I’ve been looking for a cheaper alternative to full coil-over system, which I would like very much, but simply can’t afford. I think these RS-R race springs may be the way to go but I worry that they won’t work well with a majority of the shocks out there.
What I don’t want is a bouncy, under dampened ride because the shocks are too soft to dampen these springs.

These Tokico Illumina shocks seem to be nothing more then fancy everyday street shocks that are maybe just a tad stiffer then OEM. When I did a search, I found someone that said they were bouncy with the RSR springs – exactly what I’m not looking for.

I don’t know about the Konis (the yellows of course). I hear they are the best; but, they are 2x as expensive as the Tokico’s. When combined with the price of the springs, that’s going to put the total close to what a full coilover system costs, so I might as well get that instead.

am i just going to be stuck with shitty unmatched shocks?

How are the RSR springs on Tokicos?

 

I dunno about that...
The Koni yellows are like < $200 per front, and ~$150 each for the rear?
They are just about the same for the Illuminas.
The PITA part is that you need the retrofit the fronts for the Koni struts into the lower MacPherson housing mounts.


-Ted

 

yeah, i think the tokico's go for about $100 for the front and cheaper for rear.

Really, either way i figure the price to be close to that of a full coilover system.
I dont think there is such thing as a cheap alternative for a performance suspension.

 

Where are you getting RSR race springs at?

 

Tokico blues probably won't work. Those are probably the ones you are seeing cheap. The Illuminas might work b/c they are adjustable but you'll be using the upper end of the adjustment range on a set of springs running that high of a rate. The Konis might also probably work at the upper end of the adjustment range as they are adjustable also.

Its sometimes hard to support race spring rates with regular shocks. Your best bet is probably to call someplace that races FCs or sells Konis for race purposes and see what they say about matching springs with shocks.

The only drawback to full coil overs is that you get what you pay for. You need to ensure that the coilovers you're buying can be rebuilt locally when/if they blow. You also need to figure out if the spring rates on those coil overs actually work well on your car or make it undriveable. I personally hate the coil overs with the aluminum shock tower mounts on the street. Too much noise and harshness on the street. Great for the track though.

Good luck.

 

My car is turning more and more into a race car as the days go by and not somthing i drive every day. I have no interior with a custom dash in the works along with a crazy engine swap(hit the link in my sig). I want a set of those stance coilovers, but $1100-1200 just seems out of my range as a college student.

From what i hear, the illuminas are just a little bit stiffer then the blues when set to full stiffness. I'm no fool when it comes to this stuff, i know a lot of the engineering that goes into making a suspension system work (thanks Formula SAE!). Thats why I'm so skeptical about any of these shocks, which are really just fancy steet shocks. If i could at least see a dyno of them...

when i priced everything out, koni shocks, rsr springs and camber plate,s it comes out to about the same price as the stance coilover setup which is getting rave reviews. I'm sure its actually more expensive then coilovers if you got new rear mounts...

BTW Auto RnD sells the rsr springs.

 

Sadly RSR no go anymore for FC or FD. What you see on their website is all they bringin to the states now. frkin sucks ballz.

BUTTTT, i'm gonna try and work something out with a extremely reputable JGTC spring manufacturer to produce some custom lowering springs for the FC. I'm working on it. No matter what it will take a few months to get them here.

i'll try and make a post for them in the next two weeks. I have so much on my plate right now.

Rishie

 

Gotcha. That kind of info helps people understand what level to communicate an answer.

The costs do add up quick, as you noticed, and the choice between coilovers and a good shock, spring, shock mount/camber plate option are very close. If your car is at that state already, you might want to start saving up for some coil overs or run the Konis with Ground Controls. In a couple of years you might want a suspension with more adjustability so it might make sense to spend a couple of bucks more now.

I think a lot of the ITS crowd runs Konis and GC. Might even be able to find some used on ebay or the forums on improvedtouring.com or scca.com.

Hopefully Black91na, ReTed and other more FC knowledgeable people chime in here.

 

GC/Eibach can do custom rates. Ill probably be ordering a set of springs from the that are the same rates as the RSRs. I just need to find the dimensions of the stock springs