Thread: Review: Tokico Illuminas and Tein H-Techs

Vehicle: 98 GS-T Spyder

Previous set up: Original factory shocks and springs.

Parts used: Tokico Illumina 5-way adjustable Shocks and Tein H-Tech Springs, no camber kit needed, no new bushings needed.

Other suspension parts on the car: Slightly wider/taller tires (215/55/16) and a front strut bar.

First off, ride height matters a lot to people looking for lower set ups so we'll go over that. Advertised lowering for a GS-T hard top is .8" front and rear. After measuring, these springs lowered the vehicle .8-1". This wasn't dramatic enough to require any sort of camber kit and does not rub even with slightly larger tires than stock (215/50/16). There is still plenty of ground clearance all of the way around the vehicle so driveways and speed bumps aren't a problem.

Performance. Body roll is reduced significantly even at the softest shock setting of 1 and even more so as you increase the stiffness up to 5. The side to side sway or floating feeling that I got on the stock suspension over uneven roads, specifically while turning, is eliminated. Under steer is reduced but still present. Traction during launch, accelerating, braking and turning is greatly improved over stock.

Comfort. Ride comfort matters to me almost as much as performance simply because I don't drive this car on the track. My stock suspension was dying and the difference is night and day. On the shock setting of 1, the car is very comfterable for cruising around town. It's a little loose for any aggressive driving but much better than stock. For daily driving I use 2 in the front and 3 in the rear for shock settings. Sometimes 3/3 or 3/4 if I know the roads are new and comfterable and I feel like driving a bit aggressively. I haven't taken the car to the track but being FWD I'm guessing 3/5 or 4/5 will be used for drag racing. For a comparison, my sister just bought a Lexus IS300 (POS) and my Spyder rides better and outperforms her $40K "luxury car" in every way including comfort. Ha! :p While driving, I feel like I'm in a factory tuned sports car rather than thinking I'm in a car lowered using aftermarket parts.

Over all I'm very happy with this set up for a street car. I realize it's not low enough for some people and probably not stiff enough for those of you who like to road race on the way to work or use your car at the auto-x course. It's perfect for spirited driving and street use.

Pictures coming this weekend...

my tokicos, the plastic adjusters came apart after a while and now i have to put 3 shocks together to get 1 adjusted. they couldve designed the adjustment stuff better.