hey,

i'm planning on putting in some struts/ shocks and springs soon, and was wondering which of these two would be the best...

tokico HP (blues)

http://www.racingbeat.com/FRmazda1.htm ($40 for rear, $65 for front)

or Koni reds-

http://www.classicgarage.com/classicgarage/rx72.html

the thing is the Konis are cheap (for the 79-80), and i won't have to change out my front strut assembly to fit them, BUT i heard that they are old, and have probably been sitting on the shelf at classicgarage for quite awhile. AND the Koni rears aren't available from classicgarage, and are like $100 (or more) elsewheres. Would it be wise to use the Konis on the front and the Tokicos on the rear, or are they too different? help me out

oh yeah, any other suggestions?

thanks

~b.k.

 

If I knew for a fact that the Koni's did not have issues, then I would be all over that deal. Last I checked though, they were selling them without any type of warranty and I heard that people were blowing seals on them.

Well, I just dug up the thread and I guess only one guy mentioned having issues and that was after he sold the car to someone else. Quite a few others said they were ordering them, how about some input guys?


https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ight=uber+koni

 

well, KONI isn't going to warranty them, but classicgarage said they would supply a limited warranty

"Note - (E.O.) classicgarage.com will supply a limited warranty for KONI will not honor their usual factory warranty for these shocks."

 

What exactly does the "limited warranty" entail?

 

i don't know

1 day? 1 month? 1 year?

maybe I'll email them and ask them

 

I do not have any insight on the Koni stuff from classicgarage. If you decide to go with the Tokico HPs I would like to offer our services. We retail the HPs at $61.56 for the fronts and $37.89 for the rears.

http://www.mrcmfg.com/respeed/catalo...d2775a11a9d67c


-billy

 

Which is where I ordered mine, Billy is amazing to deal with! Greatest customer service I've ever experienced.

 

yeah, I guess I'd get them from ReSpeed, but I couldn't get the front struts without installing FB front strut assemblies, and I'd rather not.

 

Do not, do not, do not order the Koni red's from Classicgarage.com. I've been through two sets: the first lasted exactly one year and the second arrived from the warehouse already wrecked. Since they're so cheap it didn't pay for me to send them back to the US from Canada so I ate my losses and bought 81-85 Tokico Blues from Mazdatrix. In new form the Konis are superior as they have separate bound and rebound damping but the old stock ones are just not reliable.

You don't have to change your strut housings to the later model year, you can either put a shim in the bottom of the tube to bring the strut insert up to the top nut or you can cut and reweld the tubes, which if done above the lower spring perch has the added benefit of giving you more compression travel, which is a must. The diameter of the strut housing is virtually the same, the only real difference is the height of the tube. Just be sure and reuse the top nuts that are on your struts right now as the nuts that come with the new inserts will be slightly too narrow and will not thread into the housing.

 

What about the 5way Illumina's, are they good for coilover setups?

 

I have Koni red in the front and tokico blue in the back with racing beat springs... The front feels a lot stiffer than the rear, the rear feel like it wants to roll over compare to the front during hard cornering(mountain....)

 

Is there a way to rebuild the Koni's so they will last longer? I don't want to shell out the dough for the illuminas, but I don't know if I want the HP's either.

thanks everyone for the input

 

Truechoice Racing services in Hilliard Ohio does rebuild Koni's but I haven't called to see if that includes Koni reds, their number is 1 888 566 4722.

Steve

 

Most likely by the time you've purchased the Konis and sent them to be rebuilt you'll have paid at least as much, if not more, than a pair of Illuminas cost. The HP units are an acceptable substitute and they have worked well for me in conjunction with the RB spring set.

 

so how much better are the adjustables then the regular ones?

 

I hear that konis are the way to go, but thats what i heard from the honduh guys. So i dont know. The only thing that is totally sweet is that they will revalve them for a racing app if you need them. Expensive tho. Two tokico adjustables, last i checked, at lordco, were 210 for a pair (cdn)

 

Check Ebay. That's where I got a package deal for my struts and shocks.

 

Koni's are undoubtably a better shock and they can be rebuilt to your specifications, I would be glad to pay more for a better product. Illuminas are a good street shock, but not at the level of Koni.

 

Good enough, but the op's objection to Illuminas was that they were too expensive, so he's not looking to spend the extra money for the premium level struts/shocks which is why I suggested the HPs and related my experience with them.

Reading posts before you respond is a good thing.

 

You stated they will cost as much for the rebuilt Konis so at this point with these choices it becomes a quality issue, the Illuminas or Konis as his choices, Konis are just a better shock in all regards for the $.

If he wanted cheap he has to look in a different ball park ie: Tokico HBs.

Smart comments without logical arguments don't help.

 

well, the car is going to be a street driven car, but taken auto-crossing and maybe to track days. For now, I'm probably just going to put on some rb springs, but later on I plan to go with coilovers.

So, the Konis are better shocks, but I'd probably have to get them rebuilt. Not bad, but where should I get the rears? Also, are illuminas really all that great? I mean, they're externally adjustable for stiffness, but is the only trick they can do? I don't know much about shock technology, so could someone please explain all the rebound/ bound/ dampaning stuff to me? thanks a bunch


EDIT: this just in, classic garage supplies a 90 day warranty, but they say that defects will show themselves very early on. This makes me think that they're gonna blow as soon as I put them on my car-

SO

how much do you think it would cost to have those people rebuild them?

 

Call them and get a quote, of course your Konis may last years in which case you are way ahead.

Rear shocks is a whole other story, be creative as they aren't really that difficult just work out the compressed and extended lengths and shop for a set of Konis (or others) that will fit. I did this and located some very cheap Bilsteins....big score.

 

where did you get the bilsteins?! want them but they are too expensive else where.

 

I wouldn't recommend buying shocks until you've picked your springs. I bought my Koni Reds first then got in a bind because they weren't strong enough for my springs. I'm only running 350lbs up front and the Reds aren't strong enough, even on max setting. I'm currently saving to try something stronger. The rear however, Reds are the way to go if you're running from 125-175lbs.

Oh, and I highly suggest getting adjustable shocks, whatever you pick. With non-adjustable, you'll be at best *close* to the right firmness, but probably never actually dead-on with what is best. And with varying road/track conditions you will want to be able to change settings.

Check out these shock dynos. You can see where the adjustment range is on a lot of popular shocks.
http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1104049