations on where to buy online?