I'm looking to upgrade my suspension, and after reading numerous threads about it, it seems that the Illumina's are the prefered shock/strut combo for our cars.

What about the Koni Yellow's? I haven't heard much mention of them.

I was having a conversation with a friend and he said he had both, and said the Koni's were better than the Illumina's. (He did have them on a Prelude, so perhaps they don't make them for our cars, hence the lack of talk about them), but if they are made for our cars, how are they compared to the Illumina's?

He also said that they are height adjustable. That in itself sounds appealing since it could very well guarantee an even drop if I go with H&R's and have a system in my trunk (If that's possible without comprimising ride performance)

Bottom line, I want the best performing/feeling shock/strut combo available.

What do y'all think, Koni's or Illumina's? Or is there an even better option out there (I don't want coilovers though)

 

I'm in the market myself right now and it seems like Illuminas are the best.
I don't think that Konis are bad, but since you can't adjust them from outlside unless you take off the wheels I'm gonna have to go with Illuminas. Also, Illuminas seem to be softer from all the reading that I read.

Another shocks that are adjustable are KYB AGX, but they are harsh during cold weather.

I'm sure other guys will input other things that I didn't talk about.

 

I voted for illumina's for the ease to adjust them and install them.

 

Konis have two MAJOR strikes against them.

1) The front's are inserts. You have to disassemble your OEM strut and install the koni into it.

2) The rears must be totally removed form the car to be adjusted.

 

Illuminas Baby All The Waaaaaaay!!

 

get coilovers! D2's best suspension for the money.

 

Agreed, but the Koni Yellows are touted by weekend racers and Grassroots Motorsports magazine as the best performance street/mild track use strut you can get. I know I loved my Koni and will probably consider them again when the struts die on my G35.

Doing the front inserts is terribly easy. Drill a 3/8" hole in the old strut to remove the oil, take a dremel and cut around the upper edge of the strut, and remove the internals. Slide the insert in the old strut housing, run a bolt through the hole you drilled in the old strut, and thread into the Koni strut. It takes all of 15 minutes.

The rears are simply a standard swap. The rears have height adjustable (1/2") perches which is great if you carry heavy loads. Adjusting them does require removal, but I found that after one adjustment, the rears rode amazing on about 60-70% firmness with the H&Rs on all surfaces and temperatures.

The great thing about Koni's is that their only rebound adjustable and the dampening is non-adjustable. This is the main reason weekend racers like these struts (along with their excellent quality and reputation). This is great because you're not having to fight against decreasing /increasing rebound and dampening when making adjustments like you do on the Illumnias and AGXs. This leads to never being able to find the perfect street ride. The non-adjustable dampening on the Koni's is very firm, but never punishing unless you set them to 95-100%. I was able to match the Koni's perfectly to my H&Rs. I could never find a good adjustment with my AGXs. When I got the rebound where I wanted it, the dampening was WAY too stiff and vice versa. With Koni's, fine tuning was never a problem.

 

ok to cut into this thread is it best to pair the illuminas with the tokico springs or what others would be better? i id like a quick reply cause i will be purchasing them today

 

I paired my illuminas with H&R's. Let me tell you, that is one comfortable ride. Yet, at the same time very sporty. I can take corners like a race car now. I love H&R's and would not trade them for any other spring. I drove Maximas with different springs and did not like them at all. H&R's + Illumina is thus far the best setup I have ever witnessed on a 4th gen Maxima. I know many here on the org will agree.

 

Well said......

As DaveB writes, they are an excellent strut. A bit firm, but nice riding once you get them tuned to where they match your springs. The adjustable rear pearch is also a nice feature. Koni's installed and tuned correctly will definately be a sweet ride with awsome handling. The fact that the fronts are not a direct replacement unit does leave room for problems. I've seen them become loose in the old housings and rattle slightly. You have to be sure that the cartridge is very very tight in the old strut housing. I'd even go as far as putting some sort of epoxy on the cartridge so it's totally fixed to the sides of the strut housing. And remember to lock tight that bottom bolt so it doesn't back out!

Armani - I couldn't agree with you more! That combo rides better then the stock SE setup on the highway.

 

any other opinions?

 

go with illuminas, is there a warantee on the Koni?

 

well what kind of springs would be best paired with them

 

dpends on how low of a ride you want and how comfortable of a ride you want.

H&R are loved by many, decent drop smooth ride, not my taste but I've never heard complaints about this setup.

 

well i want almost 60 performance and 40 smooth ride

 

Eibach is your spring.
The other way around would be H&R's.

 

It looks like the Illumina's are kicking carcass.

How bout Illumina's up front, and the Koni's in back? Is it a bad idea to mix and match the shock/strut combo or could it possibly be a match made in heaven coupled with the right springs?

How bout mixing and matching the spring combo's.

Can there be an ideal match made between different springs and shocks/struts for the front and back or are you better off choosing one to match the other?

 

You can mix shox, front Illuminas and rear Konis will probably ride great. Use the upper perch on the Koni's to give you a bit more lift at the rear. That should give you a slightly better ride and a nice raked look.

I'd stick with the same springs all around. Your not really going to gain anything except looks by doing that. Choose a spring that fits your needs for looks, handling and ride comfort.

 

Koni's are lifetime. Also, due to their design, they don't blow when you bottom them out.

 

[QUOTE=njmaxseltd]You can mix shox, front Illuminas and rear Konis will probably ride great. Use the upper perch on the Koni's to give you a bit more lift at the rear. That should give you a slightly better ride and a nice raked look.

I'm a comfort oriented driver, so the 60% comfort 40% handling split is what I'm looking for. With that in mind, the H&R springs definately seem right up my alley.

If I decide to put the Koni's on the back, and the Illumina's on the front (set at 2) will I be able to tune the Koni rears to get the same comfort level as if I had a pair of Illumina's set on 2 on the back?

It sounds like the Illumina/H&R combo set on 2/2 is an awesome ride, but I fear that Koni's might be a little to stiff to be tuned that low. Would that be a correct assumption, or do the Koni's have that capability?

 

Go with a full H&R / Illumina setup all around, you'll love the ride.

 

ok and what about a 50/50 match

 

illuminas/H&Rs best of both perf/comfort worlds.

 

Much obliged for all the helpful input.

My car would also like to thank you since she's gonna be riding on Illumina's & H&R's in a few months or so.

Thanks again

 

From what I've read, 3rd gen Konis up front with shortened mounts, Illuminas out back with Ben's rear shock mounts, and Tein H-Tech springs would be the best overall combo since you get all sorts of wheel travel both in front and in back, and from what I've heard, the H-Tech's are better overall than H&Rs. If you don't want to mess with the 3rd gen Konis up front, I would say just get Illuminas....but this is coming from a guy on AGX/H&R right now. I plan on going to the setup I described earlier, I just need some cash.

 

Hmmm. H-Techs eh. A spring I haven't learned much about, or even considered, but now you've piqued my interest. It could solve my dilema about possiblly having an uneven sit with my system and clubs in the trunk, and eliminate my need for the perch adjustable koni's

Tell me more about these H-Techs. Would it be as comfortable as the H&R's? (On the scale of comfort on Maxmods.dynds Their ranked 5th, H&R's 2nd)

Better handling? The Spring rate for them is 179 lbs F/252 lbs R, What are the H&R rates?

H&R's with Illumna's on 2f/2r or H-Techs on 2f/2R Hmmmmmmmmm.

 

Well, my opinion comes mostly from that of a friend who swapped his old H&R's for new H-Techs. He said the drop looked better, especially for us 5 speed guys. He said they rode better and handled better too. Said they were basically all around better, and thus, maybe the best spring for us 4th genners. So I was convinced, and I am going to give it a try when I can.
Please don't base your opinion solely on what I'm saying my friend told me. Do as much research as you can first. Look for personal experiences. I'm not sure of H&R's rate, but I sure would like to know. I too was first surprised when he told me, since I had never heard much at all about the springs, but I trust his judgement, since he has driven many-a lowered Maximas/I30s.
I will most certainly be reporting what my results are from this proposed setup. I'm expecting perfection

 

Gravity will prevail over any spring you put on your car. Good quality springs don't sag, what you put in your trunk is what causes the rear to sit lower.

 

Indeed.

I guess I was just assuming that H-Techs sat a bit higher in the rear than the H&R's because of the drop distances (1.6/1.2 vs. 1.4/1.3)

With that in mind, I figured that if the weight in my trunk sagged my rear an additional .4 inches, I could expect a total drop of 1.6/1.6 with the H-Tech's (even) and a drop of 1.4/1.7 for the H&R's (sag in the rear)

Not knowing much about drops though, I'm assuming, rather than knowing.

Do you know anything about the H-Techs?

 

I want a mix of 43% comfort and 57% performance. Which combo should I use?

 

LOL too bad, being that you're 3% out on your comfort/performance preference, Eibach/Illumina's won't work for you, so might I suggest Sealy/Munroe's for your specific requirements!

BTW I run setting 2 front and 3 rear on my Eibach/Illumina combo for daily driving.

 

How do the Illumina's hold up with stiff springs like Ground Controls? I'm not slammed or anything just like a 2 finger gap all around. What's the warranty like on the illumina's?

 

is upgrading ur suspension really that much betta than stock?

 

Yes -- changing the front end Konis are a hassle -- but you only have to do it once.

Getting the adjustment on the rear -- well, you may have remove and reinstall a couple times to get it just right. If you set them around 2/3rds of full range for any of the common progressive rate springs, you should be fine.

That all being said, I still have Illuminas.
Though, I think my car rode better on Konis. I have rode in other cars on Konis, and they do feel nice.

Their damping is non-linear. They don't have progressively stiffer dampening as the bumps get harder and harder. That is why they have a firm controlled ride on most reasonable surfaces, but can also be forgiving on harder bumps.

But you have to have a generic strut as the housing for the front end. You can use anything else. At least that is the advice I got from Konis tech support.

I had KYB GR-2 on my car, and was wanting to use that for a potential Koni install. But Koni tech support said I should use a generic OEM strut. I didn't want to go to the dealer to buy new struts just so I could tear them apart. So in the end I went with Illuminas.

If the front end Konis came with a full housing instead of an insert, it would be a "no-brainer" in terms of picking Koni. And if the rears were externally adjustable, that would be good too.

Cliff notes: If front end Konis came with a full housing and if rear Konis were externally adjustable -- there would not be a market for Tokiko Illuminas.

 

Yes it is much better.

I am looking at illuminas myself. Cant wait to get them on.

 

I've got Tokico Illuminas on my car, and I love them, the ease of adjustment and overall performance is incredible, they get my vote

 

I went with all performance as far as spring/strut combos go and couldn't afford coilovers.. I thought of getting illuminas, yet I went with AGX when me and Sutter worked out a deal. They've always seemed better handling wise than my friends '00 with illuminas, but he has the better street ride in all honesty. I had AGX on my progress setup as well, though newer and had the same opinion. (3F, 6R)

Koni's may be a PITA, in the end though, all who have them rave about that fixed dampening/ rebound adjustment. Sutter says they beat everything he's ever had and he's on GC's, so it's the real test for them IMO.

 

what about the tein s-tech springs paried up with the illumina's

 

Suck-Techs.. enough said.

 

I like mine, don't see what the huge deal with everyone els is, maybe I just got lucky