k-sport, illumina... comfused?

[slimmarty]

alright i just ordered the illuminas for my 96 spyder gs-t. they came out to 386 shipped from ebay. theyre on their way now, just shipped. the reason y i bought them is because i read reviews and it sound like a good remedy for my car and its ride quality... then i was looking at the site and saw the k-sport coilover order thats gonna take place. i dont know if this would be recomended and sell my illuminas and get the coilovers, because i was gonna have to buy springs for them anyways... if i get the k-sports is that recommended for a daily driver do i also need springs or shocks... confused please help out... i know neebee!

 

[Splitpi]

Coilovers already have the springs on the shocks. The only thing to also consider is a camber adjustment kit .... since the 2G suspension is non-adjustable camber, you have to get a kit to make it adjustable.

 

[slimmarty]

ok so what should i do... i just orderered the illuminas for my spyder gs-t... im proabably gonna have to get some springs maybe the eibach... so i payed 386 for the illuminas and proab like 250 for the springs. or should i sell the illuminas and maybe waste a little more money and get that k-sport coilovers? it seems like with the coilovers ill get a better drop. i heard that the eibach springs only give u a small drop and i dont want that much clearence inbetween the wheel(wheel gap). will i get a better ride quality with the k-sports?

 

[1997hciv]

I was also looking into getting the k-sports but after searching I have found that most people have had them blow within the first year. There is someone on here that is running the Megan Racing coilover kit for 40 or 50k and he races it as well.

 

[Guest]

I was also looking into getting the k-sports but after searching I have found that most people have had them blow within the first year. There is someone on here that is running the Megan Racing coilover kit for 40 or 50k and he races it as well.

I also searched and found this same information, but didn't k-sport revise their design so this won't happen anymore??

 

[gixxerdrew]

IMHO I think you will be happier with the illuminas. I like the tokico valving better than the k sports and megans.

 

[SFRacingGST]

FYI: Megans, BCs, Ksports, D2s, are all made from the same parent company BC RACING The rep from JNZ tuning verified this for me. They are all shipped here the same and then the different sister companies put different spring rates in them and paint them different colors.
I am in the same situation as you. I think I am going with the whole Tokico kit on ebay for 475 Shipped. The coil over is nice but might be alittle overkill for my uses. What do you use you car for?

 

[1997hciv]

Well they may have "revised" them but I saw that a couple already blew from the last group buy while I was reading on the forum but I cant remember where I found it. I found that the tokico was a good shock for the money but not the best which would be Koni but at 600 plus GC for 350 I found that I could grab a set of Megan Racing coilovers. The MR have been tested and run by marti of VIP Garage and he said the ride is stiff due to the wieght distribution of the 2g, but they are great. I also read someone on here that runs the MR on his DD and also competes with them and he put 40-50k miles on them and finally one blew but after what he described that is incredible. The cost to replace the blow shock is $99 accoring to Marti. So I think I may have made up my mind.

 

[1997hciv]

FYI: Megans, BCs, Ksports, D2s, are all made from the same parent company BC RACING The rep from JNZ tuning verified this for me. They are all shipped here the same and then the different sister companies put different spring rates in them and paint them different colors.
I am in the same situation as you. I think I am going with the whole Tokico kit on ebay for 475 Shipped. The coil over is nice but might be alittle overkill for my uses. What do you use you car for?

I am not sure about this. Marti was helping Megan Racing develop theres. Maybe MR took the design and mated a couple other parts to go with the 2g..I dont know for sure. Talk to Marti and see what he says about that..he will probably know more about them.

 

[SFRacingGST]

I did a search on the kit i am buying and there are alot of satisfied people running them. I am mostly street with some drag. At this point everything is going to be better than my shot stock setup. If you go with coil overs your def going to need camber kits for front and rear as well as an alignment with any suspension

 

[Ninharu]

Well i have tried all of the setups you have mentioned. tokico blues and illuminas with their lowering springs. between those 2 there isnt much difference. i just had a set of ksports in and the 2 rears died after 4000 miles. So they are currently getting sent back for warrenty repair. I have to say the ksports probably handled the best out of them all a bit choppy and definately a problem with noise in the car but i guess its a trade off. So i had to replace my suspension and i just got a set of megan coilovers. It seems if they are almost the exact same design as the ksports. but there are some suble differences. the MR have a bumpstop that the ksports do not, they also have relief holes in the rears that the ksports dont. i have had a chance to give them a good run and i do think they perform better than the ksports hands down. I have yet to have a suspension set up that withstands the winter here so ill let you know how these fare out. For the extra couple hundred i think its worth it for the MR.

 

[gixxerdrew]

It's really sad that there are no really nice options for DSMs suspension wise. If you want awesome you have to go full custom. Short of that I still swear by Koni yellows as the best off the shelf shock for DSM.

 

[1997hciv]

Well i have tried all of the setups you have mentioned. tokico blues and illuminas with their lowering springs. between those 2 there isnt much difference. i just had a set of ksports in and the 2 rears died after 4000 miles. So they are currently getting sent back for warrenty repair. I have to say the ksports probably handled the best out of them all a bit choppy and definately a problem with noise in the car but i guess its a trade off. So i had to replace my suspension and i just got a set of megan coilovers. It seems if they are almost the exact same design as the ksports. but there are some suble differences. the MR have a bumpstop that the ksports do not, they also have relief holes in the rears that the ksports dont. i have had a chance to give them a good run and i do think they perform better than the ksports hands down. I have yet to have a suspension set up that withstands the winter here so ill let you know how these fare out. For the extra couple hundred i think its worth it for the MR.

How is the ride with the illuminas with there springs and about how much of a drop did you see. Also how is the ride with the MR? You might be the answer we are all looking for

 

[SFRacingGST]

Search Tokico Illumina. There are alot of links with pics. DarenP has that setup and loves them. Says they are not over kill but a good upgrade from stock. They lower 1.75 according from Tokico

 

[98eclipsekidd08]

I have the illumina kit on my car and think there awsome. good drop and dont have to worry about curbs and I can still fit a jack under my car which is nice (some of my friends cars got to low). I got slim to no camber from my lowering (still on stock rims) hardly noticeable and have not noticed wear in the tires. Hope this might help.

 

[1997hciv]

Yes I also noticed the ride height is different for each car. For the price you really cant beat it but by going by what everyone else says "if you have the money go with the konis, if you dont, save up and get the konis" Is the ride that much better for the street or is that statement usually for the track driven cars. I found out that the tokico kit starts to develop rust over time, does the lifetime warrenty cover this? The MR uses some type of coating on everything to prevent any rust. I am also looking for the DD with the occasional trip to the strip. Konis are nice but I think I would rather go with a complete coilover for ajustablity and easy use and install.

 

[Ninharu]

each time i replaced my suspension the tokicos were totally rusted at every weld point and at the top of the shock as well. it seems that the weather here kills these finishes. even after a year the ksports showed rust on the edges of the piston but the casing, being anodized was ok. The threads were ok too so at least on that front they will survive. The MRs have the same kind of finish, but i prefer them just for the fact that they are not any specific painted color, so when they get scratched they still look ok, the ksports are all orange so they did begin to show signs of wear. The drop i got was from 2 inch lowering springs and just from the perspective of a speedbump and my exaust i would not go anylower than this. Even with my current set up i still have about an inch and half between my tire and my fender. The one thing you HAVE to do is get adjustible camber kits. i previously had a set of eibach prokits and that is supposed to be 1.2 inches and the wear on the inside of my tires was really bad even after only 3000 miles.

 

[snox135]

It's really sad that there are no really nice options for DSMs suspension wise. If you want awesome you have to go full custom. Short of that I still swear by Koni yellows as the best off the shelf shock for DSM.

The JIC A2's are a really good shock, pricey but good. Still cheaper than a full custom set up though.

 

[slimmarty]

hey thanx alot for all the comments.!!! i honestly didnt expect so much feedback, very thankful... now the illuminas were already ordered and will get here tomorw. I think I migh keep them for now. im sure theyre way better than stock... now i have a big question... the ones i ordered are for fwd including all modes turbo and spyder. i read other post saying that i was suppose to choose the awd setup for my gs-t spyder. is this correct? or will i be fine with the fwd? i guess it has something to do with the weight>? i will really like an answer asap because i know they will be here tommorow and that way i can call the shipper today to see if theres anything i can do if i will be better with the awd ones.... thanx alot you guys have been alot of help

 

[gixxerdrew]

The JIC A2's are a really good shock, pricey but good. Still cheaper than a full custom set up though.

To be honest, and I really really don't want to get into a flamewar. I think none of the JDM shocks are "really good". passable, ok. Maybe even on the high end of whats available off the shelf for DSMs but in light of penske, bilstein, sachs, or even the lower stuff in the upper tier like koni or KW I think they are not the best. Personally I was never very impressed with their *valving* I think RRE did great things with them , dont get me wrong but IMO there are a lot better dampers on the market sadly none of which are available for our application.

It makes sense that they aren't avaiable for us though, DSMers think JICs are expensive. Penskes are more than double JIC pricetag. The JDM shocks are typically a linear valving and have way too much compression and not enough rebound. I'm guessing but I think they targeted a combination drift market and linear shock valvings are predictable for drift but they do not maximize grip or ride comfort compromises like that.

Tokico shocks are Japanese and I don't consider them good either but I like their valving more than I do JIC/TEIN/ETC that all seem to have the same valving just more or less harsh and then theres megan and Ksport that copied the JDM s so even worse. Every time I rode in a k sport or megan equipped car to be perfectly honest I thought the car handled like crap. Ride comfort was bad and then I thought ok well maybe its just REALLY stiff but the handling just wasnt there either.

The setup I designed for my supra rides better than stock and pulls 1.2Gs on the skidpad (sustained, race technology data aquisiton). Thats what a good damper should be like. Comfort should be improved or almost no loss from stock and handling compared to our stock stuff theres a lot of room for improvement and that should be taken up. Maybe I just expect too much?

 

[snox135]

I agree there are better shocks out there. But for a good "off the shelf" set up they are great. I have never used them with the stock JIC valving and spring rates though. I had mine set up by RRE when I bought them. As my set up and goals for the car change I will change the them as needed. They gave me a great base to start with though.

 

[slimmarty]

so?... yay or nay?

 

[slimmarty]

...??