well i made a bad mistake and bought some low profile tires.[i got both brand new for a 100] They are hancook ventus i believe? i dont know how good they are, but the traction is good

Anyways the car rides like sheit up in the front, i feel every dam bump on the road now. i was wondering if its ok to put the settings all the way to 5 on the illuminas? i know they said 3 is recommenned, but is 5 too much overkill?


would that jeopordize the handling for ride comfort??

 

i am currently driving with 5 all around but i can because the roads are nice and smooth. my set up is alluminas with s-techs and rear sway bar from progress. i dont see anything wrong with driving with 5 because that is what that setting is there for. i mean why have it if your not going to use it.

 

if you think you feel eveything now and your settings are on 3, why in the world would you want to turn them up even harder?

 

I have Illuminas with H-Techs. I'm riding 3 front and 3 rear. Ride is comfortable and controlled. I have not yet ventured past the 3 setting, nor will I try.

 

how bout agx users? what r ur preffered comfort setting on them?

 

im riding 5 on front 3 on back. Daily driving is almost much more stuck to the road.

 

i have illuminas with ground controls. i ride 3 in front and 5 in rear. also have progress rsb and both strut tower braces. i played around with the settings and i like this the most. not too too much understeer (if thats possible for a 97). i am running toyo proxes t1-s on 18's. handles real nice...bumpy up here in new england though.

 

i'm currently 3 (front) and 4r...luv it

 

If you go to the higher setting your going to feel even more of the road imperfections.

The reason your feeling more of the bumps is because of the lower profile tire. A low profile tire has less cushion to absorbe bumps. Low profile tires transmit more road feel to the cars suspension and steering.

If you want a smoother ride, put the stock tire size back on the car.

 

sorry i got confused, i didnt realize the higher the number the harsher the ride :

so if i put it on one its ok right?

 

Sure. Car will handle better than stock but it won't be quite as snappy in the turns.

 

then you bought them because of the name. why spend money on illuminas if you only keep them in one setting.

 

I have adjusted them many different settings and found that 3 and 3 are most comfortable. I may some day adjust a little higher than 3, but the roads around here suck a$$ and am aware that the higher the number, the stiffer the ride. Maybe tomorrow I'll go higher. Hmmm.

 

but i thought the springs control how snappy the car is on turns?? or no?

 

I run mine at 1 on the street and 5 at the track. If I forget to change the setting when I leave the track I am promptly reminded on the ride home and always stop and change them, its like riding on steel wheels.

 

ridin 3's f&r w/225/55/16 potenza re750's. Ride is tight. Turns are precise. Anyone out there runnin the tokico spring setup with the illuminas? If so, had any problems with the front springs popping? Had another org member suggest that springs were not seated properly and that this could be problem. Took a look this weekend and it appears this is case. Also note that the sleaves that are on my 99SEL factory springs are not or were not installed on the tokicos.

 

5 is too much, 1 not enough. For daily driving on 215/50/16 profile 3 is perfect. Stiffer in rear is more comfortable than stiffer in the front to me.

 

i think mine is 225 15 r17

ill try it at level 2 in the front tommorow. i just afraid of loosing my handling because i do take alot of tight turns daily

 

I'm running 4F and 2R because of the fact that the RSB makes the rear so stiff. The handling is neutral now. The only problem is I hit the bump stops when there are people in the backseat.

 

I'll add my vote for the 3/3. I've had the Illuminas with tokico lowering springs for about a year and tried every variation. 3/3 is my favorite for everyday driving.

 

A while back I contacted KYB about AGX vs GR2. They said AGX 2 is stock, and GR2 is about 3.
I haven't called Tokico about their setup.
I have 17" wheels, Sprint springs, and Illuminas set 5/5. Front psi is 44, rear is 40. I've suffered 1 cracked front wheel where the spoke attaches to the diameter. I dunno if that's due to manufacture defect, stiff suspension, or other trauma.

It also depends on your driving. I'm sure drivers behind me aren't happy when I slow for bumps and dips. The low-profile tires and high psi also make for harsher ride. But when I'm carrying passengers, the ride goes way soft.

Jae

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think GR2's are adjustable. I've heard AGX's are stiffer, so that makes sense about the 2 setting. 5/5 seems extremely harsh. I can imagine that would contribute to a cracked wheel.

 

Oops ...did you mean the GR2 is a Tokico "3?"

 

i think what he means is, agx being set on number 2 setting, is suppose to behave as a stock strut should, and that the stiffness of gr2's , is along the lines of an agx being set on number 3..

personally , i have my illuminas set on 1 all around, sometimes i bump up the front to 2.

 

Nice and smooth in Philly? Every *******nn day I drive I see all types of construction for the numerous potholes-of-death in the city.


(btw, why didnt u show up at the meet?)

 

You've got it backwards, playboy.

Gr2's are not adjustable; agx's are.

 

with agx 1 is plenty for street use. i've tried every combo and everything else it too stiff for daily use. granted axg and illuminas are different but i imagine that the setting would be very close.

the first time i installed the kybs i had them on 4/8 with eibachs, that was nutts. i settled on 2/1 for most of the driving with eibachs. then i installed intrax and upped the rear to 4 since they are so low. when i bought the Canuck Motorsports springs 1/1 was bouncy in the front so i went to 2/1 and things were good. it got too harsh so i tried 1 and it was perfect again. 1/1 is stock front and 5% softer rear btw. but in my opinion is wrong anyway since agx are harsher to begin with.

 

i am currently not in philly. i am in va and i didnt show up at the meet becasue i was working at nissan that day.

 

2F/3R on Illumina's and H&R, running 50's on a 17" rim. Seems to be a perfect fit with the questionable roads in town. Wife does not complain either (big plus)...

 

3/3 on illuminas and s-techs. Good for Atlanta roads. the way i drive every day has lots of bumps. 17inch tires 235 45 17

 

4f/3r sometimes i feel like the car is great....cornering is awesome with very little sway and little understeer. then some days it's the complete opposite, where it feels like the car is leaning quite a bit over the same turns with massive understeer. i always try to take the same turns at the same speed (on the way to work). i dunno.....

Tokico springs/illuminas

 

I have also spoke with KYB. The GR-2 is the same as the AGX 2/4 settings which is about 15% stiffer than OEM. (I'm not sure if this is OEM SE or OEM GXE/GLE).

The AGX set to 2/4 is the same as the GR-2, 15% stiffer than OEM. The AGC 3/5 setting is 30% stiffer. I would assume that the 1/3 settings on the AGX would provide a similar experience to the OEM struts and shocks.

Just wanted to clarify. I was transferred to a "technician" after speaking with a customer service rep. KYB was very helpful and informative.

 

Mayhem's probably got more current info. I called them about a year or 2 ago, and was also transfered to a R&D tech.

Here's another email from KYB:

Jae

 

ghost1996, I've had that combination of springs and struts for about two years - it took about 4-6 months for the springs to seat in and quit popping and squeaking. Now everything is quiet - they gradually got quieter as they seated.....

I could't leave my struts on 1 - there was too much movement on bumps, and the car rode hard and bottomed out on sharp bumps. When I set them on 3, life was good. For track use, I set them to 5. Also use JClaw's rubber blocks in the rear coils....

 

Tokico Illuminas are showing up tomorrow, I have S-techs to go with them. I live in Maine and it's starting to get cold up here, should I just start out on 3-3, and go from there? I guess as the temp drops the shocks will stiffen up a little anyway? The S-techs came with brown plastic around some of the spring, should these be taken off, or left on? I would assume it's possibly to prevent noise? Roads are pretty bumpy, should I get upper mounts for the rear, strongly considering it. And I bought a camber kit, but not sure if I will need it. Sorry, didn't mean to thread jack!

 

its all good, that rubber thing is so you dont hear the spring squeak as loud, just leave them on. You should put the tokicos on 3 on the front and 2 on the rear.
you might as well get the upper mounts, and do everything while your at it. i dont kno about the camer kits though, i doubt our cars need it unless you have like a 3inch drop

 

well, I read somewhere that a 2" drop will give you -2.5degree camber? Our struts upper mounting bolts don't have elongated holes for adjusting camber much so I figured it couldn't hurt to have them on it when I go for alignment, that way if it is out, I can fix it right there. I can't remember where to get the upper mounts from, anyone know?

 

Sorry to jack the thread. GreyMax99. Thanks for the response. Tried to send personal but I guess I don't have enough posts yet. Anyway, what I don't get is that the front set up was fine until about a month ago and then they just started popping and creaking. I really need to take it back to the shop who did work and have them look at it. Sure I'll get the "sorry, it's been more than a year" response. I compared to my 99SEL and it seems the springs are not installed correctly. My just bite the bullet and try doing it myself.

 

tried 5/5 once, didn't like it. 3/3 or lower works for me.

 

When it's cold, compression is horrible. I get a lotta movement and lack of control. Rebound seems ok, but the following compression is again messed up.

Jae