no need to be a smartass. :loser: just tired of peeps complaining bout blown shocks and shoulda coulda woulda...

The only shocks out there at the moment are TRD so if you get Tanabe then.. aren't you s.o.l. already? I haven't even heard anything about Tanabe coming out with shocks for us. :?

you should be able to use the TRD shocks with the NF210s... any suspension gurus already here want to enlighten on this?

trd struts/shocks with NF210's
 

Don't know bout the guru bit but I felt my NF210's needed more rebound dampening. TRD struts/shocks eliminated a "pogo-stick" suspension reactivity that bugged me from time to time. Everyday ride doesn't seem any harsher. Install was easy - like springs - with no unexpected issues.

did the TRD shocks help with cornering and handling, or just improve the ride? did they help remove body roll at all? and i guess this means the TRD shocks/struts work just fine with the NF210s...

Yeah they work fine with NF210's. On smooth surfaces the handling and body roll isn't too different than with stock... Better but subtly so. Think most of the body roll issues were addressed by simply lowering the centers of gravity and rotation with the spring swap. The problems I experienced were mostly on choppy roads - which abound in Seattle - especially when the suspension unloaded rapidly. It wouldn't bounce exactly cause the stock dampening rate is pretty good but sudden unloads affected both ride and suspension stability. A handling example: Hit a sharp bump in the middle of a turn and it felt a bit like the steering angle was affected a la bump steer. Probably mostly subjective but unpleasant. Doesn't do that now. Ride is better IMO simply cause you don't get thrown around as much on a really bad road. The car certainly isn't as cushy as pure stock, perhaps even a little less so than with NF's alone, and communicates more noise but I like it better. It is a pretty expensive subtle improvement though, even as a diy.