Tokico Illumina Adjustment Question; What are your settings?

[SOADweskey]

I ran a search and didn't find anything about this so here it goes.

I know a lot of us have the Tokico Illumina shocks on our cars and I was wondering what do you guys have the adjustments set at for different types of driving.

And if anyone has insight into my exact setup which is Eibach Pro-kit, Illuminas, and RM sway bars I would appreciate some input. I personally haven't noticed a great deal of difference with the adjustments but I'm not a really experienced road racer or anything.

My main interest is what you guys prefer the settings for for daily driving, spirited driving (canyons and the like), drag racing, and road course open track days.

 

[Red97Eclipseboy]

On the street, I run them at 2 in the front and 4 in the rear. I keep the rear stiffer to combat understeer.

 

[kmoore]

Street= 1 all the way around
Track= 5 all the way around
Strip= 1's up front and 5 in the back

 

[PieEyedPiper]

For my DD, illuminas +prokits, I'm running 5 front and 5 rear.
I'm enjoying the increased dampening, though I still find it should be a little more than what it is at the highest setting. The car feels much sturdier on the highest settings opposed to 1 or 2 when tackling a slew of potholes and other road anomalies.
I can't stand the rebound though. It makes the car feel very springy sometimes and I also believe it is responsible for the rocking or bouncy ride I get when going over seams in the highway at 40mph (traffic). The rocking/bounciness goes away when traveling at 55mph-75mph+. And there is no rocking when the shocks are set to 1 or 2.

 

[sd_ff22]

prokits and illuminas here also. rm sways to come soon!

DD- 2,3
canyons- 4,5
distance- 1,2
drags- 1,5

 

[SOADweskey]

Thanks to everyone for their feedback in this thread. It is really a big help to see what other drivers are doing with similar parts. Anyone else out there running these that would like to share their settings and theories?

 

[daren_p]

For daily driving mine are either set 4 front, 3 rear or 4 all around

For the drags their 1 front 5 rear

 

[romeen]

For the street I used to run the rears one position stiffer (either 2,3 or 3,4) per Tokico's recommendation to combat understeer. But through trial and error I've found that on my car I seem to get better handling and cornering neutrality with the same setting front and rear. Setting 4 all the way around seems to be best for me.

 

[sd_ff22]

Hey Daren!
so you have illuminas too huh? not thread jackng but whats going on with your evo3 intake manifold?

 

[toojung2die]

For daily driving mine are either set 4 front, 3 rear or 4 all around.
For the drags they're 1 front 5 rear

Have a GST. This has been a useful thread for damper setting my new Tokico shocks. A few GST owners have chimed in. Question: Why are you drivers with FWD using a setting of 1-front and 5-rear for drag racing? Here is my understanding of shocks and weight transfer when drag racing:

RWD drag racers want the weight to transfer from front to rear so softer shock rebound in the front is desirable to lift the front end quick and transfer weight to the rear axle. FWD cars want the weight to remain on the front axle so allowing the front end to lift quick is undesirable. No front end lift is best. I have little drag racing experience but a softer front setting on a GST with Tokico Illuminas seems to be the opposite of this concept when drag racing. Someone help me understand.

 

[crimsondragon]

You don't want weight to transfer to the rear so the rebound on the back is more. If the front was even with the rear, it would not settle back down as easily. The rear rebound will move the weight back to the front and the front will easily sag back down once that initial torque from the launch is less.

 

[Black99gst]

2 up front, 3 rear in both the 99 and the 97... never tracked either... so i'll let you know i guess when i do.

 

[bmoha2]

daily driving 2 front 3 rear spirited driving 4 front 5 rear same for autocross

 

[toojung2die]

You don't want weight to transfer to the rear so the rebound on the back is more. If the front was even with the rear, it would not settle back down as easily. The rear rebound will move the weight back to the front and the front will easily sag back down once that initial torque from the launch is less.

I'm learning about spring rates and shock dampening so maybe my terminology is incorrect. I think the word rebound refers to how quickly the shock allows the spring to return to it's steady state after being compressed. If a Tokico is set at five it's damper setting is at it's highest and the rebound would be slower. More damper = slower (less) rebound. Less damper = faster (more) rebound.

In a FWD drag race ideally you would want the rear to raise and the front to stay steady. Just the opposite of a RWD. I don't see how this would be possible to achieve with a normal suspension. My understanding of the Illumina damper settings tells me that a damper setting of 1 on the front would allow the front end to raise up more quickly on launch than if the front damper was set on 5. The higher setting would provide greater resistance to the front shocks from lifting the nose of the car and keep less of the weight from transferring to the rear end. The worst place for traction in a drag race for a FWD is probably the first 50'. Wouldn't you want the front end to stay down?

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[crimsondragon]

I'm not sure as I don't have the Illuminas yet. I always thought the higher the number, the more resistance. Maybe Daren can clarify?

 

[DGajre777]

5 all around with Eibach Pro kit.

It is important to note that people with FWD vs AWD will give you different answers.

 

[420a-t]

I have gr2's (pretty much stock) in the rear and illuminas in the front on my 2g awd a/t. What would be the best setting for drag racing?