As many of you know, I autocross my 2006 Civic LX Coupe nationally with the SCCA in H Stock, a class currently dominated by the base MINI Cooper. Other brands are quickly closing the gap to them in that class, but in the end, the MINI's are still winning.

A good set of struts and shocks goes a long way in a class that limits mods and as such, I have been pestering a certain individual at Koni for over a year now. It seems Koni is still having trouble getting the stampings from Honda that would allow them to make a direct copy of our front struts (the rear shocks are simple to reproduce, btw) thereby allowing a true off-the-shelf application. I could have gone with a custom setup, but I cannot warrant spending over $2000 on shocks... Maybe on an Elise, but not a Civic.

So, in the short-term, I have lost some faith in Koni in the sense that as a company with their global finances, marketing clout, and motorsports heritage why couldn't they be more aggressive in acquiring what they need to help out owners of what will surely be another profitable Honda platform, much like the EF, EG, EK, etc. chassis were (and still are)... I may still ultimately put a set of Koni dampers on my car but if they don't have anything by late spring / early summer 2007, I'm going to be very upset.

In the meantime, I have been contacting Bilstein. They make some very good aftermarket shocks as well; their major "downside" is they are non-adjustable from the factory without being customized (but this is cheap enough to have done)... But I simply need a stiffer shock, and this is where you fellow Honda-Tech members come in as better shocks and struts will help all of you who lower their cars.

Please call them and pressure their R&D people to develop a product for the new 2006+ Civic. Use their WEST COAST number, that is where their R&D branch is located. It may be a case where they encounter similar problems that Koni had, but it's worth a shot...

http://www.bilstein.com/contac...e3387

Thank you.

 

Hey bud ,

How goes it.
what about Tokico? no good. I was talking to a rep in Vegas @ sema about shocks and he said spring 07 they will have products out.

- Mike

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Type X &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hey bud ,

How goes it.
what about Tokico? no good. I was talking to a rep in Vegas @ sema about shocks and he said spring 07 they will have products out.

- Mike</TD></TR></TABLE>

I doing well Mike, thanks... But, no, I have never liked Tokico products. Sorry.

Ideally, in a budget-free world, I'd love Motons or Ohlins!

But Koni or Bilstein are the most trusted names in the autocross community... And for good reason.

 

i tried writing a paragraph earlier but i wasnt logged in and it got deleted (sigh). im having the same trouble with companies being couch potatoes with manufacturing goods for the widely available market.

here are my complaints:
-there is only one header available and it's dc sports race header which is causing many people problems
-there is only one sway bar available...
-apr already has had a front splitter for our car for im guessing a year now and i cant find it anywhere...
-as mike reported, arc's induction box is already designed and seen in the sema photographs but won't be available until summer 07?!?!

my apology for digressing from your thread but continuing with my previous statement, companies need to wake up and take a look around.

 

Admittedly, there needs to be a strong DEMAND in order for there to be a SUPPLY, I may have sounded like I was unaware of this most basic business principle. However, people WILL ask for intakes and headers. Those are givens.

More people have been interested in lowering springs than relative to shocks from what I've seen and that's why we have heard little to nothing so far regarding their development.