KYB AGX VS Tokiko Illuminas

[DblOsmith]

Getting increasingly irritated with my soft suspension. Feels like it's not even there. I'm thinking of getting adjustable shocks. I wanted hear if anyone has preferences on the two and if so, why? Are they worth it, or should I just go with non-adjustable sport suspensions?

Thanks!

[allensteiner]

i bet you'll find as many answers as shock owners. if you are looking to spend money on adjustable suspension go either with good coilovers or koni inserts (cheaper and probably best).

[lightsout]

i've got the Illuminas in the rear...and the blues in the front. I want the illuminas in the front...but i'll worry about that then i blow the blues!

[jltibbs]

There is no 'vs' here. The KYB's are inferior to the Illuminas. The ride and quality. Here's a thread you can look into bro.

Suspension

[DblOsmith]

Thanks, man. Still have some questions about springs, might as well change those if I'm changing my struts. ...but I don't want to lower my car. I thought struts controlled the up and down... what do springs do?

[MinisterofDOOM]

Struts control damping. Springs control the range of motion and, since most car springs are progressive (stiffer with increased compression, softer at normal load), the dynamics of that range of motion as well.

Through damping, struts control how fast compression and extension can happen and they also control how much oscillation happens. When you see cars driving along with their back ends bounding around it is because their rear shocks are shot. No damping means the springs are constantly loading and unloading. Stiffer shocks means more damping which means better traction and a more controlled ride attitude but at the cost of ride quality (meaning a harsher ride). Softer (like OEM) shocks give a smoother ride but sacrifice ride control and handling. One good way to think of the effects of shocks is to think of standing on a bus. When the bus turns it rolls slightly and you resist with one leg to keep your balance. Shocks do the same for cars. They help with weight and inertia distribution. So if you're making an aggressive turn, you need your weight distributed on the inside tires. To do that effectively, you need shocks that'll dampen aggressively and transfer the car's load to the tires (thus increasing traction) rather than absorbing the load and "wasting" it as body roll.

The tradeoff you face with aggressive performance shocks is that smaller road bumps and imperfections that get absorbed by shock motion in softer or more luxurious springs are still aggressively dampened, so you feel more bumps more clearly. Some shocks have variable damping to help reduce the effects of small bumps while still retaining the performance benefits (like Delphi's MagneRide magnetorheological shocks used by Ferrari and GM or Nissan's hydraulic Semi-Active suspension from the first-gen Q45).

I have a great video of the Q45a ("a" models had the active suspension) compared to a BMW 740i and Lexus LS400 in a slalom and the Q's body roll is miniscule compared to the other two. I suspect the driver tossed the Lexus a bit harder than the Q, but the difference between the two was huge. The cool part is that after destroying the Lexus in the slalom, the Q will still effortlessly match it's ride quality.

[DblOsmith]

So, since my I35 is bottoming out, I should get stiffer springs. ...since it rides like a land barge, I should get new struts.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Yep, that's right.

[ABNRML4U]

Go with Coilovers You will never use springs again. Coilovers may cost a lot but they will last longer than springs just think: Ajustable coilovers you can go high or lower.

[DblOsmith]

What's the difference?

[DblOsmith]

Any suggestion on the brand of springs?

[ABNRML4U]

Any suggestion on the brand of springs?

Go with Elbach Springs they are #1 in my book for springsor Tein Springs. See Bro, I have seen people go with the cheap way of lowering there cars like cut the springs just to get the Look! but when they go cheap on suspension they run into Problems down the road like tire ware. I have a friend that has a Honda civic with 17's and he slamed it and it looks Great and he gets a lot of but when I looked at his car his tires were bald so, I asked him U need New tires he said this is the 2 set of tires in a year. So, just think 1 tire runs about $100+ X 4 + plus mount and balance = $ 4350.00 X 2 sets a year = $870.00+ a year just on tires. Then he ran into Chamber wear and had to replace it too. Now I know this was a " HONDA" when you have a Nissan you don't want to go "cheap" just think your talking about Suspension here you want a car that rides like the wind not like a old beat up Truck. Now with Coilovers they just last longer than some of the springs that are out there today. Plus your talking about "Ajustable" Coilovers you can go lower or higher Peace Out

[lightsout]

perfectly stated

[DblOsmith]

Thing is, I don't want to lower my car. I just want it to ride better and not to bottom out so easily. Can I get stiffer springs without lowering the car?

[ABNRML4U]

Thing is, I don't want to lower my car. I just want it to ride better and not to bottom out so easily. Can I get stiffer springs without lowering the car?

O.K. First write down what are your plans that you want to do on your car?What kind of upgrades do want to do to your car?What kind of wheels are on your car?Are you thinking of getting a new set of wheels?If your car is stock then why are you having all these problems?The only thing I can think of is that you have some over size wheels on your car.Peace out

[DblOsmith]

I plan to drive it until the wheels fall off. It's bone stock, and I don't want any engine mods. I like the acceleration, sound (or lack of), and driving just fine. Only thing I want to do tighten up the handling and I'd imagine the reason I have to is because the suspension probably soft to begin with and it has 100,000 miles on it. It's time to replace suspension. Stock I35 wheels, stock tire size.

All I want to do is tighten the handling.