Tokico spring and shock kits

Does anyone have experience with these kits? I know Tokico makes good shocks but how do their sport springs fair? And how much do they lower the car?

I used them on a 2002 Neon ACR. Lowered it a good bit. At least a couple of inches. More for looks and didn't help the handling on my car. You don't want to be bouncing off of the bumps stops in the middle of a turn. All that said, they were delivered as advertised and appeared to be quality pieces. I knew that lowering a Neon more than 3/4" wasn't good but I did it anyway. It looked so cool.

BTW. The springs for mine were advertised as a 1.4" drop. When I researched other springs, the only other ones advertised as such were Teins. So maybe that's who makes them for Tokico.

I don't know if it's the same on other cars, but that is a crappy kit for the Miata. The springs lower the car significantly, but don't have a much higher spring rate. The result is a car that is more likely to bottom out than on stock springs.

I'd be less worried about how much they lower the car, and more about the spring rates.

Or do the simple thing of getting a cheap flea-bay sleeve kit and sourcing your own 2.5" race springs. Then you can get exactly the spring rates and ride height you want. And even have the opportunity to cornerweight the car.

I bought the "Advanced Handling Kit" for my old Sinister Sentra. It was a bad experience - too low, too soft, too little rebound damping, too much compression damping. I regretted the purchase.

G

Koni is your friend.

Damn what about KYB AGX shocks? I can't afford Koni Sports right now.

I semi-regret having gotten the KYB AGX shocks. They're okay, but not great. They would not be able to handle heavier spring rates than what I have. So, I'll need to buy all new shocks in order to upgrade my springs.

The Tokico Illumina is a better shock than the KYB.

If you want to be really cheap but get a good shock, get Bilsteins.

Tokico blue shocks are not performance shocks. They are especially bad when you use them with ricer lowering springs.

I'll be more blunt. Most lowering springs for subcompact (McPherson strut) cars suck. The cheap camber kits suck too. You will hate bumps and potholes. The alignment tech will hate the eccentric strut bolts. (cheap camber kits) The bouncing gets old if it is a daily driver. It gets real old if the driver is old. (Me.) If you want handling, change your struts and possibly switch to higher rate springs. If you want handling AND a lower ride height, use coilovers or sleeve kits. Aligning plates on top of the struts are the only way to go for camber correction. If money is the problem, keep saving. Check your state laws, I found out that my car did not pass MD State inspection when it was lowered. What a pain in the ass. When I went to sell it I put SRT4 struts and springs on it. After that, it became fun to drive again.

It's tough to judge a shock across applications. The KYB AGX might be the best shock out there for one car, but on another the damping curves could be off. Same thing with springs - as long as the metallurgy is good, the important thing is the specification chosen. Tokico Sport springs for the Miata might suck, but they could be awesome on a Civic. You really can't judge.