what are the second best shocks next to the koni yellows with ground control?
street use ONLY.
running on 16's.

 

AST, PIC, Progress.

 

illumina shocks.

eibach prokit springs.

 

I agree with Tyson, in comparing just shocks, Illuminas are the only ones that hold a candle to Koni.

 

on my last teg i had tokico illuminas with ground controls and they worked great until someone stole my car i got function and form on my new car

 

Next best affordable shock would be KYB AGX

 

I kind of lol at the question. What is the point in getting the second best shocks?

 

Especially when koni's aren't much more than tokicos.

 

bandwagon aside, personally i think illuminas are better than koni's.

shrug.

 

i loved my illuminas. cant wait to get them back on.

 

I have heard this a few times, from several people who DD, and autox their cars.

But, just for the hell of it care to explain why you feel this way?

 

If this is a street car and you don't plan on dumping it, go with Progress CS2. $555 shipped, reliable, warranty, and good spring rates. Can't beat them for the price.

What bandwagon? The Konis are a proven shock. I can't even count how many Nationally competitive race cars I've seen with them. I can tell you that ive never seen a Nationally compeitive car on anything Tokico. I wonder why... Tokico is fine, sure, but you can have much better for not much more money. It's a no brainer to me. It's no wonder why a lot of people I know who race also end up buying Konis for their street cars.

In the autox community, the Illuminas just aren't there. And for a reason..

 

ask your "nationally competitive" autox friends how much they paid for their revalve. i know for certain that no one competing seriously uses off the shelf koni's. and if you dont know that, then youre probably just starting out and dont know much. its cool, i was there too once. your avatar is cute too...

i know a lot of the west coast road racers dont use koni, and if they do, theyre not off the shelf yellows. there are just better shocks for road racing. shrug.

i know a couple fast drivers who got a bunch of lap times with illuminas all across the state. theroux and martinez to name drop.

i know for sure im not the only person who can see past koni's. find out what "nationally competitive" autoxer glagola has to say about them.

but thats "racing". we're talking street driving. pairing them up with GC or some other spring kit, at not so ridiculous rates. koni's compression damping is soft, only rebound is adjustable. its the "koni way". they dont think the consumer needs to mess with compression damping. it turns out that its so one sided that on a stock spring rate, you can actually get a "jacking" situation where you go over a bump, the suspension compresses, but rebounds so slowly, its not ready for the next bump, or you can physically feel the back end rise slowly like its dragging its ***. its no wonder why a medium stiff GC setup works with koni, because it needs the stiffness of the spring to reduce the compression stroke.

illuminas adjust both compression and rebound simultaneously. koni would like you to believe illuminas are sub standard with a minor adjustment range, if at all. ive seen their old marketing schpiel. i can disprove that, i have the dyno graph done on eibachs own dynometer. i believe you want to adjust both compression and rebound, because it matters on the amount of spring youre using, and probably related to the type of driving with that spring requires a different amount of shock valving. and guess what, so does the racecar engineering's suspension guru Mark Ortiz as he said in his column at least once.

look, im not saying illuminas are the BEST suspension out there. im saying because ive used them with a wide array of spring rates, from 450/900 road racing, to stock springs, ON THE SAME SET OF SHOCKS, they work great and have lasted. so its my personal opinion, theyre better than koni's. and i think for the majority of people who go out and buy a shock on this forum, theyd be much better off with illuminas.

unfortunately, too often those who arent interested in konis usually get the really substandard tokico blues, which come out of their china plant and just dont last at all. its not just "adjustment" you get with illuminas, its quality.

and btw, im not saying Koni is bad either. its a great quality shock. i like the circlip height adjustment feature (which is redundant with GC). yes, theyre rebuildable, and illuminas arent, but thats not what most ppl buy them for. its a great company with the majority of feedback ive heard (but not all), great customer service. i just think theyre flawed and id rather have illuminas.

so i repeat, bandwagon aside, i think illuminas are better than koni.

 

I can tell you that I personally paid around $600 to have my Koni's revalved from TrueChoice.

I'll name drop my nationally competitive friends: My sponsor and owner of Karcepts, Brian Karwan who won SMF at nationals last year using Koni/GC. Ian Baker, former national champion using Koni/GC. Sam Strano, multi-time national champion. Brian Garfield, national champion and was my instructor when I started out. Mike Jr. Johnson, multi-time national champion and owner/founder of the Evolution Driving School. Karen Kraus, national champion and also writes for Sports Car Magazine. Learic Cramer, trophy winner and she is also running in the Star Mazda series at the Baltimore Grad Prix. And many more who have either won nationals or trohpied at nationals: Lee Piccione, Holly Schwedler, Josh Luster, Shane Chinnon, Courtney Cormier, Justin Neal, Lisa Garfield, Julian Garfield, Carson Garfield, Mike Stanley.. etc.. etc... All of which either use, have used, or have no problem recommending using Koni's. I'm VERY lucky to be running in one of the most cometitive regions in the country.. I'm certain it's whats helped me get where I am as a driver today.

I'm not exactly new to this. I've been autoxing for 6+ years and have been an instructor for the past 2... And thanks, I think my avatar is cute too

Look, I'm not saying Illumina's are bad. In fact, I said in my last post "Tokico is fine". I have no problem recommending them and I have been for years to anyone looking for a street-use shock. I know many people who have used them on their cars and aside from what seems to be the common broken adjustment tab, they get the job done.

Just like you personally believe the Tokico Illumina's are better, I personally believe the Koni's are better. Mainly for their versatility and that they arn't exactly super expensive for what you can get out of them.

 

i wonder how many ppl who read this forum even care about the "autox community."

and then understand the "autox community" spends $600+ ON TOP of the price for the shocks themselves, just to make them work properly. "proven"? proven to be an expensive shock that you are recommending and comparing.

 

The tab broker on one of my Illuminas...
$140 down the drain for a replacment shock.

 

that would be a warranty issue. lifetime.

 

Im a big fan of illumina's also. They last me 8 years and 100,000+miles with ~2" drop and various spring rates. Wouldn't hesitate to buy them again. For a car that spends 90% of its time driving to work and back they're a great shock.

 

Illuminas work great on the street, had them on my old car and they served me well. I eventually outgrew them when it comes to autox, but they are more than enough for most people.

 

2nd best ftw

 

Blox!

 

Clearly not many with thread titles like "Which ebay coilovers will slam my car until I'm under the pavement".

$1200 for shocks is still cheap when it comes to racing. Spending that much is nothing compared to the crazies who buy Moton or Penske and use them on their '89 Civic Si that costs about as much as 2 of those shocks alone...

No, that's a quality issue that becomes a warranty issue.

lol. This guy...

 

I lied... it didn't brake it melted!!! I don't know how but must have been user error... Totally nt covered by the warranty.

 

Melted? Tab? You mean the adjuster?

Dude, just call tokico for that. The lady that answers the phone gives you all the adjusters and even new stickers you need, for free! Don't even pay for shipping. Lots of ppl have called for the same thing.

If its not the plastic adjuster, I have no idea what else could possibly melt on a metal shock....

 

I called the number they had on their website (tokicoperformanceshocks.com), and the guy told me I had to find a Tokico distributor to buy a single shock from. Is that not the correct website?