Second time's a charm on the suspension...about two weeks ago, I installed an H&R Cup Kit on my xB. The drop ended up being great...but the suspension was a little soft for me, biased too much for comfort.

So it was clear to me that whatever solution I went with would need adjustable dampers - after debating purchasing the Konis, I decided to spring for the Tokico HTS dampers, which despite being a little more expensive than the Konis, offer external adjustability on all 4, and adjust rebound and compression, whereas the Konis (I believe) are only rebound adjustable. Tokico also has a lifetime warranty, same as Koni.

For springs, I had done some research and gotten some feedback from various xB owners, and one of them persuaded me to try a local company, Road Magnet, who offers a 12-month money-back satisfaction guarantee on their springs - so basically, I had nothing to lose by at least trying them. The Road Magnet springs are a 1.5-inch drop spring, so significantly milder than the 2.2 front/2.0 rear (honestly, I think it was lower) H&R Sport Cup Kit I had installed already, but the 1.5 inch drop is better for handling than the lower drop anyway, so I decided to gjve it a shot.

Installation was straightforward - did not have to compress the springs to put them on the Tokicos, as the Tokicos are not nearly as short as the H&R struts were (the H&R's are extremely short - Tokicos are close to, if not the same as, stock length). So installation was a breeze - the rear Road Magnet springs are NOTICEABLY beefier than the H&R springs (again, the H&R setup was biased more for a comfortable ride and a reliable matched setup than for all-out handling).

I set the Tokico dampers to full stiff to start out, and figured I would adjust a couple turns back from full stiff (7.5 full turns from full stiff to full soft) if I couldn't handle it.

So far, I've only driven about 20 miles, since I finished the install at midnight tonight...but WOW, the difference is amazing. It's rock solid, extremely confidence-inspiring. Probably too stiff for the street, honestly, as the car is constantly moving over the slightest road imperfections, so I will probably dial it down a notch at some point tomorrow or Sunday (doing a 120 mile drive on back roads tomorrow morning - will keep it at full stiff for that drive). Since the Tokicos are all externally adjustable, changing all 4 is a 5-minute affair.

I will have pics up later this weekend, and some more driving impressions after I get some miles on this setup.

 

i did not know they were externally adjustable. that alone sets it above koni in my book.

keep us posted!

 

glad to hear it's badarsed. Man i need a set of tokicos now (i knew that would happen, oh and this is dave, purplejettahondaeater from vortex/carlounge)

 

Dave,

We'll have to get together if you want to drive it before springing for the Tokicos...we're both pretty local to each other. I have the rears set 3 turns down from full stiff, and the fronts set 2 turns from full stiff, and it's manageable...VERY stiff, very planted, but I think I might bring the fronts down a little bit more towards soft.

I drove proctorsilex's xA today w/ Goldlines, front Konis, and the Progress rear sway, and I'm now REALLY looking forward to getting the rear sway as I believe his car had quite a bit less body roll than my xB. Within the next two months or so, I should have the Progress rear sway and a set of General Exclaim UHP's (amazing tire for the money) to replace my worn Ziex ZE512's on the 17's.

Full stiff was *WAY* too stiff for the street, or at least too stiff for the springs (even though the springs are pretty stiff).

 

How is this setup after a few weeks? I have done a lot of thinking about what spring/shock setup to put on my xB and I came to the conclusion that this is the one. I'm glad that you did it first so that I could get an idea of what it's like. BTW, are the roadmagnets progessive?

 

sounds really expensive without even being height adjustable...

 

Glad to hear that you like these shocks. I'll keep these in mind.

I like the idea of coilovers, except I'd probably never adjust them. I never did on my Prelude...

 

for the konis... asjust the rears to full soft... then leave them...


The fronts are easy to asjust at the top of the struts in the engine bay.






And you don't always want rebound and compression adjustment... but it's all a compromise...

 

Not really expensive- last time I checked coil-overs are typically at least $800+. Sure, you get to set the ride height on coil-overs, but if your sure of a specific ride height you want to be at(ie. 1.5" .. 2", etc.) , then going with a upper quality spring and strut/shock is a very good way/cost effective way to go. Plus, IF either the spring/ or strut/shock were to not perform/break.... its a simple replacement vs. lets say if a single corner coil-over were to fail - what kind of recourse do you have ??

 

wow, thats a good point. never thought of it that way

 

You learn something new every day. Hey.. I might be wrong. Depending on the coil-over manufacture.. they may offer some kind of return/replacement guarentee (but doubtful if something goes after 1 year of use) , but I wouldn't expect it. Plus, coil-overs... from reading up on them, and checking them , seem to be a more complicated set up (vs. seperate springs and struts/springs). I've learned.. and will continue to learn in life , its best to just keep things simple.

 

I would personally rather NOT have coilovers because I won't be adjusting the ride height. I just need to decide on a shock and whether or not to keep my S-Techs or go with an H&R Race Spring, the Road Magnets, or whatever. I'm looking for something stiffer than my S-Techs.

 

you know now that i think about it, i do recall reading somewhere that for tanabe coilovers, if something fails, theyll send you a direct replacement for the part that failed. im just not sure how long that deal would last for each set

 

i've never heard of a single coilover side to fail.....


but hey have fun with non coilovers for about the price of coilovers.

yeah you dont constantly adjust them . but that extra inch or half inch to make a wheel setup better oh yeah.

and with ksport coilovers and d2 coilovers you can adjust spring preload!

 

hey, man. have you or somebody with whom you have spoken done any calculations on how ride height affects the extent of roll in our cars?

i just started thinking about that tonight and was going to ask when i saw that you said that.

my teacher had me turn up the front konis to full stiff at an autocross school recently. BIG DIFFERENCE. some bumps hit harder and road noise is a little higher, but it feels nice. he said that the rear still felt like it was resonating and that i should adjust that when i can, but those are still stock dampers until i sell the rear konis or give up and slap those on.

 

I too would like to know any info on ride height and roll. It's that roll that I'm trying to reduce. I already have the Progress sway bar, BTW.

 

when are we gonna start talking about the tokico hts again

 

I have Koni's all way around with S-Techs, alone with a couple of other parts. I cant put any other part on my xA because nobody makes anymore parts the only thing i could so is switch to coilovers and cage the car, which will be done in the future.

As someone else said: Just because they HTS are externally adjustable they beat the Koni hands-down!!! SO SO SO SO TTTTRRRRUUUUEEEEE!!!!! I HATE the fact that I have to remove my shocks to loosen or tighten the ride, but ive done it so much that i can perform the task in under 15min. When i track my shocks are ALL at FULL STIFF, which sometimes isn't enough (this is why i have to switch to coilovers), but i deal with what i can get. This is a daily driver so no point in spending almost $2000.00 on coilovers when i wont be able to drive it over a pothole. BTW, i know there are cheaper $800.00 coilovers, but if im going to spend my money on coilovers im going to buy the best ones out there.

Take the HTS to the track and let us know. As for the sway bar, thats a MUST, you don't, even need the front one, if you keep the rear end in check on our cars its a breeze to drive. I don't have coilovers, nor a front sway bar and i still manage to lift the rear wheel during hard cornering, so there is STILL definite room for improvement.

 

I wonder it Tokico is going to come out with a full coilover setup for xA/xB?

 

Any feedback yet, Phunk? I'm really anxious to hear how you like the new setup.