About to order suspension kit - thoughts

[gorby]

Hi

I'm about to order some new suspension and take advantage of the good exchange rate, but before I place the order, just want to check on opinions. I'm looking to get Tokico Illumina suspension kit from shox.com, I've had tokico shocks before on my old NA and was pleased with the quality, but that was a while ago, and on UK roads (although probably not a huge difference to most roads in Sydney). Hoping the quality is still good, and the ride won't be too firm.

I'm looking to keep it a bit supple, but also improve the handling a bit. The kit lowers the car about 40mm, which should be fine, I think.

Any thoughts welcome, I think for the money they should be a good buy (even with shipping), and the company seems good, I think I read some people on here had used them.

Thanks

[sliq]

http://www.miata.net/products/chassis/t ... tml#Tokico HP

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=43827&hilit=tokico

search is your friend.

[Noddycar]

Hi. I just fitted new Illumina's to my NA6. The ride is really firm (they are all on a firm setting, so I could dial them down a little), but certainly is not objectionable. I really like the change it has had on my car. Perhaps a little harsher on the smaller bumps (the reflective road markers seem a lot louder), but they seem to perform better on the harsher bumps than my old shocks. It has really sharpened up the car a lot and it feels a lot more like a sportscar now. My son complained that the smaller bumps are more noticeable from the passenger seat, but my wife and I both like the sporty feel. I won't be dialling down the firmness, as the ride is a lot more fun now.

I also fitted new Energy bushes to mine. All my gear (shocks, bump stops and bushes) came from Flyin Miata, who were excellent to deal with. As I was quoted $495 per shock here and got the lot for just over $900 Australian delivered, I was pretty happy. I got my local Pedders to fit the bushes and he commented on how good the kit was. He also set the shocks on their current firm setting, so I guess he likes them firm!

[gussy]

I also fitted new Energy bushes to mine. All my gear (shocks, bump stops and bushes) came from Flyin Miata, who were excellent to deal with. As I was quoted $495 per shock here and got the lot for just over $900 Australian delivered, I was pretty happy. I got my local Pedders to fit the bushes and he commented on how good the kit was. He also set the shocks on their current firm setting, so I guess he likes them firm!

Would you mind me asking asking how much the cost came to for installing the shocks / bushes was as a matter of interest? Thanks.

[Noddycar]

Hi. They did a wheel alignment and some other work for me, so not sure how much they would charge to do just shocks and bushes. I am guessing at around $400, but I did some work myself and got some extras done...

I stuck with the standard springs, as I did not want to lower my car. It is really firm and sounds a bit "thumpy" at the rear, but the improvement in precision is phenomenal.

[Wivvix]

I stuck with the standard springs, as I did not want to lower my car. It is really firm and sounds a bit "thumpy" at the rear, but the improvement in precision is phenomenal.

Could be over-damped and causing the shock to bottom out. Try damper setting 1/2 and see if the "thump" goes away?

[Noddycar]

Hi Wivvix

You are probably right..... It seems to be only from the rear, but that could possibly be the fact that I am closer to the rear and hear it more. Also, there does not seem to be a lot of sound reduction in an NA6, to keep the weight down. Part of the fun of owning a really fun little sports car!

[Noddycar]

Adjusted the fronts to 3 and rears to 2. Still tidy around the corners, but much quieter/smoother now. Good advice Wivvix! Funny, when thinking of the damping adjustment I was more conscious of the upward thrust on bumps, rather than the big drop into potholes.... These shocks have improved the ride noticeably (even when they were set too stiff).

[gorby]

This is good to know too. Give me a base idea of what set mine on when they arrive.

[manga_blue]

Could be over-damped and causing the shock to bottom out. Try damper setting 1/2 and see if the "thump" goes away?

Good point that. I just had my Teins tested and he made the comment that there's a huge range of adjustment on the rebound while the bounce setting is fixed. He said if I set the shocks too stiff it'll just suck itself down onto the bump stops. Not all shocks work that way but sounds like these Illumas do.

[Noddycar]

Apart from the general improvement in the ride, I am finding it is far more stable on cornering, especially if you hit a bump or ripple on the bend. I found previously that if I hit a bump while cornering the car got a little skittish, whereas now it just holds its line. I think I could probably reduce the damping to the lowest level and it would not reduce the handling at all, as these are a relatively firm shock. As an experiment, I might change them both to setting "1" to see what the result is. Apart from smoothing the bumps out even more, I suspect handling on corners etc will not be affected at all.

[Wivvix]

This is taken straight from FCM. Provides a little background on the shocks and why they responded like such.

# Tokico Illumina - aftermarket, Japanese-made, twin-tube digressive shock with a thru-rod double-acting bleed adjuster affecting rebound and compression simultaneously
# Background: The Illumina has stock-like damping at the softer settings and since compression increases with rebound, it is able to prevent jacking down at higher settings. A downside is that since it is a twin-tube, there is a practical limit to how much compression can be generated via piston valve without causing hysteresis (non-ideal response).
# Usage: Stock springs on softer settings (e.g. 2f/1r) up to 450/300 springs (Ground Control/Illumina coil-over kit).
# Revalve/rebuild? No

[Noddycar]

Thanks Wivvix

To get stock handling they are saying setting 2 on front and 1 on rear... Makes sense as while the "thumping" has decreased heaps since going down to 3/2, there is still a bit of a bump at the rear...